House Update- Checklist for Moving into an Old Home

We have been working like crazy on our new “old home”. From closing day until we left for Thanksgiving we had exactly nine days to get the house move in ready. This was actually a huge luxury because many times in the past we’ve closed on our home sale and new home and had to move in immediately. With the extra nine days I got the house completely ready for us to move in. Here’s our updated home tour video!

I wanted to share my Checklist for Moving into an Old Home. These are all things that we’ve tackled on all the old houses we’ve owned.

1. Paint EVERYTHING… last week I painted EIGHTEEN gallons of paint! I painted the walls and ceilings Benjamin Moore “Chantilly Lace”. I also took the opportunity with no things in the house to paint the basement walls and floor and garage walls and floor!

   

   Basement Before

   

   Basement with Paint

   
   
2. Inspect the Garage Door Opener- Our new garage door was in good shape but had an old opener without safety eyes. This means that if a kid or cat walked under it they could be crushed. Our new home also didn’t come with garage remotes or a keypad so last week we had the garage door opener replaced and we feel much better knowing how much safer it is now. I also took the opportunity while the garage was empty to paint the garage walls and floor!

   

   Garage Before

   

   Garage with Paint

   
   
3. Install Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors- In the past we always used the homes existing smoke alarms and used a plug-in carbon monoxide detector. This time we decided to purchase the Nest Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors. The cool thing is that if you are away and it goes off it will notify you on your phone through the app! **This Post contains affiliate links**
4. Remove old carpet. Have you seen my OLD YouTube video on how to remove staples? Here is the link. We were lucky to find Parquet floors in decent condition under the carpet.
5. Clean and Restore the Hardwood Floors. Not all the floors had carpet, but they were all looking pretty dingy. I used my favorite product of all time, Rejuvenate, to get the floors shaped up. You just mop it onto the floors and let it dry but it makes them look SO much better.
6. Replace light fixtures. I went with this light in the girl room and this light similar to this one in the boy room.
7. Measure for blinds and curtains. All three bedrooms have great windows that let in lots of natural light which is great during the day but not for sleeping! In past houses I’ve done faux wood blinds and bamboo shades, but in this house I decided to go with Roman Shades from Blindster!
8. Replace Locks & Make Copies of Keys- So this was on my list for the week and it just didn’t happen. The house has bene vacant for 10 years, so I’m not too worried that anyone has the key, but before we start living there I’ll get the locks switched. This is the lockset that I ordered for the front door.
9. Get rid of Garbage- This house had a LOT of old stuff in it to get rid of. I picked up a Bagster and we’re about to start filling our second one. This is totally the way to go when you’ve got a bunch of garbage but don’t want to deal with a dumpster in your driveway.
10. Ensure it is safe for your pets- Right away we had to seal an attic opening, install a cat door, and make sure there weren’t any chemicals the cats could get into.

Along with all of that, I also got a building permit and interviewed plumbers and electricians to handle our bathroom renovation. Then I started the demolition process. So that you can understand what we’re doing, here are the “before” and “after” floorplans that I submitted for my permit.

This is a picture of the hall bathroom before:

During Demolition:

This is what it looks like today:

Obviously it’s far from done, but SO much better than the 14 foot room we started with.

Here was the master bathroom before:

during demolition:

and after:

The master bath will go from a single vanity and toilet with no shower, to a double vanity and large walk-in shower.

Whew… that was a ton of info! So that’s how I spent the nine days between closing and Thanksgiving! This week I’ve been supervising our movers and on Friday they deliver our things! I can’t wait to get all settled in this new house!