Day 67: Walk Thru #2

Went out sans husband (he was at work) for the final walk thru today. Just about everything from the list was fixed.

This is what was lacking:

1. Mutant ants were still there. The exterminator was scheduled to come at 5- I was there at 4. He's supposed to leave a slip on the counter as proof that he did his thing.
2. The fridge will arrive on Tuesday.
3. The light above the powder room sink will be fixed tomorrow. The guy was there trying to do it during my walk thru but was missing something and will come back tomorrow.
4. The back sidewalk was repaired, but it is quite obvious. Supposedly, they stained it to match after I left today.

Here's what our door and post look like now that they are the right color. The door looked a little streaky- maybe because they just painted it? It's an olivey- forest green.I tried to get a shot from further back to give you the over-all effect, but it was just too sunny for my camera phone. (My actual camera has lost it's mind. Or it's eye-sight I should say. It keeps saying "lens error" and won't take any pictures.)

The shelf in the master bedroom's walk in closet is a thing of the past. The new shelves in the front room's closet nook look fabulous. (There was no charge to rip them out and relocate them. Am I supposed to tip someone?)

Our blinds are in! Reuben, our builder, was the guy who did this walk thru with me. He's in charge of all the ordering and such. He had ordered the blinds for our house prior to the paperwork for us being turned in 2 months ago. He thought it was going to be a "spec" house- and they always do lots of upgrades in those. Therefore, we got faux wood blinds instead of the crappy metal ones. They close with an overlap, reducing your A/C's struggle to heat or cool you home. Awesome- especially because our blinds were free. When we were doing our upgrades, the saleslady talked us into some pretty cool stuff and then felt bad when we hit our budget cap- which is why she threw the blinds in for free. (An A/C note: we only have one unit, but it has some sort of a switch on it so we can set the upstairs and downstairs to different temperatures.)

This is the front window- the front door is on the left and the coat closet on the right.

dining/living rooms

Reuben gave me a reference sheet for the house- when to clean things and with what, how to care for the tile and how often to treat the cabinets. He said builders don't seal the grout on tile- it's the home owner's job. So he told me what to buy at Home Depot and how to do it. Sounds easy enough.

He also said that during our first week, if we need anything, to call him instead of the warranty company. They still have about 400 houses to build in the neighborhood so he'll be around. One example he gave: When we move in furniture, it's likely that we'll hit the wall and corners by the stairs which can chip the texture off the wall or scuff the paint. Instead of using our patch kit, we can just call him and he will touch it up for free.

He gave me a typed up paper from our saleslady promising that our fridge will be in on Tuesday, and have an icemaker. Reuben ordered it- he confirmed that it will be black. I had him write on that sheet that the light will be fixed and that the exterminator is supposed to come.

When I was leaving I met the neighbor that lives directly behind us- another police officer. (A constable lives a few houses down from us. Anyone know what a constable is?)

Closing
We were supposed to close tomorrow. However, we applied for a USDA loan. The paper work has net yet returned. There is a possibility that it could arrive some time tomorrow and we can go close, but if not, we'll have to wait til sometime next week.

(The USDA gives loans to get people to move out to farm land-type areas. Our house is on the furthest edge of town, by goat farms and cows. Fortunately, it's also only 10-15 minutes away from downtown.)

After closing we'll have two days to get all our utilities switched over. Reuben said the first thing we should do after closing is head to the house with our keys. Apparently the house has magic locks on it! The builder and sales key work until the home owner keys are inserted. At that point, some little metal thing inside flops down and locks out any other keys. Neat-O.

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We went to Ikea last week and I found a large area rug on clearance for $125. My husband scoffed at the price, but I've been in the market for some time now and know that's an excellent price for a rug of that size. It's actually the perfect funky shade of green to match our existing living room pieces. And I'm insisting on an area rug because our carpet is just so lovely. I want to protect our high-traffic areas. If that rug is still there after we close, it's as good as mine.

This isn't the rug- although I like this one- but it's in that color family.

I'd also been searching for a train table for my daughters. They are very pricey new ($100+) , so I was hunting Craigslist. None of the people I contacted got back with me. Their loss- as I went to the Pottery Barn Outlet and found my own version. Technically it's a media base, but it'll certainly work in the playroom. Found it in the clearance section for $40 plus everything in the store was an addition 10% off for the holiday weekend. The outlet sticker says $149.99 and the Pottery Barn website has it listed for over $350!

This is what it looks like, but the one I bought is red. It's a little scuffed up on one side, but I can paint it. I got it for less than I would have paid for a used play table, so I won't complain. Lots of storage space with the drawers and cubbies. As a bonus, we can still use it when my girls have outgrown trains and doll houses. Score!


I realize this bedding is pretty youthful looking, but I still like it. It's my favorite colors, so it's my inspiration for the down stairs color scheme. Plus it has such a nice worldly pattern, reminds me of those Mexican tiles I love. This is part of the back-to-college collection at Target. And now it's my kitchen inspiration. I tried to find pictures of the things I bought, but no dice. So I will simply tell you. There's this fabulous little 4x6 picture frame- I think I want to mount it on my pantry door. It's white, with turquoise and brown bloopies around the glass, and green flowers with blue dots along the edge. Lovely. I might go get another one. I also bought the case for one of those huge body pillows. Originally, I was going to make pillow covers for my couch pillows. I hate the ones we have. However, I don't want my living room to be too feminine. I took it out of the package and it is nearly the perfect size to be a table runner. After I get my sewing machine fixed I think I'll remove the back and line it with a nice contrasting fabric. Then I might take the back piece and turn it into a couple of place mats for the bar top. I also like the idea of buying a few more and making chair cushions- but again I don't want to overwhelm the eye with flowers and bloopies, so maybe just solid cushions with pops of color on the table tops.

I also bought a package of kitchen towels at Target. There's a yellow one in there that I'm not too keen on, but I really like the brightly colored one. It's blue and white, with yellow and I think some green. It's one of the few things I've already packed...


My daughters' bathroom will be shades of blue, green, purple, and white- with a puppy and kitty theme. I found this frame at Target on clearance for $2. I LOVE this picture of my girls, fresh from the tub, wrapped in their puppy towels! I want to install a shelf in their bathroom to showcase it.

An extended member of our family recently moved and has an abundance of boxes. We went by their house last weekend and loaded up the truck. My dining room table is covered in them. Now if I can just muster the motivation to pack! This will be our 3rd move in less than a year... and hopefully our last for some time!

What a bundle of nerves I've been. Well, it'll all be over soon.