Falls church fixer upper (with kids)

So we are joining the masses of people who blog.  But I figure, blog and people can choose if it is interesting enough to read.  Yep . . . we are crazy.  We bought a fixer upper in VA outside of DC with two young kids.  And for those that know us, we have done the "fixer upper" before (more than once) but that is when it was the two of us.  We loved it . . . pretty sure it may be different this time.  So we decided to blog about it.  I probably will include things other than just the house but mainly focus on the house.  We have never been good at keeping detailed pictures so now I will be forced to. 

So the cliff notes of the past 6 months.  In April, we decided to move with Jay's job to NOVA (Northern VA).  Not the best timing since Abby arrived in February.  We came up in April, did a whirlwind house hunting tour of NOVA to narrow down our search.  We decided to focus our efforts on Falls Church and Vienna.   Many lost bidding wars, 24 hour trips to look at the "perfect house" (with two kids), losing a house over incorrect paperwork, firing an agent, finding a new unbelievable agent, Jay moving to VA living in hotels while I am living in Raleigh, putting our stuff in storage and moving into a furnished rental, many more house tours later . . . . we bought a great fixer upper.  Will probably bring up some of the details of these months later but I need to get this blog started since the work has already begun on the house. 

For anyone that lives in NOVA it is all about location.  Mainly because of traffic and proximity to downtown but also because of the amazing schools and amenities in the area.  We fell in love with Falls Church from the beginning.  We loved the urban feel, the proximity to everything, good schools, young families, etc, etc.  Our new house is located just outside (like one house) of Falls church city limits.  It is walking distance to a metro stop, the WO&D trail, and close to downtown Falls church.  As this may not mean much to people in NC, we bought for location.  The house, well, it needs some work.  We bought the house from the original owner.  Probably the cutest old lady I have ever met.  She built the house in 1950 with her husband and lived there ever since.  She did a great job maintaining the house but it needs updating and modernizing.  It is 4 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.  Just over 1700 sq ft and an unfinished basement.  So here is the our little cape cod house . . . .

 Formal Living Room

 Dining Room

 Half Bath

 Upstairs Master

 Full Bath

 Jace's Room

 Kitchen

Family Room attached to the kitchen

Yard and Patio

So there she is in all of her glory.  I will include more detailed pictures later.  We closed on September 23rd.  The movers come on October 16th.  So it is the mad rush to get as much done as we can before the furniture arrives.  Mad rush with kids . . . . just taping to paint took 12 times as long.