Sunny Basement

So, I am already mentally decorating our new house. However, with the potential roof repair, we are definitely on hold with any upstairs changes. So, I'm concentrating on the basement. I use the term "basement" loosely, as the basement is only two steps below ground and has fantastic light.

The main area in the basement will be combo family room/"manland"/Henry's play space. I've decided this photo will be my inspiration:

Of course this is what I'm starting with (not our furniture though): I'm thinking the wall behind their tv will be painted the yellow (possibly Pottery Barn's semolina). The carpet is going to be replaced and I'm pretty sure we are going with a grey or charcoal with some texture. Something that won't show kid/dog traffic ;-) And, this rug that currently lives in my office at the condo will go down somewhere...

I like my decor so much bolder than the current palette at our new place. I'm ready to jazz it up!!!!

I fail at blogging.

I want to blog. I think of things to blog when I'm not in front of my computer, yet when I sit down and have time, I usually feel the need to say something witty, fail miserably and then just skip posting altogether. So, instead of being witty, I'm just going to post several random thoughts. Enjoy.

1) Chicago weather sucks. Easter should be all springy & pretty and instead it's snowy and crappy. We are heading downstate tomorrow, which will help a bit. H will wear his seersucker suit in the snow!

2) I want lots of new furniture for the new house. I can afford none. I've spent way too much time googling for Queen sized platform beds with pull out drawers underneath. Can't decide what color wood or color scheme in general I want to go with in our master bedroom. Hmpf.

3) I have a sore throat. HDog has a snotty nose and a cough. Poor kiddo.

4) I need a nap.

5) I need to get more work done than I have been getting done in the past few weeks.

6) The battery in my new Palm Treo 755 blows royally. It runs down a charge in like a day.

7) I am currently a sugar addict. All the house stress and the losing our nanny stress drove me to sugar. And caffeine. And large amounts of both. Thinking about doing this crazy detox thing that my neighbor did recently to kick the habit. Wondering if I can survive a couple days of lemon water and "cleansing".

8) Think we got H's nanny sitch figured out. Found a lovely family with a little girl to share a nanny with. And they already had the nanny, which is the hard part. The little girl & H get along really well too.

9) I'm done. Have a good weekend. Hope someone is having a sunny, proper Easter!

SUCCESS!!!!

The house is ours!! And we held our ground and the seller's will be giving us a substantial credit at closing to deal with the issues we located in the basement and with the roof/north wall. Yippee!!!

Let the decorating begin...
;-)

Excitement...turned to worry...turning to anger...

Well, our lovely house was too good to be true. Not totally, but that is how it feels. We had our inspection of the place last Thursday. Two major issues came up:

1) Water in one corner of the basement. The seller obviously had no clue because their entertainment center, full of electronics, was sitting right in that corner. I think they are willing to pony up money to fix this.

2) There is a sag in the roof and a bow on one side. I think the current seller's thought it was just a siding issue and didn't mess with it. Well, our inspector suggested a structural engineer take a look.

So, on Monday we had more people out, estimates given, blah, blah, blah. Problem is, for both of the issues, without opening up walls and siding, the complete nature of each problem can't be determined. The water thing I'm not as concerned with. But the structural thing is a GIANT can of worms. A can the seller is hesitating to even touch. Which is pissing me off. At first I was worried because everything else about the house is lovely and we reallly want it. Now, as much as I want the house, we shouldn't have to buy a house with a potentially large defect without some sort of financial concession from the seller.

Come, eat Ramen noodles with me...

In my NEW HOUSE!!! Fabulous, exciting and expensive! But we are so happy and excited! We put in an offer, countered back and forth a bit and came to an agreement today! It is so adorable and needs virtually NO WORK, which is friggin' amazing considering some of the dumps we looked at. 3 beds (which we will convert to 4 easily - more on that later), 3 1/2 baths, full walkout basement, patio, yard, 2 car garage...I could go on and on and on! I must sleep now, so I cannot write many details, but here's a few of the pictures!