Life in the Cheese Drawer

after a dual-offer scenario (*eyeroll*), nate and i got the house we wanted in avon in the country. next up is the inspection and appraisal, which may or may not go well. we’ll see what happens. 
anyway, we have a closing date set for sept. 9, which is the day after our house in st. charles closes**. that means that hopefully we can just rent a uhaul once! woohoo! 
of course, after we heard about the two offers thing, i jumped to the immediate conclusion that we weren’t going to get this house, and so nate and i started looking at other houses in the area. we found a farmhouse and couple outbuildings on almost 9 acres just south of where i’m staying now that would have been fine had this one not gone through. 
the house was 100 years old though, and even though it’s recently been remodeled, you do have to wonder how efficient it would be. i asked my dad* after purchasing my last house about age in homes, and he said given his druthers, he’d almost always choose the newer home as being more efficient, even after remodels. 
so i have that going for me.
* he knows construction!
**the contingency is off that house, which is a relief. i thought that guy was going to back out. although he does get my wall-mounted speakers, which is super annoying. grrr.

yesterday jane came with me to look at a couple houses. two of them had two completely different feelings to them. one of the houses was secluded and wooded. it could’ve been like i was up north at a cabin. the second house was on a lake, and not quite so secluded. but the lot was large, and the lake was there. it was like being in the new london lake country. both appealed to me. both were great. i can’t decide what i like better!
my realtor asked what my deal was with lakes – why would i want to live on a lake? she knew i grew up on a farm(ish), so what’s with the lake? i looked at jane, and said “well, we graduated from new london-spicer…”
“oh! say no more.” 
tonight i’m looking at another lake home. property taxes are killer. *sigh*

i was going to write about pokemonning tonight, but instead i guess i’m writing about selling a house, because that’s what i’ve been trying to do all day long. 
we had a showing this afternoon and shortly after got an offer on our house. it was so low it was borderline insulting. our house is not overpriced by any means, and the offer would have made us bring about $15k to the table. no thanks.
so we’ve been going back and forth all afternoon and evening. at this point, it’s to the point where we are hoping for some wiggle room in the offer – enough so that if the closing date changes, we don’t have to bring money to the table. sigh. 
here’s what frustrates me about realtors: they don’t advise you that much. i ask what we should do, and she answers, well, what do you feel like doing? and i know it’s just not her; it’s happened with different realtors. i kind of want to ask, what am i paying you for? i know ultimately it’s my decision, but i’d like some expert advice, and that’s why i got a realtor. 
sigh again. so now, fingers crossed, i hope i hear back in the morning that this is a done deal. the closing date would be sept. 2 – which is only SEVEN WEEKS AWAY. omg. that just – it’s so close. so. we’re gonna cross the fingers and toes and give st. joseph a jingle that this pulls through.  
not that i know what we’re gonna do after this, but at least it’d be a push in the right direction!

SO a few things have happened since i last blogged! but first things first: i made an entryway bench.
i’ve been using an ottoman for the last year and a half, and i didn’t want to dish out the $100+ for a pre-fab particle board number. so i decided to make one from scratch!
i based my plans on this blog post from ana white, and just adjusted some of the measurements since i wanted it a little bit deeper and a little bit taller. (i’m tall and got a big butt, yo.)
went to menard’s and spent $35 on mid-grade construction lumber and went to town.

all my cut boards. i hate working with a circular saw. a table saw would have been so much better for the project.

 
 
in all seriousness, i wasn’t very careful with squaring things up. if my dad had been watching me do this, he would have made me take it apart and do it right. good thing he doesn’t have to look at it! 

 
the first time i thought i was finished, i didn’t put a lip on the front, and i’m so glad i went back and redid it. it looks TONS better than when i first left it and thought it was good enough. i also have to go back to menard’s and get another 1×4 to finish off the bottom edges, and i’m glad i did that, too.
 

 
sitting on my unfinished bench! you can see the bruise where i beat myself up in my sleep, too. (in reality, it’s from hauling that bench off and on my workstation.)
 
finished product! i have to stain the very bottom yet, but otherwise it’s good to go. now all i’ve got to do is make the cushion, and it’ll be ready for the entry!
 
buying and tools list:

so what prompted the bedroom makeover? 
my mattress.
my mattress, while only 6 years old, has not fared well. it’s been rotated plenty of times, but use has just gotten the better of it. to top it off, when i pulled it away from the wall about a month ago, there was a bunch of mold on it. awesome.
so, we had to buy a new mattress. 
we ended up getting a leesa mattress, which i really like and i know nate likes. it’s a foam mattress made in the usa that comes through the mail. it has a 120-day tryout period, so we didn’t have much to lose. we put some plywood under his half of the bed since he likes his firmer. i got a cheapo frame off craigslist, and we were good to go.
if you’re in the market for a new mattress, i recommend a leesa, and here’s a link for some $$$ off! you get a coupon; i get a referral bonus. http://go.referralcandy.com/share/HR764RS
onward with the final reveal! i hung a few more pics, got the curtains and blinds up, and took a shot of the new closet pulls. (notice i actually hung the old doorknob hardware from the door underneath the shelf.)


 

i got the final backsplash tiles in the mail today, so i finished that bad boy up!
now i just need to paint the other wall the blue color and i’ll be good.

my blog post last night was lame-o. so here’s the pics from the backsplash project i did this weekend.
before pics of my counter.  
 
and after pic of just the stove part. i had to order more tiles to finish the other side, so once it’s completely finish, i’ll try to get a wide-angle of the whole shebang.

on another note, i went to an awesome estate sale this weekend with my dad and his friend paul. i found a redwing crock that was busted and glued back together, a tray, and some blue mason jars. i would have bought more stuff, but i’m on a budget with the purchase of the backsplash now. (ugh. budget.)  i have yet to even open up the mason jars, i’ve been so busy this weekend. i think i’ll go do that now!

so today liz sent me a message about smart tiles, which i’ve now been obsessed with figuring out what i want to put in my kitchen. i’ll need 37 sheets of the stick-on backsplash tiles to do my entire kitchen under-cabinet area. i can’t decide on what color scheme and type i should put on it though.



 
i really like the shape of the white ones and the idea of white. the top option picks out my kitchen colors really well; however, i think it’s too busy. so, the bottom one, even though it’s not the shape i’d prefer, has a little more interest than the white ones. 
i got samples of the bottom two to be sent to me. home depot sells these in 6 packs. weirdly enough, the top option is on sale right now for half price, and i could buy my 37 tiles for $120. sadly, i’m not sold on the pattern. grrrr.