House hunting & buying

My husband and I bought our first house in Dec...(got in just before the first-time home buyer minimum downpayment went up!!!) We had been looking for about 8 months and finally found one we both liked. Let me tell you, that was not easy. My husband grew up in this area and his parents live in one of the historic areas and he LOVES architecture especially from the turn of the century (20th not 21st). He really wanted one of those houses...luckily, the few up for sale were all WAY outside our budget.

The outsides may be great, but they have either teeny tiny closets or not at all. (What, did those people not have any clothes???) I need at least 2 walk-in closets just for my stuff!!!

Anyway, so we got a great deal (one of the few situations where the current economy helped us) and from the day we first say it to the day we closed was only 23 days...I'm sure that has to be some kind of record.

So before we moved in, I had to at least paint a few things...I love the accent walls you see on HGTV so I have 2 of them and if I do say so, I think they look great. We also had all the carpets cleaned. The previous owners had at least 1 pet who apparently had accidents reguarly in the living room. So everything is moving along and I have my notebook of EVERYTHING I would eventually like to do to the house.

So the other day I get home and apparently one of our cats decided the litter box wasn't clean enough and used the living room floor - the same place the previous pet had used. As for housekeeping, I love to clean and the only thing I ask of my husband - keep the litter box clean. So I check and it's horrible. I sure wouldn't have used it :) Needless to say, my dear hubby got an earfull when he got home. Of course, 30 minutes later, I felt horrible...he works full-time and goes to school full-time so I apologized.

Anyway, we start really examining the carpet and OMG, it smelled aweful. I don't know how we had never noticed it before, or maybe we did and just ignored it or maybe all the paint fumes hid the smell. So, now we have to pull up the carpet and I'm certainly not going to put down new and start the cycle over. We agreed on hardwood floors. The main house, entry way and hallway all have pale hardwood floors. I tell my dear hubby, we need to match it and put that down in the living room.

That did it...the architect in him kicked in (he never finished his architecture degree - he's an engineer) but he starts in on how each space has it's own purpose and should be separate from other spaces. OK,I agree with that...but watch any HGTV show and they say everything should flow... The only thing separating the living room floor from the entry way (with pale hardwood) is one of those little kickplate thingies...so now I may have to live with stink until we can agree...HELP!!! The only thing I know to do is possible get my mother-in-law to help. If we ask her opinion ( hope she agrees with me) that would settle it...then it's just a matter of getting it done. I just wish my MIL would get back from the trip so we can get started...Oh no, what if she doesn't agree??? Then I guess it's dark hardwood and may I can put down a BIG area run and cover it.