Today, a friend of Carpet Wagon is going to come a little bit out of the woodwork, so to speak, and share some of her personal experiences about being a first time homeowner.

My husband and I just became first time homeowners.  We’d heard all these crazy stories about how stressful escrow can be, and I won’t lie to you, it was truly nail-biting at times.

Our new house has really good bones, so to speak, but it’s been a rental house for decades before we bought it – so it definitely needs a little bit of TLC.  New floors, fresh paint, new kitchen cabinets, and some beautiful outdoor landscaping are all on our “short list” of things we want to tackle.  To be honest, we’re a little nervous about suddenly being the sole people responsible to make all those little (or big!) repairs that may come up in the near or distant future.

First up, what I’d love to tackle is the floors!   The bedrooms all have carpet in them, but it’s not in the best shape.  Actually – it’s horrid.  But part of what attracted me to the house is that I know that there are wood floors lurking under that threadbare carpet.  I’ve helped friends pull up carpet before – so I know it only take a few strong arms and some determination – but what do we do beyond that?   I’m tempted to see if we can sand and refinish the floors under the carpet all by ourselves – but I’m also aware that it might be a bigger and more complicated job than we can deal with ourselves.

Stay tuned with us here in the next few weeks and months as I share our experiences of being new homeowners and all the fun adventures that ensue!

[photo by Diana Parkhouse]