Tuesday errr... GTKY

[ellabee]

Was a duplicate randoms thread..... so let's do a GTKY instead.


Tell me about your house/apartment. Is it your forever home? What's on your to-do list around the house - any pre-baby renovations? Do you have a space in mind for your LO (their own bedroom, shared bedroom, in your bedroom)? 

[flcl]

We're in a townhouse and it's a great space but with baby #2, we'll need to find something new. It stinks cause we really like the area were in but we got our place at a very opportune time (it was so much cheaper 4 years ago). It was also a new construction so everything in it is what we want. It'll be tough for us to find a home in this area that's as nice as what we have but bigger... Sigh....

[ellabee]

DH, DD and I live in a 2 family colonial in our dream town/location. I'm not sure if it's our forever home, but I think it has potential to be.

DHs family has always been into buying/managing/selling multi-family properties, so I don't think we'll ever be a single-family-suburbia type.

We currently live on the 2nd floor (with tenants on the first), and have an unfinished attic space that will one day be a master bedroom/ensuite/office.

We have just 2 bedrooms now, and when LO2.0 comes they'll have to share a room. This is assuming we don't get to renovations of our 3rd floor before he/she comes.

LO2.0 will probably sleep in our room for 3ish months before being moved to share with big sis.

[judyblume14]

Oh! Fun! We just moved about a month ago into our forever home. From a tiny apartment, to a big house. Our dream home, really. It is straight out of a 1994 issue of Better Homes & Gardens. Perfectly move in ready, but will need to update 2 bathrooms and the kitchen at some point way, way down the road.

We have 2 empty bedrooms right now. When our new bedroom furniture is delivered, our current set will become the guest bedroom, and the other bedroom will eventually become #2's nursery. Baby will probably be in our room for the first 6 weeks or so (that's what we did with DD). But we don't plan on co-sleeping or anything, and want to get #2 into the crib ASAP.

[peaseblossom55]

H & I have our forever home, it's over 3000 sq. feet 5 bedrooms 4 bathrooms. We have an empty bedroom painted a neutral light grey from DD ready to go we just need to install a ceiling fan or chandelier depending on the sex. We will need to clear out spare bedroom #2 and paint that, probably the same light grey. The school district isn't the greatest but as they get older ( I can't believe I have to think about they now) we may move them over to private school.

Our main house project non kid related is clearing out some older flower beds around the side of our house. Our house has so much ivy we are trying to get rid of.

[ellabee]

May 24, 2016 9:11:40 GMT -5 peaseblossom55 said:

H & I have our forever home, it's over 3000 sq. feet 5 bedrooms 4 bathrooms. We have an empty bedroom painted a neutral light grey from DD ready to go we just need to install a ceiling fan or chandelier depending on the sex. We will need to clear out spare bedroom #2 and paint that, probably the same light grey. The school district isn't the greatest but as they get older ( I can't believe I have to think about they now) we may move them over to private school.

Our main house project non kid related is clearing out some older flower beds around the side of our house. Our house has so much ivy we are trying to get rid of.

Sounds spacious!! (Which will be good for twins!)

Will they share a room, or are you going to use/paint the other spare bedroom so they each have their own?

I also have a bunch of gardening maintenance to do around our house. It's so time consuming!

[thelittleredm]

We own our home. Just moved in in March! I don't think it's our forever home but it might be We haven't decided, yet. It's fairly large for the area so there's room to grow into it. We mostly just want to redo the landscaping (I'm over the rocks), especially the backyard. One section will be a garden/chill area and the rest is for the dogs and kids.

As of right now, baby will be rooming with us before being moved into DS's room.

[peaseblossom55]

thelittleredm, our backyard has so many areas with just rocks and it's annoying. I'm over them too.

[mleep]

We bought our forever home in March, I absolutely love it. We're living with my parents now (same town) while we renovate. Kitchen and bathrooms will be done in a later phase, this is mostly updating the house now (putting in central air, gas conversion, etc.)

We were going to put our daughter in the room across from us and have a big room next to the hall bathroom as a guest bedroom, but now DD will be in the big room, baby will be in the closer room, and we'll only have one guest room (which should suffice!)

We can't wait to move in. My parents are beyond amazing (and I think I'll miss then when we move out), but I miss being a family of three:)

[peaseblossom55]

May 24, 2016 9:20:02 GMT -5 ellabee said:

May 24, 2016 9:11:40 GMT -5 peaseblossom55 said:

H & I have our forever home, it's over 3000 sq. feet 5 bedrooms 4 bathrooms. We have an empty bedroom painted a neutral light grey from DD ready to go we just need to install a ceiling fan or chandelier depending on the sex. We will need to clear out spare bedroom #2 and paint that, probably the same light grey. The school district isn't the greatest but as they get older ( I can't believe I have to think about they now) we may move them over to private school.

Our main house project non kid related is clearing out some older flower beds around the side of our house. Our house has so much ivy we are trying to get rid of.

Sounds spacious!! (Which will be good for twins!)

Will they share a room, or are you going to use/paint the other spare bedroom so they each have their own?

I also have a bunch of gardening maintenance to do around our house. It's so time consuming!

It's definitely a good amount of space.  I mentioned it to H last night, in our freak out discussion last night about things.  I mentioned wanting separate bedrooms right away. H thought it would be a good idea for them to share a room for a little bit to make some things easier.  We will see, while the bedrooms are a great size I think furniture and two cribs will be very cramped. 

[ellabee]

So jealous of your central air mleep. Lol!

[mleep]

May 24, 2016 9:33:01 GMT -5 ellabee said:

So jealous of your central air mleep. Lol!

Since we just moved out of Manhattan, the most exciting thing about the house is the washer/dryer. How sad is that?!

[ellabee]

May 24, 2016 9:35:49 GMT -5 mleep said:

May 24, 2016 9:33:01 GMT -5 ellabee said:

So jealous of your central air mleep. Lol!

Since we just moved out of Manhattan, the most exciting thing about the house is the washer/dryer. How sad is that?!

Lol totally not sad. It does so much for quality of life to have laundry readily accessible.

Before we lived in our current house, I wouldn't move into our old one until we got in unit laundry.

[siouxsieq]

We just bought a house in January! I'm not sure if it's a forever home, but it's such a great family house. Both kids will have their own bedroom and that still leaves a guest room for my mom to come stay.

It's an old house and needs a lot of work. Not because it's falling apart but because it is very, very quirky. Some of that quirk is charming but some of it wants to make me pull my hair out!

[osumegs]

We bought our house in 2012. It was supposed to be a 5 year home and our plan was to build. After being here and realizing how much we love the neighborhood and schools, I think it will be our forever home.

During last pregnancy, we redid the kitchen and finished the basement. We finished that on Monday and delivered Friday. Our project list for this pregnancy is pretty short. We want to move our guest room in to the current office (we never use it). DD will move to a bigger room. Our nursery is painted gray so we will just swap out decorations for boy or girl.

[heybulldog56]

Because we are insane, we actually house hunted/ bought our townhouse/ moved while i was 8-9 months pregnant with DS. It was a steal and the previous owner was desperate to sell. We saw it the day it came on the market and put in an offer ASAP.

It's on a cul-de-sac is the neighborhood we wanted and our backyard is a nature preserve with tons of trails. We are close to DC/Annapolis/ Baltimore, kids are always out playing, we know out neighbors,"small town" feel, Target less than 10 minutes away, shops/ restaurants within walking distance.... it is pretty great but not dream town because too far from my family.

We have four bedrooms, three upstairs and a guest room in the basement. It is not our forever home but I think it is perfect for us at this moment in our lives. We have enough space to accommodate two kids and out of town guests (my family). And like I mentioned, the neighborhood is wonderful.

[thelittleredm]

May 24, 2016 9:24:14 GMT -5 peaseblossom55 said:

thelittleredm, our backyard has so many areas with just rocks and it's annoying. I'm over them too.

Our entire backyard is rock, brick, and crushed gravel. And some giant ugly pine trees

[lakegirl]

We bought our first house with the intention of it being our forever home. It's a 1950s brick colonial with tons of character. I'm in love with the gorgeous original hardwood floors, crown molding and floor trim. The basement is right up our alley, completely finished in knotty pine and a period tile design. It reminds me of my cabin on the lake!

There is a one story family room and full bath addition that we would like to do some work to eventually. It has a hideous drop ceiling and I like to envision a little cathedral ceiling and exposed brick. One day!

The current dilemma is deciding if DS stays in his room or we move him to the guest room. His room is the nursery and smaller but there is a wonderful mural my MIL did for him so it makes me sad to move him.

[ellabee]

May 24, 2016 9:53:31 GMT -5 heybulldog56 said:

Because we are insane, we actually house hunted/ bought our townhouse/ moved while i was 8-9 months pregnant with DS. It was a steal and the previous owner was desperate to sell. We saw it the day it came on the market and put in an offer ASAP.

It's on a cul-de-sac is the neighborhood we wanted and our backyard is a nature preserve with tons of trails. We are close to DC/Annapolis/ Baltimore, kids are always out playing, we know out neighbors,"small town" feel, Target less than 10 minutes away, shops/ restaurants within walking distance.... it is pretty great but not dream town because too far from my family.

We have four bedrooms, three upstairs and a guest room in the basement. It is not our forever home but I think it is perfect for us at this moment in our lives. We have enough space to accommodate two kids and out of town guests (my family). And like I mentioned, the neighborhood is wonderful.

A key feature for sure!

[flcl]

So jelly of all you ladies and your beautiful forever homes

[peaseblossom55]

May 24, 2016 9:54:50 GMT -5 thelittleredm said:

May 24, 2016 9:24:14 GMT -5 peaseblossom55 said:

thelittleredm , our backyard has so many areas with just rocks and it's annoying. I'm over them too.

Our entire backyard is rock, brick, and crushed gravel. And some giant ugly pine trees

Oh yuck. I hope eventually you can replace some of that with some grass.

[peaseblossom55]

May 24, 2016 10:00:23 GMT -5 ellabee said:

May 24, 2016 9:53:31 GMT -5 heybulldog56 said:

Because we are insane, we actually house hunted/ bought our townhouse/ moved while i was 8-9 months pregnant with DS. It was a steal and the previous owner was desperate to sell. We saw it the day it came on the market and put in an offer ASAP.

It's on a cul-de-sac is the neighborhood we wanted and our backyard is a nature preserve with tons of trails. We are close to DC/Annapolis/ Baltimore, kids are always out playing, we know out neighbors,"small town" feel, Target less than 10 minutes away, shops/ restaurants within walking distance.... it is pretty great but not dream town because too far from my family.

We have four bedrooms, three upstairs and a guest room in the basement. It is not our forever home but I think it is perfect for us at this moment in our lives. We have enough space to accommodate two kids and out of town guests (my family). And like I mentioned, the neighborhood is wonderful.

A key feature for sure!

Definitely agree!

[thelittleredm]

May 24, 2016 10:02:52 GMT -5 peaseblossom55 said:

May 24, 2016 9:54:50 GMT -5 thelittleredm said:

Our entire backyard is rock, brick, and crushed gravel. And some giant ugly pine trees

Oh yuck. I hope eventually you can replace some of that with some grass.

Agreed. We'd probably only do half the yard with grass (water restrictions and cost are really high here) but something is better than nothing.

[spano41]

We were in a 2br condo in a great neighborhood in Seattle for the last 7 years, but when we decided to move to one income we knew we couldn't afford the kind of house we wanted in the city. So we moved to a 6br house in the burbs last November. I love having the space, the yard, living on a cul-de-sac, but I do miss having everything in walking distance. We do have 2 parks in walking distance, but the nearest stores and restaurants are about a 5-6min drive which seems like forever compared to what we used to have (I know.....it's only 5min).

The house itself needs a few updates which we are working on, and we actually enjoy putting work in to it. Everything is completely functional though and the house has great bones. Could definitely be our forever home, but I could also see us upgrading when I go back to work.

Here's a pic of one of the bathrooms we redid. We're working on the master as we speak, I'll finish staining the cabinets today and we'll do floors this weekend.

[irish14]

We're debating whether our current house is forever. I'm guessing we'll move one more time, mostly b/c the schools really blow. It's definitely big enough for 2 kids, for now, though - it's a bungalow with 2 beds (guest and office) on the first floor, and the attic is finished with a master, two smaller bedrooms, and a bath upstairs. It's very old and I love it, though the last owners' reno was a little sloppy so we have some finishing to do (corners that don't meet, mismatched trim, etc.).

We've already done some minor work, and I'm really happy with our choices so far. I'm trying to bring back the bungalow feel and do things that are updated, but true to the bungalow/arts & crafts/mission style of the original design. Wish I had an unlimited budget, I have so many ideas!!!!!!!

[Deleted]

This has been on my mind for a while, we have a 2 floor duplex in a city and we live on the upper floor. It's not our forever home but it's great right now since we rent out the bottom. We technically have 3 bedrooms but the one is sort of an odd location for a bedroom and is currently DDs playroom. I am thinking they might share a room rather than converting the playroom to a bedroom. We didn't room share with DD but we might this time for convenience in the newborn phase.

The rest of the space is a kitchen, dining, and living room. We just renovated the kitchen last fall so luckily no major projects.

ellabee sounds like we have a similar living situation, I'd love to open up and finish our attic too!

[aprilz81]

We are in what should be our forever home, we moved in 2 years ago (2 years and 2 days to be exact) a few months before we started TTC. We are in a great neighborhood of a fairly moderate sized suburb of Columbus. If you put our house 2 miles north in a neighboring school district it would probably be worth $100-150k more. We still have excellent schools but without the insane property taxes and property values.

The house was in pretty decent shape, but since we've moved in we have painted all but one room on the main floor, remodeled the kitchen (gut job and changed the layout), replaced the laminate floors in the kitchen, laundry room and powder room with tile, remodeled the powder room downstairs, did mini makeovers of 2 bedrooms (paint/stripping wallpaper), replaced the HVAC, installed some overhead lighting in the bedrooms, and replaced the back door.

This week we are getting a new concrete front "porch" (really just a landing area) and sidewalk. We are supposed to remodel our master bathroom starting in a few weeks but our contractor is MIA and we still don't have a final quote (same guy who did our kitchen who is a friend and his wife is our accountant) so I'm thinking we will be pushed back again. This project was originally supposed to be started back in January... Ugh... As part of this remodel we are hoping to move the laundry room upstairs where the bedrooms are. Our master suite is HUGE and the plumbing and drains are there already so if we are going to do it now is the time when everything is torn up. I just can't decide on a layout that works.

We've been saving the 4th bedroom (biggest bedroom other than the master) as a nursery since we moved in. Right next to our bedroom and gets wonderful natural light. Right now it is our cat's room where she has a bench to sleep on, some toys and her litter box. That will eventually get moved to the basement. We will need to paint and clean up some of the woodwork. The previous owners kids put a lot of tape on the doors and the residue is still there. I'm hoping it will come off with some Goo-Gone type stuff without harming the doors themselves.

Down the road we will need to do a facelift to the second full bathroom, replace the garage door and start replacing windows, but at this point everything is in pretty good shape.

[LovesMeSomeCake]

May 24, 2016 9:08:13 GMT -5 judyblume14 said:

Oh! Fun! We just moved about a month ago into our forever home. From a tiny apartment, to a big house. Our dream home, really. It is straight out of a 1994 issue of Better Homes & Gardens.

Haha, we moved in a little over a year ago to our 1972 BH&G cover house. It was a fantastic deal.  Yellow formica? Black shower, tub and toilet? Covered in DARK trim and paneling? Check Check Check! Slowly but surely we have turned this house into a beauty, and seeing what our neighbors are selling for lately, I'm SUPER tempted to cash in and do it again somewhere else.  DH is very much against it.  and it turns out we're going to be busy for oh, 18 years. LO will get their own room, which I had been using as a closet, bc well, DINK.  I'm going to miss it, DH is a closet rules nazi.

[ashtog]

We are in what i think was going to be our forever home but now with another on the way it won't be lol.
We have to build another room in the basement, but they will be small rooms.
We already turned the heated garage into a studio for me, which I love. If we move again I want to build out of town and build an attached natural light studio. But that won't be for many years lol.

[silvermelody]

We bought our home last September with the intention of it being a stepping stone, not a forever home. When DS was born we were living in a 2/2 condo with no yard. That is currently our rental property.

We now have a cute little ranch-style house which is a 3/2 with a small/medium sized backyard. It was all remodeled and the kitchen is *amazing* with all new cabinets and granite counters. The bathrooms were remodeled also. The third bedroom is currently an office. New baby will room in with us for 3-4 months at least and I'm assuming the office will become their room. DS is such a good sleeper I'd hate to interrupt that by having him share with an infant.