Planning the New House

With all these before photos you might be wondering what the plan is for the after. Joshua and I started working on a to-do list shortly after we went into escrow. Some stuff is getting tackled before we move in, others are going to be tackled after the sale of our other house when there’s more moolah in the bank.

I’ll go in depth room-by-room in future posts, but here’s some of the big things we’re tackling.

Paint the Entire Interior + Garage

The number one item that needs to be complete before we move in is painting. I know there’s arguments over whether or not you should live in your space first before you paint, but we’ve lived in enough places to know our color scheme and what we want.

Not to mention, the house we lost before this one had the exact color scheme we were going for, so we already know what to expect. Plus it’s way cheaper (and easier) to get everything painted before we move in. And we’re setting a foundation that will make it much easier should we want to change colors down the road.

Oh and did I mention we’ve hired painters? I don’t know if it’s age or the season of life we’re in, but I so don’t want to paint anymore. Maybe smaller projects down the road, but I definitely do not want to do a whole house. Besides there’s wallpaper that has to be removed, and I am not about that.

We found our painter via Porch.com which was recommended to us by Lowe’s. They started yesterday and should be done in a week. They managed to get all the wallpaper off in the kitchen, and it already looks better!

• All ceilings, trim, baseboard, crown molding, and closets will be white.
• All the walls with the exception of Joshua’s office and garage will be in Behr’s Aqua Smoke. This is the same color we have in our current kitchen, laundry room, and guest room.
• Joshua’s office and garage will be Benjamin Moore’s Harbor Gray.
• The front door will be Benjamin Moore’s St. Lucia Teal, the same color as my current front door. I love it.

Replace the Light Fixtures

Anyone that knows us (or me at least, hehe) knows that the current decor is not my our style. The current light fixtures are part of that decor and are all gonna go.

What’s nice about the new house is they are set up for ceiling fans, not to mention there are light fixtures in the bedrooms (YAY), something our current house lacks.

We already plan on bringing over the George Nelson to the new dining room, and I’m contemplating getting a small bubble pendant for the entry. Any room that has a ceiling fan is going to get a much nicer, more modern one. Bathroom fixtures will get replaced over time.

Install a Pool Fence

We may not have children (yet, Lord willing), but we do have fur-babies! The idea of the dogs being near the pool makes me SUPER nervous, especially since Tucker jumped in the pool when we brought the dogs over the other night. If Mr. Big were to accidentally fall in it would be the end of him, so we definitely need a safety fence.

I originally wanted to go with a glass fence, but we were advised against it because it can cause fires (think of a magnifying glass on a blade of grass). Instead, we’re going with a mesh fence. Safety before aesthetics, I’m afraid.

Lifeguard On Duty will be installing our pool fence next week. They were recommended by our pool inspector.

Smart Home Central

Over the past year or so we’ve been transforming our current home into more of a smart home thanks to the Nest, Philips Hue, Lutron, and other HomeKit friendly devices. We definitely plan to continue and improve that in the new place. These are some of the items on our list to integrate.

• Ecobee thermostat. Nest isn’t HomeKit compatible, so we’re leaving that behind at the old house.
• Schlage Sense Smart Deadbolt. I love the idea of giving codes out instead of keys.
• Either a Ring or August doorbell. Haven’t decided yet but we definitely want a video doorbell.

Pair that with the network overhaul Joshua plans to do plus replacing all the outlets/switches, we’re gonna have one heck of a tech home. 🤓