The story of our house, and its little red doors.

I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.  I was sitting 8 months pregnant  (with Dayla, our now 3 year old!) on our apartment balcony, and Daniel and I were having the conversation about whether I should go back to work or not.  The conversation was scary, but also full of peace.  ”We might not be able to ever buy a house here” we reflected.  ”Are we okay raising our kids in an apartment?”  ”I don’t think kids care about being in an apartment.  We love each other, we love God, we are a family, that is all that will matter.”

And that was that.  We both completely felt a peace in our hearts.  We told God that if we never had a single family home, it would be okay.  And we meant it.

I don’t know what made us start looking at homes to buy.  Sure the market dropped, but really at first it felt a little like a game to me, not a reality.  Daniel said, “why not just look?”, so we did.   And that is pretty much how the story went.  We looked and most of the time we were underwhelmed with what we saw.  Then we found a home that we loved.  We fell fast.  Head over heals.  It was the best one we had seen, so we knew it must have been the one for us.  Could we afford it?  ”We will stretch” we said. We compromised on a couple things, but it was a nice house. So we offered on it, and our offer got rejected for a LOWER offer.  In hindsight it was clear that it wasn’t meant for us, but at the time I think Daniel and I both walked away with a bit of a broken heart.  So when we looked again, we got more cautious.  We tried to take our hearts out of it, and pour our logic into it.  We made charts and lists and a matrix of what we wanted to buy.  And we asked God to make it clear to us.

I had remembered seeing the house with the red doors on MLS a few months prior, but it had got an offer on it and was pulled off the market before we got a chance to view it.  Something about those little red doors though.  I just loved them; they caught my eye.  So when I saw the listing reappear I wasted no time calling our agent for a walk through.  It was such a mixed emotion when we saw it for the first time.  It filled our list.  It exceeded it even.  It was above and beyond what we hoped for, but our hearts were freshly bruised so our excitement was weighted with caution.  And it was a short sale.  ”There is nothing short about a short sale”, our agent cautioned us.  We figured we would offer and just keep looking.  So on  June 6th, 2009 we offered on the house with the little red doors.  At the end of the month we heard that there we no other offers on the house and it was listed as “sale pending”.

“Either this house is meant for us or there is something really really wrong with it” we contemplated.  ”I guess we will just have to wait and see.”

Then we waited.

Oh did we wait.

And wait.

We looked at other houses, but nothing compared. Nothing was even close to the house with the little red doors.  When six months went by, our decision to change to a month-to-month lease started to seem like a foolish one.   Then at last, 8 months after we offered, we heard something. So we went back and looked at the house in the middle of winter to see if it was as good as we remembered.  On the way to see it I fervently prayed to God, “If it is not meant for us, show us water damage, something awful.  Please God,” I begged “make it clear.”  It is not often that home buyers get to see their houses in three different seasons before they buy, but we got to.  What a blessing to see it in the heat of summer and after the storms of winter!!  And it was still just as amazing and dreamy as we had remembered.

JUST AS AMAZING. OH MY.

The next three months were a blur of nervousness, fear, prayer and excitement.  It was a series of “that is just too coincidental” and “wow I can’t believe that worked” kind of events.  Every time we set a boundary regarding this house, “we will take it only if…” it was fulfilled.  Some might call it luck.  Some might call it karma, or fate, or just a coincidence.  I just look up and thank God.

On June 2nd, 2010 we closed on our first home.

We still don’t feel like we need it.  We still feel like we COULD have raised our kids in an apartment and made it a home.  But in a way that is what makes this house even more of a blessing, even more of a gift.  It is more than we hoped for.  More then we dreamed.  Our socks our blessed off!  Thank you God.

Here it is!

(It is fun to know that this house sat for almost 2 years waiting for us.  It certainly gave us a lot of work to do, I calculated it at 180 hours of labor put in, in only one month… but it was so fun to make it “our own”!! Of course, like many homes, it is still a “work in progress”, but SO much of what we dreamed to change and hoped to change “one day” has already been done!  )

Before …Front

After….Front

Before…Entryway (Note how you walk in the door and immediately see the back sliding door. Strange little quirk, don’t ya think? It also had vaulted ceilings with absolutely NO insulation.  Being that this house is in a very HOT side of town, we were excited to fix that!)

Before…Entryway from the back

After…Entryway

After…The Back Doors.

I have always wanted French Doors!  I am in HEAVEN with them and the sky light!  Thank you to my husband and Steve who complied with my crazy requests!  :)

Before…View of Hallway Toward Bedrooms

(You have to hear this! We just heard from a neighbor that two owners before us was a “dry-waller” so he put in these archways himself! It is the only house on the street that has them…and DEFINITELY one of the reasons I LOVE this house!  I LOVE THEM!)

After…View of Hallway Toward Bedrooms

Before…Kitchen (note all the stuff that was left..no, none of the stuff you see in this picture was ours. Oh the joy of a short sale…cleaning out other people’s junk, then cleaning up, then fixing up, then cleaning up, then painting, THEN moving in!)


After…Kitchen

Before…Livingroom

After…Livingroom (view from kitchen, similar to above view)


Before….Front Bathroom

(You have to notice here that not only is that window totally broken, but that is a shower window that looks out onto our front yard, at WAIST level. Ummmm…Also this shower looked like it was painted on the wall.  No not a “drop in shower” but actually painted on.  This was a pretty awesome bathroom that we were SO glad to change.)

After….Front Bathroom

(Yes, I love white! Maybe the photographer in me sees it as a blank canvas! I don’t know why, but I love that fresh, clean, BRIGHT feeling of white.)

After….Front Bathroom

(Showing off the amazing TILE! Yes, TILE! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I asked Daniel’s dad if we could do tile and he said, “SURE!” Man, I love that. What a dream come true EVEN THE BATHROOM IS!)

Before…Master Bedroom

(This is the master, but pretty much all the rooms looked liked this…standard rooms, cream or yellow walls, broken closet doors.)

After…Master Bedroom

(Each of the rooms are still a work in progress. This is the basic. Of course, pictures and curtains still need to be hung to make it really feel like “home”. I will post those pictures when rooms are “done” as well. )
For Now:

After…Dayla’s Bedroom

(I also paint…from a previous life…so these walls in Dayla’s room hope to have a mural on them one day.  I am thinking white silhouette with tree, birds, butterflies and more.)

After…The Office

(…where Sundin Photography all happens! Also still a work in progress.)


Before…Backyard

After…Backyard

You are going to have to wait on these. Right now it is mostly dirt and a small lawn.  BUT…soon we hope to have a vege garden, chicken coop, and flower beds.  I will share!

Before…Garage

After…Garage

(Daniel’s dad built these awesome shelves for us for storage, as well as building us an attic with crawl space, lights, carpets….all for storage! YES, it is awesome. If you have lived in an apartment for 10 years, or ever in a house I suppose, you can really appreciate storage space!)

I also have to take a moment to thank Daniel’s parents who were SO instrumental in making this dream come true.  In so many ways, they blessed our socks off!  Daniel’s dad was so fun to work with because every time I asked if we could do something, he just responded, “Sure!”.  What a joy it was to watch our humble little house turn into a dream home before our eyes!

And that is it for now!  More to come in a couple months.  I will share our progress as we come along…it is fun to go on this journey with you internet!