Moving to the Burbs!

We're moving!  It looks like we'll be in Boston for a few more years at least so we've decided to rent a home in Norwood, MA (a few miles west of the I95 belt line) and see how we feel about the suburbs.  Our hope is to find a town we like so we can purchase a home in the next year or so.  Norwood is really cute and quaint.  It has a cute downtown, great shopping, great schools and it's own electric company (something we have learned after living in Boston for 5 years - is a GOOD THING!).  The neighborhood is very cute and family friendly.  We have a great yard with what looks like some really nice established gardens (we can't wait to get our hands dirty!).  There is a wooded reserve across the street with walking trails and our neighbors are a good distance away on either side - it is very private.  There are 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, eat-in kitchen, living room, formal dining room, laundry room, bonus space (we think this will become a den/office combo), garage and a VERY large play area for the boys (we may partition part of this room off as a guest area... not sure yet).  There are 2 working fireplaces... one in the living room and the other in the playroom.  Two separate attic areas allow us to get rid of our storage unit!  Yay!  All in all we are saving $350 per month in rent (apartment, parking and storage unit) and nearly doubling our space!

Our official move date is Saturday, January 15 but we are slowly bringing things over to the new house now.  There is a great deal of cosmetic prep work to do before we can get settled... there is a lot of purple going on in that house!  I'll have to get in there with my camera to do some before and after shots.  My list of updates include:

1.  Paint entire first floor... Living room, dining room and kitchen

2.  Paint upstairs hallway

3.  Paint Marcus' room... it is currently Easter purple and it has Got. To. Go!

4.  Replace cabinet and drawer pulls in the kitchen

5.  Replace door knobs on the 3 doors to the backyard/garage... the owners don't have keys to them! Huh?

6.  Replace hideous chandelier in dining room with something more classic (it is too small for the space and is dripping in gaudy "crystals" and gold... ew!)

7.  Take down swan wallpaper in master bath... this will take 3 minutes since it's already coming off and the space is very small

8.  Take down wallpaper in master bedroom... this may pose a problem with the owners.  They are VERY attached to this house and seemed really bummed when we asked if we could paint the purple bedroom.

9.  Replace ceiling lights in upstairs hallway and front door... more drippy gold grossness!  

10.  Replace switch plates... many are cracked and yellowed with age

I wish we could rip up the wall to wall burgundy carpeting in the living room and dining room!  For now we will hide as much of it as we can with large area rugs.

The owners are really sweet... they are Lebanese.  They moved to Foxboro last year to be closer to Dr. Hannowi's dental practice.  They have 3 children... 2 boys and a girl who all grew up in that house.  I understand their attachment but... their wall color choices are very taste specific, the things we hope to do are very neutral and a big improvement on what's there.   

We are really excited about our new house and new town!  See ya, Boston!  It's been real!