Archive for the 'House' Category

I so want for my office

myjaxon December 23rd, 2009

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything (if you’re on facebook, you know I’m not inactive), but I wanted to share my latest desire…an office. I’m here, attempting to clean my office for the upteenth time, and I keep wishing I had an actual desk where I could store stuff. Then I started picturing the office I wanted. This is what I came up with:

Jill actually has one of these, but I so want this (ALVE Cabinet with doors) to put under the windows in my office. I am seriously getting tired of all the clutter that builds up in my office and this could really help with that since a lot of it isn’t just mine. The closet is filled and I’m starting to pile things everyone.

I could also use at least two of these suckers (ALVE Bookcase with drawer), but in reality, I would probably only be able to fit one in my office.  However, that doesn’t mean I could use the second someplace else. Right now, I have three bookcases and two bookshelves filled and I still have more books. And it’s not just books I’m looking to display either. I have a lot of interesting tidbits I’ve collected over the years that are sitting in boxes that I would love to get out. Not to say the least the few photo albums I still have.

However, the ultimate prize would be the ALVE Desk. I want a real desk again. Something with drawers and cabinets where I wouldn’t have to keep everyone on my desk. Right now, my desk is cluttered and loaded down with things simply because I can’t put them anywhere else. Books, pencils, file drawers, everyone you would typically see on a desk is either stashed on top or someplace else in the house where I have to hunt it down in order to use it. All because my current desk doesn’t have drawers. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of drawers simple because it is easy to toss stuff in there and forget it, but there are just some things that should be in a drawer.

Wouldn’t these be pretty in my office though? All of them are from Ikea and there’s one near here so I wouldn’t have to pay for shipping. The chances of me getting any of these though are pretty much nil. I will continue to hope and dream. Maybe for my birthday, after all, one of the bigs ones is coming up…hint hint.

Looking for a Contractor

myjaxon July 26th, 2009

So Jesse and I are looking at our finances and we’re thinking we’ll be able to start finishing the basement this fall.  I’m so excited!  Actually, I’m scared of the end result simple because it’s going to reduce the size of the main living area in the basement, but it’ll make a lot of people happy.  So, this is what we’re thinking of doing.

Jesse will finally get his office.  Originally, Jesse was designing his office in a way that would work best for him.  And while that is what we should do, I also wanted it to be designed in a way that would sell as a second bedroom.  Jesse’s plans really didn’t have that in mind.  So Jesse is getting a slightly smaller office than he originally envisioned, but it’s still the size of the master bedroom upstairs.

Ian is going to get a playroom in the guise of a spare bedroom.  Eventually, my office will move into that room, but that’s after we transform my current office into a dining room (we will never use it as a bedroom since there’s a door right next to the back door).  But for now, Ian will have his own room to play in, and if we ever have another kid, we’ll need a place for all the toys they’ll accumulate.

The previous owners started putting in a second bathroom downstairs, but only got as far as installing the plumbing.  So we’ll be finishing that project.  It’ll be another full bath, with a shower, sink and toilet, but the shower will be a stand-up stall only.  For being a basement bathroom, I really don’t see the point of a tub.  Plus, I’m not a fan of tubs since I really can’t fit into one comfortable.

As for the main living area, if you’re wondering what that green line is, that’s Jesse’s projection TV.  I’m not crazy about that idea, but it’ll take up less space than a regular TV, so I’m not arguing against it.  We’re also going to put in some built-in media shelves in the area under the stairs.  It’ll be a great place to store all the DVDs and other media equipment we’ll have.

We’re also talking about having the stairs redone.  We’re not sure if they are still up to code and we’re going to price it out.  I would like to get the stairs recarpeted and Jesse wants to change how they dump into the basement, but that’s all going to depend on how much it’ll cost.  Plus, we’ll have to put in some kind of banister/ledge between the stairs and the rest of the basement since there isn’t one there already.

As for the storage room, that’s going to be another major project for later on.  We’ll be sectioning that area off and putting in some shelves around the north side of the house, but the area with the washer/dryer is going to get completely gutted.  I can’t stand having the dryer and washer separated, so they are going to be moved next to each other.  Plus we have one of those old crappy solid concrete double sinks and I want to change that out for a single one and actually hook it up to the plumbing.  I also have dreams of cabinets and a counter down here with more shelves and a closet under the stairs.

So those are our plans for our unfinished basement.  Now the real fun comes and we start the search for a contractor.  We’re not sure if we’ll end up using a contractor, but we want to make sure our floorplan is actually feasible before attempting it.  Either way, construction won’t start until September, but that only gives us two months to get some estimates and find out what will be easier – us doing it with some help from the fathers or getting a professional in here.  Jesse and I are pretty sure we’re going to have a contractor come in and redo the stairs, but aside from that, we’ll have to see.

So if anyone knows of a really good contractor who’ll give free estimates, let me know, will ya?

$8000 Tax Credit?

myjaxon February 17th, 2009

So Jesse came across this article on CNN Money about part of the new Obama stimulus package that is there to help first time home owners.  According to this article, it says that first time buyers will be able to take advantage of an $8000 tax credit on their 2008 or 2009 taxes, but then it goes and contradicts itself.  Here are the two quotes that have me confused…

First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 – or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less – on their 2008 or 2009 taxes.

AND

To qualify for the credit, the purchase must be made between Jan. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009.

So now I’m confused.  I know we would be eligible for the July 2008 Stimulus Bill which adds a $7500 tax loan that is disguised as a tax credit, but this one would be a lot better since we wouldn’t have to pay it back.

I have no clue what is going on with the first-time buyer addendums to the tax season.  Both amounts would go a long way for us, but I don’t know if I want to take the July advantage if we’ll just have to pay it back later.  It’s still a loan.

Has anyone else figured this out yet?

House Update

myjaxon August 11th, 2008

The house is coming along nicely.  We painted the living room and hallway a couple weeks ago and now they are all the same color.  The color isn’t what I was looking for, but it’ll work for now.  However, my current decor scheme doesn’t work with the new paint job.  The theme I’ve been using for awhile now is autumn colors, so I have a lot of red, yellow, and orange decorations that worked everywhere we’ve been.  Now my silver has tints of blush and purple in it depending on the time of day and brightness of the sun so all of those colors really don’t work now.  So I’m leaning towards a sunset color scheme, which allows me to use a lot of the yellow and reds, but the oranges have got to go.  This just means I get to buy new stuff as we can afford it. ;)

My office did get painted a while ago and it’s this pretty green color and all of my wood and nature shots work wonderfully in there.  As well as my orange decors, so they won’t be completely wasted.  It’s kind of a mess right now, so I need to get there in a clean it up, but once I do, it’s going to be fabulous.

Ian’s bedroom was also painted and I actually put a little more work into his room than I did all the others.  His room has three different colors going on and they all work well together (so far).  The bottom half of his room was painted this pretty cartoonish green with the top half a cartoonish blue.  I think the two colors look cartoonish but others may not.  As a border between the two colors, I have a asphalt looking road circling the room that seems to be working well.  I haven’t gotten the yellow lines up yet since I just added the border yesterday, but give me a few days and those will be up too.

I’m hoping to have all the rooms clean and set to right by the end of this weekend, so I should be able to post new photos of the house soon.  The kitchen is coming along nicely.  I finely have a spice rack and I haven’t had to paint, so this room was the easiest to do.

The yard is a goner.  I made a mistake that Jesse still hasn’t let me live down.  He sent me to the store to return the weed killer since the sprayer wasn’t working and I came back with RoundUp.  You may not see a problem with that, but Jesse was also using the weed killer on spots in the yard and neither of us realized that RoundUp is also a grass killer.  So now we have brown spots littered throughout our yard.  My Bad!  We were trying to get the yard to look a little better than when we moved in, but that’s not happening this year now.  We’re planning on doing some preliminary work this fall so we can get a jump start on the yard for next year and planting grass seed in those areas is going to be one of those projects.  In all honestly, the yard isn’t that bad.  The majority of the work we’re going to have to put into landscaping is mainly cosmetic and anything we want to change.  There are a couple of bushes that we’re going to pull since they don’t seem to be doing to well, but other than that, everything is good as it is.

I love our basement.  It’s going to be sad once we start chopping it up and putting up the walls and whatnot, and it’ll be nice when we do that since there will be another bathroom downstairs, but until then, I’ll enjoy it while I have it.  I’m still hoping we’ll get to put up some walls this winter, but I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to or not.  I really want to get Jesse’s office up and running so he has his own place to disappear to.  He really needs it, and aside from the wall separating the storage area, that’s one of the first projects we’re going to be doing.

I think that’s it for now on the house.  I’ll try and post some pictures later next week.

$100k in Debt

myjaxon June 27th, 2008

It’s official. We closed on the house this afternoon. Jesse and I are now homeowners!!! We don’t actually take possession until Sunday, but it’s all ours. No more dealing with Indy Mac (the bank from hell), no more waiting, no more searching, no more nothing. All we have left to do is move our stuff into the house on Sunday and it’s done.

I’ll post some pictures next week, but we really don’t have that much to do on the house once we get it. I’m not saying we don’t have things to do, it just doesn’t seem like all that much. We’re going to change the locks (obviously), and some of the rooms don’t necessarily need to be painted (but they will be eventually), but most everything we need to do is maintenance related. The bathtub/shower hardware needs to be replaced, a couple of windows are cracked, and the back gate that gives us access to the park needs to be fixed, but other than that, everything else isn’t all too major. Jesse is going to come back and say it’s all majorly important, but we’ll still be able to go at our own pace and not one predetermined by the house.

So yeah, we are now officially $100k+ in debt and proud of it!

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