The Story of Our New House, Birdie Circle

This is loooong... feel free to skip to the bottom where I've put about a million pictures!

I’ve wanted to make sure I recorded the events leading up to the sale of our home on Chidester Dr. So here it is…

We built our home on Chidester Dr. back in 2007 and had always planned on being there for about 5-10 years. Five years went by and we were still very comfortable.  At that point we had the 4 kids and the space was working well, although we recognized it would not be a house we could stay forever in. After Leah’s first birthday in late 2012, Adrian and I discussed when we’d like to move and we decided that about a year after he finishes graduate school, so sometime in 2015 would probably be a good time. We wanted to find a larger house that could accommodate us for a long time- all through the kid’s school and beyond if possible.

Then we found out we were pregnant with Adam. That was in March 2013- he was due to arrive in early October. That really changed things for us. We were trying to figure out where we’d put him after he was born (Leah was still sleeping in one of the larger closets!) and it was so stressful. Adrian finally made the comment about shifting our move up a year and after looking at the financial side of things, it felt like the right thing to do. We made plans to work on slowly packing things up and getting the house ready, then we’d put the house on the market in March-April 2014. We started saving money like crazy and looking back, we were blessed so many times in that endeavor. I’d look at our bank account with the growing balance and think, “how on earth is this happening?” I still don’t have a clear answer, but suffice it to say we were blessed.

What we didn’t anticipate was me getting a strong feeling that we should put the house on the market much sooner. Mid January I just felt like it was TIME and we scrambled for a couple weeks and it was listed January 23^rd. We had a lot of activity and finally settled on a full price offer and the move-out date was scheduled for March 20^th.

I felt relieved- we had sold the house! However I was also incredibly anxious- because we didn’t have a house to move into yet! I remember praying fervently that we’d find the house that was right for us and that I’d know without a doubt that it was where we were supposed to be. We looked at several homes and nothing seemed like a great fit. We were trying to be realistic- we had a short list of “must-have” requirements, as well as a much longer list of “it would be nice” items. It was beginning to look like we’d have to start reconsidering our short list items as homes were just not coming on the market.

I’d wake up each morning and browse all my hot-spots for houses. Most of the time it was fairly discouraging as there was nothing new or if there was, it was a short sale home that was just put on the market. We’d previously decided to avoid short sales because of the normal 6-9 month wait time. We were planning on moving in with Adrian’s parents but we didn't want it to be an extended stay.

On Wednesday, February 26^th I checked KSL and saw a house that we’d seen go on the market several months prior. It checked off all of our short list items and then some, so I knew I wanted to see it ASAP. I forward it to Adrian and Sara, our Realtor, who within an hour or two informed me that it really wasn't available. It was a short sale that was scheduled to close in 2 days- the realtor decided to list it on KSL just in case something fell through, but we couldn’t even make an appointment to go see it. I was frustrated.

At about 4pm the next day however I got an amazing phone call from Sara. She informed me that the short sale buyer had dropped out at the very last minute and that suddenly the home was available. Their agent called Sara and asked, “How serious are your buyers?” She responded with “VERY serious”- and she told him how our house was sold and our family of 7 was about to be living with in-laws in tight quarters. We were able to make an appointment to see the house the next morning. It was a very exciting night for us- we looked at the listing photos of the home about a dozen times. We told everyone what was happening and before we knew it we had a posse of family members, cameras ready, to tour the house with us the next day. I tried to not get myself too worked up but I had a strong feeling that *this* was our house.

We arrived the next morning and saw the house for the first time. It was amazing and we put in an offer on the spot. Who would have thought we’d actually get a short sale home when we weren’t even really looking for one?! The price was incredible- a good $40K less than our max budget, which gave us money left over to fix the house up a bit prior to moving in. Our offer was approved by the sellers and everyone told us it would be about 2-3 weeks before we could close. That was FAST, especially for a short sale! (Short sales generally take 6-10+ months, but since this house had already been through the entire process, it was expected to take much less time to finalize again.)

Well. In reality it took 10 weeks. There were minor hang ups, but looking back, it was actually a very smooth process; it was the seller’s bank that just took FOREVER. Our interest rate lock expired twice but our loan officer bent over backwards to keep us at our original (amazing!) rate. It was super stressful during those 10 weeks and I was always so worried that the sellers’ bank was just going to put a stop to the whole transaction. It’s one thing to take a leap of faith when it’s just you, but when we had these 5 kiddos relying on us to provide them a stable home environment, well, it was a lot of added pressure. I could see the toll being in a small space, not having our usual schedule and routines was taking on some of the kids and I felt so awful. We contemplated starting to look at other house and we were so close, but each time we were about to make that decision, either Adrian or I would feel strongly that we just needed to be patient and wait for this house. Being with Adrian’s parents was wonderful as well- they made us feel welcome and really the space was much better than renting an apartment. Between Christy and Keoki and our agent Sara- we had to be talked down from a ledge at least 10 times (once a week, ha!) In the end, it really did all work out well.

On May 7^th we finally were able to close on the house! It was an amazing feeling. The minute we were able to go in we were there with EVERYONE and I think Adrian started filling holes, prepping the walls for paint, etc. It was funny, but we were just so excited to get started on all these renovations that we’d been talking about for the past 10 weeks. The previous owners really left the house in good shape too. For being a short sale, the house was in fantastic condition. A couple examples- the sellers had a professional house cleaning service come and clean the house before we arrived. A couple bathroom faucets were broken, so not only did the seller buy really nice new ones, but he bought extras so that the faucets in the bathrooms would all match. The downstairs kitchen’s disposal was broken, so he bought a new one and left it for us. He paid for a yard maintenance service to come mow the lawn right after we moved in. (So we didn't have to worry about it for a couple weeks.) One of the items the home inspection revealed was that a good 50% of the light bulbs throughout the house were burned out. Not a big deal- we could manage to replace bulbs! However there are a zillion lights in this house and it would have easily added up to a couple hundred dollars to replace them all. The seller left about 8+ boxes of light bulbs in the storage- we didn't have to buy a single one. I could go on- it was just incredible and from what I hear, certainly not normal for a short sale transaction.

We didn't have a ton of home renovations planned but we did want to paint a good 3,500 (out of 4,400) square feet of the house, as well as have the carpet replaced. The previous owners had pets and I don’t like pet smells. We did our best to budget out the costs but certain elements just could not be foreseen so it ended up costing quite a bit more than we planned. For instance, the house has this gorgeous travertine floor throughout but it was in serious need of maintenance. I read and researched how to do this and bought a DIY kit. We went to work and oh my was it a DISASTER. I ached from head to toe and we were only 1/5 of the way through. I declared defeat and we called in a professional. Seriously, it was the BEST decision ever! They came in the next day and did an absolutely incredible job and the floor is gorgeous. The paint sprayer we bought was awesome too! Little did we know how much more paint we’d need because of it (think dozens of gallons more than we thought!) but again- it looks beautiful. We ended up using 37 gallons of paint on the house- the paint mixers at Home Depot and I were good friends by the end of this project. Blessings happened though and the end result was even better than we imagined!

We finally were able to move in on May 31^st- we painted every single day for 2 weeks, then the final week was the travertine floor fix, carpet install and putting everything back together so we could actually LIVE here. Moving day went very smoothly- we had a ton of people from our new ward show up and we were done in record time. We even managed to unpack the entire kitchen and get the kids somewhat settled in their rooms that same day.

It’s been 6 weeks since we moved in and nearly every box is unpacked. I adore this house. It’s everything I wanted but didn’t think we’d get! I love, love bay windows- this house has 8! There is crown moulding everywhere, which we love and hate installing, ha! The house is so bright and open and has a great layout. The kids have a good space, plus room to be loud and crazy in the basement. Honestly, this house checks off almost all of our “would be nice” items, which is just amazing to me. And to get it all for such an incredible price?! I’m still pinching myself that the last few months actually happened.

Prepare for picture overload…

This was the realestate.com listing picture. It was originally listed summer 2013. All the trees and foliage and so overgrown. We've taken 4+ loads of green waste to the dump so far! The trees are so full here you can hardly even see half the house. 

This pic is from the first day we went and looked at the house, 2/28, the day we put in our offer. 

Backyard. Despite the obvious grade, the house has a nice sized backyard. Plenty of space for the kids to play and even though we're not on a corner anymore, the house has a lot of privacy. 

We were SO excited to put the offer in! Say hi to Sara, our real estate agent! 

These next several pictures are all from the day we looked at the house for the first time. So the previous owners were still occupying it. This is the entryway, pic taken from the living room. The upstairs has 4 bedrooms. I'm standing right by the powder room and behind me is the office, now playroom. 

living room  and formal dining room. You can see a little here how dark they painted the ceiling. 

This is the kitchen, part of the family room and you can kind of see the breakfast nook off to the left. That wall was painted so dark, it made that space feel so small. We've since put an 8-chair table there and there's room to spare! 

Family room. Don't you just love the baby blue shag carpet??

This is Hailey's room. Notice the black ceiling. 

Master bedroom. We found out the coating on the wall is Venetian glaze. It was in poor condition, obviously and it took 2 coats of Kilz primer + 2 coats of ultra heavy duty color to cover it. The room looks SO much brighter now. (Notice they had it on the ceiling too!)

Don't you just adore the GEESE?! This is one of a few funny little traits this house came with. This is the master bath. 

So the pictures above I consider the "BEFORE" pics. Here are the pictures we started taking AFTER we got possession of the house. 37 gallons of paint, travertine restoration and new carpet later...

We got in the house and about 5 minutes later, Adrian comes in hauling this giant ladder. The giant ugly wreath came down ASAP! Ha! 

This is the powder room right off the entry way. We didn't really do anything to it, save restore the travertine to polished stone. It's beautiful now. 

We invited family over to have a little toast and ice cream to celebrate us finally getting into our house! We also started filling holes in walls to prep for paint. We couldn't wait to get started! 

Raz poses down in the basement. We replaced the carpet and did some minor fixes. The basement is kind of a blank canvas right now. It's in a circular shape with the stairs in the middle. It's a great space for the kids to play, plus it's nice and cool when it's hot outside! 

A shot of the backyard. SO overgrown. We've cut it back a ton- you can now see all the curbing, plus many of the landscaping rocks. 

Enjoying ice cream to celebrate us getting the keys! 

Celebrate! 

The next day we started paint prep. Tons of taping and covering stairs, etc. We worked for hours every single day. It was difficult with a nursing baby, but my mother in law Christy really helped with the kids. Adrian also took off 6 days of work to get a majority of the painting done. 

Loving those ducks! 

We had a couple missteps when we first started using the paint sprayer, but we soon got the hang of it. The first room we did was the black ceiling in Hailey's room. We had to do 2 coats of Kilz primer on ALL of the ceilings in the top and main floor of the house. It was exhausting, but it went super fast with the paint sprayer. 

This is a glimpse of the breakfast nook in the kitchen. We had to do 2 coats of primer here too since the color was so dark. 

Family room

Us getting the hang of the paint sprayer in the boy's room. All those lines disappear when you do the 2nd coat.

Adrian opening one of many, many 5 gallon buckets of paint. 

The master bedroom was a challenge, but it worked out in the end. The Venetian Plaster was shiny, so we had to let each coat of Kilz dry really well without anyone touching it, or else it would wipe right off. It actually dripped off a couple of the dark areas (where their heads touched the walls since they had no headboard- yuck.) and we had to re-apply a few times. 

This shows how huge this room is- this scaffolding is giant. It looks small here. 

The master after 1 coat of primer. SUCH a difference! 

Breakfast nook paint being covered! Hallelujah! 

Comic relief from all the painting...

Covering a kitchen for spraying is HARD. We were so tired this day. Our smiles say otherwise, but this really was a challenging day. 

The house was quite the construction zone for a couple weeks! 

This picture shows the contrast between the taupe color the ceilings USED to be, and the primer we put on. The end result was a lovely white ceiling paint. If anyone ever is trying to decide if they want to paint their ceilings darker, let this be a useful tip- DON'T DO IT. It's absolutely incredible how much bigger and brighter the entire house looks now. 

Covering the floor of the formal dining room/ living room and getting ready for paint. 

We also painted every single door in the house, as well as the vents and canned lights. Everything is so nice, shiny and clean now! 

Ceiling is now painted. 

Adrian was the main paint sprayer since it took a while to get the hang of it. Here, he's giving lessons to Keoki, who wanted to try it out. 

There was plenty of opportunity for learning though- we painted over 3500 square feet! 

Master bedroom all primed. 

Upstairs landing showing the 3 kid's bedrooms as well as the kid's bathroom. Carpet was already out at this point. 

Carpet removal in the basement showed this lovely hunter green tile circa 1994. 

This is my office down in the basement. We re-painted and re-carpeted here as well. 

Here is a close up of the travertine floor in the kitchen/ family room. My little DIY kit left a nice powdery film over the ENTIRE floor that, despite over 12 moppings/ hands and knees scrubbing- wouldn't come off. 

Here is another BEFORE picture of the floor. Travertine is naturally porous (I know WAY too much about travertine at this point!) so if you leave it uncared for, it will develop these holes all over, like the one above. You need to periodically fill the holes to keep them from getting larger. our floor hadn't been maintained in a good 5-6 years. 

Carpet removed on the stairs. 

The stone restoration guys came and saved our floors! We opted for the polished look, it's gorgeous. 

Right here they're "buffing" the floor with water and acid powder. 

The finished product is SO beautiful! 

Painting in the diving room/ living room is DONE. I love this room- all the moulding is so lovely. 

Living room

Newly restored travertine floors. 

Carpet install in the basement! 

Basement kitchen view- carpet install. 

The room off to the right of this photo is my office. 

Master bedroom painted and being carpeted. We were going to paint it all blue, but we started running out of blue paint and I couldn't bear to buy another gallon. So at the last minute we put a tape line in and painted the bottom taupe. Eventually we will put a chair rail in. When I first saw the new carpet I freaked out a bit over how dark it is, but it really works with the space. 

Family room. We did a remnant carpet here since it's a smaller square. It's easily my favorite carpet in the whole house. It's freaking expensive though- being a remnant was the only way we could afford it. It's awesome though- so soft and plush! 

View of the kitchen all painted and moved into! We've since put stuff up on the walls, so it looks even better!

Living room/ formal dining. We've been tossing around the idea to expand the kitchen into the formal dining and close it off to the living room with an added wall. I'm torn though. I'd love a giant kitchen, but this room is SO beautiful and we've used it several times already. We will see- renovations like that are in the 10-15 year plan..

Living Room. 

My office. 

One part of the basement. It's just a fun area for the kids to play right now. Couches and TV to come shortly...

I have a COLD storage room! It's awesome. 

This is one of 3 more storage rooms we have in the basement. It's the largest and I LOVE it. 

A view out the family room/ kitchen back door- we see deer all the time! 

That's it for now- I need to take pictures of the kid's rooms and add them later on! They look amazing!