Its probably just a pipe dream, but here it goes. WeÂve been talking and dreaming about buying a house ever since the hullabaloo began with the boys next door. They smoke (putting out cigarettes on our brand-new-paid-for-out-of-our-pockets swing and throw the butts all of the walkway and yard), party way too loud and generally disrupt our lives in very disrespectful ways. Plus, we get robbed once a year when the kids let out for school and are totally bored. I also miss my gardens that I canÂt have because the yard guy cuts down my beautiesÂand and and and and the list goes on. The two sides of the camp are, Ed wants to live in some suburb that is at least a thirty minute drive away from where I work so that we can get a bigger, nicer house for a smaller amount of money. I, on the other hand, would love to NEVER ever commute again, would pay dearly to stay where I am and have LF go to the best schools in Nashville. No compromise could be found. To top it all off, we ruined our credit a few years ago. Admittedly, weÂve been working on getting it straight for at least 18 months now (evidently it worked). Ed took it upon himself to ask about a house loan while at the bank one day a few weeks ago. We fought about it pretty hard because I really wanted to wait until the first of 2008 so that weÂd ironed out some of the wrinkles (like getting debt free, yes, weÂre that close again) and he didn't talk to me before he did it. I finally calmed down, did the math (including the taxes and insurance) and figured out we could afford a $XX house. IÂd decided that was my compromise. Talking to Ed, I agreed that I would move (even as early as tomorrow) if he could: A) find a house close to where we already lived, B) it was $X or less (but we could go higher if needed, IÂd just be happier if it was less), and C) did the legwork. Amazingly, the loan officer called and said that was the amount we were approved for a $XX, the exact amount I thought we could handle. I took it to be a sign. Last week, Ed was driving LF to camp through a territory close to work and saw a house for auction. He wanted to go badly. I encouraged him to go, warning, "You donÂt get to pay more than $XX". It sold for $X+70,000. BUT... he talked to the loan officer about what we could do since he's getting anxious, telling him we wanted a house that someone was dying to unload, could even be in bad shape (remember, we can do electricity (brother), plumbing (Ed), carpentry (Ed), carpeting (brother in law), landscaping (Robin)), but needed to be over on this side of town. The loan officer said he knew of a house in our price range, exactly as we described. We went to see the house all together after work last evening. When I met up with LF I told him what we'd been talking about, telling him it wasn't real, more like pretend playing and if he had a house what would like for it to be. He wanted a tree house and a club house. All boy. I told him I envisioned a covered back patio which attached the kitchen on the back of the house. I didn't tell him, I also envisioned a sunken patio that was also in the back yard because it was just plain weird. I couldn't explain why I thought it or have ever wanted something like that. It is in bad shape. You can tell no one has been there in a very long time. It is overgrown with shrubs and vines. There are cracks in the glass on the windows. Every window has a covering pulled completely down. The garage is filled to the ceiling with an old Cadillac sitting on flat tires, cases of bottles, junk in general. This appraisal site says Davidson County appraises its current worth at $XXX. I imagine we can get it for $XX if there's nothing too wrong with it. We can promise to take it as is for less and they won't have the headache, and we'll get to finish it like we want. When we rounded the back of the house, there was a screened in porch, covered with a roof, attached to the back door. How much you wanna bet it's the door to the kitchen? And, it had a smaller patio right next to it, with a 1 1/2 foot high wall around it. Not sunken, but felt that way. I was dumbfounded, but pleased to see that it fits even my imaginary ideas of what it should be. And it's on a road that has Robin in its name. Wonder what that means? It's all coming together, I hope!

Our dark cabs also have a lot of red. Think how nicely you could substitute your granite in here: By choosing Costa Esmerlda, you've chosen a soft green that is on the opposite side of the color wheel from red - a complementary color scheme, always a good thing. Move that pointer one space counter-clockwise and soften out both the red and green. Let's see if this is better color rendition of your floor: This is also nice addition to the colors you have going. It's remarkably like the tans I have in my granite. At this point I think I'd stop buying until those three elements are in place. When they are, you can tape your likely paint samples to the wall and prop up your backsplash samples to be sure that's exactly what you want in that space. Chances are good that you'll like exactly what you already chose, but it you decide you want the next color up or down on the paint chip, it will be easy to do at that point. Stalling on choosing your paint and backsplash will not hold your project up to speak of and may buy you priceless piece of mind.

What a good idea. I have a photobucket account. How do people usually post before, during, and after pics? Separate posts? Or, start a photobucket album and post along the way? Our next big decisions will be the faucet and how to do the lighting, but I posted a question about it on the Lighting forum....looking for good advice there. We're using our existing appliances...the fridge is only less than 2 years old and we like it...and we've had a dishwasher awaiting pickup for about 7 mo....I wish we could do a new cooktop,oven combo, but the budget just won't allow it and what we have is working well for us. So, that is a scrimp. We are getting a new hood and a new microwave. I don't think I'm going to obsess too much about a backsplash right away...I want to see what the cabinets and countertop (Kraftmaid Sonora, Maple, in Canvas finish with Labrador Antique) look like. It is a relief to finally be on the way. Next weekend we plan to replace the window over the sink with a new 4 ft. one...and I put out our hummingbird feeders today in anticipation of a bigger, better view! Well, I'm rambling, I know, but I am so darned excited about this.

Glad everything is starting to happen for you. Can't wait to see the photo's posted on your progress.