As January Comes to an End

~ January 17, 2018~

Since snowfalls here are somewhat rare, I like to document them on my blog.  So, before January is over and done, here's a look at our winter wonderland.  It is long gone now, but it amounted to about six inches of the white stuff.  Very pretty while it lasted.

In other news we have started to tackle the realtor's list.

All wallpaper has left the building  house.

It had been a long time since we removed wallpaper.

Thanks to YouTube our memories were refreshed and Brett did a great job taking it down.  My offer to help was declined ; ).

Here you see the dining room paper lying in a heap.

We were pleased that it came down so easily.

The kitchen, dining room and powder room are back to the white walls we had when we moved in.

Yesterday we took the big step of signing up with a realtor.

I'm a bit hesitant to share that as it may be awhile until the house actually goes on the market.

We are currently waiting for a lot to become available in our future neighborhood.

Because the realtor has suggested a fair amount of updates, she felt it would be good to get things underway so that the house would be ready when we were ready to put it on the market.  We agreed.

The last time we moved it was 1999.

We were lucky that time because before the for sale sign went up our next door neighbor's mother bought the house.  That was the only other house we've had in our married life.

Things sure have changed in real estate since then.

On Monday the "stager" will come to make suggestions for paint colors, etc.  

As I've been decluttering and editing our belongings, it is starting to feel a bit stark around here.  I'm hesitant to add anything new until I hear what the stager has in mind.  I did, however, break down and buy the plant above.  It's called a "bird's nest fern".  I was told that new leaves come from the center and as they are forming they look like little eggs down in the nest.

If you look closely you might be able to see the little white dot down there.  I've got my fingers crossed that it will be a new leaf in the coming weeks.

Thinking that the laundry room needed a bit of life, I got this "rabbit's foot fern".  Have you ever seen them?  I grew one many years ago.  That little thing hanging down in front looks and feels a bit like a rabbit foot and little fern fronds sprout from it.

Houseplants tend to make the wait for gardening season a bit more tolerable.  

A Fresh New Start

Well, I can finally say that every last Christmas decoration is tucked away until next year.  Even more exciting than that is that the attic where they are stored has been thoroughly cleaned and organized.  I'd show you a picture, but it's a tad chilly in there at the moment.  I'm proud to report that there are now seven empty bins residing there.  

We spent the weekend on that followed by a thorough cleaning of the house.  It feels good to start the year off on a clean and tidy note.

As we have been looking at new home choices, it has become clear that some of the things in our 18+ year old home need to be updated.

Recently the walls in the great room and upstairs hallway were painted a light gray.  A few new canvas prints were added to freshen the look a bit.

This morning we met with a realtor just to get an idea of what the house might sell for.  He made a few suggestions for further updates.  A bit more painting is in order and the removal and re-paint of the dining room.  Apparently wallpaper is still not a desirable thing to prospective buyers.  He also suggested replacing the tile kitchen counters with granite or marble.  I'm thinking once we make all of these changes we'll want to stay put.  Ha!

We're planning to talk to a few more realtors and get the general consensus of exactly which updates are really necessary.

In the meantime I'll be working my way through this:

The 75 item checklist the realtor left for us.

Should keep me busy for awhile ; ).