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A tale of two doors
Right after Matt and I moved into the new house we had a really bad storm come through and our front door leaked. You can read about that here. That was 3 months ago. Since then I’ve been waiting for my new front door. While we weren’t happy that the front door leaked, it gave me the opportunity to actually get the front door I wanted. When we bought the house, I had dreams of removing the grids from the front door and frosting it with our address in the middle. However, the grids on our door were glued in and the builder said they couldn’t remove them. I was totally bummed.
Anyway, fast forward to today. It’s been 3 months and I am just now getting my new front door. Somewhere in between the door leaking and our 2 month inspection, the warranty guy was let go. So when it came time to sand down the foyer floors by the door and replace the door, the door went missing. No one was really sure what happened to the door. It was either misplaced or stolen which meant a new door would have to be ordered. Last Thursday we got a delivery. A new front door! The CORRECT front door was delivered to the house. The builder picked it up to have it painted and now I’m waiting for them to come and install it. I was hoping they would be early but seeing as it’s after 9am, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Hopefully it won’t take long to replace the door.
This is the old door. You can see the silicone they put around the panel to try and keep the water out. I feel we are lucky it didn’t leak again. Of course the guys didn’t show up to replace the door till closer to 10. It look about 45 mins to get everything swapped out but I must say the new door is BEAUTIFUL! I love it soo much! I really wish I could leave the glass open but you can see straight up to the master at night. The full pane of glass gives the house a little move charm, I think. I know it’s not a huge difference but I’m really happy.
Old door on the left, new door on the right. SOO much better. I think the new door looks older with more charm. The glass is also a little wider. 
From the inside. I had the door painted the same color on both sides. As for frosting the glass, I realized last night the new door is tempered glass and the glass etching stuff won’t work on tempered glass. I guess I’m going to have to use the spray frost. This is not my ideal method but it’s also a little less permanent than glass etching. Oh and I should mention the sheers I had covering the front door don’t work now because the area around the glass is covered and not boxed off. Does that even make sense? Anyway, my tension rods don’t have a place to fit now. So we are totally ghetto and have suction cups on the glass holding the sheers. Whomp!
~k
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Snow and more snow!
In the past 2 weeks we’ve had like 3-4 days of snow!?!? This is absolutely crazy for NC. Normally we’ll get a day of snow here or there but these past few weeks it’s been a lot! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good snow day but this is starting to get ridiculous. The city basically shuts down because we aren’t equipped to deal with snow. Not to mention people already drive like idiots so adding snow is a disaster!
As promised I did go out and take some pics today. They were predicting 8+ inches for the Triangle last night and it seems most of Raleigh got more than we got at the new house. Booo! The townhouse probably got around 5″ while we only got 2″ at the new house. The official total at the airport was 5″. Anyway, here are some pics of the new hood. I didn’t venture very far since the roads were pretty slushy.
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Moving day cold!
Friday just happened to be the coldest day of the year so far! I woke up early and took the kiddos to mom and dad’s house for the day. On the way home I stopped to get coffee and donuts for the movers.
The guys arrived at 9:00 and got to work. By noon they were headed to the storage unit, and then to the house. I had pizza waiting for lunch and then the unpacking began. Once the furniture was off, the boxes went really quickly. Most of the boxes ended up in the dining room, which was fine.
By 4:00, the house was full of our stuff and we began to unpack. I made the bed first thing, I didn’t want to leave that till later. I knew we would be tired and making a bed was the last thing I would want to do. Then I started on the kitchen. It took the rest of Friday and most of Saturday for me to get it in order. Mom and dad were nice and brought us dinner Friday night. They also brought the kiddos back. Hal had a little accident in her carrier but thankfully it didn’t get on her so she was allowed in the house. 😉
After dinner, Matt and I headed upstairs. First order of business was soaking in my new tub! Matt hopped in the shower. Tub > Shower!
Julio was a crazy pants that night and no one got a whole lot of sleep. We woke up early and waited for the TWC and Direct TV guys. Direct TV was early but the poor guy had a time. He spent the entire day at our house. I felt bad I didn’t have any food to offer him. He went to dig the hole for the dish and hit clay. We think the ground was a little frozen because the clay was crazy hard. Then he realized the hole was too close to the house and the dish wouldn’t turn so he had to move it. Then something else wouldn’t work. It was just one thing after another. The guy was really nice and kept a good attitude.
Since we ended up spending the day at the new house, we had to run to the Townhouse on Sunday to get the rest of the odds and ends and clean. 7 hours, and 2 trips later we were done! I hadn’t expected it to take us quite as long as it did. We ended up borrowing my dad’s jeep and I’m glad we did. It saved us a third trip.
After the crazy weekend I think Matt and I were both ready to get back to work yesterday. Now we are both working from home since another round of snow decided to hit this morning. They said it would be a snowy winter but this is getting a little ridiculous! And more is on the way. I will probably try to walk around the ‘hood in a little while and take some pics. My camera is at mom and dad’s house so I’ll have to use the little point and shoot. Look for snow pics tomorrow.
~k
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Keys to the Casa
Well, it’s OFFICIAL! We have a brand new house!
Due to weather concerns, our closing attorney pushed our closing from 10:30 yesterday to 2:30. While I would have preferred to close a little earlier in the day, this allowed us to sleep in and take our time. We met the builder and warranty guy at the house at 12:30 to make sure everything on our checklist was complete. Once the details were finalized, Matt and I headed to lunch before going to closing.
Closing went smoothly and an hour later we had keys in hand. Since the locks are contractor locks we had to run back out to the house to re-key the locks. I also wanted to put down some contact paper under the cabinets in the bathrooms and “frost” the bathroom windows – let’s just say that was a disaster and move on. 😉
Gift basket the builder left at the house! I thought it was great they put some TP and paper towels in the basket. I was smart and brought those items but it was really fun to walk into the house and see our house warming gift! As we were leaving closing it started to snow. Once we got to the house the flakes were much bigger. It snowed pretty good for a few minutes and then let up. A little while later, I looked out the windows and the snow was really coming down. Big, huge, flakes. It snowed like that for 10-15 minutes and then quit.
I don’t feel like the pic captures just how hard it was snowing at this point. Matt worked on our driveway for a little while but didn’t make much progress. It’s pretty much just a big sheet of ice. Our driveway doesn’t get much sun and the concrete is too new to use a de-icer.
Temps will continue to fall tonight so tomorrow morning should be fun. Thankfully we hired movers and I can just direct traffic.
Sunset after the “storm”. I should mention, the new ‘hood looks beautiful with snow! Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics. My camera was at home and it was starting to get late.
~k
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The countdown is on!
SEVEN DAYS till close!
I’m currently sitting at my desk watching the clock. I am leaving at noon to meet Matt at the clubhouse for lunch. Then it’s our FINAL WALK THROUGH!!!!! YAY!
I’m getting excited and nervous! I’m so ready to move. 😀
~k
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Microwave killer
When Matt and I met almost 7 years ago, he didn’t have a functioning microwave in his house. He told me it had broken shortly after he moved in which meant he had lived there for a few years without one! Like who does that?! Anyway, when I moved in I brought my little counter microwave. That worked well for a while but after we got married we decided it was time to replace the microwave. We went to Lowes armed with some gift cards and bought a new one.
As we were taking the old microwave down, we noticed that whoever installed it had drilled directly into it. So, no wonder it didn’t work. With a new microwave installed we went about our daily lives.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, like the week before we list our house. I go to heat up some frozen bread in the microwave. I notice it’s not really getting warm or defrosting but I can’t really tell. Finally I tell Matt I don’t think the microwave is working. He comes in the kitchen and puts a cup of water in. A minute and a half later it comes out, cold. You’ve got to be kidding right? Here we are a week from listing our house and the damn microwave goes out. We decide to disclose this to the buyers and say we will fix it before close.
Yesterday we had the inspection on the new house. I had kind of questioned whether we really needed to have an inspection done on a new house but Matt assured me we did. Turns out, he was right! The inspector found a few things wrong with the new house. Nothing crazy but one of the toilets that was replaced is leaking and there is an issue with some of the flashing on the roof. Oh and let’s not forget the microwave. But it’s a brand new microwave right? That’s right, our BRAND NEW microwave, that’s probably never been used, is not working!
I’ve never once had an issue with a microwave, NEVER! Matt, on the other hand, has now been labeled the “microwave killer”. I have no clue what the hell he is doing but this has to be his fault. All the microwave issues started with him. 😉 So it’s looking like we will get another new microwave for the new house. Plus we will be purchasing a new microwave for the current house.
Can we just move already?!?! haha
~k
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Under Contract
Under contract!!! YAY!
Matt and I put our house on the market on Thursday the 15th as we had someone requesting a showing before it was officially listed, it had been listed as Coming Soon a few days prior. We had planned to list it on Friday but were able to get everything done by Thursday. We had a few more showings on Friday and received our 1st offer on Saturday. The couple didn’t have a pre-approval so we waited for that before we made our counter. On Monday, once they got their letter, we countered. Negotiations continued on for several days and by Wednesday night we had received another offer.
Our Realtor told everyone to submit their final offers on Thursday. Thursday night we had an offer we liked and accepted. By Friday morning we were officially Under Contract!
We have everything lined up for the new house now. Final walk through with the builder is the 11th and we close on the 18th. I am super excited we are able to close sooner than we originally expected. We gave ourselves some time just in case our current house took longer to sell.
So that’s where we are. I need to start packing because I don’t have much time. We have some moving companies coming this afternoon to give us quotes but only for moving. Packing will be on us.
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House Tour – Part 2
I decided not to make you wait for the rest of the house. I’m so nice. 😉
Master Bedroom 
Master Bedroom 
Master Closet – This will mostly likely be my closet. 
Master Closet – Mostly Matt’s closet 
Master Bathroom 
Master Bathroom – Tub 
Master Bathroom – Shower 
Kelly’s Craft Room 
Half Jack Bathroom – Connects to bedroom #3 
Half Jack Bathroom – Vanity Area 
Bedroom #3 
Bedroom #3 
Ensuite bedroom. This is the biggest of the bedrooms. 
Ensuite Bathroom 
Ensuite Bathroom – Notice the NEW vanity!!!! Looks soo much better. I’m really glad we were able to get a bigger vanity. 
Back of the house. I LOVE our screened in porch. This was one of the selling features of this house. Eventually we will put a patio area on the side by the stairs. 
Front porch. Because I forgot to post one yesterday. You may have noticed the Master Bath is the only bathroom currently with a mirror. This is on purpose. I have mirrors for all the bathrooms except the Ensuite. I was waiting to see what the vanity would look like before I bought something for in there. I have a “Pinspiration” bathroom for the Ensuite which has a Pivot Mirror above the vanity. Now that I know what size it is I will probably buy one I found on Amazon. And once I paint the vanity it will be my Pinspiration bathroom! 😉 Just don’t tell Matt. He’s not really digging the whole “let’s paint the Ensuite vanity” idea. But I think it would look AMAZING!
~k
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House Tour – Part 1
Now that the house is basically finished I thought it would be good to do a house tour. Matt and I were over there this weekend and managed to finally get pics of all of the rooms from various angles. I’m going to break this post up just so it’s not picture overload!
My front door still isn’t the right color but that should be fixed soon. I also want the crossbars removed. I want to frost the front door and put our house numbers in the middle but I can’t do that with the crossbars.
Front of the house 
Foyer 
Dining Room 
Kitchen with Light Grey cabinets and dark island 
Breakfast nook / Kitchen 
Living Room 
Living Room / Breakfast Nook / Kitchen 
Mudroom bench, next to first floor bath and Matt’s office. 
First Floor Bathroom 
Matt’s office. There is a closet to the left. 
Stairway. The bonus room is to the left. 
Bonus Room / Media Room 
Laundry Room (with sink!!!) on the 2nd floor. I will post the upstairs bedrooms along with the back of the house tomorrow.
~k
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Finishing Touches – House Update
Matt and I ran over to the house on Sunday morning but I think we went too early. No one was working so we were unable to get in. The biggest thing I noticed as soon as we drove up was the mailbox!!!! YAY!!! Needless to say I was pretty darn excited about that. We had grass in the front yard and the door had been painted. Unfortunately the door was black. I emailed the builder’s agent and was told there was a “paperwork” issue. She said my paint color had been approved and the door would be repainted to the correct color.
As we walked around we noticed there were a lot of spots that had been filled/repaired on the front porch. It makes me happy to see they are noticing some of the same small details and correcting them before we even notice. I did notice one of the railings on the screen porch is lower on one side than the other. I’m sure the builder will see and correct this before I mention it but at this point it looks like we are in the home stretch.
I was also told the new vanity is in! The builder’s agent said she walked over on Saturday and it looked really good. I’m really excited to see it. I plan to go over at lunch one day this week. I’m currently working from home due to icy roads so I don’t think it will happen today.
Speaking of the ensuite bathroom, aside from finding a mirror, which I can’t do until I see the vanity, I have everything ready for that bathroom. I found a shower curtain on clearance at Kirklands for $8.00. They also had a picture that coordinated and after some debate I went back and bought it. I basically got the bathroom done for under $35.00. I liked the shower curtain so much I decided to put it up now while we show this house. I think it really looks great! My vision for that room is coming together nicely. 🙂
In other news, we are planning to list our current house either tomorrow or Friday but we already have a showing for tomorrow. We decided to do a “coming soon” listing and were able to schedule an early viewing. 🙂
~k
