The Wishlist

 Let's get the things we're looking for in a house noted.  We've done a lot to make this house ours, but it still isn't meeting our needs.  Here are the things that are highest on our list of wants.

Entry way space and flow.  We get traffic jams in our entry way when there's just 2 of us coming through the door.  I want an entry with long runner rug drawing you to walk more than one step in the door.  We also have tiny, jam-packed coat closet spaces by our doors and don't care for separate garage and main entry ways.

After: entry way

Dining space. I don't think I need to elaborate on this one.  It would be nice to have a comfortable place to eat with more than 4 people.  I don't need more square feet here, I just need better flow.  Our current dining room is separated off from the rest of the house by a narrow passageway from the kitchen.  It's really nasty every year at Noah's birthday party and Christmas.  Makes me not want to celebrate and that's not fun.





After: dining room



Workshop.  Or larger utility room.  We do our projects in whichever space we're willing to "sacrifice" to the mess of the project at the time.  They become frustrating because you can't leave it out for long enough to finish it (if it's a main living area and a long-ish project).  Tripping over half finished projects isn't much fun, but doing "projects" is!  We need an area that's perfectly acceptable and properly situated to let the creative juices flow.

Project going on in "after" living room.

Flatter yard.  We love our skyline views and the uniqueness it lends to our house, but with a preschool boy going outside to play, it definitely adds to our stress level.  Hillside gardening is a special challenge as well, and getting up and down the driveway, especially in the winter or on a bike!  We think a flatter yard will make it easier to say howdy to the neighbors as well, and neighbors can add to quality of life.



Before house front, after installing the landscaping

 Bigger Garage.  Yes, we only have one car and an oversized one car garage plus shed which is about equivalent to a 2 car garage.  The trouble is we have so many toys, tools, and gear.  We don't use the shed much for anything we want access to because it's way down the hill, so far to haul stuff. 

Quieter.  We're less than a block away from 2 very busy city streets, with tons of buses running daily.  We have a few commercial grade heating and cooling systems within a block that hum like jets.  We are within 10 blocks of 2 helicopter pads that are relatively active.  Downtown just isn't a quite place to be.  Washing the car in the driveway on a quiet Sunday morning is anything but quiet, even though there are no buses or people around at that time.

Now, the question is, can we do all that without adding much for square feet (because that would be more to clean and maintain), keeping features that we have and love, and in a place that's managable for getting to/from work and an acceptable school for Noah??  I'll let you know if, when, what we find!

Update on Operation White-Out

We painted the majority of the main floor white.  It feels a lot more open and bright, which really helps in an old house like this.  When it came to the office, which was "spicy cayenne", I wasn't ready to go all white.  It needed a little something else...

Before operation white out moved in!

I'm on board with the color that everyone is painting this year.  And, we have some on hand from the condo projects.  So, we painted it "architectural gray".

After

After - the desk is still a junk zone!

We re-arranged a few things in the process here, too.  The bookshelf and toy bins went into Noah's room.  I like it much better in there.  He doesn't play up there, ever, but he could if he wanted to.  It's more homey in his room now, with more of his things in there.  Here, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Noah's toy/book/play spot.

 We're done now.  This is the last time we re-paint/re-stage this place.  I put the "after" pictures on the "Our house" page.  Come to me buyer, come to me...  Got my eye on a foreclosure that likely won't last long.