just in time

The reveal: before (above) and after (below).

On Friday my husband took on the task of painting the living room virtually the same color as it was before; however the fresh coat of paint makes a huge difference and somehow makes the room feel bigger and brighter (or is that just my wishful thinking?). There's no arguing, though, that toning down the fireplace tile has helped it recede into the background, and it no longer creates an eyesore for anyone not into lime green.

A couple snapshots of the work in progress--covering holes for nails that once held personal photographs.

Almost finished: a view from the opposite wall.

As it turns out, we painted the living room just in time. We received a call yesterday at 12:36 saying that someone wanted to look at the house between 2:00 and 3:00. My husband answered the call and hesitated for a split second before agreeing. He looked at me and questioned, "Honey? Someone wants to look at the house this afternoon?" My crazy pregnant mind shot back, "We have to do it! We can't afford to turn showings down at this point!" So we threw Catcher in his crib for a nap and frantically cleaned inside and out for the next hour-and-a-half. Our list of accomplishments includes: touch-up paint in the bathroom, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, "staging" the living room (the "after" picture above was taken just before we vacated the house), several more trips up and down the pull-down attic stairs for Alex, sweeping the front and side porches and sprucing up the backyard. 

We then broke the number one rule of sane parenting--never wake a sleeping baby--and got Catcher out of his crib and managed to pull out of the driveway at 1:58. Phew! We've already received feedback from the showing which is good but not great. The girl who looked at it thought it was cute and liked the yard, but the bedrooms were a little too small for her (surprise!) and she's decided to up her price range a bit to get something bigger in a close-by neighborhood. The realtor who showed it, though, was apparently impressed and said she would love to show the house again if she has the opportunity. Honestly, I'm just happy someone looked at it...