Yup! Today we got our keys to our first home!
It's been quite the experience, with lots of ups and downs, but we are so excited everything worked out!
We weren't even planning on looking until the end of this year. Our lease expires the end of July, but we hoped our landlord would let us go month to month after the leas expired and we could take our time looking for our home.
Yeah right. In OUR world.
When she said no, and that if we didn't sign another year lease, the owner was probably going to sell it, we decided to look hard for a month and see if we could find anything. If nothing came up, we would just sign the lease.
We were thrilled that the second home we looked at, we loved. It was still in our ward, in a young neighborhood where we already had several friends, and the lower end of our price-range. ALL pluses! So, we put in an offer the NEXT day. So glad we did, since there were several people wanting to put in offers if ours fell through. (phew! close one!)
The home is brand new, so anything that happens to it is our fault. :) I'm so excited to have a never-lived in home, that is PERFECTLY clean! Now...I wonder how long I can keep it that way....a month? a day? a few hours?!
Especially, with this for a backyard...
The only thing we don't love about the home, is the lot. We're on a corner, and due to visibility laws, we can only put a 6 ft fence TWENTY feet in from the sidewalk. That's basically our whole yard! We CAN, however, put a 4 ft fence 1 ft away from the sidewalk, so that's what we are going to do. Eventually.
As you can see, only the front half of the yard is finished, so we get to do the rest ourselves. We're actually pretty excited about this process. We envision a fire-pit area, I hope to have several fruit trees: peach, apple, and cherry, and some trees to help with the privacy along the 4ft fence. We'll post pictures as we make improvements. :)
One of the things we were looking for in a home, was a formal living room and then a separate family room. I didn't care to have a dining room, just an area in the kitchen that was large enough for a large table. This house met both of those wants.
And now, for a little tour!
The family room, looking down from the kitchen:
The kitchen/dining area, looking up from the family room:
The kitchen:
um...the house:
from the dining area, looking towards the front door:
These are the stairs leading up to the bedrooms. It's a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home. All 4 bedrooms are upstairs, with the two full bathrooms. The master bedroom is off to the left of the stairwell, and the other three are to the right. Another half bath is located off of the family room, by the laundry room.
I'm not a huge fan of the wood trim, since my preference is white, but it's still beautiful, and I'll make it work! :)
Now...any ideas for wall colors? deco ideas? I'd love some advice!
I'm so excited to make it beautiful, but don't have a clue where to start!
We won't be "living" there for another week and a half, due to a wedding in Seattle this weekend, and Dan has to work next weekend. Our ward is awesome and is almost begging to help us move. (I think it's the fact that we are staying in the ward...) I'm sure I can't resist waiting that long, so I'll be moving little things all week.
We'll send out a mass e-mail with the new address, so if you don't get it, let us know!
Anyway, this has been our project now, and we are so grateful and excited to finally own our own home! Well...technically the bank owns it for the next 30 years...but that's just technicalities, right?!
16 comments:
Congratulations! It is so beautiful! I think the best part is that it is brand Spankin NEW! I can't wait until we reach that day in our lives, its a looooooonnnnngggg way off.
Congratulations!!! We are soooo excited for you!!! I know how much you have been wanting to be able to paint and decorate just how you want and now you get to! My one piece of advice is about picking paint colors. When you are at the paint store looking at colors, grab at least four of the paint sample cards. At home, tape the cards together on the wall and look at it throughout the day so you can get an idea of how the color will look as the light changes throughout the day. When you have decided on the color, I would then either just buy a quart or small sample size of the paint, try it out and leave it for a day or so to make sure you love the color before you spend the money on several gallons of paint. I know this is a few more steps, but it has helped me save money and time because you can love a color in the store, but it can look completely different in your house. Good luck and keep us posted!!!
Congratulations. Your new house looks so spacious and airy. There's nothing better than going into a brand new home. I swore I was going to keep mine so clean. Sorry to say it didn't last long at all. By the way, I don't think I ever really formally thanked you for taking Hallie on the Fourth of July. She loves Chelsea and really had a great time with her. Have fun decorating your home.
It is KILLING me that I am not there to help you move in, decorate and hold that adorable BABY. UGH. This house looks wonderful. . . the only major drawback is it is in the wrong neighborhood. . .make that the wrong STATE. It is supposed to be down the street from ME. Ugh.
With what erin said. . . I saw that both lowe's and home depot are selling little sample paint cans for like 4 dollars or something. I hear the idea of painting a board the color you are thinking and then leaning it up against the various walls you are thinking of and watching it throughout the day.
I, of course, did no of this and that is why I got to paint my rooms three times to get the right color. . . not the cheapest method!
Yeah! So exciting! I'm jealous. I guess I'll still have to wait a few more years 'cause I'm not buying in Germany! It looks like a really nice house, and that's awesome it's brand new. It will be fun to paint and decorate how you want and make the yard how you want. I want to have fruit trees in my yard too!
Oh FUN! I love it, it's way cute. We lived in a condon that was brand new...that brand new feeling is great....until we wreck it adn can't blame it on previous occupants. Enjoy!
Congrats! Eli and I are jealous. But I guess we have to put in our dues at Brittany Square before we can buy a house just like you did. Have fun making it your own.
it looks really nice, and awesome that it is brand new! Have a blast!
Wow- talk about a step up from those apartments huh:) Sometimes I still have night mares about having to move back to those. Then I wake up in a beautiful house and think- HA, it's all mine (minus the technical fact that we owe the bank) HA HA HA! You are going to love the freedom of painting whatever you want without asking permission! Ofcourse I would still pass it by Dan:) Don't want to shock the guy too much!
I love the house! I like how open the floor plan is and that's a great neighborhood. Maybe we'll be joining the ranks eventually (when...I have no idea:)
Congratulations!! That is so exciting! It will be so nice to finally be in your own home. We are about a week away from getting into ours, I am starting to go crazy. You will love it!
Congratulations! We bought our house new and I loved that! Home Depot/Lowes or whatever similar you have up there will become your best friends but you will enjoy getting it all ready. Enjoy it, owning a home is very exciting!
Congratulations! Your new home is absolutely beautiful and I'm sure you will have tons of fun making it all pretty!
Congratulations!! That is huge news! And so cool that it's brand new ... that means your utility bills will be lower. :D So happy for you guys! xoxo.
Congratualtions! It looks beautiful! How fun to get to move...um wait, what am I thinking? I HATE moving and you have a new baby! I'm glad so many people are excited to help you! Now we have a place to stay when we drive to Monatana right? :)
Yippee! I am SO EXCITED for you guys! Having your own home is such a fantastic feeling! And being able to decorate...so much fun! I would start watching A LOT of HGTV, TLC, and the Style Network. You can get a lot of ideas there. The first thing is to decide what style you want to go with. Have fun!
Oh yeah, a little advice on the paint, no matter what color you choose, ALWAYS get the little tester bottle and put it on the walls. Every time we have done that, the color is not what we wanted and we ended up picking another color. Every time we haven't done it, I have not been happy with what is on the wall.
Your home is BEAUTIFUL!
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