Our New House

So, I have clearly been absent lately. I am SO sorry! Mike and I have had a TON going on…

Mike graduated from the Chicago Fire Department Academy (this has been a lifelong dream of his!). While he was in the academy, we started our house hunting search. We had waited for 7 years, yes 7 YEARS to start the home purchasing process. We wanted to make sure he would actually get on the CFD. We figured before we committed to buying a home in Chicago, we would wait to make sure this thing was actually going to happen!

Well, he got on, he graduated, and is now a Fire Fighter! While he was in the academy we started our home search. We would have LOVED to have bought a place in Bucktown, but single family home in Bucktown = $$$$$. So, we ventured a bit north and west. We ended up looking in Edison Park and Norwood Park. Here, the single family homes were a little more affordable than Bucktown.  Our apartment was in a fantastic location with a ton of natural light. However, I wanted space, a yard, a garage, and SPACE! We had outgrown our lovely little apartment in Bucktown and needed more space!We found a few homes in Norwood Park that we liked. There was a jumbo Georgian that we really liked. The space was great, but it needed A LOT of work! I thought we could handle the renovation, so we put in an offer. Thankfully, our offer was not accepted. After going through minor projects with Mike in our new home, it is safe to say we would have killed each other if we had a total rehab situation on our hands! We drove past the house we did not get and turned down a street a block away. This street was filled with trees and a parkway that ran in the middle of the street. It was so charming. Mike said if a house was on the market on this street, he would buy it in a second! Well, as fate would have it, a house went up for sale about a month later!

When we looked at our house for the first time, you could tell the outside of it had been neglected. Paint was chipping, the landscape looked overgrown and out of shape. Let’s just say the curb appeal was not totally there. However, when we went it, the house was adorable! The prior owners had redone most of the house. They finished the basement so it now has a bedroom, living room, and bathroom. The kitchen had been redone as well as the two bedrooms on the main floor. The bathroom, however, looks right out of a 1970’s Macy catalog! The good news about the bathroom, even though it is dated, it is clean and in good shape. My favorite part of the house is the unfinished attic! The attic runs the whole length of the house and has the potential for more rooms and a bathroom! I love having raw space to work with. Even though most of the house was updated for us, we still have space of our own to work some magic. I keep telling Mike it would make an AMAZING studio space for me. He thinks I am joking. Maybe one of these days I can convince him!

I am ready to get the major to-dos out-of-the-way so I can start decorating and crafting the crap out of my new house! So, stayed tuned for a TON of home DIY projects. I have so many ideas, and so many rooms to DIY the heck out of!