Well, it's done...

All of our contributions to listing the house are finished. The photos were taken yesterday and Martin filled out the HIP stuff online. Now we just need to wait for the brochure to be made and for the offers to start rolling in.

Of course, we still have stuff to do on the house that will (hopefully) make it more attractive to potential buyers. We need t finish tiling downstairs and scrape wallpaper from the landings and stairs. Then I need to patch plaster and Martin and I will paint. Oh, and Martin needs to finish the built in wardrobes in our bedroom.

Compared to the giant list of things we had to do when we bought the house, that list is TINY!

This house has been a real labor of love. It was in such bad shape when we bought it, and the in-laws were horrified at the state of it. But we could see past the nicotine stained walls and tatty carpet. We knew that this house could be beautiful in its' own quirky, unique way. So we took the plunge and bought it anyway.

I won't lie--there have been times when I thought we were crazy for doing it. Every time my mother-in-law came over she had this look of disgust on her face. The house required so much time and effort and money, all three of which have been in short supply at one time or another. But look at what we have achieved:

Stripped wallpaper, repaired plaster, stripped carpet and lino, refinished floorboards, painted, had window replaced, and built closets in our bedroom.

Knocked down a brick wall and stud wall, took down a suspended ceiling and lathe and plaster ceiling, stripped three layers of wallpaper and beadboard, stripped carpet, built a stud wall, re-wired, plastered, painted, made a built in bookcase, and had carpet laid in the front room.

Stripped wallpaper, repaired plaster, reconditioned window, installed tongue and groove wooden paneling (recycled from the front room), replaced skirting board, stripped carpet, painted, sanded and painted floorboards in the top bedroom.

Ripped out kitchen units, stripped lino, knocked down a stud wall, re-wired, stripped wallpaper, plastered all walls and patched ceiling plaster, built a closet, replaced skirting board, painted, and had carpet fitted in the nursery.

Tiled, repainted, and replaced cupboard doors in the kitchen.

Painted the dining room, music room, and bathroom. We will be tiling them soon, as well.

Ripped concrete out, expoesed brick patio, sifted rubble out of the soil, created raised beds, planted grass, and created gravel area in the garden.

Painted the front of the house, including scraping down window frames and stone lintels.

Created, plastered, painted and tiled an entrance hallway, including large storage cupboard.

Not bad for three years, huh? Just making that list exhausted me!

I relish every time my mother-in-law tells me the house looks great.

We've constantly had a project on the go since we moved in, but I've loved doing most of it. After all, we haven't just been working on the house. We've been building a home.

I have so many memories in this house. Although I can't wait to sell it and move back to Utah, I will miss it when we do. But we are planning on buying another "project" when we move back, and now we know how to do all this remodelling stuff so we can do an even BETTER job on our next house. I look forward to making another home!