Alright, so I went with my stylish gut and ordered the desk I had been on the fence about. This was my first purchase from overstock.com and I am SO happy with the whole experience. I ordered it on Sunday, with $1 shipping, and received it Wednesday! That's incredible and grounds for supporting the website more... The desk is HEAVY and solid wood, so it'll hopefully stand the test of time. I put it together by myself (well, I messed up the drawer and John fixed it, but that's all!) in about an hour. Pictures will be posted soon. I love the size of it and the simplicity -- it goes really well in the room. Now I just need a chair and accessories and the office will be done!
In other news, boy is installing wire shelving a pain. All but 2 closets were stripped of their shelving when the previous owners moved out and we've finally gotten around to putting some in. Our clothes have been laying out in the bonus room-turned-giant-walk-in-closet and we have yet to unpack all our food since our pantry is bare, too.
I'll save you the details, but my head about exploded the first night we tried to get the shelving cut at Lowe's. We only got 1 cut and returned the next day for the rest. We installed the entry-way shelf and 1 office shelving. I think we've learned enough from it to attempt the pantry and HOPEFULLY the master closet... I'd love to hang my clothes up.
So we would really like to get as much of the downstairs done as we can before the open house. That includes the office, which needs a new desk. Apparently the metal desk my dad got me from work when I was 8 didn't make the cut when it came to moving, so it's back to square 1.
I really like the simplicity of this desk:
It's from
Overstock.com for $236.
I read a review that it has some reddish color in it and it's not solid black, which wouldn't quite go, but I'm considering taking a risk and getting it. We have a tall and a short bookcase that are "cappuccino" colored. They are cheap but will do for now. We also have 2 closets in the office, so I'm not worried about having too many drawers or anything on the desk.
Any other suggestions on where to look for something like this?? I'd like to find one soon, clock is ticking!
... until the keys are in my grubby little hands!!
What a roller coaster. I could write a book on this whole house business. I feel like everything in my life is up in the air right now - namely my house and my job. I feel like this:
Waiting to get confirmation that I'm being laid off. Won't come as a surprise because I am the absolute bottom of the totem pole. Just want to know soon.
As far as our home is concerned... turns out our lender has been sending all our paperwork to the wrong fax number...
Who is receiving all our confidential documents? Who knows.
Also, our seller "forgot" to order a dishwasher and "mis-measured" 2 doors so they improvised in order to pass the re-appraisal. Frustrating because we are paying for those repairs, so they better get done right!!
This has been a mess and it's completely out of our hands. Hope we close on time!
SO glad we're getting close to the end of the year. I'm not so nervous about getting laid off because I know something will work out. I'm just completely ready to have this year under my belt. These kids have been terribly challenging, but I really feel that the second semester has gone better than the first and MAYBE I've earned some of the kids' respect. I hope I've taught them SOMETHING.
I can't wait to get into our house so I can start posting before and after pictures and turn this into more than a talking blog. This is more for myself right now but perhaps I can share some of my crafts soon.... 11 days until closing!
Closing has now moved to April 26th, not the 23rd. It's reasonable, and while it pushes back all our plans a weekend, we're still excited. Have to find a new day to move our stuff but now that we don't have to do the repairs it's not quite as stressful.
The bank is getting Stainless Whirlpool appliances (said they were required to get Whirlpool?), so that's good news. The amount we're NOW getting back at closing is a little lower but it should all still work out. Can't wait!
I've been looking and Credenzas on craigslist and see SO many that would fix up great, like below (a steal for $100):
That's my latest kick. That and old chandeliers that I can paint a fun color... Too bad the mister can't see my "vision."
Monday back to school ended with a headache, no surprise there. But, it's almost like I never left, so we're back at it again!
50 Days Left!!
Well, 100 people looked at my inspiration boards and I only got 1 feedback post. You must have to be in the D&R "in crowd." :)
I've been off on spring break for the last week and it's back to the grindstone tomorrow! Per usual, I have a pit in my stomach. It's been quite a school year and I'm ready for it to be over (only 50 more days!). I know once I get back into it it won't be so bad. I'll survive!
Of course my last day was my most productive as far as packing and moving. We have "most" stuff in boxes, which we moved into the garage that's not attached to us -- it'll be easier to move into the van. I hope I can be productive and have everything but the big furniture in there to make it easy on all our helpers. Can't wait!
So in checking with our lender about creating an escrow account to put in $$ for repairs (to show that we plan on making them), they denied it and said the amount is too high and we can't make any changes before closing. Really, that's them sticking up for us.
So, the seller (bank) is agreeing to make the repairs and deduct it from the closing costs. They agreed to give us $6320 (200 less) MINUS the cost of repairs+appliances (~$3000). To me, that's a win. We planned on spending that money anyway on repairs and we're still getting $$ towards our closing costs.
So this is great news. John is worried that "things won't be done right" but our addendum says that we get to see an itemized bid for the repairs before approving it. No, we probably won't get the appliances we really want, but that's fixable. John, in fact, is checking to see if we have any say in that. But we'll see.
Only other thing is that we have to get a second inspection done... which is frustrating and $$$. Good thing we have our friend for it who hopefully won't charge as much the 2nd time around.
As long as the repairs are done by the 15th we will be able to close on the 23rd (on time). Here's hoping!
Wow, three posts in one day -- you can tell I'm on break!
Quick update: Now that the appraisal has documented the repairs the house needs, even though the bank was selling it as-is, they are somehow obligated to do something about the repairs. SO, our realtor thinks they will either give us $$ to make the repairs (probably take $$ off our closing costs) or will make the repairs themselves. I'd rather do it ourselves since it'd mean we could still close on time. The selling agent also said they may still pay the same % of closing costs with the new lower price (about 2.7%, which is still great). Not sure what they'll work out but either way i don't think we'll have to come up with that full $6000 now. Yippee!
Funny how at first both realtors said no one was going to budge, either $6000 or no house. Makes me wonder just how much of a "buyer's agent" we have... This whole thing is a big game of chicken! Everyone wants to get the most money out of it. Jeesh, I'll be happy when it's over!
Good night!
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