We have been in our new house for about 4 months now. We painted the main living areas, we have kitchen tiers on the way and have hung our first bit of wall art. We plowed through our savings buying furniture, appliances and window coverings. There are still lots of plain bare walls that need to be decorated and too many white walls that could use some color but we have what we need and I'm really just glad to be here. It takes money to decorate a home and therefore it will also take some time. What a journey it has been from house hunting, home building to house closing. We stuck it out in
my tiny studio condo for 6 months but it was well worth the wait.
1. Overall Space. I can be at home and not see Mj all the time. What a concept! People need space and we absolutely did not have it in the tiny studio. We were on top of each other and it magnified clutter and anything else that bugged me times 10. He can be upstairs in the loft doing homework and watching baseball and I can be downstairs watching House Hunters. We can be apart and then come together. Mj's untidiness is spread out so I can tolerate it for a little bit longer then usual. Peace.
2. Decorating fun. I now have all of these rooms to decorate which is great once I figure out what the heck to do with them. I may not know exactly where to start but I love the possibilities.
3. King size bed. We squeezed into a little double in the studio. I wanted to save money and hold onto the old Queen bed of Mj's that came out of storage but he really wanted to up size so I agreed. Most of the time we end up on one side or the other but it's nice to have the space. I can lay spread eagle on the bed with room to spare and I actually have to roll over a few times to shut of my alarm if I'm on Mj's side!
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| Plenty of room and I love that we each have our own night stand. |
4. Double Vanities. Again, space. I have my own side to do what I need to do in the bathroom and he has his. We each have our own cabinet under our sinks. Mine is full and his is not.
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| I like having my own side |
5. Toilet Room. Our bathroom has a separate little room and door for toilet. It even has a window-don't ask me why! Not that we've never seen each other on the toilet but we love the extra privacy.
6. Thermostat. Sometimes it gets a little chilly for me because I am chronically cold but that's what blankets and sweaters are for. I no longer have to sweat through summers with only an AC Wall Unit or hope for a cool breeze to come through the windows on hot nights while trying to sleep. When we come home from work it does not feel like walking into a sauna.
7. LG fridge with ice maker. This sucker was not cheap but I have to say it's worth it. I still can't figure out how this unlimited supply of water magically comes out of my fridge but access to ice cold water anytime without having buy bottled water and keep up on our water supply is great. I think I'm even drinking more water because of it. And I kinda think ice is cool.
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| This fridge is the BEST |
8. Sectional with Ottoman. We searched high and low for this cozy yet modern couch. When you push the little square ottoman into the corner of the sectional it creates this lovely little bed like area which is perfect for cuddling while watching movies. I can't get enough of cuddling with Mj so this works out quite nicely for me and I think he's OK with it too.
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| Modern, comfy and cuddle friendly |
9. DVR baby! I know I'm a little behind on the technology here but this is the first time in my life I have ever had this and I love it. I don't have to rush home to watch anything and I can watch various TV shows at my convenience-and fast forward the commercials. Online viewing of shows helped before but this really takes it up a notch. Not that I watch a ton of TV but it's just super convenient to have. It's also the first time I've had a flat screen TV which of course was an Mj contribution.
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| The TV console has lots of storage to "hide" crap. So does the coffee table. |
10. Dining room space, Bar Area & Kitchen. We actually have a place where there is room for us to sit down and eat dinner together the good old fashioned way. It's not right in front of the TV but we can still see it because we have an open floor plan. When one of us is in the kitchen cooking (ideally Mj) the other one can sit at the bar and chat. The condo kitchen had next to no counter space and was really not functional. I was totally uninspired to cook there so I didn't. I vowed I would start cooking when I actually had space to do it and I did.
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| A table to enjoy meals together |
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| Functional cooking space |
11. Garage. No more searching for a parking space and having to pass up most of them because I suck at parallel parking. I no longer have to worry that my car will be vandalised yet again. No more carting loads of grocery bags from the car down the street, through the gate, and up the stairs into the condo. We don't have to get into a hot car and we don't have to haul our trash out to a stinky dumpster because our trash bins are right there. It also provides more storage for crap that we should probably throw away but won't.
12. Extra closets & rooms. Yes. Back to space-which is quite a beautiful thing. The clutter in the condo was driving me mad. The master closet could use a Closet World make over to make better use of the space but it is a walk in and way bigger then I have ever had before. There is now a whole extra room for Mj to leave his folded laundry for weeks at a time and toss his clothes on the floor instead of hanging them up. I don't have to see it so I don't nag him about it. Well, not as often anyways. Win win situation.
13. Laundry Room. I used to do laundry once a month. Or even longer if I could get away with it. I know it's terrible but I was so over hoarding quarters, staking out the washer/dryer, and carting loads of heavy laundry up and down stairs to the laundry room. Laundry is
fun easier now.
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| The bobble head bride and groom was a wedding gift. Really. |
14. Backyard. It still happens to be a pile of dirt pending landscaping. This project has been totally left to Mj and he assures me that progress is being made. We'll actually have a place to sit outdoors and relax. It's small but we did not want any grass cutting so that's fine. There is room out the front door too where I can actually stand there in my pajamas and check the weather and not be seen by every single neighbor. The condo didn't even have a balcony.
15. Recess Lighting. This was what I felt was an Mj upgrade splurge but like most everything else I'm glad I agreed. It came included in some areas but we addeded it every where it didn't except the 2 spare bedrooms. I like the modern look it gives the house and we don't need lamps. Some of our lights even turn themselves off after a certain time period if we forget. The light switches are all on dimmers which can save energy and is really good for setting the mood...if ya know what I mean!
16. Community. I still don't know any of my neighbors but our little neighborhood is like an oasis in the middle of the little city we live in. There are only about 42 houses spanning 3 private roads. I don't walk out my door onto a busy street. I feel comfortable taking a walk if I want to. There aren't random hoodlums roaming around or broke down sofas in any front yards. I feel so much safer. We have an HOA in full effect that I might come to hate at some point but it does wonders for curb appeal. We are only about 5 minutes from the condo but it makes all the difference in the world.
Are there some things on my wish list that we didn't get? Yeah. We couldn't do all the upgrades we wanted like granite or hardwoods. We could use a little bit more counter space and cupboards in the kitchen. I wish we had a linen closet but there is room to build one. I also wish we could have afforded to buy more centrally located. And while I'm at it, I would really love it if I could get my mortgage sliced in half! But really, I'm not complaining one bit. It's brand new, it's OURS, and I love it! According to
Sandra Rinomato on HGTV's Property Virgins, whom I trust completely, if you like 90% of the house you should really consider making it your home because no house is perfect in all ways and there will always be something that you wish you could change.
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