Gonna be a long year-and-a-half!

Hello! Long time, no blog. Truth be told, I haven't had much to say. Today, however, I hope to begin a dia(tribe)logue that chronicles the ups and downs of fixing up and potentially selling a house; and then buying a new one. Well...new to us. Please laugh along with me over the next year-and-a-half. I've got to find the funny side to the whole thing, or else I'll just break down and cry.

Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

Our house is a three bed, two bath ranch in Missouri...near St. Louis. We have a two car garage and a full basement on a corner lot. We will have lived here 10 years, as of June, and have enjoyed it very much. But, as with most families, we realize that we could use a bit more space. Hence, we hope to enter the housing market next summer.

And now the FUN begins!

I love my lavendar living room--but no buyer will. I've lived with the mismatched fixtures in my bathroom--but I don't expect a buyer to overlook them. And the recent makeover my son's room underwent this summer: OY! What was I thinking painting the closet a dark, royal blue?!?! Sure, it looks like a train tunnel. But only a very small niche house buying market will find that appealing.

Problem: I'm an artist! I'm a bit of a free spirit when it comes to decorating. I can't stand a "neutral decor", but now I find myself embracing paint colors such as Behr's Swiss Coffee (it's quite white--seriously, where's the coffee in their Swiss Coffee?) or Hushed White (it's extremely white). Much as I want to make one wall Chocolate Sparkle, and put Delicious Berry in my bedroom, I just can't do it--it'll have to wait for my next house. In the meantime, these paint colors are making me hungry.

So our aim to put a sign in the yard next June is ambitious to say the least. Just wait till I tell you about the flooring, or what we did to the kitchen 10 years ago. First, I think I'll let you into my coat closet. It shouldn't be difficult. We took the door off a couple of days ago.