we have a house now, and other things that make me feel like i'm finally an adult

scott and i actually started looking for houses in february of 2017 when we were still living in chicago. we made a weekend trip to cleveland last winter and saw 10 houses in one day. it was crazy and eye-opening (me: so, like, it's unlikely that the kitchen AND bathrooms will be remodeled? bummer. so, um, property taxes add THAT MUCH to your monthly payment? eesh.) we decided to take a break from looking and when we moved to cleveland in may, we moved into an apartment in beachwood instead. it was perfect for that transitional time in our lives. from day one, though, i have been so anxious and excited about finding our house. so i was INCREDIBLY thrilled when, one friday in august, scott sent me an adorable yellow house that had just had the price reduced, bringing it into our price range. we set up a time to see it first thing the next day, making us the first showing of the day. knowing that the owners had just cut almost a fifth off of the price, we had to act fast, and made an offer immediately. after a long day of wondering and talking ourselves out of getting excited, we got the call that the owners had accepted our offer. i thought, WOW seriously?? that's amazing! i guess this must have been the most stressful part of the process, right?

HAAHAHA my extremely inexperienced perspective was so very comically wrong. i knew next to nothing about what the process of buying a house entailed, and every step of the process SINCE that first day was more stressful and at times even excruciating, than the last. every step (and every major and minor setback) was truly a brand new experience. i won't bore you with the details, but finally, after 6 weeks, we closed on our house, exactly 24 hours after returning home from ireland (see this post!) i was absolutely shocked that we were able to make this house ours, and that it would be ours for many (MANY) years to come. i think i am still trying to get used to that fact. 

the best thing about our house is that it needs very little work right now. don't get me wrong, there are plenty of long-term projects i look forward to tackling (looking at you, wood-paneled office, and you too, scrappy first floor half-bath), but the first and really only thing i was desperate to do before we moved in was paint. like, every.single.room. have i mentioned that while the house needed very little work, it did need QUITE a bit of de-yellow-ing? the previous owners went all-in with the sunniest shade in the rainbow. colors ranged from butter to goldenrod and back again, and it was everywhere. as a person who hates color in general, i was anxious to get my hands on some white and gray paint.

so, i set off immediately to choose paint colors and get to work. i had 2 weeks from our closing date until my first day at my new job, and i was on a mission to paint the kitchen, the breakfast room, the dining room, the formal living room (fiona's playroom to-be), AND the master bedroom. we ALSO needed the great room to be professionally done, as it is two stories and no one needs me falling off a scaffolding. so clearly i had my work cut out for me, but paint is manageable, right? 

after completing 90% of this work by myself, here is what i learned: there are different painters' tapes for different uses, and not all of it should be used on painted trim (oops). much more importantly: painters' tape is stupid and you should just cut in with a really good brush to save yourself the trouble. sadly i only learned this after 2 complete rooms. also, white is your friend, and it's so much easier than painting another color which makes me love it even more. and it's true what they say - painting samples in several different spots is so necessary. with so much natural light in our great room the whites looked different on each different wall. finally, for me, doing it all at the same time was a necessity. we finished those first 6 rooms in october and haven't gotten back to painting since we moved in. how does one get house updates done with a toddler?? 

anyway, painting was a major undertaking but was so so worth it. the yellow is gone and i am SO HAPPY with the crisp clean white and soothing grays. (just don't look behind the fridge... that thing was way too heavy for me to move by myself so you KNOW that wall will be marigold until the end of time).

behold, the magic of white paint! (full room-by-room reveal still to come)