Woodmere, the Cains are here! About a week ago, we moved to a fantastic 1950's split level ranch in the village of Hewlett Neck. It is a subdivision of Woodmere, which is in Long Island NY. We grew tired of apartment living and the lofty price. We packed it up and moved to the suburbs and now we have a huge 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house with 2 offices, a family room, living room, screened in patio, huge lawn, and 2 car garage. We are saving around $1300 a month! Yowza!

click here for more

[More:]

The house is amazing, the kitchens and bathrooms are completely updated with gorgeous tile and stainless steel appliances. The hardwood floors have all been restored as well.

We made it through the move and our first week in the house. The house is 50 years old and full of retro charm, but it also has its quirks. The first night it was quite warm so we slept with the windows open. My son got bitten by mosquitos and woke up with bug bites all over him. Turns out, there were holes in the screen windows that needed patching.

A few nights later, we had a flood in the basement. I was doing laundry and went downstairs to put the clothes from the washer into the dryer and I found water all over the floor. The sump pump had stopped working and the circuit breaker kept tripping. We had a handyman fix the sump pump today but he said an electrician will have to fix the broken circuit. So I am still afraid to do any laundry down there.

The linoleum tile floor in the family room was absolutely filthy, covered in 50 years of dirt and grime. My husband and I spent hours and hours scrubbing, scouring and put in a lot of elbow grease to get that floor clean enough for my son to play on.

I also steam cleaned our giant shag rug we inherited with the house. Groovy!

The walls in the family room are paneled and one wall was badly discolored. The sun had faded around the areas where art hung on the wall. My husband and I conquered that problem by putting Tempaper over it. It is an adhesive wallpaper that is pretty easy to apply, just peel and stick. It is a little tough to line up the pattern but I think we did a really good job.

We also replaced the lighting in the kitchen and dining room. The ball light is from Ikea and the sputnik light is an ebay find.

We made an Ikea run to get 2 new sofas to match the shag rug. We decided on the Karlstad sofas. Ikea delivered them the next day and my husband and I had to put them together. Now I know why Ikea stuff is so cheap. You have to put it together with instructions that have no words, only pictures. Oy vey!

We have been working very hard on getting the house ready for Grayson Danger's 2nd birthday. We are having a little shin dig for him this weekend. It will be a Birthday/Housewarming party. I am so excited to celebrate his birthday and to show off the house.

Here are some pics of the house with some before and after shots.