Thursday, April 21, 2011

Big News!

I've got some BIG news for you today. It's the sort of news that's big enough to rank up there with the time I announced our engagement, or the time I announced that I'd be going to law school.

This news is really big. 2600ish square feet of big, to be exact. :o)


Yep! We're going to be homeowners! Crazy, right? After two weeks of negotiating and something like eight rounds of counteroffers (I've lost count), we're finally under contract! I have SO much to tell y'all about this entire process.

I should tell you about how our first house is going to be nothing like the "our first house" that I had pictured in my head. I should tell you that we found this great builder closeout program and everything just fell into place. I should tell you about how a 21-year old law student and a 24-year old engineer went head to head with a guy who negotiates housing sales for a living and came out with (in my opinion) a really, really good deal on a brand-new house. I should tell you that I'm going to have a gas stove (!!!), and I should tell you that I'm freaking out about how to decorate a two-story living room.

But for now, I'll just show you some photos of the place we'll call home in just over a month...

Oh, two-story living room... what the heck am I going to do with your huge walls?

The kitchen. An island was a "must have" for me in a house, and I like this one quite a bit! Did I mention that the builder is installing brand new stainless steel appliances (and the stove is gas!)?

I absolutely cannot wait to see the kitchen with all of its shiny new appliances! Oh, and did you see that backsplash? That backsplash is like 25% of the reason I picked this house. And I'm only exaggerating a little bit.

Dining room

"Study" - except I think we're going to make it more of a formal living room and put the piano in there (perfect acoustics with the hardwood floors!!)

Master bedroom - it seems so huge compared to our bedroom now!

Master bath - I believe we're going to attempt to share a bathroom for the first time once we move. It's a good thing there are two sinks.

Upstairs - the game room

Pretty railings! 

Looking down into the living room from upstairs...

This is one of the three upstairs bedrooms - I may or may not be claiming it as a craft/sewing/studying-for-school room.

Backyard!

Jeff is beyond excited about having a yard - it already has a sprinkler system and everything!

Sigh. Four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and 2600ish square feet of I'm-so-in-love-with-this-house! I was being so calm and rational and level-headed about the whole thing before our offer was accepted, but now I'm just SO EXCITED! I'll share more photos soon!

In summary, even though it doesn't have sliding spice racks like the adorable townhouse in the not-so-adorable area (which is still on the market by the way!), I think it's pretty close to perfect. Expect to hear lots of house-related blog posts in the coming weeks. :o)

**All photos from the Houston real estate website, HAR.com

Oh and by the way, Laura has an adorable wedding-related giveaway going on at Lucky in Love!

21 comments:

  1. Congrats!!!! It's a beautiful house!!!!

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  2. Wow, congratulations!! It's a great house!!

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  3. Congrats!! It's gorgeous! I'm so glad everything worked out for you!

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  4. Congratulations!!! It's a gorgeous place. And I'm jealous of your kitchen. :)

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  5. Congratulations! Your new house looks amazing! :)

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  6. I LOVE IT! Congratulations! It's a beautiul home!

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  7. The house is BEAUTIFUL! COngratulations! I would be lying if I said that I wasn't totally jealous, but I'm happy for you. How exciting!

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  8. Soooo cute! Love it! Can't wait to see how you decorate! In what neighborhood is it?

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  9. It's beautiful! Oh, those walls, just a blank canvas! I can't wait to see what you do with them!

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  10. Congrats on the new digs!! I'm lusting over your kitchen and craft room.

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  11. Oh my gosh, I am SO excited for you!! I knew everything would work out. :) What an awesome first house!!

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  12. Congrats Katie! The house is beautiful! :)

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  13. i LOVE it. wow. i expect lots of posts about your decorating in the future!!! congratulations!!

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  14. KATIE!! It's absolutely gorgeous!! You too are so grown up already it's amazing :) Can't wait to see what you do with all the decorating! Miss you and love youuuu!!!

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  15. Wow! This is house is beautiful. Congratulations!

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  16. How exciting! The house looks beautiful!

    It would be really cool if you wrote a whole post about all the details of buying a house. Like everything from how you decided on a neighborhood (schools? commute?) to how the mortgage process works. I know literally nothing about how the that stuff works, so it would be really enlightening!

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  17. Katie I just got the measuring spoons in the mail! Apparently our post office was holding it for awhile and forgot to let us know! I was so excited when we finally got them. Will have to use them when we cook out big Easter dinner. Thanks so much!

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  18. Congratulations!! You are really buying at such a great time right now as builders are basically giving these things away. My family owns a real estate company and sounds like you did well with your offers and counter-offers!

    Gorgeous place!! Wow... so much space to grow and enjoy! I am jealous. Super jealous.

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  19. That house is SO GORGEOUS. I can't get over it. Congrats!!

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  20. Your house is perfect!! What did you do to the big, huge walls?! I have the same situation in my house and need help! Feel free to email Lindsay.Hammill@gmail.com

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    1. I'm still working on it... I did do one wall with a bunch of square mirrors - you can see it here: http://spiralsandspatulas.blogspot.com/p/photo-gallery.html

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