Thursday, April 17, 2014

Paint Colors

Our insurance claim repairs finally finished up last week. Two of the bedrooms were painted (the pink room and the master bedroom) and we're really pleased with how they came out. The pink room is painted a lovely shade of gray. It's the same color as the other small bedroom. 


The color is 'Gentle Rain' by Behr. It's a much lighter gray, both in person and usually online. (I don't know why it looks so dark.) 

In the master bedroom, we went very bold with Sherwin Williams' Jargon Jade.


The painter asked me if I was sure this was what we wanted. Our contractor's business partner asked me if this was the color I'd intended the room to be painted. Johnny asked me if anyone would buy the house with the bedroom such a wild color. (I pointed out he bought a house with a purple room.) 

The colors came out beautifully; I'll have photo evidence once the rooms are back together and looking like people who aren't squatters live in them.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

We Looked At A House

Somehow, we've become obsessed with the idea of buying a fixer-upper in a neighborhood we really like.

Now, you're probably all thinking this is a terrible idea. After all, we're the people who took months to replace a toilet (hey, it was grouted to the floor!), still haven't filled in our pool (we're waiting to hear back from a contractor!), and didn't paint our hideous pink and purple room until water damage forced some subcontractors to paint it for us.

But we've been doing better, really! I painted one bedroom before the water damage debacle. Johnny and I have been working diligently on the front yard. And we've both found reserves of willpower we didn't know we had thanks to doing this wacky Whole30 diet.

So last weekend we went to look at a house in the historic Maple Ridge neighborhood in Tulsa. The location couldn't be better. The house...Well, the house could be a lot better. We knew it was probably in rough shape, as it's being sold as a short sale and there were no pictures of the interior.

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary little bungalow that needs some love. However, the real estate agent was right when he said "I hope you have your brave hats on" before we went inside.

Front bedroom, complete with bizarre extra room.
Back bedroom, with a tampon applicator on the floor,
writing ALL OVER the walls, and "MURDER" written in
large letters. Fun!
Living/dining room.
Bizarre huge closet off the back bedroom. Totally baffled
as to its original function.
Kitchen, which has clearly seen improvements in the last
decade or so. 
As if the interior weren't terrifying enough, the exterior was somehow more frightening.



The foundation is definitely not in good shape. One of the basement walls had caved in completely, and it was easy to feel the slope of a ruined foundation while walking inside the house.

Now, the property is priced very cheaply and thus, is very tempting. But do a couple of people who have trouble not giving up on installing a toilet need to tackle a project of this scope? Sadly, the answer is "probably not". But that hasn't stopped us from reading all about home renovation...


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