"Redi" or not

It's a strange feeling not being at work because of the move and settling in and I find that I need to take more time off more often.  This is nice!  Next week I head back to the office and then it's likely late evening posts for me again.  However, since I'm home this week and my art/craft area is 50% complete and begging me to use it, I thought I'd give toss in a simple crafty idea but first, some background:

Privacy won out over waiting until we get the nice blinds for the 72-inch windows so at roughly $8 a piece, we purchased the white 36x72 light-filtering, temporary Redi Shades and cut them down to the correct width (I opted for 34.25 inches).  Before you go running off to buy these, please note that the tape WILL pull off bits of your drywall when you are ready to take them down.  If you don't want to spackle and repaint later, this is not recommended.  I'm pretty familiar with the putty knife and paint brush so I don't mind.  If you decide to go forth and spend the big $8, make sure you have a brand new blade in your utility knife so as to get the smoothest cuts.  Also ensure you keep the pleat facing you so the shade hides the taped piece and gives a nicer appearance.  (I put one in backwards and this is where I learned it will damage your drywall.)

furnishing in progress

The best part about moving into a new house is filling it with goodies.  Sometimes there are just too many lovelies out there to make a decision (although sometimes the corresponding price tag helps you with that).  Stores are evil.  Everywhere I turn, I see something that catches my eye and if I purchased all that I liked, I'd have one gigantic eclectic mix.  Each room could be its own genre with a distinct color palette and if you had to ask me to choose one coordinating color for the house, I'd be up at all hours of the night agonizing over the decision.  My problem (well, one of them at least), is that I love, love color and cannot make up my blasted mind.

The recent shopping spree has me all giddy and makes my heart go pitter-patter.  OR perhaps that's the sticker shock!  I'm excited to fill the house with grown-up stuff (albeit slowly) and donate the old teenage/college/starter furniture to others.

Three Keys

'Nuff said!

Demonstration and Inspection

Tuesday has proven to be a very busy day for us.  We knocked out the final walkthrough (aka demonstration) and home inspection, received a preview of our Settlement Statement (HUD-1), and even did some window shopping at Ethan Allen for a nice desk.  

I am soooooooo excited to finally get a P.O.R. shot without the blasted dumpster.  In our excitement, we forgot to get a new rear picture to add to the progressive GIF but it looks like the appraisal picture with painted foundation that matches the siding. (edit:  A new rear photo was taken on 28 September and added below) The progressive GIF for the front has GIFs for both the front and back have most definitely been updated (see Timeline post).

Appraised (Twice)

Getting an appraisal can be exciting for a new house build but do not forget to read it over in detail.  Last week the first appraisal came in barely over the sales price which we thought to be very convenient.  It turns out that the initial review was done in early July prior to any framing and with the wrong floor plan and options.  In the span of one week (time to perform and process a new appraisal), our gross living area increased by 734 sf (still missing 206 sf) and the appraisal increased by $12K.  Our attic is marked as "scuttle" versus "stairs" which may be in reference to the unfinished attic space and not the finished space (this is maybe a "bonus room" rather than an attic?).  We also did not get credit for our partial porch but are opting not to reject the second appraisal and ask for yet another revision for fear that it will push back our closing (28 September!).  We did document the discrepancies and sent them to NVR so it's on record.  This will also be a topic at closing.