We Bought A House!

So the other day I shared a major life update on my insta stories which is that we bought a house!! Thanks in advance to all those that reached out with their notes of congrats, and also to all of you that submitted questions about the news! I think I’ve answered them all within this post, but definitely leave me a comment below if I missed anything you’re curious about. Overall, we’re SO excited and hopefully this means a lot more exciting décor/design/reno content to share with all of you in 2019!

not our house lol (image source @beckiowens)

Ok, so to start, I’ll give a little background… Ryan and I have been looking for a house for a while and it hasn’t been the easiest process because we’re pretty strict about our desired location, lot size and budget. We want to stay in our current area and want a detached lot that will allow for construction/additions if needed, while leaving enough of a yard remaining (peach wants a pool, duh) AND allow for us to keep our condo as an investment property. We found one that we thought was perfect (big corner lot, liveable until construction, etc.), but we were runner up of 15 offers!!! That’s Toronto for you I guess lol. For those who asked about the offer process, I HIGHLY recommend that you work with a realtor who specializes in your desired area so you’re aware of all listings immediately, and have guidance on what price to go in at for your offers. Also, we have found it essential to know our approved financing in advance and to schedule our own condensed home inspections so that we could go in with no conditions. Again, Toronto market realities unfortunately!!

Moving on to the house we DID buy though lol, I didn’t think we were going to find anything before the wedding but this came up fast and furious and although the exterior has a ton of character and is in decent condition, I assure you the interior is horrendous lol. Ryan (and a few of his friends who were over the day we went to see the house) told me to be open minded though and when we got there, I had to admit, it was outdated but had really good bones. I’m talking natural light in every room courtesy of big windows, a wood burning fireplace (love), and a really functional layout that allows for a massive kitchen. I don’t know why, but when we go see houses, I always think about what it would look like at Christmas and this place would be effen dreamy. We were able to get it for a great price by Toronto standards which will allow us to do all the reno/updates immediately and keep the condo. I say 2019 because what’s even better is we managed to secure a late closing (end of Jan 2019) so we wouldn’t be carrying two mortgages over our wedding/honeymoon period when we knew we wouldn’t be starting work anyway. THE STARS FREAKEN ALIGNED, Y’ALL!!

Here’s the catch though scuuuurch, it’s not going to be our long term home. I know I just totally hyped it up and don’t get me wrong it’s going to be STUNNING when we’re done, but it’s just sliiiiiiightly too small for my long term plans. Ryan knows exactly my vision so we both decided that if we couldn’t find it and had the opportunity to flip a few homes in between, we would. So, here we are and we’re hoping to have this place completed by April 2019, at which point we’ll evaluate if we sell it immediately OR move in for a short while, rent out the condo, and sell maybe later in the year. Again, we’ll largely look to the market to decide, or if I get too excited about a yard and buy brother puppies during renos LOL.

For those who asked about design specifically, I don’t think there will be any surprises as far as my taste lol … definitely looking at an overall neutral palette but am also very into the below:

• Super into black trim windows right now, especially against all white walls
• Debating how I feel about the arched doorways on the main floor right now – leaning to keeping them!
• Only looking to knock down one wall on the main floor to make it fully open (no sweat!)
• Update fireplace to make it a true focal point
• Am thinking medium oak floors + interesting tile for the front foyer and powder room
• Oh yea, we’re adding a powder room haha, that’s really the only add-on to floorplan we’re doing
• For kitchen I’m thinking total reconfiguration, coloured cabinets (stay tuned), an island with storage + definitely a farmhouse sink
• Bedrooms upstairs will be far less work, but we’ll update the built ins currently in the master
• Full gut of upstairs bath – again, will look to pretty tiles/hardware to make it special
• Finish basement + update garage out back (Ryan’s project)

Overall, I’m SO excited for this process and what the home is going to be. Who knows, maybe one of you guys will end up living in it!! Would you want to live in a place that I designed? What are your must haves?? 😊 xx