homeownership!

I received a late Christmas gift this year. All the aggravation and waiting for a title problem, a seller's insanity and drama and a bunch of other weird and random events all came together and I closed on my condo on December 29. The amount of drama and stress that went into this deal far far outweigh how much I actually want this condo but it's going to work for what I need right now. I am a homeowner. Weird.

It's in a "big brick box" complex and was actually in pretty good shape (I saw one condo while looking that smelled like cat pea and peanut butter and should have been condemned). It needed some massive cleaning, painting and minor repairs. When my checkbook recovers I'll work on re-doing the kitchen and bathroom, but I've got it in almost move in ready condition after fewer than five days of labor by my family and I.

Here are the before shots:

It's a two bedroom but one of the bedrooms is really small. I am going to use it for my bike and as an office/sewing area.
The bathroom is really really dark - so dark I don't even want to floss in there. This morning I changed the light bulb and it brightened up quite a bit. I am going to put in a row of six lights near the ceiling which should really brighten it up.
One wall in the living room was this deep slate blue. It made the room feel so small! We put on like 20 coats of paint and it's made the room so open and bright. Whoever did the blue wall meticulously created this weird white paint border. Other people have weird taste :-)
The kitchen is going to need a major overhaul at some point. For now I've painted the cabinets, painted the walls and ceiling and have to purchase a new fridge and stove. It will work but at some point the lack of counter space might push me over the edge
It still doesn't feel like it's mine. I move in in 10 days so hopefully by then it will feel like "home". I am still kind of torn about the whole thing. The excitement just isn't there - it's not my dream home in any way and I just want the work to be done - but I am glad to live closer to Boston and a real city. It's going to work for the next few years and then I can rent it, move somewhere else or just cash it in for a ticket to travel around the world. You can make the girl buy a condo buy you can't take the itchy feet out of the girl . . . :-)