Landed Gentry, Part III

In which the Rules family has finally closed, and wheels are turning...

..So in advance of our closing, we put some thought into how we would like our house to be.  At first, we thought this would be our list of stuff to do:

1) Put in new carpet, including removing leopard print carpet in the bedroom (eeeww).
2) Repaint everything
3) Remove sliding shower door in kids' bathroom and replace with rod
4) Remove ugly wall to wall mirrors in family room.
5) Restain ugly "pickled" floor in living room

We decided that instead of getting a paint guy and a carpet guy and then having to hunt down someone to do #3 & 4, we would just get this contractor guy whom my neighbor has highly recommended.  So we went down to the house with him and my goodness, in only about 90 minutes our list blossomed:

6) Replace tile in hallway and carpet in family room with wood stained to match new floor in living room
7) Redo all ceilings to remove ugly fan texture pattern
8) Add recessed lighting to all rooms (except kitchen) to replace ugly fixtures
9) Redo mirrors in bathrooms
10) Replace weird and probably very expensive gold faucet in master bathroom
11)Improve drop ceiling and remove fluorescent lights in basement to lose that cold "office" look.
12) Remove some walls with thickly textured plaster and replace with drywall
13) Take down weird towel bars, etc. in bathrooms and replace with something normal
14) Change out height-of-80's-style light switches
15) Take care of minor fix-its like dryer vent and additional insulation

Then, we met with the contractor right after the closing.  We were walking through the house going over final details, when suddenly, my husband was standing in the kitchen waving his arms, saying, "Can we get rid of all this tile?" Now we're doing practically the entire first floor in oak flooring. Our contractor is thrilled, and not just because of the business aspect. He is very concerned about the appearance of our interior as well as its durability.  "Oak and maple, that's what they make bowling alley floors out of," he explained.  Clearly, he anticipates the Duchess and Honey's ability to create chaos.

One thing I learned from this experience is that when The Grump has the checkbook open, it's best to get right in there and go for it before the door closes. Because believe me, if I had said, "Hey, let's totally redo these icky ceilings and scary pink tile floors," he would say, "What do you think, we are made of money?"

Reno photos to be posted soon.

Meanwhile, on closing day, we were sitting in the basement of the county courthouse waiting for our lawyer to return from making copies of everything.  He comes back and says, "You're not going to believe this, but it's snowing."  How do you like that? The mildest winter in years, and it snows the second that we are responsible for its removal!