whose house? our house!

Yep! You read that right! At the end of March, Brandon and I took the plunge and finally bought our very first home! Thanks to God's good grace we are now proud owners of a brand-new 3 bedroom,3- 1/2 bath 3-level townhome! I guess good things come in threes? Needless to say, that's why I've been MIA for a while. Forgive me?

I began writing this post in May (we closed in late March) but I guess a late post is better than no post at all. Between packing, unpacking, working a full-time job, cooking dinner, spending time with my hubby, spending time with our friends, and gathering ideas for our new place, to say that I've been a tad bit overwhelmed it a bit of an understatement.

A selfie on closing day

To be truthful, I really didn't know if buying a place was in the cards for us any time soon. It seems like just yesterday that we were living the life in our 6th floor apartment in the city... you know, living the dream. But when the beginning of the year rolled around, we finally decided that we needed to stop wasting our money and just take the plunge.

We began looking frantically in the West Midtown area, and ended up finding what seemed like the perfect townhome. Long story short, thanks to the shady listing agent and the events that followed, we didn't end up getting it. We were truly heart broken. It was incredibly frustrating, especially because we had to provide our apartment complex with a 60 day notice by the end on the month. Discouraged, we dusted ourselves off and continued the search. Our faith was shaken, but we knew that God would provide us with a home that was truly ours, and it would be one that we didn't have to fight tooth and nail for.

After we exhausted our search in West Midtown, our search slowly, yet somewhat pessimistically, moved out into Smryna. Just when were were about to have a conversation about a extending our lease, we found a community with bigger townhomes (for less money than the one that we originally wanted) AND they were brand-spankin' new! Initially we looked at 2 level properties, and to be honest guys, I really wasn't feeling it. Then I had what I would like to refer to as "a come to Jesus moment" where I took a leap of faith and agreed with my husband that we could in fact live there, and that I could make ANYTHING look good despite my personal hangups with the floor plan. After we agreed, and began talks with the sales agent about building a townhome from the ground up, we realized that it was better to purchase a unit that was closer to being completed. Doing this would help us avoid an inevitable price increase before the new lots to build upon were released.

We had already looked at a 3-level end unit that I really liked, but Brandon wasn't completely sold on it because of the price. Now that an increase in price was possibly in our future regardless, Brandon decided that we should stop by to take one more look with his parents. When I saw it for the second time, I had that feeling in my heart, the one that other buyers often talk about... the feeling of being home! Brandon agreed and so we signed!

And let me just say that God has blessed us incredibly, and to own something that is really ours is simply amazing. Finding our first home was actually pretty stressful at times, but guys, but it was so worth it! And by no means is our place perfect, but it's perfect for us! Brandon and I make a great team, and I am so happy to own a home with him. Now without further adieu, here are a few pics of our place!

Yes, that's an Eagle in the window... until we get a flag! Whose house? Our house!!!!! If you went to Southern then you'd understand! Also here's the floor plan (our place is a mirror image).

A few things I wanted to point out:

1. The entry is very generous! I'm still trying to decide on how I would like to address this space (since we enter the house through the garage). Also, not shown on the floor plan is a little nook that I'm hoping to make into a swanky, little bar to hold all of our decanters.  

2. Our kitchen has a nice, large layout and a real pantry which I was totally pumped about! Though larger there are less cabinets, so I've had to seriously purge. I'm still thinking about where entertaining pieces (trays, napkins, pitchers, etc.) will live.

3. I LOVE the open kitchen, dining, and living area. "Open concept" really is as awesome as the Property Brothers say it is. :)

4. Notice that the fireplace is at an angle (which I was NOT crazy about) but nonetheless I made it work. Of course new homes are wired for the television over the fireplace, but the old school designer in me just can't do it. Mostly because ergonomically it doesn't make any sense and because I can hear my Professor Mrs. Walton saying, "Don't even think about it!" I decided to place art over my mantle instead and I think it turned out quite nice (photos to come)!

5. We have a HUGE deck, which I must say is currently empty. I'm in love with the idea of getting an outdoor sectional so that we can have glasses of wine out there and put our feet up!

1. It's very nice to have a larger bedroom than the one we had in our apartment. It's not huge, but we can finally get our Mongstad mirror back in the bedroom (it used to live in our hallway) so I'm a very happy girl!

2. The walk-in closet in the master is significantly smaller than the one in our apartment. On one hand it's a good thing because it forced me to purge a lot of clothing that I knew no longer had a place in my life. On the other hand it's more of a step-in closet so the name is very deceitful. I would love to replace the swinging door with a pocket door to gain more space. Unfortunately the light switch is on one side of the opening, and the other side is not an option due to the plumbing, so I'll have to involve an electrician to make this door fantasy a reality.  

3. I am currently writing this post from the second bedroom which will be my awesome studio once I get all of my studio belongings together and out of their boxes.

4. The third bedroom is small but I'm sure it can be made into a compact guest room. :) Also, Brandon has his teeny closet in there. (Gosh that man sure does love me!)

1. Also I must say that it is soooo nice to have a private garage where my parking space is always waiting for me! 

2. The bonus room is Brandon's "man cave" simply because every suburban man requires one. The perimeter of it is still lined in boxes though, so there's that. 

3. Our place actually has the "optional bath" which is nice. The tub may or may not still be filled with boxes. smh

Below are a few photos of the main floor right after the hardwood flooring was installed and covered up.

And here's Brandon chillaxing the day after we moved in (I had to throw some things together quickly so that we would have a place to watch tv. Needless to say that about 85% of this living room has changed! Can't wait to show you how!

In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed your visit today. Yes we've been super busy doing grown-up things, but I'm definitely committing to writing more often, so check back soon!