View from the entryway
I shopped like mad for a few things to make our kids feel at home for Christmas, and thrifted my way to the finish line. I even found a 9 ft artificial tree at a thrift shop for a steal, it was the floor model at a retailer. Things did come together in the end and as much as I hate to admit it, it was better without all of our STUFF that would have been all over our house. In fact, I started wishing the truck would never come as living with less was working out pretty well.
On to the home itself, as I know many of you have been dying to learn more about it and see if it would be as groovy as the last home. For better or worse this home is NOT a fixer upper like our Florida home. (full home tour and before/after in this post) While shopping for homes we toured the models in a brand new build neighborhood, something I was against completely, but this neighborhood was a bit different than most. The exteriors were Charleston style and each home had a distinct look and feel, plus they were all different color combinations. I can’t stand the communities that are all brick or beige with no character but as far as new builds went, this hood wasn’t too bad! The models were spectacularly staged (as they always are) with beams and accent walls, amazing cabinetry, and the bathrooms were TDF. The biggest draw for me to this community were the floor plans, they offered a garage with a full apartment on top that would be perfect for my home office. If I could do that I was sold. The neighborhood is also less than 10 minutes away from my husband’s parents.
We found out the features we loved most in the models weren’t even offered in the new builds (so annoying) but the realtor said the model we walked through was going to be sold. My husband stuck his hand out and said “write a contract” and that’s how we bought the most amazing (model) home in the neighborhood. I didn’t talk about it much because I was too afraid the deal would crumble or someone would say “nevermind, we decided not to sell” or worse yet, the numbers wouldn’t work and we would have to start over. Buying our fixer-upper was a huge hand up in “moving on up” for our next home purchase. It was the best thing we ever did financially and I LOVED living there and making it amazing. It also lead us to our new home, one that has about 0 things we can complain about. We have actually found a few things and when I said them outloud I wanted to smack myself. Complaints included not being able to run all three showerheads at the same time in our master shower and the house being too large. I do want to legitimately complain that it took 2 days to clean the house. We have 6 toilets (1 half bathroom in my office) so I will be cleaning toilets like they paint the Golden Gate bridge, by the time I clean the last it’s time to start over again) OK I’ll shut up.
The best part of this new home is that I still get my own office. The model was the sales office and the builder turned the 2 car garage into an amazing finished office, bathroom included. It has an entry door and enough space to really let me run with my photography and video work. I’ve been unable to do things to the scale I wanted due to space and this has solved those issues completely.
It took us close to a month to fully unpack the tractor trailer’s worth of items (really, should have just burned it all!) so here is a look at the home as it is now. Steven and I still say to each other “do we really live here? How do we live here?
Entryway
Dining Room
Steven’s Office
Living Room
Kitchen
Downstairs Golden Girls Guest Room and Guest Bathroom
My Home Office (former sales office and located where an attached garage would have been)
Heading to the 2nd floor…
Upstairs TV Loft
Activity Room
Boys’ Room and Bathroom
5th Bedroom and Bathroom
Upstairs Laundry Room
Master Bedroom, Bath, and Closet
3rd Floor Man Cave
There are many things I miss about our old home. What we gained in square footage and newness in this home we lost in outside curb appeal and beautiful scenery. We no longer have the cul de sac to play in but we are a block from a large green space and we chose to move to a community so the kids could have playmates. These days they play after school in the green space and they’re much happier when they have friends. I’m sure one day we can make the best of both come together but that won’t be anytime soon.
I’m hoping to finally get back to work here and on my other website now that the dust has settled and we are comfortably in the new home.