WE FOUND A HOUSE!

The last week and a half has been a very crazy, stressful, wonderful ride! Before we found out that we weren't able to buy our first choice house, a friend who knew we were looking told us about another house of a mutual friend that wasn't even on the market yet, but was really close to church.

 

We didn't think much about it at first, but thought we'd look at the house just in case. We thought it was really cute, but still had the "first choice" in our minds, so we didn't take a lot of time to focus on it. Once we found out that we couldn't afford the first house, we looked at each other and figured we should maybe take another look.

 

Guys, we loved it! It's so adorable! It's small, but I think we can make it work, and it's got so many beautiful upgrades! We call it "Sapps, Jr.", because it has the same "cottage-y" feel as Trey and Whitney's house, but it's a smaller version. The owners added so many incredible things...the yard is fenced-in, there's a beautiful deck (okay, I may use the word "beautiful" a lot, because I'm a little excited!). The floor plan has been opened up with beautiful (yep, again) arches and hardwood floors throughout, and the kitchen has been updated, as well. My favorite thing is the sunroom; without it, I don't think we'd be able to fit in the house. The girls' room is pretty small, so the sunroom allows them a lot of space to spread out and have a spot for their toys.

 

The bedrooms are tight, but I've already spent time online and on Pinterest, looking for ideas on how to fit two girls into a little room. (I finally found 2 beds from IKEA that can fit end-to-end on one wall.) It may seem like "small" is a common theme of this house, but I have to be honest...I love that it's small! And before it sounds like I'm whining too much, let me be clear, too...the house is beautiful! It's not like we're living in a tiny, rundown shack! I don't want someone from a third-world country to start mocking me horribly!

 

Oh, and also, I love to purge things! I love throwing things out! It gives me a weird high that I'm pretty sure Steve thinks I need therapy for. Which means the idea of moving into a smaller house and not being able to fit all of our current belongings makes me a little giddy! I know that the reality is I will definitely have moments of feeling like we're living on top of each other, but I'm committed to being able to live a little "simpler", and enjoy the space!

 

We had our realtor check it out, and she gave her full stamp of approval, so we made an offer. We were so excited to sign our contract today! We signed a contract! We have a house!!! We are so excited!!! Now we just need to sell our current house. I'll admit, the reality of having two mortgages gives Steve and I a few moments of having to breathe deeply into a paper bag, but after a lot of prayer, we decided to move ahead with it. Our prayer is that we are able to sell our current house quickly and we would never have to actually pay for two mortgages! (Sweet Baby Moses!)

 

So...deep breath...here we go!

Our front door...Steve loves the craftsman style of the pillars and door!

The back of the house...I love the cottage feel and I love how they did the deck! There are three separate sets of stairs around the deck, which I really like, and I love the detailing in the railing.

Looking into the kitchen. The archways! And the huge window over the sink! We will be changing the light over the kitchen sink, but they did some great woodwork around the oven hood and I'm glad there's still a bar area to sit at.

One view of the sunroom; there are huge windows wrapping around the entire room.

This is the office and probably my only "style negative". I love the built-in shelves and cabinets, but we will definitely be painting those paneled walls! There's no closet, but this will double as a guest room, which we definitely need!

The Master bath...there's a beautiful, walk-in shower to the right and a large linen closet on the left. We will be switching out the mirror, but I love the beadboard and pedestal sink.

The Master bedroom (and our lovely realtor, Heather). Again, the bedrooms are really small, but we don't have a lot of bedroom furniture, so I think we can still be comfortable. We will change the light and hopefully add a fan. I think our TV will have to go in here, too, because I'm a little opposed to putting a TV on on the fireplace mantle. (Steve and I are still negotiating this one.) Also, I lovingly refer to the windows as "prison windows", but they're growing on me. 

Enlarging them would be part of our "ten-year plan", so I'm going to need to be content with them for now.

 

I didn't get a great, "all encompassing" shot of the living room, but this gives the general idea. The front door is to the left of the bay window, and I love that the widow has a little bench area. Directly behind this view is the kitchen, and back right is the dining room.

Okay, that's all! Just a little view. (Although, I guess there's not much more that I didn't show.) 

Two huge benefits that have nothing to do with style are that it's only 1/10 of a mile from the church, and buying a smaller house will (we think!) allow us to afford to send Bella to Eastside! We are feeling very blessed!

I'm excited to post pictures on here about how we adjust to the space!