We're getting a house!

Hellooooo!  Its been a long time since I've updated. School is kickin my butt, but I'm doing my best.  Say a little prayer that I make it through this quarter and get to stay in PT school.  I'm learning a TON, but its exhausting!

As I've mentioned before the hubs and I have been looking for a house. Since February. The first house we loved was a total nightmare when it came to trying to buy it. Everything that could go wrong did. So we walked. We then found this one in July just down the street from the first house:

Pretty nice right? Well this one turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare too.  The owners wanted to short sell, but they wouldn't stop paying their mortgage...  ???  SO FRUSTRATING.  At this point, I couldn't watch house hunters anymore, shop at home goods, or do anything else that reminded me of being a homeowner because I would just get angry!!

Enter this cute place:

We should be closing on it by Christmas!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!  It is here in Goodyear, not too far from parent's house and Home Goods is only about a mile away!!! =)  And, did I mention that there will be a mall really close in just a couple of years!  Again, so EXCITED!  Here's a few more pics from the house.  I also have a few dilemmas that I could use your creative help with.  Please leave me comments with your ideas!



Part of our master bedroom. Aren't the windows sooo cute? I can't wait to find that perfect chair for this little sitting area.

More of those cute windows!  This will be our guest room.

Okay, here is the beginning of the dilemmas.  1) the kitchen:

Gah. not so cute...... We are planning on putting lots of tile in, that is sheet vinyl that you see here. We also want to try to sell those (brand new) appliances and get some stainless ones. And I want to paint the cabinets.  Which makes me super nervous!  Has anyone ever painted their cabinets before?? I eventually want my kitchen to look a little like this (this girl is an interior designer in Dallas and this was her own kitchen remodel:

http://awelldressedhome.com/our-kitchen-remodel-is-complete/

Isn't it gorgeous??  Maybe someday when I finish school AND have my loans paid off we can do something like this!  Okay, and REAL dilemma is this space:

See that area below the staircase??  That is where the 52" tv HAS to go.  I don't want to just mount it on the wall. I want shelving and a type of entertainment center... So, help!  I've come up with a few ideas, but I am not very creative so I need lots of input!  I would like do a cross between something like these two units:

Tell me what you think of everything!! And give some more ideas!