and then there was the bathroom

I don't have very good before pictures of the bathroom, but let me try to describe it.
The main bathroom is VERY small ... oddly we still bought the house. We were spoiled with our last house in that even tho we only had 1.5 baths, our main bath was rather roomy for an older house.

This bath is typical of the cape style houses found here at the beach. Almost every cape we went into had a similar layout. And actually one of the reasons we liked this little brick house by the marsh is that on either side of this bathroom were decent sized closets for each bedroom. The lack of closet space in houses by the water is astounding. Well...not the houses right on the water - I bet they have loads of closet space, or at least I would hope so. It would really piss me off to pay a million bucks for a house and have my clothes jammed into makeshift closets in the eves.

Anyway... back to the bathroom -

The previous owners had recently remodeled this tiny bathroom to include a really cheap plastic spa tub.
It may look ok in this picture - but the thing warped when you got in. And as we have already established, the previous owners idea of clean and my idea of clean could not be farther apart. I would NEVER be able to bathe in this tub. Just thinking of it now is making me shiver...

And ..yes... it is surrounded by black, fake-marbly tile. Even the ceiling was black tile. Really, what do people think about?

On the other side of the room they installed the largest vanity they could find - perfect for the tiny space.


Clearly ALL this had to go...



We had a new cast iron tub installed.

My artistic-wife picked out delicious tile for the floor - since it was such a small space we spoiled ourselves with marble. It feels amazing under bare feet.


She brightened up the shower area using white and some playful blues.



Then we went to Ikea - who shines at clever ideas for small spaces and got this small vanity and very cool sink/faucet.


Please note: that while currently functional, this room is still under construction. A leak (we now say "yet another leak") was discovered in the wall mounted bathroom fan... this leaking... is a whole 'nother story.

This is why we don't need a truck

My spontaneous-wife has been amassing plantings for the new house.
It's hard to see because of the background - but she pulled into the driveway with this...



I hear they loaded it into the car with a forklift, while commenting "Well this is a first."

She had it planted right away.

Please don't chat it up with people I am paying hourly

This place is crawling with hired help right now to help us ready the house for sale.

I need them to all stop being so damned friendly with each other.
Our septic folks have been coming here for over 20 years and are very nice people, but they need to realize I am paying these landscapers by the hour.

:/

Gotta run, the chimney guy is here...

the look of fate

So here is how it happened.

We decided quite recently that we were finally serious about moving. No really - we were gonna move. We had been talking about moving for years - the talking was getting old.

A plan was devised and lists were made.

We started watching new homes pop onto the market in the areas we were shopping.
This was exciting. Tho we still had much to do here to prepare this house for sale.

Suddenly (read this as the moment we decided to start looking) my excited wife found her dream home.
Please keep in mind... the last 'dream home' she found was, well let's call it a "vintage home", replete with crumbling foundation, sagging roof and leaning enough to notice while driving by. Needless to say I was skeptical.

But I have to say - the online pictures had me intrigued.

An adorable little cape, freshly done hardwood, a cute little layout and best of all - full ocean views from the front yard.
Whats not to like.
We did a drive by that night.

We got excited. We called our realtor the next day.
He said... "If only you had called 20 minutes ago"

Well, ok. Whattaya gonna do.

So there, the door had been opened - so we (read 'we' as 'my eager wife') threw the door open wide and started to look.

We saw a couple houses that were downright scary.
In one home I swear someone must have died while making dinner - and no one thought to clean that up before showing the house. This house would need siding, windows, chimney, roof and complete gutting inside.
It had two bids.

Hmm. Are we starting to see a pattern here.

One cold and rainy evening we walked through five houses in the desired neighborhood.
One was to smelly, one was two small, one was ok, one was on deposit and then there was one that was really quite nice.

But we didn't want to do anything rash. This house had been on the market for a couple months. So we figured... no rush.

Two days later we went to see another house (the one where I swear someone died) and walked out shaking our heads. The views were nice, but we were just not up for that much renovation.
We noticed that the rather nice house from the other night was about to have an open house.

Oh my.

We MUST go.

And here is where fate reared its beautiful head.

We arrived a full hour before the open house was to begin.
As we walked into the house our realtor introduced us to the listing agent, a friend, a good guy.
I shook his hand and turned to introduce my wife, already wanding around the first floor.
He, without missing a beat, and with an unmistakable lilt said
"Oh, honey - you're gonna love it here. This neighborhood is sooo accepting.
I live right down the block and have won the best garden award for two years running."

The deal was practically sealed.

But after wanding around the house for awhile, and getting annoyed at the other people coming in and out and walking through 'our' house... there was a moment.
A moment between my wife and I that makes me love this house even more...

She stood in the dining room, and I in the living room - and over the stairs our eyes met. I raised my eyebrows and pressed my lips, and gave just the slightest shrug of my shoulders indicating the silent inflection of a question.
She nodded. Her lips gently spreading into a devilish smile.

I turned to the agent and said, "Ok, what do we need to do to get this done."