2011: Home Ownership

Probably the second biggest thing we did this year was buy a house.

We started the process in 2010 by looking at house with our realtor and deciding on the area we wanted.

Then this February we started looking again. We had our first house we put an offer on that ended up being a dud. It definitely worked out for the best and we now have been in our amazing house since May.

Since then we have experienced the joys and challenges of being homeowners. 

Financially, I love having my money go towards something and have the eventual goal of not having to pay a mortgage or rent.

But houses are EXPENSIVE! Between decorating, furnishing and maintenance, it adds up faster than I can keep up. We are always adjusting our priorities and keeping a continuous to-do list.

I have developed a lot of decorating ideas (mostly thanks to blogging) and have had a chance to implement a few.  Learning how to arrange a room and make things functional has been a really interesting experience. There are so many options, so I think it is key that you get pieces that are versatile.

We finally got some things up on the walls, which has made our house feel more like ours. I never really hung anything up in my other houses before, so it is a nice change. This is definitely one of those things where I think about what I want for a good long time before I actually do it and hang it up. Dylan is really adverse to multiple holes in the wall. Hopefully our new laser level we got for Christmas will help.

We have added little bits of furniture, but overall once my cousin and his girlfriend moved out, we lost a lot of furniture and our house is kind of on the empty side. Instead I rearranged and that really helped make our house feel more cozy.

New barstools for the kitchen

Living Room before

Living Room after

Dylan and I learned a lot about yard work this year. Both of us did gardening, poop patrol, and watering while Dylan did the mowing and trimming. We added some lattice under the deck as well.

We have had a couple maintenance experiences including the bathtub, the garbage disposal and the sprinkler system breaking. We have a long list of things to hit up this Spring once it gets nice out.

Overall the first 7 months have been a great adventure! I am very proud of the progress I have made. Cannot wait to fill it up with more stuff and some chillins! Cheers to the next 30 or so years of living here :)