2014--A Year in Review and a 2015 Preview

Happy New Year friends and family! It's been almost one year since we became the official owners of the pheasants' home. It's been a wild ride for us--we've laughed a lot, cried a little, and certainly have learned a ton. As we say goodbye to 2014, I thought I would recap all that we have accomplished this past year and remind myself that, although this house is a labor of love, we actually made some amazing progress. Here goes...


The year started off with great optimism. In early December 2013, we found out that our back-up offer on the house (which was our second offer on the house in two months) was accepted. Hooray! Our enthusiasm waned as we started the painful process of buying our new old home. Due to a ridiculous amount of loan-related red tape and some drama with our mortgage lender, we ended up closing on our house two weeks after we originally planned. The official close was January 21st. It was ours!

Here's a list of what we have accomplished since then:

• Purchased refrigerator
• Sprayed for bugs
• Refinished wood floors
• Installed new kitchen sink faucet
• Unclogged 1/2 bath sink and installed new faucet
• Installed new toilet in 1/2 bath
• Installed dishwasher
• Installed garbage disposal
• Commissioned and installed custom kitchen cabinet for more storage
• Replaced stairway carpet
• Removed wallpaper in all but two rooms (living room, kitchen, full bath, Cinderella's room, guestroom, entryway, stairway, and 2nd floor landing are all gone)
• Painted interior including living room, mudroom, trim in dining room, Cinderella's room walls--still need to do trim and ceiling, 1/2 bath, full bath, entryway, stairway, 2nd floor landing area, guest room
• Installed whole house fan
• Replaced front porch light
• Removed dead trees, trimmed trees, and tidied yard
• Planted olive trees, lemon tree, and a summer garden
• Installed mini-split ac/heat units in two bedrooms upstairs

So, what's up for 2015? Well, here are a few things:

• Paint exterior--this will be the major project of the year unless something crazy happens
• Renovate office--remove wallpaper, paint, repair windows, new light
• Renovate kitchen--paint, new kitchen counters and back splash, new floors
• Replace a couple of light fixtures (kitchen, second floor landing, mudroom, Cinderella's room)
• Furnishings--new living room furniture (couch and two chairs), rug for dining room
• Landscaping--develop a plan for front and back yards
• Replace dining room windows with french doors
• Maybe build the deck
• Throw a 100th birthday bash for our house!!!

This 2015 list is probably a *tad* optimistic, but a girl can dream right? It will definitely take some time and a lot of money, but I love that this next year we will continue make our new old house our home.