Out With the Old, In With the...

The day after Christmas we picked up the keys to our new house. Well, new. Not new exactly; it was built in 1914 or thereabouts.

My husband and I have been looking around for a few years, not in any organized way, but checking out houses we've seen for sale and doing drive-by appraisals. It would go something like this:

Me: Did you see that house on the corner by the high school was for sale?

Husband: You mean the one with the swing on the front porch?

Me: It might need some work, but it could be really cute.

We would jump in the car and take a look. And it would be easy to talk ourselves out of it. Too big, too small. In need of a major overhaul. Too near the highway. Not close enough to work.

A couple of times we were interested enough to call the real estate agent and actually take a look inside. But, there was always something. A wet basement. Shoddy home improvements which would have to be torn out and redone. Or no improvements at all in the past 50 years, meaning that we would be renovating for the next ten years.

This fall we got a little more serious. We made a list of what we wanted. It was simple, really. All that time looking at different houses had given us a pretty good perspective on what we wanted, what we didn't want, and what we were willing to compromise on.

And then we found it. Not too big, not too small. Some renovations done, but done well, and in keeping with the age of the house. A big space for my husband to have his workshop. A nice light room for my sewing. On a quiet side street, but close to work.

This week I've been scrubbing down walls in preparation for painting this weekend. (Not that they needed scrubbing, really. The owners left it in immaculate condition. But, still.) And once we get it painted we'll be moving in.

Now I promise that this won't turn into a home renovation blog, because I think home improvements are really only interesting to the people who are doing them. But, blog posts are going to be a little more sparse than usual over the next month, as we disassemble this household and move it all over to the new house.

Wish us luck, please!