Decorate Our House: Day 5- Home Inspection

Today we had our home inspection. It was a perfect, fall day to inspect a home. I can't believe how fall just crept up on us. It wasn't until I stopped and looked around that I noticed nearly half of the trees have changed and lost a lot of their leaves. Life certainly does go by fast these days. Having a 1 year old does that to you! Not to mention selling your home and buying a new, bigger home. Crazy!

I digress... home inspection at task now..

2155 Oak Court is a perfect address because our future home is surrounded by Oak Trees. The MLS listed them as "Stately".. so we'll use that adjective from now on. :) ha.

sidewalk needs mudjacking to get it up to the right level, or we can hold off on it until we perhaps get a new driveway poured?

we need to cut all bushes and give 8-12 inches from siding to allow proper air flow around home

this driveway totally sunk in.

foundation crack beneath the garage.. uh oh

Our home inspector, Joe ( a retired firefighter) teaching us about hardyboard siding and how it is suppose to lay flat, and be caulked

Finding some minor problems with the driveway and garage floor... thanks be given to Chicago Winters and the salt

Oak to the left of the house. South side.

in the back of the house is the butt.... buttress! it's a foundation assistant tool. Not sure on this bad guy but we need to get to the bottom of it! :)

Now we go inside the house... where we will be doing 85% of our living!

A view from the picturesque family room

windows are original 1982

A view from the french doors looking into the eat-in kitchen

A view if you were to sit down on a couch in the family room. French door/exterior door leading to screened-in-porch 1982

A view from the refrigerator (the cabinetry and kitchen window looks original 1982)

We really wanted a kitchen window that looked out onto the backyard

A view from the kitchen sink. Formica counter tops. All appliances appear to be 1-8 years old and s/s

The fireplace hearth and mantel appear to be newer and not 1982

Dining room chair rail and newer, custom windows in front. Not sure on the age of the windows but these windows are newer.

One of my musts.... was a mudroom. I never had one growing up and seriously, I think they totally make sense! This one is on the smaller side but I feel it gets the job done :) We have 2 dogs (Bert and Ernie) so I thought having a room to 'ready the dogs' would be essential ... not to mention kids and their messes too.

We are envisioning Owen hanging up his backpack, mittens, scarf, and coat on these hooks... and Bert and Ernie's leashes too.

A mudroom wouldn't be complete without washer/dryer and cabinets for more storage.

The linen closet also is a perk in the mudroom

The downstairs powder room

the downstairs powder room appears to look updated. I can't tell if this cabinetry & counter top is original 1982. The faucets and mirror look updated.

Our downstairs powder room

The foyer

We will need either a mirror and hall/foyer table to go here or a cute, antique piece like this one. I love it! :) I didn't feel it'd be proper to ask for it with the sale of the house.. it looks like such a special piece for the family, The McBrides. I'd hate to take it away from them. It is lovely though.

A view from the first step upstairs... and a future prom picture photo op for Owen and his date.

The front door... where the party happens, where trick-o-treaters will be spoiled by us, where hugs'n'kisses from family members, and where the mistletoe will hang

a view of the seller's artwork along the stairwell going upstairs

I love this room. I'm really impressed with the shade on the wall and really would love to see this color more throughout the house :) Kudos to the parents/sellers

Living room, is a typical rectangle. I'm wondering if we take out that wall where that picture is and open up the living room to the family room how would this new space feel and look. Not that we'd do this anytime soon but it'd be nice to use this space. For now, I can totally see this area being the KID ZONE. Lol. There's no fireplace in the living room and we have zero furniture so a comfy sectional, area rug, and wall-sized-storage bins, an easel will def make for a fun and practical play room, for Owen.

2 windows in the living room which faces the front of the house towards the court. A Christmas Tree will be in this corner for sure one of these days!

Master bedroom.. simple and neutral. We will need to add an overhead light like a ceiling fan or something

View of the master bedroom

walk in closet on the left and the master bath on the right :)

walk in closet

Master bath

a very beachy feel to the bathroom. Just happens to be this was the theme of my first bathroom in chicago.. so I have a shower curtain that'll go great with my blue accessories :)

Our soon to be beach themed bathroom. Just needs some updated fixtures and a new shower head/knob

his/her sink and mirrors

I've got dibs on the left one ;) xoxox Dave

Now to the bedrooms... 3 of them. A beige one. A brown one (the largest of the 3). A blue one.

I think this will be Owen's room aka the nursery.. it has window treatments so that's one less thing to do! It also has a ceiling fan!

The guest room.. This brown room is the largest of the 3 bedrooms. No window treatments or a ceiling fan in this room which is why it'll be the guest room for our spare, queen sized bed.

The blue room will become the office... for now!

or....once Owen is old enough.. he'll upgrade to this blue room. I think to avoid painting costs.. I'll make his childhood bedroom a nautical theme. I think black furniture or beach/ashwood furniture will look good in this darker room. Needs some blackout blinds for sure. I think sailboats will look cute in this room, lifesavers, oars, fishing poles, lures, bobbers. I can see the potential already. :)

Look there's already bead board and hooks for Owen's backpack and stuff :)

The kids' bathroom.. It's a mustard yellow

or maybe a sunflower burnt yellow. It's different. Very mature.

I'm not sure if we'll keep it this color. One thing is for sure. Those blinds face the court so those blinds will def always be drawn! hahaha!

So leaving the 2nd floor... and going underground.

This is our favorite part of the house. The amazing basement. First things first, the home inspector says we need to fix the humidifier and get a HVAC specialist to service the furnace. The water heater is pretty new... so that's good for us. Dave and I both agreed we need to install a new sump pump, get a back up sump pump, and a back up battery or generator. The last thing I want is a flooded basement. So to make this space livable and not an accident-waiting-to-happen we need to safeguard it.

Going down. Cute lil sconce on the wall

New carpet 2012!

If you turn right from the stairs you'll run into a closet, a half bath, and a bedroom/office then the unfinished utility room (storage/furnace/water heater/radon system)

If you turn left.. you see picture 1..

picture 2...

picture 3.. JACKPOT! love the white, custom built in's!

That spot for a tv is 46x42

I envision this to be a mancave. LOL. Treadmill to be ordered on BLACK FRIDAY 2012! adios gym membership forever...

that load bearing pole will 100% be surrounded by foam of sort. Hobby Lobby or Loew's is calling my name. I can totally see Owen scooting around on his indoor tricycle or car or pushing a walker and BAM! clonking out his 2 front teeth. This will be an immediate repair before we move in.

Now leaving the house to go to the backyard.

Through the french door? It's not a slider. Regardless, this needs to be replaced. The door sticks a lot and probably is drafty too.