House Hunting Adventures: Part 2

Being thrown into the housing market and being a first time home buyer is not an easy task. So many houses to choose from and I hear it only gets worse. In the past two weeks, my husband Bruce and I have viewed around 30 houses. While it can be very overwhelming, it is extremely exciting to walk into homes and imagine them as your own. With this comes many variables which we need to factor when choosing the right home: How would we lay out our furniture? Is there enough room for a child in the future? Can it fit all of Bruce's comics? Is it gas or oil heating? Central air? New windows? The list goes on and on…

During our house hunting adventures, we have looked at so many houses with lovely layouts and some that were atrocious. A couple in particular featured basements that smelled of mildew, a foreclosure home where the previous owner destroyed the space and one house which reeked of cigarette smoke and cat urine. We also had our eye on two in this one particular development, but after asking around, we found out the neighborhood is semi shady and too close to other bad neighborhoods across the way. Plus heard the houses aren't built well and grounds are mostly sand based.

However, looking on the bright side, we fallen in love with one house in particular, which is a nice neighborhood and is close to the grocery store, I-95 for work access and close to family. This week we are hoping to go for a 2nd viewing and are possibly thinking of making an offer; wish us luck please! I'm hoping to get more pictures when we go, but below are some pics of the lovely house and its features.

$226,00: Ranch brick house located on a dead end street. 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, finished full basement with a large family room with fire place, 4th bedroom and renovated full bath with jacuzzi, oooh yeah.

The backyard is very spacious and features an above ground pool, patio and shed.

The kitchen has been renovated with granite counter tops, lovely cabinets and updated appliances. This is plus for us, since Bruce and I aren't handy around the house. The kitchen also has space for a small bistro table.

Nice size living room and dining room with crown molding. The upstairs is very spacious, including the newly renovated bathroom with jet stream bathtub.

A Little Bit of Heart & Soul

I love stepping into other artists worlds filled with clutter, inspirations and a place where magic happens! Not often do we get to see these worlds, so I wanted to share my space where I create. I live in a brick town house from the late 1800s, it used to be a train station at one point, so the place is really old, the front brick even has carvings from all different people, it is quite beautiful (will have to shoot that sometime). We have three floors plus a basement, I have a little room on the second floor, it is crammed with all kinds of things. Odds and ends, supplies and even my treadmill.

I spend many hours here during the week, so it has become more comfortable after I received my desk as gift from my husband. It is very long so there is plenty of room for the computer, storage and all my odd knick knacks. 

Some of my favorite items are displayed with humor and love, including novelty fake plastic gold teeth that I picked up at the grocery store. I also have several crucifixes from my collection on my desk; I have them all over the house, about 30 in total from one inch to three feet tall.

I am a advocate collector of anything religious, here are some of religious statues in my office. I also have a collection of holy water fonts and several large framed portraits with the sacred/immaculate hearts.

At one point and time I was obsessed with antique engravings, still am but kind of got expensive. Here are a couple from my wall, I have several engravings some including Madonna with Child, Adam & Eve and my favorite is a late 1700 engraving of muscles from a leg. The wall that is right next to my desk is plastered with inspiration of all kinds, including images of Betty Page, master paintings, lace, roses and H.R. Giger.

I love displaying old portraits, my all time favorite is the one featured below of my nana when she was four years old. I am fond of black and white portraits of babies, they are just timeless.