Holy cow did you guys have questions about the whole selling/moving/buying process since yesterday’s little announcement! So we decided an FAQ post would answer as many as we could. We originally planned to share it tomorrow but you guys are still sending questions our way so furiously that we decided to share this guy today and our regularly scheduled DIY post will go up in the morning. So heeeeeeeere we go! #warningitslong
Q: Will you sell your current house by owner like you did with your first house?
Since it worked out so well for us last time, we’d love to! So other than possibly paying a few hundred dollars to have it listed on MLS again, we’re planning to market it and show it ourselves (we’ve actually already had three showings, so our fingers are crossed). We don’t even have a For Sale sign out front yet since we have been doing private showings to realtors and interested locals who are contacting us directly, so it’s kinda weird. Haha!
Q: Did you consider renting out your current house instead of selling it? We did! But we talked to a few realtors who said that a few homes in our neighborhood that were for rent were having a hard time holding tenants since the lots were so big (renters in our area typically want very small yards so there’s less for them to mow/maintain). So we shifted our focus to selling since things in our neighborhood seem to be picking up in that department (many homes are selling fast nearby, so we’re hoping ours follows suit).
Q: When will you move in?
We have to sell our current house first and think showing it with furniture will help that process (plus we don’t want to move all of our furniture to the new house and then have the sale fall through). So our best guess would be that we’ll (hopefully) move into our new house in June, although it really all depends on when we sell and when our closing date is. But we’re already working on the new house as well as finishing things up around here, so along with all the staging/showing/selling posts about our current house, there will definitely be new house projects, plans, and pictures working their way into the mix. Ahhh, it gets me so excited to type that!
Q: Wait, are you selling your current house fully furnished!? Sorry! I made a comment about wanting to keep our furniture here in order to sell it faster on yesterday’s post and it sounded like we were selling it furnished but I quickly updated it in the hopes of squashing that self-started rumor. Haha! We’re not selling it furnished, we just want furniture in the house when it’s for sale (since empty houses traditionally sell slower and for less money) – but although we’re bringing our furniture with us a lot of things will be in different places in the new house since the layout is so different, which should be fun to play around with!
Q: How many square feet is it? How can it be the same square footage as your current house when it looks so much bigger?! It’s almost exactly the same square footage of our current house, which we love (it’s around 2,500 square feet). It’s just that our current house has an 1,000 square foot addition hiding in the back that you can’t see at all from the front, so that’s why it looks almost as small as our first house (which was half the size). Meanwhile the new house doesn’t have anything hiding in the back and instead has a second floor that’s in plain sight from the street, which makes it look a lot bigger.
Q: Your new house is so pretty on the outside you won’t have a thing to do to upgrade it! That’s the funny thing about cropped photos. Below is a panned out shot that shows that there’s definitely work to be done. So we think the outside will keep us nice and busy too…
Q: Tell me more about what made you love this house in this neighborhood. Would you have taken any house in that area, or did it have to be the right one? We definitely wouldn’t have just taken anything in our budget because we always want a house that works for our family (right house in the wrong neighborhood is sort of the same womp-womp as the right neighborhood but the wrong house). So the sweet spot was finding both. And when we pulled down the street and saw this baby at the end of the cul-de-sac (zero through traffic! a spot for Clara to ride a bike! a bug-hunting mecca for Burger!) we were completely smitten. And when the layout inside didn’t disappoint, we practically lunged for the offer papers. She might not look like much right now, but we think she’s going to clean up real nice :)
Q: How did you keep this a secret?! This was BY FAR the hardest part for us! There were so many moments I wanted to over-share every detail with you guys as we went! This house sort of came out of nowhere, very quickly. We were very casually looking since we anticipated not needing something ’til this summer (or later). Then we saw it we had that moment of “we either go for it or be okay with losing it!” And we realized we weren’t okay with losing it. We actually closed on it in the fall (now can you see how hard this secret was to keep?!?!?) but we had a million balls in the air (a book tour in progress, a bunch of projects for our current house that we wanted to finish before we announced/sold, and a few immediate upgrades to deal with in the new house like a leaking roof, a bad furnace, an alarm install and an opossum in the crawl space (all of which we can’t wait to post about in detail for you guys).
We actually debated spilling the beans about things a lot sooner but we worried it would make us feel torn in half (wanting to stay focused on finishing and selling our current house, but knowing many of you would’ve mentally “moved on” to the new house). We also had to think about things like safety (we just weren’t comfortable telling the entire internet that we had a new house that would be unoccupied for a big chunk of time). So we made the call that waiting, as challenging as it was, was best for our family, this blog, and our new house’s safety. And that way we could focus and knock out what we needed to do here before shifting into “new house mode” when we were ready. Boy does it feel good to be in that mode now. I ran around the house singing this song.
Q: Last time you closed on your current house on the same day that the new owners closed on your old house, but this time it you bought the new house before selling your current house. What went into that decision? Once we were 100% sure that this was The House, we knew putting in a bid with a contingency that we had to sell our current house would weaken our offer. And we didn’t want to lose that house! There was actually another offer on it, so we knew we needed to have a strong and compelling offer to get it and we didn’t want to offer over asking price, so we decided that going into it without a contingency to sell our house would make for a compelling offer. We were so glad that the bank finally recognized us both as full time self employed people (we’ve been doing this blog thing full time together for nearly 3 years), which was a very different situation then when we bought our first and current house (more on that here) – and it was amazing to get the “you guys got it!” call.
Obviously carrying two mortgages for any period of time isn’t fun. But we triple-checked our savings before bidding to make sure we could handle it and found other ways to save. For instance, if we’re able to sell our current house by owner like we did for our first house, we stand to save ourselves more than all the extra mortgage payments that we’ve been making combined (since we won’t have to pay a seller’s agent commission). Plus, those overlapping mortgage payments are helping us pay down our loan (yay equity!), so it’s not like money going out without a return (like renting or writing a seller’s agent check).
Q: I need more details! We know, and we’re itching to give them. But please understand that we won’t be discussing certain identifying details on our blog (like what neighborhood it’s in or specific info about our closing) because we want to keep some semblance of privacy intact, so we’re resisting the urge to over-share in that regard this time! We know that you guys understand that we need to keep some personal details private and we appreciate all of you who respect that. We’d be naive to think someone couldn’t dig up the info if they really wanted to (real estate is public record), but we’re not going to hand anyone anything on a silver platter over here. Haha! Thankfully our current address was leaked even before we moved into this house back in 2010 and we haven’t had a single issue and our alarm system gives us amazing peace of mind (let’s just say it talks to us and has eyes for us). And then there’s our ferocious guard dog…
Q: When was it built? How many bedrooms and bathrooms does it have? It was built 32 years ago and it has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms (so there’s actually one less tub for me to clean). The main bathroom on the first floor is a half bath, which I’m already dreaming of redoing… once we strip all the wallpaper!
Q: How much do you think you’ll make selling your current house thanks to all the improvements you put into it? That would make a fun post! Just like this post that we shared when we sold our first house, we’re definitely excited to see how it all pans out and spill all the details about how much we put into this house in home improvements vs. how much those upgrades affected the sale price. Based on the interest in our current house (we’ve had three showings!) realtors seem to think that our listing price is good so we’re hopeful there might even be a smidge of profit in there this time!
Q: Is it sad to leave Clara’s big girl room without her moving in? From the moment we moved in back in 2010, we always intended for that room to be a playroom (even though it somehow turned into a junk room for 2 years, oops!) so it has been awesome to finally enjoy that space and use it the way we always intended. Even if Clara isn’t quite ready to sleep in there yet, she has logged lots of play-time in there and if she had moved in there we’d have an empty nursery, so either way we knew she couldn’t sleep in both spaces so one would be a playroom while the other serves as her bedroom. The nice thing is that everything comes with us except for the walls, so since we didn’t do anything structural in there (like add a built-in accent wall or bunk-bed system) or cover the walls with anything fancy that stays behind (ex: cool wallpaper or a big wall mural) it can all end up at the new house with us.
Q: What about all the things that you did to this house that you can’t take with you? Like the penny tile and the new fireplace and the pergola? We love love love those things, and will definitely be sad to leave them, but we did them ourselves – which means we can always tackle them again (and alter them in new ways) for the new house if we want them there. We’re just suckers for showing a house some love, so we would never want to live anywhere and “hold back” on doing things just because we can’t take them with us (for us, doing them is half the fun sometimes). So it’s nice to spend the time that we have with those beauties while we live in the house, and know that they’ll live on. I’m deeply comforted by the fact that we can always drive by and wave at the pergola. Yeah, that’s definitely going to happen.
Q: I’d love to see a post talking about which of your recent projects you did for resale value and why you chose them. Nearly everything we’ve done recently has been on our to-do list for over a year. So they weren’t things we added to our roster for resale – they were just things we knew we’d love to tackle, many of them from the day that we moved in. So it was less about which projects we chose to do for resale (none really) and more about which projects from our to-do list that we decided to move ahead with. For example, converting a storage room into a useful playroom and upping the curb appeal wouldn’t hurt, but double siding the fireplace (which would involve a mason and a contractor since it’s load bearing) felt like more of an “if we were staying longer we’d love to do it” item. So there were a few things that we didn’t think made financial sense to do right now but we did pretty much everything else on our to-do list that we hoped to do. We’ll share a final rundown of Listy McListerson with everything checked off, and at the bottom we’re planning to put all the “would have been nice” items that we skipped – but secretly hope the new owners end up doing so we can house crash them. Haha!
Q: Will you guys miss the convenience of a ranch and having everything on one floor? We think it’ll be fun to try out a completely new house layout since our first and second house were pretty similar to each other. And I’m sure there will be tons of things that we miss about having a ranch, but we’re excited to see how a two-story house works for our family. We love that the laundry room is on the second floor with all of the bedrooms, which was one thing we really liked about ranches (not taking piles of laundry up and down stairs).
We also secretly hope that the upstairs will help us with separating work from family stuff, so we think we’ll institute a no-laptops-upstairs rule. Since we’re only twenty steps from our office when we step out of bed in our current house, it’ll be nice to be a whole floor away from it in our new house. And it’ll be awesome not to have to clean the whole house when people come over (if they’ll just be on the main level, we can shut the bedroom doors upstairs and ignore the mess like we did when we grew up in two story houses, haha).
Whew! So that should do it! Hope that helped guys. And we can’t wait to share a floor plan and all the crazy wallpaper-and-blue-trim-laden before pics with you guys while we finish things off at our current house and get this baby sold. Fingers crossed…
Can’t wait to see a floorplan! We are house hunting and would love to hear about what you looked for/avoided. I’m glad you are keeping the location of your new house “secret-er.”
…also, how did you decide to buy the house despite the leaking roof? I think that would put us off, so how did you do the calculus on that one? thanks!
We factor into a house’s price whether a new roof should be included, or whether the price is low enough that we could pay for a roof ourselves (sometimes the house is such a deal and getting to pick the new roof color is nice so you don’t get stuck with an old green one or something, haha!). In this case the house was priced so below value that a new roof was something we were happy to tackle, but we never would have bid on a house that was priced too high with a bad roof since that wouldn’t work for the budget :)
xo
s
I can see why you waited to share due to not wanting us to “move on mentally”, but was part of the reason for privacy as well? Since real estate records are public and the internet has made them so accessible? I don’t blame you for wanting some privacy…anyone can read your blog and there are some real creeps out there!
so excited for yall and your new adventure! strange question, but how fast you’re moving through houses kind of gives me anxiety! obviously there is no shortage of crap houses to fix up, but if your first one took five years, this one took three… are you going to have to move again in 18 months?! i just can’t imagine getting through things so quickly, but since this is your life and work do you have a plan? are you already three steps (houses/projects) ahead of this one?
That’s a great question! The funny thing was that our first house needed a lot of work for how small it was (fully gutted bath & kitchen) but this house was more like an unpolished gem (not too many gut jobs at all, for example all three bathrooms just got small updates and we kept the original kitchen cabinets). So it went a lot faster than we expected! The new house… woof! It has a crazy amount of hardcore gutting that needs to be done (for example, both full bathrooms are full of cracked and stained tile) so we’ve realized that the most “advanced” level of a needs-love house is the new house. Haha! I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the last house that we do and blog about, just because it could take us a really long time! We have big plans for her :)
xo
s
I can say with the utmost honesty that having the laundry room upstairs is a GAME CHANGER, for sure! I always thought it was stupid to do that (lived in ranch homes my whole life, so what did I know?), but our current townhome has it all upstairs, and it’s SO NICE not to lug the laundry up and down the stairs a bunch!
Honestly, you’re gonna LOVE it. :-)
Aw thanks Heather! Who knew laundry would get me so excited! Haha!
xo
s
Very excited for you guys but have to admit that I will miss the current house. Funny how I’ve gotten attached to something I’ve never actually seen in person. I’m thinking we should have done a group vote or something on whether you should move. We’re all in this together, right? ;-)
Hahaaha! We’ll have to take a poll next time!
xo
s
Holy cow, I’m still trying to wrap my head around just the fact that you’ve bought a house. That you bought it LAST FALL and have kept it under your hat all this time is nearly incomprehensible.
I’m so excited for you and hope your current house sells quickly. Can’t wait for the new house projects to begin!
Congratulations, John and Sherry!
Wow! I can’t believe you were able to keep it a secret for so long. I would have completely failed at that. But I totally agree with your idea to wait until Spring and finish staging the house. I’m sure it will sale quickly and so excited for you guys that you might actually make a profit.
Sherry, I bet you have been doing tons of dreaming over these past couple of months. It probably worked out best because now that you have had your house for a while you probably have a general idea of what needs to be done and how you want it to look. I am just so excited for y’all. Congratulations again.
Yes! It’s really cool how some weird first idea I’ve had has already cooked into a more developed second idea, but I’m sure it’ll keep on evolving and once we’re living there it’ll be a game changer too! We love to live somewhere and see how the house works for us, and a two level house is going to be so crazy and new! Haha. I’m such a nerd.
xo
s
I am so happy you guys found your dream home. You guys definitely deserve it after all the hard work you guys put in for your book and all the hard work you put in to the blog, I have learned to do so many home improvement projects because of you guys, so thank you so much for everything you guys do for us!
Lots of Love,
Jeanette
Thanks so much Jeanette!
xo
s
I have a few questions that I was thinking while reading your FAQ’s :)
Will you still be using your “Sue the Napkin/Pillow” color scheme?
What if someone wanted to include your beloved dining room table or your bar stools? Would you be able to let them go? Or do you definitely want them in your new house!
I am really soo so sooo excited to watch what you guys do with the new house!!!!!
We’re totally open to seeing how the new house evolves, and since it’s so different in style (and our first house decor was different than our second house’s) we can’t wait to see where we’ll end up!
xo
s
Do you plan on filling all the holes left by the many pictures hung on walls or are you leaving that along with paint remnants for the future owners?
We fill every hole and touch up every room’s paint job :)
xo
s
Oh, I do hope you show us how you touch up that hallway of frames…I did a frame wall in my current rental and didn’t think of the patch work I would have to do. Oops…
We just use a putty knife and spackle and drag it over and then sand gently and follow that with touch up paint! Maybe we can do a quick video collection of all those little things we do before we leave. Sniffle.
xo
s
I just have to say congratulations! So exciting! Your new house looks a lot like the one I grew up in- I’m sure Clara will love it. Dated though they are, I see a lot of value in all those old moldings. I see solid wood floors too. I’m just super excited for the Petersik family and excited to follow along!
Thanks so much for posting the FAQ today. I was so excited to hear more about your house, I didn’t want to have to wait until tomorrow. Clearly, I would not be able to keep a secret for 6 months!
Hahah!
xo
s
Oh my goodness am I glad you posted this today instead of waiting until tomorrow! I have been biting at the bit waiting for details of Casa Petersik: la Casa Grande! I really respect you guys for doing what felt right for you (waiting to spill the beans until now) and for handling everyone’s varying reactions with such class. Best of luck with the showings, and I can’t WAIT to continue on this journey with you guys :)
Aw thanks Kim :)
xo
s
What an exciting time for all of you – and fun that Clara gets to be involved this time around!
Do you think you’ll stick to the same sort of decorating style in your new house (or is that spoiling the fun to give that away now)? ;)
I definitely think our new house will be at least as different in style as our first two (we just tend to evolve as we go) especially since the new house is so stately! I think we might lean more towards some traditional things but still keep it lived in (nothing stuffy!) and add some color because, come on, it’s us! Haha!
xo
s
The blue trim comment about your new house makes me laugh. Some friends of mine bought a house last year and everything was yellow, gold, and mustard. Gold carpets, mustard trim, ugh! It’s been awesome how they’ve transformed it to their style. I live in a townhouse so my diy ability is limited, (though we are doing some minor yard improvements), so I live vicariously through you guys, lol. I can’t wait to see what you do with it! I’ll keep my fingers crossed and pray for quick sale :)
SO EXCITED I CAN’T STAND IT!!!!!! NEW HOUSE LOOKS AMAZEBALLS!!!!
Haha, thanks Bethany!
xo
s
Holy Bananas – you closed in the FALL!?!? What a great job of keeping that secret. I love that you were able to do this and I can’t wait to see what projects are in store.
I am sending you my sympathies for the wallpaper. Removing it can be a beast.
Eeks, I’m skeeered!
xo
s
Eeh, it’s a terrible job, but very doable. We had five rooms to do when we bought our house and I just made a goal of one year to get rid of it all, giving myself more than two months per space. It’s better to start right away when you have all the excitement and motivation. We got four spaces done the first year and finished the last one six months later, but then we did have a baby that first year too, so I don’t feel too bad. Several times I was tempted to paint it, but that really would have been the lazy way out and looked worse later. Plus, once it’s done, it’s done forever!!!
Sooooo you guys are actually flippers right? And just blog on the side? ;)
Haha, I actually follow a house flipping blog and it’s amazing and makes my brain hurt! They completely redo a house in 3-4 months! Sometimes even faster! It’s incredible and completely something we’d suck at! Haha! We’re all about “let’s live here a year before we redo the kitchen” stuff. Haha!
xo
s
Oooh! What house flipping blog is that? Sounds like a great read…Also, congrats on the new house and on being very classy people. Love the way you two handle life.:-)
It’s this one! She has done so many and blows me away with her speed! http://itsgreattobehome.net/2013/05/01/the-big-box-kitchen-series-meeting-with-the-kitchen-designer/
xo
s
Your new house is absolutely gorgeous!! (not that the other one isn’t ;) ) I can’t wait to see all the updates that come with it! Congrats!
Haha I am so excited for you guys – It makes me want to start looking for a new house! I can’t imagine keeping a secret for six months but I totally understand why you did. Keeping us focused on the current place was the way to go! My husband and I also have an ongoing list of projects to do and even if we put our house on the market tomorrow I would still want to complete what we could. I totally get it! In no way do I feel hoodwinked! Clara’s playroom, fireplace, pergola and all your other projects feel 100% Petersik to me. I can’t wait to see what you guys do next!!
I had a list of 3 things (2 of them typos) but now I’m down to one….CAN WE PLEASE MOVE IN!?!
I would gladly take a change of scenery-I love me some Texas but am dying to check out this fabulous city you two boast about. Plus, all the reno work is done for me, so I don’t have to pretend like I can come up with decorating ideas, let alone tackle them (the hubby knows I have zero attention span).
I will say congrats to you guys, and don’t worry if you upset some readers, like another person said, it’s your blog and was well thought out with the whens and wheres you wanted to disclose to us. I will send good vibes that the house sells fast-so I can see how you tackle that gorgeous wallpaper, in order to help my same issue out ;)
PS-I think it’s cute that you started putting smiley faces in your posts :D
Haha, I’m just bursting with happiness! Haha! :) :) :)
xo
s
Maybe this speaks to the fact that I’m 22 and live in an apartment, but all the talk about mortgage/equity, etc… My eyes glossed over and I just started picturing how you will do your new house :)
Hahahah! I totally would have done that at 24, so you’re good :)
xo,
s
That’s ok, I’m 32 and own a home with my husband, and my eyes still glaze over ;) I want to get better at learning all this house mumbo jumbo, but can never seem to remember it all let alone keep it straight!
Congratulations! So happy for your family! You did what is best for you and that is what is most important!
I think you will love the two story for all the reasons you mentioned. At first, when we were house hunting I thought we wanted a ranch. But having that division of space is great! I don’t even mind the stairs like I thought I would. Looking forward to reading about your new adventure!
Third comment of the day . . . no biggie – I am so looking forward to some red in the new house since Sherry is loving it these days! I bet you’re so excited to use it in a room (or two).
Yes RED!! Wahoo!
xo
s
Yay! Can’t wait to see what you guys do next. Especially after seeing the sneak peek of that wallpaper.
First off, props on keeping the new house a secret for so long! I don’t know how you guys managed not to let even a single clue slip through the cracks. So, bravo.
Second, my sister (who also reads your blog, but I don’t think comments, or reads the comments, but if she does, hi Emmy!) and her husband actually just closed on their first house yesterday! They’ve lived in two different apartments since they got married almost two years ago, and are so excited about having a house! And stairs! And a garage! But, yeah, she’s super excited, cause they’re also moving in June/July, and their house also needs some love, so she’s thrilled that you guys are starting on a brand new house at the same time she is :-) She’s also excited because her younger sister (ahem) happens to be an interior design major, and owns a paint deck/fan that she’s letting her big sister borrow.
And I’ll end this super long comment with a big fat “YAY! CONGRATULATIONS!”
*Also, u smell like a fart (jk, not really. Well, I’m assuming you don’t. I’ve never actually smelled you… I just happened to notice that in your comment regulation thing-y, and felt compelled to add it)
I can’t believe that I saw a snippet of my old kitchen wallpaper in one of your photo collages for the new house. It was a bugger to remove !!! Can’t wait to see what you do with this one. Good Luck and have fun….you always seem to!!!!
Again, so happy for you! Thanks for answering all the questions. I can’t wait to see Clara’s new big girl room and what sort of crazy stuff you’ll do.
Also, to those worried about the whole decorate for resale versus yourself thing, my mom ALWAYS mentioned resale with stuff. I couldn’t paint my room bright purple as a kid because of resale. We lived in that house 14 years! So at least your decisions make some sense. I’m still bitter about having the palest purple wall ever — it was the first line on the paint swatch — because my mom said it would be easier to paint over.
Congrats on the new house. I’m sure you’re going to make it Petersiktastic! I was just wondering how your keeping your current home staged with a toddler? I’m about to have to do the same with a 2yo and a 9 month old and I’m totally stressed.
OH MAN IT’S HARD! We’ll definitely be writing a post about how we’re doing the showing/staging thing :)
xo
s
Funny story – we (our cat) just found an baby opossum IN our house 2 nights ago. We woke up in the middle of the night to see it ‘playing opossum’ 2 feet from where we were sleeping. Not cool.
So not cool! Hope it didn’t come snuggle. :)
-John
I have a question that I don’t think u answered, but if u did forgive me, u had a lot of comments yesterday.what if u got a solid offer but it was from someone. Who was not comfortable with pictures of their house all over the Internet? Would u take them down or would u just wait for another offer? Just curious
We’ve been disclosing the blog to everyone upfront because we certainly want to make sure they’re comfortable with that to start with. We’d never delete our pictures, so you don’t have to worry about that stuff disappearing! :)
-John
SO SO SO excited for y’all! God bless and best of luck selling! Can’t wait to hear more about the sale process as we are in the market for a new home ourselves. ;)
I am so happy for you guys! A new house means so many great new things!
It seems like a lot of folks have some pretty strong opinions about this and I hope that it is mostly due to the fact that your readers feel so close to you and your family through this blog. I think folks forget that you are real people with real lives and a need for privacy (you cant possibly share everything). I think the way you handled this announcement shows a respect for your readers, your family, and your careers. Change is such a good thing and above all else, you must do what is right for your family and your life. *steps off soap box*
I think most would agree that we are with you no matter what!
Thank you!
Thanks so much Taylor! You’re so sweet.
xo,
s
this.
i am always agog at what my sainted mother would call bossypants remarks from strangers. caramba!
I wish I was as good as you at keeping secrets! ;) Congratulations and I cannot wait to see what you do with the new space!
My husband was shocked when I told him “the people who own Burger are moving,” yesterday, but we are all so excited for your family! Quick question: do you think you’ll leave behind things like the master room headboard and your Roman shades? Not sure if those are considered built-ins, but am curious since they’re drilled in to the wall/window.
The headboard is coming with us (it’s actually attached to the bed) but most of the window treatments are staying, including the roman shades.
-John
Random question: what’s in the box on the sidewalk in the panned out shot of the new house?
Oh, that picture was taken when the other owner was moving a few things out so it’s just one of their moving boxes.
-John
Darn, that’s not very exciting…lol
I am so so excited for a total reno!
The house looks so perfect! you guys really inspire me to get saving, I’m just finishing college in the uk and getting on the job hunt and seeing what you guys have makes it all seem worth it!
And I’m not going to lie, as weird as it sounds I am kind of, a little bit, hoping the house has a really ugly 70’s kitchen…I loved checking in every day (as I do now) to see how the kitchen was going when you did it at your current house!
good luck guys :)
xoxo
after watching the past two kitchens, and pining away for a new one myself, I cannot wait to see what you do with this one! AND STAIRS!!! I have hardwood under my fugly carpet and debating what to do with it.. looking forward to see how you guys tackle that one ( so I can just copy you..) Congrats Petersiks!
Congrats again guys! I was curious if you ever worried about Clara accidentally letting it slip. She obviously was at the new house with you and is old enough to understand buying and moving to a new house. Could she not have said something at preschool (ie to not a family member)? I know that when our daughter was not quite 2.5 we told her the name of her not-yet-born baby brother, never dreaming she’d actually remember it or think of it, yet she totally spilled the beans to my mom a few days/weeks later! Kids are pretty smart . . .
It’s true! She’s chatty, and she’s obsessed with “the new house!” but somehow we’ve never heard (at least no one has told us) that it’s worked its way into any public conversations. She’s insanely bright about it though, like when we turn onto that street and are still 20 houses from ours she’ll say “the new house!!!” – it’s so cute.
xo
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:)
Congrats!
I can’t wait to see what you do with the new house. We just bought a two story that was built in 1982 that is rocking many of the same things as your new home. Wallpaper in nearly every room, 6 different shades of carpet in the living/bedroom/bathrooms(!), ugly tile, etc.
I’ve already started work stripping the wallpaper in our bathroom and insist you invest in a steamer. We tried starting with the spray but it just wasn’t working so I splurged on a Wagner steamer and it made life much easier. Go with the one with a trigger to control the steam otherwise you’re sure to burn yourself!
Good luck and can’t wait to see how it all evolves! :)
When we had to remove wallpaper, we spent days trying out millions of different things. Apparently the right solution depends on what kind of wallpaper it is and what kind of glue they use. Our house had different kinds in every room.
We found that scoring it, then spraying with liquid fabric softener, and then using a steamer was the perfect trifecta. We still had to get hardcore in a few tough spots, but most of the time that combination literally made the paper just melt right off. Not much can compare to the feeling of accomplishment you get from watching wallpaper die. Haha.
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for the tip Abby!
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Will there be room for a revised gallery wall somewhere in the new house?
I am of course very excited for you, but I’m still grappling with letting go of your current house apparently!
Xx
I vote yes and John votes no. Such a fun hater! Haha! I think I can sneak one in there somewhere…
xo
s
This is the first time I’ve ever commented on a post, but I’ve been a reader (and a book owner) for quite a while. I can’t believe y’all have been able to keep buying a home a secret for this long.
I’m also in the Richmond area and actually looked at this home (don’t worry, the location secret is safe with me) during our home search before my fiance and I bought our current home. We ended up moving less than a mile from where I grew up which gives me flashbacks every time I go to Ukrops…err Martin’s.
I can’t wait to see what y’all do to improve each and every space! I wish y’all luck with everything (especially selling your current home quickly) and congratulations again!
No way! Well now you get to see the answer to “whatever happened to that one house we looked at…” (Am I the only one who ponders these things?)
-John
The penny tile!!! I hadn’t even thought about leaving the lovely penny tile…sniff.
I would love for y’all to do a top 10 or so o what you feel is important for resale value. We moved into our cookie cutter neighborhood two years ago with the knowledge of moving in another 6-8 years. Our house is a spec house so there is plenty of room to upgrade, but do we leave the Formica or replace it with granite? I am totally stumped on best resale boosts. With having been in the resale category now twice you have I have heard something about these! Especially since you did some showings with agents!
That would be a fun post!
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Congrats!! Can’t wait to see what you do with a two-story house. I bet it will be two floors of pure DIY awesomeness!!
Finding an opossum in your house is a nasty surprise. When I was in college, my sorority had moved into a former fraternity house and we found and entire family of opossums living in the crawl space. A group of sorority girls trying to catch a family of opossums with pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils is not very effective. It is, however, a very hilarious thing to witness.
As my husband and I are about to embark on our first home-buying experience, I’m so bummed that my new job isn’t in Richmond! I would kill to buy your house! :) Congrats on your new adventure!
Aw thanks Kate!
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I always end up sending you these, so if you ever need someone to proof read your posts! I would be SO good at that! :) I saw a few typos:
1) First Question: you wrote “so are fingers our crossed” – obviously a little dyslexia going on there! LOL. Happens to me ALL the time!
2) Third Question: you wrote “plus we don’t to move all”, and I think you left out “want” or “have” or something.
3) ? Question (the one about which recent posts have you done for resale value): you spelled year wrong.
Hope you don’t mind! Only trying to be helpful! :)
Also, have a question… Will you bring the built in desk with you? or does it have to stay because it is built in?
Congrats again!
Thanks Karrie! So helpful! All fixed :)
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If your showings don’t work out, my parents are seriously interested in your house. My mother hates brick ranches… her word is actually “detests,” so she feels pretty strongly, but I’ve showed her pictures of your house on the blog before when trying to show her some of my ideas and visions and she LOVES your house. It’s going to take a lot to get them to move to the Richmond area, and the right house will do the trick :)
Haha, that’s so cute! We’ll let you know if they don’t work out :)
xo
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Congrats on the new house!! I had a feeling that you guys were gearing up to move with the flurry of upgrades you had going on! I’m so excited to see what you do with the new place, and hope everything goes great will selling your current one :)