We decided we would end our lease this year with no plans of where we would go next. We played around with the idea of buying, but didn't feel ready to take that step and really wanted to put all of our extra efforts towards paying off my student loans. SO, February of this year, my co-worker mentioned to me she was planning to rent out her condo since she was getting married in the summer and was looking for good renters. At the time, we weren't sure if we wanted to rent a home or a condo//townhouse, but decided it would be worth taking a look.
During our visit, we immediately fell in love with the size of the space. After talking it out for a couple weeks, we decided it was a perfect fit for us and our needs for the next 3-5 years. We made a deal with the current owner and here we are, about 7 weeks out from moving into our new home! Here are just a few peeks at my favorite parts of the condo when we took a visit in February:
Some Things I Love About the Condo:
* The lighting is beautiful. Most of the rooms are painted white and the carpet is a white Berber, so all of the rooms have a bright, cheery feel.
* I really adore the front door//entryway. The door is heavy duty and was built in the 70's, so it has some real charm to it.
* The space! This place is easily 2.5 times bigger than our current 3 bedroom apartment. And the rent is less expensive too. ;)
* The Master closet. The lady who is currently living there converted the sitting area in her already large master suit into a GIANT closet. So that dream of having a chandelier and an ottoman in a closet...well it's about to come true!
* There is more storage than we could ever ask for. We even have some hidden storage places behind closet doors and a full attic. Narnia? It's insane. This home has potential for being the best hide-n-seek home ever.
* The neighborhood is a more established quiet community. It's also part of a home owners' association, so everyone takes really good care of their little lawns and gardens.
* The owner is leaving all of the appliances, including the washer, dryer, a microwave, AND a grill! Huge blessing.
Not My Favorites:
* Since the condos were built in the 70s, there is a lot of brassy hardware. The kitchen and master bathroom have been renovated, so the hardware there is more updated. Jon and I have plans of doing some simple hardware updates to give it a little more of a modern look.* Same goes for some of the lighting. Most of it is a little outdated, but easily fixable.
* The exterior reminds me a little of the older neighborhoods near Seattle growing up. Hilly, lots of trees and darker painted homes. This definitely gives it some charm, but on first glance it's a little dreary, which isn't a good reflection of the inside.
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I tried making a real nice professional looking floor plan on floorplanner, but to no avail. So I resorted to drawing. It's definitely NOT to scale and the dimensions are off a little, but it's an accurate idea of the layout. :)
Some Main Level Plans:
* The first priority room is the dining room. We currently have nothing in the dining room arena, so we've been saving and budgeting in order to get this room done within a month of moving in.
* The fireplace is an icky pink brick color. I'm considering painting it white. I've got permission from the owner and believe me, I'll be doing some serious research before taking that venture on!
* The breakfast nook is darling, and has some of the best lighting. Since we aren't much of a breakfast nook folk, we're considering converting it into my home studio. Yeah!
Some Upper Level Plans:
* Bedroom #1 will be turned into the ultimate gaming//movie watching room, which we are REALLY excited about. This will mainly be Jon's bat-cave, but it will be fantastic to have all of that in one location and have an excellent space for guests to visit.
* Bedroom #2 will be rented out to Glenn for a while and will eventually become a baby nursery a good while in the future. ;)
* And I have big plans for that extra-large master closet.
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I'm so excited to share our condo adventure with you! I have a lot of decorating plans in the works. This will be our home for the next 3-5 years, so we are really looking forward to settling in and really putting forth some effort in the decorating department. My goal is to work on one room at a time. If I start piddling in rooms here and there I never get anything done and I tend to just give up. So my goal for the condo is to budget throughout the year and work on one room at a time until it's complete. The room at the top of our list is the dining room. I'll be sharing my ideas, inspirations, progress, and before and afters with you along the way!
