Our New, Very Old, House!

We have a house!  It's crazy and it all happened very quickly, but it's for real.  (Keep in mind that these pictures are all mid-move and really bad and you need to use your imagination for how amazing it will be someday.)

We had been thinking about moving for awhile and started just slowly looking around at what sort of house we would want and where.  We happened upon this house in Springville, and just stopped by to look at it.  The owner was outside, and is a very nice guy and showed us around.  He explained that they'd just had an open house and were anxious to get it sold quickly so they wouldn't lose the house they wanted to buy.  There were a few other offers, but since we could get the money together more quickly, we were the winners.  The next couple of weeks were complete chaos, meeting with the bank and coming up with cash, it was a roller coaster of emotions.  It all worked out and about 3 weeks later we were moving in!

The house was built in 1905 by the Springville blacksmith.  It's been lived in a lot since then, as evidenced by the many layers of laminate flooring we pulled up while tiling the kitchen floor.  The people before us did a lot of updates, new roof, new central heating and A/C, all kinds of stuff.  There are still a ton of things that we want to do, mostly just cosmetic stuff.

It's on 1/3 acre, which is cool.  I hope to plant a lot of trees, etc to provide some more shade and privacy.  There's a nice dog run which we've turned into a chicken run. The kids are happy about an old swing set and play house that came with the house.

It has only 3 bedrooms, so Lily and Annie are sharing.  There is an attic that could potentially be turned into a bedroom in the future.

Jack's room.  Yes, that's fish wallpaper.

The bedrooms are a nice size, though, and the master has a very big closet to make up for the tight space.

There's really horrible wallpaper upstairs that the kids started stripping as soon as they walked in.  There are these Victorian, weird, Hershey kiss-windows upstairs, kinda fun.

The upstairs bathroom is an add-on to the original structure (I don't think there were any bathrooms, originally) and is in the worst shape.  It's a good size though, so Jared and I have big plans for a very big project down the road.

The stairs are one of my favorite parts, with the original wood and the stained glass, but the stairs themselves are slippery and I need to get a stair runner, STAT, I've already fallen on them twice.

There is a downstairs living room with pretty stained glass.

Another room with lots of closets that could potentially be a bedroom, but for now we will use as a dining room/office.  We are planning to add a built in desk with pretty cabinets, etc.

There's another large room that we are using as a TV/Family room.  Pretty woodwork.

The bathroom downstairs was already nice, with the exposed brick from the original chimney and a nice subway tile shower.

The kitchen was in decent shape, with newer appliances, but this is where Jared and I have started our personalization.  We started with the tile before we moved in.  It was hard and took a long time, since the floor underneath was in such rough shape.  Also the floors in general, throughout the house, are really uneven, which makes tiling difficult.

We also changed the kitchen island around to suit us better.  It was marble tile in an odd shape, and we changed it into a plain rectangle with oak butcher block on top.  We also plan on painting the cabinets white. They're good quality and in decent shape, but I just don't think they match the house and I like white cabinets.  Then we'll put in a new counter top, and we can do a nice, light-colored granite or something, since it's a very small amount of counter.  It's a small kitchen, but it helps that there is a big pantry/laundry room (with a laundry chute!) and a spooky cellar.

It's all going to be a lot of work, but Jared and I have always loved old houses and doing projects.  I like the history and character of stuff like the imperfect floors.  The kids really like the house and Jack keeps asking if we can stay here forever.  It's a new adventure and I think it will be a lot of fun.