Finally.......we get to move in at the end of May. We have been married for 8 years, and it's been a struggle! But now, we have our first house. It's in a great neighbourhood, and it is way bigger than we thought we could afford.

The only slight drawback is that is hasn't been redecorated since 1966 when it was built. So you can imagine.......one bathroom has pink tub/sink/toilet,the other 2 bathrooms are wallpapered in phsycadelic orange and yellow flowers,greeny-yellow shag carpeting throughout(even in the bathrooms)....

The same family has lived in it since it was built- which I think is so cool.

It will take us a while to redorate,as money and time will allow. We move in at the end of may,and my baby will be born at the end of june....

I am so excited!

fiona

By Joan on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 10:34 am:

Sounds just like the house we bought last June. Very old and very ugly on the inside. We have the downstairs looking presentable, but the upstairs is still in the works. Like you said it will take time.
Congrats to you on your new home!

Mara

By Marg on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 10:48 am:

I am so excited for you Fiona!

I know we bought an older home also, but the lady who we bought it from was fixing it up, she had redone all the wiring and plumbing, but we had "burnt orange (what else would you call the color, lol)", purple and blue shag carpet!

We are still working on it little by little!

By Melanie on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 10:51 am:

How exciting, Fiona! Congratulations!

By Tklinreston on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 11:05 am:

Congratulations Fiona. There is nothing like buying your first home - what an accomplishment. And how great is that your baby will be born in this new home and grow up there! Enjoy!

By Kernkate on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 11:15 am:

Congrats...that is so exciting...
Best of luck

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 11:26 am:

Congratulations! You can do a lot of the work yourself, if you are so inclined; like wallpaper or painting, refinishing cabinetry, etc. I don't know how *handy* your DH is, but you could even do flooring, like in bathrooms, yourself if he knows how. *MY* DH is totally useless in that department! LOL I bought my house 20 years ago and I've repainted every room more than once and changed wallpaper in 4 rooms myself. I can even do a little MINOR plumbing. The thing we need to do is to either replace all the interior doors/baseboards/window sill trim, etc. or try to prime them and paint them - they are stained a walnut color and I absolutely hate it and want to paint them all white.

Good luck! It seems you have *quite* a bit of work ahead of you, but once it's done, you'll feel great about it!

By Eve on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 12:02 pm:

Congratulations!! That's wonderful news!

I feel for you, btw. Our house was built in 1960 and was not updated at all. We had all that fun wallpaper and still have a green tub with yellow tile walls. It takes a while, but paint is a wonderful thing.

By Bea on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 12:40 pm:

What an exciting time for you. I would love the opportunity to redecorate your house.....so many choices....What fun!

By Momaroze on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 01:17 pm:

Congratulations!!!!!

By Angellew on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 01:40 pm:

Congratulations!!! It is such an exciting time. I know what you're talking about when you say the inside needs help. When we bought our first place, I almost cried at what I thought I would have to do to get it to look good. But, I bought a Debbie Travis book "Painted House". She has fantastic ideas for redecorating on a budget (who has money to do all that stuff right after buying the house!?) It really helped!!

Good luck and HAVE FUN!!!

By Dana on Thursday, March 4, 2004 - 09:40 pm:

Very cool. A first house is just so exciting! That shag rug must really be gross!!!!

It's neat that the original owners are still living there too. I wonder why they never got tired of the old look LOL

By Colette on Friday, March 5, 2004 - 06:38 am:

Congratulations!!

By Feona on Friday, March 5, 2004 - 07:27 am:

Best Wishes on your new House! If you can do anything before you move it it helps.

By Missymelissy on Friday, March 5, 2004 - 07:29 am:

Congratulations!! Enjoy!

By Echo on Friday, March 5, 2004 - 03:46 pm:

Congratulations!!

By Vbw1978 on Friday, March 5, 2004 - 05:12 pm:

Congrats !!! I know it makes you feel sooo good to own your OWN home !!

By Pamt on Saturday, March 6, 2004 - 09:50 am:

Congrats!!! We've been in our house 2.5 years and have repainted every room except the bathrooms. It really is fun! Hope your move is easy and you get settled quickly.

By Jayne2 on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 08:09 am:

Congrats!! Our house is 55 years old and has metallic wallpaper in two of the bathrooms and they painted over other wallpaper throughout the house. I enjoy decorating so if you need any suggestions feel free to ask me. I am very happy for you and your family, what exciting time for you...

By Sue3 on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 08:20 am:

Congratulations !
We purchased a home just like yours .
We do one room a year.It has been alot of fun.

By Trisa on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 08:46 am:

What exciting news!

By Fionadeassis on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 12:10 pm:

I am going to be bugging EVERYBODY for decorating tips......dh just imformed me that we are not doing anything to the house when we move in until we can do a big reno! So my dreams of painting and wallpapering my pink bathroom are over! I guess it will have to wait until we can afford to actually renovate the whole bathroom(gee-I wonder how long THAT will take?).........dh gets very 'napoleonic' whenever we move....I hate it, but it does make sense not to waste money and time on stuff that you are going to redo later....

what do you guys think?

fiona

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 04:11 pm:

By Insaneusmcwife on Sunday, March 7, 2004 - 11:50 pm:

How exciting. I can't wait until dh is in his last tour so we can start to buy a house. Congratulations.