Life's Laundry

Yikes!

Yikes is right! 

• The lender called Tuesday and said that they wanted to move the closing up to next Thursday the 15th.
• My Moving Sale is tomorrow and Saturday.  So far, I've removed over 60 boxes from our storage units and our home with items for this sale. Over one half of the clothing items are going on the FREE TABLE.  My goal is $500.  Anything over that amount will be gravy.
• The HVAC guys begin next Thursday at noon to clear out the crawlspace so that the contractor can get in the crawl space to do the additional supports.
• All except one of the additional subcontractors are scheduled.  We are having a bit of trouble finding a cement guy because all of the preferred locals here have headed towards MS, LA, and AL for construction work after Katrina.
• I spent several hours yesterday at Lowe's finalizing my cabinet order and purchasing every light fixture (ambient, ceiling fan, task, etc) for my kitchen. So far, with the discounts that I've gotten on clearance items and the discount that I got with my coupon - I've saved over $1790 on my purchases from Lowe's. This makes me very happy.
• I found and purchased our over the range microwave yesterday too.  A $400 unit for only $298 (before my 10% coupon - thank you Jane for cluing me into those)
• The only thing yet to be purchased to complete the kitchen is the flooring and paint.
• My dad came up to the new house on Tuesday to take a look around and make a list of things that he'll do and tools that he will need to bring with him.  He will come next Thursday and begin his work immediately after we close.  Since we will have water and electricity, he will be camping out in the upstairs bedroom.  He'll be able to sleep/work when he wants and someone will be on the property at night.  It's ok with me that my daddy gets to sleep in our new house before we do.
• Did I mention that we close in a week?  :)
• So far, I am still $700 under budget on the kitchen.  I sure hope that I'll be able to find a tremendous deal at one of the flooring places in Dalton (the carpet/flooring capitol of the world).  The last time I purchased flooring from there, I found $350 retail worth of flooring for $90.
• I found the fabric for the duvet cover for our master bedroom. My mom is making that for me.
• Yesterday while at Lowe's, I matched paint for the MBR and kitchen.
• We really need B's school accounts to PAY THEIR INVOICES.  Some have been outstanding since May of this year and he contacted everyone first of last week and called for payment to be made in 10 days.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that this $22K comes through in the next month or otherwise we will be putting these remodeling items on our credit cards to be paid off when that money does come in.  I hate the way that unsecured debt makes me feel and avoid it at almost all cost.
• This morning I have to drop off the $75 deposit for our water to be connected.
• We've placed the order with the developer for our mailbox.  I can't get what I want and will have to do with what we get because it fits the covenants and restrictions of Battle Farm.
• Yesterday B took care of having the power and telephone turned on.  Everything is scheduled for connection next Wednesday.  We already know our new phone number - we just don't know when we'll be in the house to use it all the time.
• The garage doors have been ordered.
• The annuity withdrawals are in process and unless something major happens, we should have that money by next Tuesday at the latest.
• The check from the medical malpractice has been deposited and cleared.
• All of our bills are paid (I'm worried that I'm going to forget something in all the hustle and bustle of activity)
• We are eating out of our freezer to save money and to lessen the amount of food that we have to move. I have spent only $100 in the past 3 weeks for supplemental items to our meals.
• There's so much activity every day.  I'm pacing myself and keeping track of my Master To Do List with much ease (thanks to Franklin Cover Plan Plus). A reasonable amount is being delegated to B so that I don't get overwhelmed.  He has the major child care responsibility because he wants it that way (I love him for this - he loves his children) or perhaps because he wants to avoid anything that has to do with 'selection' of anything that involves color or matching, LOL.
• I'll start packing and weeding out the few remaining things here that we don't want to take once the bulk of the remodeling work is done and we are waiting on the kitchen cabinets to arrive.  I should have about 3 weeks between when we finish and when the kitchen is completely finished.  Once the cabinets arrive (anywhere from 6-9 weeks) we'll still have another 10 days for the countertops to arrive and be installed.
• If I live through the next 2 days of this moving sale - I can make it through anything.....including the remodeling.
• When I'm adding gray hairs by the minute and losing my mind by the second - just remind me that I proclaimed the previous bullet, ok?

My 1st Purchase For My Kitchen

The cabinets cannot be ordered until the installer does a site visit to confirm (measure) that the plan that we have will indeed fit into the space that we have.  This will be next Wednesday or Thursday.  I'm resisting the urge to feel anxious that we are working in a deficit when it comes to the kitchen.  I want to be in the home before the end of October and I predict that it will be the kitchen cabinets/flooring/counter tops that prevent us from moving in.

On a much happier note - I found this deal last night at Lowe's.  It was already in clearance as a floor model sale and I was able to negotiate another $200 off the 'clearance' price.  They will hold it in the back until we close.  I'll store it in the den until the kitchen is finished and ready for it to be installed.

I'm looking forward to using this appliance :)

Yes! That is 2 ovens....the smaller one will hold all my casserole dishes, the lasagna pan, pizzas, cookie sheets.  Not all at once, mind you; but individually. The upper oven has 4 racks that are all adjustable.  I think, suspect, know, believe I'm getting excited.

I had to opt for all electric because we discovered yesterday (after speaking with the gas company) that the natural gas line to the house had been killed when the developer went in and made the road to subdivide.  We'd have to pay $500+ for the new tie in.  There is no natural gas to the subdivision.  This means that we have to remove the really nice gas logs in the den fireplace and burn wood there.  We could bury a propane tank in the yard and use that but we don't want to spend the money to install or furnish it.  Like B says - its just another small thing in the whole scheme of things.....but its not a deal breaker.  If I'm tempted to be irritated or upset with the fact that we have no natural gas supply - I'll just go sit in the kitchen and stare at my new and spacious cabinets and all my appliances :)

Things Have Changed Since Yesterday :)

Look what I found today at the opening of our subdivision.......

Nice stonework, huh?  The fence and the sign and that stone work around the base are all new.  Once the ground gets sodded and some flowers are placed in that planter - that's going to be
G E O R G E O U S !!!

Here's a closer view of the sign.  It is difficult to tell with the angle of the camera but the carraige style iron work that the sign is hanging from is really attractive and eye catching.

Information Is Sometimes Better Than Joy

I only have a few short minutes to spend here but I wanted to share an update on the information that the inspector provided.

I had 4 businesses come out to the new house today and give me estimates on the duct job.  I had them price removing the current mess, replacing the duct system with new system and installing a 4 ton package unit.  The highest bid was $9600 and the lowest bid was $5000.  Why the big difference?  Because the lowest bid was from a father son team who installed our current system 6 years ago and they don't believe in making a month's salary on one job.  Since they are not located in Rome but do service that area and we are already current customers and have sent them several referrals in the past 5 years.....we get the job done for $5K.  The equipment and brand was basically the same with each of the businesses  - just the labor is different.

I talked with the contractor and we went over item by item on the inspector's report.  We evaluated together the validity, importance and expense of each item.  He helped me work out a time line for the next 48 months so that all of the items can eventually be completed. We identified the items that are of critical importance and must be completed before we move in. He can handle the support structure issues/repairs and that will add an additional $1000 to the cost of what he has already quoted me. This brings his portion for materials and labor to $4500.

One thing that our contractor said to me that stuck with me and helped me to side with the position that B was already taking is that I will not be able to go anywhere in this county or upper part of this state and find a home for the same square footage and amount of property and buy it and build a house the same size for less than $300K plus some. I won't find the same quality construction that my house has and it will be a headache dealing with building. He expects the cost of building materials to jump a great deal due to the rebuilding in the LA, AL and MS states.  He helped me to see that I'm talking about spending an additional $6-$8 K.  He echoed what B said - they are just repairs, nothing more, nothing less.  We'll work out the money.

I think a good bit of my anxiety comes from some old money issues with my previous marriage.  Every time I would get ahead and have savings, he would go in a clean me out.  I feel anxious when I think about not having an adequate nest egg or that we're spending money over what we have budgeted.  We worked out the numbers this morning at breakfast and discovered that it will be just fine. We will even have $2500 left for things that come up that we weren't prepared for.  If we don't use this money - we'll put it towards the priority for next year and get started with that list.

I spoke to our buyer's agent.  The electricity and water will be back on tomorrow and switched to our name the day of closing.  We schedule the utilities sometime next week.  The guys doing the duct work will clean out the day of closing and then come back 2 or 3 days later so that our contractor has time to get in the crawl space to do the support work with the crawl space empty.  Once the contractor is done then the HVAC guys can come back and make it all new again and put in that unit.  While this is going on - we'll get that kitchen torn out and put that exterior door in.  The garage guy (that we are required to use due to the covenants in the subdivision) is meeting me at 2 tomorrow (Friday) to select a door and measure to order.  There is a 4 week turnaround time on the door.  This isn't what I wanted to hear because I won't be able to store anything in that garage space without a door since we aren't living there yet.  I'll work around it.

The lending officer called to tell me that she has a tentative closing date of Friday, September 16th.  I asked if there was any way that we could do it on the 14th and she said she would see but no promises.  I mentioned to her that I had spoken with several lending officers that I was connected with through LendingTree.com and that one lending officer had quoted me an interest rate of 5.5% on a 30 year fixed.  She matched that rate (coming down from a 5.8%) and we locked in at that rate.  She emailed me the new truth in lending expenses of settlement cost and we are in excellent shape financially with what we have to come up with at closing.  We will put less down to complete the additional repairs but will still be at a 70% loan.  Our house payment with escrow will be well within our budget.  This makes us both v. v. happy.

Next week I'm focused on preparing for the moving sale.  That sale must take place the 9th and 10th of this month come hell or highwater.  I wish I had some friends to come for a few days to help me go through the things in the storage unit.  That unit will be my biggest challenge.  I'll just put the boxes out on the lawn if I have to because I am getting rid of all of those things.  My goal is to make enough so that I can pay for our first month's house payment.  The last yard sale that we had, I made $1107.  Keep your fingers crossed that this one does better than that.  We are selling a good bit of furniture this time.

So - we are not withdrawing our offer.  We will close in about 15 days and hopefully be able to complete the repairs and remodeling in time to move before we attend our friend's wedding in Wisconsin on the 14th of October.

Joy Comes In The Morning

Joy comes in the morning.....or does it? Or is it just the same reality that you were dealing with when you went to bed in the darkness?  Did the light of day usher with it a new appreciation for life's details that you couldn't see just 10 hours previously?  Will more joy come as the sun shines brighter?

I'm a brewing mix of emotions this morning (in no particular order) and feel like I'm still in the blind cover of darkness.  Frustration, trepidation, excitement, longing, uneasiness, thankfulness, optimism,  worry, confident - all of those emotions joilting and banging around in my head like a bumper car ride at the county fair.  It doesn't quite all fit into a square box with a pretty bow, does it?

Yesterday afternoon and into the evening was the home inspection with a certified home inspector. B stayed home with the children while I met the inspector at the Quarter Horse Lane house. he didn't think he would be able to take the heat so we opted for me to go alone and him stay with the kids.  The inspector started at 6:25pm and I walked away with our 14 page report, which included 2 summary pictures at 10:15pm.  I get 20 more pictures this afternoon after he scans them so that he can retain a copy.

I cried on the way home.

The entire crawl space is a zoo.  The ductwork in that crawlspace is in horrible disrepair. Over half of the duct system has lost its insulation and is either loose (its old and metal) or has come apart already.  Over 90% of the insulation in the crawlspace is either wet and ruined or is hanging down with parts touching the wet dirt floor and will be ruined soon.  Whoever runs the downstairs unit is cooling the crawlspace and pumping that cold air into a space that is already heavy with moisture.  The entire ductwork feeding the bottom floor will have to be replaced before we can move in and operate the air conditioning system.  To run the system as it is now will mean that we pay for 3 times more operating in the air handler than is needed for the house and we continue to weaken the structure system underneath the house by increasing the condensation moisture and potential for fungus/mold growth. There is no ventilation at all in the crawl space.  Two blowers will have to be installed.

The main supports that run from the front to the back as well as side to side of the house are sagging.  We thought that it was just normal settling that takes place in a 40 year old home.  It is not. The inspector ran a laser light from the Master BR to the kitchen and there is a 3-4 inch drop in the flooring across the width of the house.  The solution to this is simple but costly.  Someone will have to come in under the house, jack it up 5 inches, place support across under those weak/sagging beams and then support that support with bricks or something, then lower it back down to the 4 inches.  At least 5 different places will have to be done. When this is done, there is no telling what will happen to the walls and flooring in the position and condition that it is now.  This will have to be done before we move in.  The new kitchen cabinets will be installed level with the current positioning of the floor - once that end of the house is raised, the cabinets will all be off. So - the kitchen can't go in until the support system is fixed.  We are looking at aproximately $1500 for this support job.  that's a mighty damn expensive bra for a house.

There are no air inlets in the soffits which probably explains why that house has had at least 3 roofs in 40 years and the current one is in not so good shape.  The most life that we would get out of the current roof (IF we do the repairs in 8 places that are needed) will be 24-30 months. Remember our contractor didn't have his ladder with him and only gave his opinion from a ground walk-around.  The inspector speculated that with the roof pitches and square footage and labor, we are looking at between 6-7 thousand for the roof. 

The soffits and fascia all around the house need replacing and the current gutter system is shot.  Ventilation needs to be in the new soffit system.  The new gutters need to be 6 inch with some additional gutters added on that north/rear dormer to prevent further water damage.  Sun hardly ever gets on the back/north side of the house for long enough to dry that stuff out. 

Those are the major things that he found that he believes are "critical" to the home.  He encouraged us to contact someone for an accurate estimate on the ductwork/system replacement in the crawlspace but he said it would probably be between 5-7 thousand dollars.  All in all, the critical things appear to have a preliminary repair cost of at least $10 thousand. 

To frame this realistically - I realize that the inspector's job is to nitpick and find every single thing that he can that could be a potential problem. That is what we hired him for.  His business slogan is "we look before you leap."  I was impressed with his thoroughness.  I was frustrated because for some reason the power and water had been disconnected that day and it was supposed to be switched to the developer's name/account until we took possession of the home at closing. Instead of switching - it was disconnected.  The inspector assured me that the inspection would be complete without the water and electricity and that he wasn't coming back out to the property for a second time.

On a positive note, he did tell me that without a doubt that this house was built like a cadillac.  The construction was very custom and of the highest quality. The structure (save the support which is damaged from moisture) is in excellent condition and barring some natural distaster - would still be standing 100 years from now.

He encouraged me to go over the report with my contractor and have the contractor contact him if he had any questions.  The pictures pretty much tell it all.  There was a list of other things that would need to be done as we go along to increase the efficiency of the house but they were not listed as critical.

One of the things that bothers me is that all the windows are painted shut.  If we had an emergency (as in fire) and couldn't get down the stairs - there would be no way to get out onto the upstairs roof unless we broke through the windows.  This is a safety issue with me but not something that is critical in moving in, according to the inspector.

I can't determine if the 'uh oh' feeling that I have in my gutt this morning (which was there last night as well) is from not having enough information yet to make an informed decision (like cost, specifics involved, etc) or if its from being kicked in the gut with the less than desirable news (after all, in our mind the house is perfect once we complete the things that we already knew about) or if its my intuition warning me to stop now while I still can.  Does that make sense?

We have until Saturday at 2pm to decide if we want to withdraw.  We have until Saturday to decide if we want to spend an additional $10-$12K on that property and still pay the price that they accepted. To do this (spend that additional money) we would have to deplete 90% of our savings. What are our options?  Are we willing to accept the consequences of the chosen option? What should we do?  There are a lot of questions and not many answers right now.

Today both B and I have assignments to gather the information that we need to make these decisions.  We are working today on laying the groundwork to answer those questions.  These critical things are not things that can be done by B or me, my father or really the contractor.  These are subcontract jobs done by professionals.

What I keep getting boiled down to is this.....how bad do we want that house and what are we willing to pay for it after all is said and done?

The one lingering question is when does that joy come?

I Almost Forgot To Share These Visitors

One morning I rode by the property and found these visitors.  They were in no hurry and were not frightened or startled by my presence.

The driveway to the left of the picture is mine.  I couldn't believe how long their beard was.  Isn't that a sign of age?  I don't know enough about turkeys to say for sure.  I just thought it was cool that they were there.  I sat, took a picture and they meandered across the street to the neighbor's yard and I drove into the driveway.

House Pictures: Exterior Repair Projects

There are many things on the exterior that need attention.

The roof line on this bay window does not have a gutter and does not extend far enough out to let the rain fall on the ground.  The entire sill on all 3 windows is rotted from years of water damage.  The window units (3) will need to be replaced and have a gutter/roof on it.

The flagstone patio is missing some stones.  It seems that while the house was empty when the initial construction phase was beginning, several people just came by and helped themselves to some of the loose stones.  I'll have to have my daddy build a low deck/platform on the grass just to the edge of the patio.  On that platform is where I'll put my hot tub and a canopy over it.  Eventually, I'll have the platform extended to where I was standing when I took this picture.

For those of you who know me.....the VERY FIRST THING THAT I'LL DO IN THIS YARD IS GET RID OF ALL THAT IVY.  DID I MENTION THAT I HATE IVY????

This is the rear dormer and water damage.  The soffit will have to be replaced and painted.  A gutter will be installed along the fascia on both sides of the dormer to prevent this from happening again.

I went by the house right after a significant amount of rainfall.  I wanted to see what the water was doing and where it was going.  Everything drains away from the house except the back corner where the master bedroom is.  Once that black drain pipe is attached to the downspout (which has come loose) the water will be directed away from this area where it has pooled.  Notice this brick edging to the flowerbeds....it goes all the way around the house.  Nice touch, huh?

This is the water/wood damage to the soffit and fascia board on the front porch.  The damage goes all the way across the entire 40 ft width of the front porch.  I've been told that the gutter comes down, the boards come off, boards get replaced, all of it gets painted, the gutters get cleaned out and patched (if needed) and it all goes back up.

This is the rotten wood from water damage at the base of the rear dormers.  We don't know how much of the siding and trim on the rear upstairs dormer will have to be replaced.  Once replaced, it'll have to be painted.  If any of the wood siding has to be replaced, it will be replaced with cement siding instead of wood.  That will hold up better in the weather and can be painted.

We also have to have a garage door along with an automatic opener installed.  See where that wooden filing cabinet is sitting?  Right behind that is where my new exterior kitchen door will be installed.  The window will be closed in so that I'll have an uninterrupted wall in the kitchen for my cooking/baking center.  The wall where the hay is to the left of the window will be covered in pegboard.  This pegboard will hold all of our tools and yard equipment and act as any additional storage that we may need.

I hope to scan and share my kitchen plans within the next day or two.  Today I volunteer at J's preschool until 1 pm.  I'm waiting on one last price quote on cabinets from a custom shop that does cabinets exclusively .  My contractor says that they will beat Lowe's or HomeDepot on price and match them in quality.  We'll see.  I need to go ahead and get those cabinets ordered because the turn around time is 5-7 weeks and I don't want to be waiting a month on cabinets to arrive before I can move into my new house.

The attorney has the title order and the underwriter has all the information and paperwork.  We could close as soon as Sept 12th.  The malpractice attorney called today to say that the settlement check would be available on Sept 6th.  The withdrawels from our savings for the $20 has been placed and will arrive on the closing date (we just need to call the financial manager and give him a date for the checks to be here).

I've got to get working on that moving sale stuff.  B has gone through the house here and made a list of all the things that he does "not" want to take with us.  Seems that we will be selling a good bit of our furniture here that he has had for years.  It was his before we got married and I feel like if he doesn't want it anymore - then he should be able to say that it goes.

More this afternoon after I get home and work on the storage unit some.

House Pictures: Landscape

Can't sleep so I'm up making another entry to this blog.  I've set one to post later this morning after I've left to volunteer at preschool for the day.

These pictures are to illustrate the landscape and the back of the house.  Except for a little bit of poison ivy growing on the west end of the property and some barbed wire left in the leaves on the north (back) part of the property - most of the landscape needs have to do with regular maintenance that has just been neglected for a few years.

Once we get in, we'll have to have the edge of the yard (by the side road) graded towards the curb and then seed that area.  That's not a 'move in requirement' and a weed eater will have to be taken to that uneven area until some grading and dressing can occur.

The boxwoods; however, are another story :)  They need trimming but according to the horticulture sites - its is best to wait until much cooler weather.  That would be November or December for us.  I'm thinking that will fall right in line with when we might have time to address them.  Trimming and thinning these shrubs will improve the look of the landscape. It will also make the plant healthier. I'll take the electric hedger and run along the back side of them to make a 1 foot clearance between the shrub and the brick.

B wants to trim the limbs of that Magnolia tree (pictured above) to the right (dark green tree that goes all the way to the ground).  I'm not sure.  It has a significant amount of "stuff" growing under it because the lawnmower can't access the area close to the trunk.  One of the things that will have to go is a sweetgum tree that is about 30 inches tall growing under there.  I don't like sweetgum trees. Anyone have an opinion on trimming until we have about an 8 foot clearance under that Magnolia?

The hole in the bottom right of the picture is where the utilities are connected underground. That hole will have to be filled in and smoothed out.  I've never in my life seen the amount of shale that is in this soil. We will not just be able to push it over into the hole - we'll have to use a garden rake and keep resrufacing to remove the shale pieces.  I hope my father in law is still speaking to us after we move because he has a resource for topsoil (meaning as close to free as you can get) and we are going to need about 5 tons.  I'm pretty confident that come next spring when we lay down some "Weed & Feed" that the lawn will drastically improve by next fall.  There are some places that it needs to fill in and some TLC will take care of that.

This picture above is the master bedroom window.  Lots of work to be done :)  There are vines growing all up the exterior of the fireplace (to the right of the picture edge) and those ferns will have to be thinned out.

Someone recently suggested to me that once the boxwood are trimmed back and the height lowered that the house will appear taller and more magnificant.  I at least want them lower than the top of the porch.  I like that brick edging all the way around the house.  For one thing it gives an exact place for the mower and the weed eater to go.  I'll want to insert some color in the spring and fall and I need to figure out how I'm going to do that other than some red geraniums on the front porch in planters.

I'm not sure that once that Magnolia tree is trimmed to an 8 foot clearance that it would have the same effect with the landscape.  I appears to be anchoring the corner of the house right now.  What do you think?

I need some trees in the front yard.  I'm open to suggestions.  Anything that I choose will need to thrive in full sun because the house faces the south and there is nothing in between us and the sky. I'm thinking a few fruit trees, a crabapple, a flowering pear or two, some red tips along the property line on the west end (between our bedroom and the neighbor's house) and some hydrangeas along the front west corner of the property.  I don't want anything to go in the very center of the front yard because I don't want anything to grow enough that it obstructs the view of our home when you drive in the subdivision.  This picture above is the view when you drive in. 

This is the view from the back right corner of the cleared off part of the lot.  There is still an additional 50-60 feet of wooded area behind where I'm standing.  The equipment belongs to the house to the right which is still under construction.  I wish that the big tree in the center were about 10 feet farther away from the house than it is but this will have to do.

I want to wait an entire growing season before I dig into the 4 planting/flowering beds in the back yard.  Unless I know that something specifically is a weed  - I'll leave it and take note of what it is.  I'll document each growing season with pictures so I can include it in my planning. Everything that I've heard about the people who built this house and lived here for 35 years indicates that she was an avid gardner so there's no telling what kind of jewels are hidden beneath that top ground just waiting to peek their heads out to me and say hello.

I do need to figure out where I'm going to put a new tulip bed.  I'm not bringing my bulbs from this house.  There are over 150 burried along the back of my deck here.  I will grieve to leave my deck and flower beds but as B so gently put it last night - I can design and create some new ones since I won't have much to do, LOL.

Hope you aren't getting bored with all of my post being about this house.  I'm excited to share it and I don't anticipate that I'll change subjects completely anytime soon.  If you don't want to miss any house post, you may need to click on yesterday's date on the calendar in case some of my most recent post are not loading on my main page. (Does that make sense>)

Later.

Pulling My Hair Out

I've worked on these damn picture post for over 2 hours but I can't get them to do what I want them to do.

I'm going to bed so I don't get more caught up in how negative I feel about them.

I'll try again tomorrow morning.

House Pictures: Upstairs

 

This first picture is the view from the foyer looking upstairs.

The 2nd picture is from the top of the stairs looking down into the foyer and you can see the front door.  There is a catwalk/landing to the left of the stairs.  Its 40 inches wide.

Here's a better view of the landing.  That door is a walk in closet that runs in the roofline along the front part of the house.  It is about 8 feet deep and 12-15 ft wide.  I can picture some of the quilts that my mother made hanging to the right of the closet door and on the stair wall.

This is the view from the door of what will be Baby K's bedroom.  This upstairs bedroom and bath is 2 ft square shy of 480 square feet.

That open door to the left is another walk in closet.  The dormer is 5 feet wide.

This is the vanity area to Baby K's room.  To the right side of the picture is another closet 8 feet wide and 2 feet deep.  I'll need to install some lighting and a mirror above the vanity (which is not pictured but is located right below the bottom left of the picture).  The open door leads to the garden tub and toilet in a seperate area.

The wallpaper is beautiful - reminds me of a garden catalog with different flower species.  Probably not very "little girlish" but it will have to do until next year when we have saved enough in our remodeling/updating budget to change this wallpaper.  When I do change it, I'll have to find something to match that blue tile :)

I don't know if it is visible in the above pictures, but the bedroom and this vanity area both have custom carpets with finished edging on all sides.  They fit within 3 inches of the baseboards.  The blinds all over the house are the 2 or 3 inch white wood slats.  I priced them in the JCPenny's catalog and they are almost $80 each.  Every one in the house is in excellent shape and they all are white.

Here's that tub and toilet I mentioned in the above paragraph.  I didn't remember that I had a picture of this small area.  The tub measures 4X4 and can be a tub or a shower.  This is the only tub in the entire house.  Everything else is a walk in shower tiled from floor to ceiling with doors.  I'm not really in love with the color but the tile in every part of this room is in EXCELLENT shape.  There are no cracks in any tiles and all the grout is still in prime condition.  I could have all this refinished if I absolutely don't want to deal with the blue.

This will be J's room.  The layout is a mirror of Baby K's room so this corner with the door is another walk in closet.  The custom rugs in this room are red, LOL and I'll have to find some colors to coordinate with it.  There is a walk-in in the front (pictured here) and another walk in in the wall directly across from the door to the front and then the walk in closet in the dressing area where the sinks are.

This is the dressing area in J's bathroom.  The wallpaper is nicely done but its not for a little boy, is it?

We will definitely have to get a different mirror so he can see himself while he brushes his teeth.

He is excited because his floor is red and I promised in the smaller walk in closet to make him a "fort".  In this fort room I will put glow in the dark stickers on the slanted ceiling and make a pallet in there with a small shelf and a radio/CD player.  He can reach the light switch so that is his fort (he says).

To the immediate right is the doorway that goes to the toilet and walk in shower for this bathroom.

This is it.

I'm not sure how the decision for the wallpaper was made when it was made because the tile to the shower is a slate grey and the toilet is grey.  There is no grey of any whatsoever in that wallpaper stripe or the border.  Go figure.

And that makes up the upstairs to the house.