It is a good thing that the hardware store was closed by the time we headed off to buy additional paint on Sunday, because even though I thought I could live with the color of the swatches on the wall, by the next morning, I knew I really didn’t like it at all. So this morning I painted over the green swatches with two coats of primer, and this afternoon I went to the hardware store to pick up something new. I was aiming for something in a neutral shade of warm beige. It certainly looked warm beige in the store. But the big squares of color on the living room wall are currently looking a lot more buttery yellow than beige, and I suspect that tomorrow morning there will be more priming in my future. Sigh. There is a very good reason why the dining room was the only room in this house that ever got painted.
On the plus side, the house we really like in Sacramento will need minimal painting, if at all, because the current color scheme is lovely, and I am all about minimizing any amount of taping and painting and also the inevitable swearing. Monday after work we went over to walk through the house a second time, in order to get a closer look and make sure this was really the one. I walked through the house and took a ton of pictures, and we opened cupboards and peeked in drawers, and stood in rooms and pondered possibilities. There were features we’d forgotten about from the first visit – like the little enclosed porch right off the kitchen that already has a pet door into the house, making it (with a little cleaning and adding of tile) the perfect place to put the litter boxes. The backyard has more than enough room to put in a two car garage and still have plenty of open area. The yard not only has a little fledgling pomegranate tree, it also has a lemon tree, a peach tree, and even a red grapefruit tree (and unlike the white peach tree in our current backyard, there was nary a peach-eating scrub jay in sight, and unlike the little baby grapefruit tree we currently have, that one is old enough to produce actual fruit).
We know, already, some of the work that will have to be done; as well as the work we will want to do (the style of tile and cabinets in the kitchen is rather unfortunate), but for a house built in 1920, it’s in amazingly good condition. We even got a chance to chat with one of the next door neighbors. And by the time we left, we knew that this house was the one.
So now we are going through the process of looking at the various options for financing and longer-than-usual escrows and contingency plans and bridge loans to figure out how to make this work, so that we are not suddenly saddled with two mortgages, and crossing our fingers that no one else out there is thinking the same thing about what we have now pretty much decided is ‘our’ house. And in the meantime, final plans are shaping up for the current house. This morning I was late to work because I had to stay and meet with the guys who will be fixing / replacing /repainting our exterior trim and installing railings on both the front and back porch, and I had to leave work early because I had to get home to meet with the guy who will be making our strangely warped marble shower wall go away forever, and Friday morning the people from the pest inspection place will be coming out and taking care of the damn termite problem once and for all. Or maybe not once and for all; but as long as the termites stay away long enough for us to sell this house, I will be happy.
And I keep on wandering around the house with empty boxes, finding new things to pack, emptying and reorganizing drawers and cupboards, wiping down surfaces, making lists, and telling myself that putting a lockbox on a house with indoor-only cats really won’t be as bad as I am imagining. And hoping that some time before they come this weekend to film the virtual tour, I will have finally nailed down the right color for that one wall in the living room that isn’t too green or too yellow, or too whatever other possible wrong color I can think of and will, instead, be just right.
I’ve lived in the same house since 1964. I cannot relate to the buying/selling stuff.
You have my sympathy and best wishes that all goes well.
Hi Jennifer,
Wow, what an exciting time! I’m also looking at houses to buy, but I’m doing it from halfway round the world and also 9 months before we really can start looking, so it doesn’t really count as more than an internet obsession. But you’ve found something you love! That’s fantastic!
On the paint samples, have you thought about painting large sections of cards with your possible colours and then sticking them up on the walls? It minimises the repainting and primering you need to do. I painted half a dozen with various shades of off-white when I was painting my old house, spent three weeks moving them around rooms and checking the colour in different kinds of light, and ended up choosing the one called “off-white”. I wonder why I bother sometimes. But anyway, it does make the selection process easier.
The other thought is–you don’t HAVE to live with the colour. You only need to paint it so the house will sell. After that, it’s somebody else’s turn to stick up the cards ;-p
Pictures! You took pictures, show us pictures!
I love pictures :)
I know I’m commenting kind of late into this whole thing – but if you want a warm, wonderful, light beige color, check out Cathedral City. It picks up the colors of whatever’s near it – and unless it’s next to something else white, people may think the walls are white or off-white.
You can only find this at Kelly-Moore paints. It’s amazing stuff. If any of your artistically-inclined friends have contractor’s licenses, have them get the paint for you at a discount. It’s costly…but it is SO worth it.