Happy Monday! I’ve been encouraging my daughter Kylee (you may recognize her from The Inspired Room for her charming illustrated recipes and wedding photos) to share about her recent move into the townhouse she purchased. She’s finally here to introduce herself and show photos of her new home — plus some new pictures of her puppy, Bella. She’ll be sharing more about living in a small space in future posts.
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It’s been one month since my husband Lance and I moved into our townhouse, and we’re still on cloud nine. Waking up to actual sunlight every morning feels like a luxury after five years in a basement apartment.
When we first moved to Seattle from Portland five years ago to finish school, we didn’t expect to stay long. Neither of us had jobs yet, so we took the most affordable place we could find — a small, dark apartment — planning to save and move when we were settled. That space served us well while we built careers and saved toward buying a home. I’ll be sharing photos of the new house throughout this post.
Fast forward to the year we decided to start looking for a place to buy. Whether renting or buying, Seattle is expensive. We considered moving outside the city for more space, but we both work in town and love city life, so long commutes weren’t appealing. Staying in the city made sense for our lifestyle.
That left three main possibilities: a fixer-upper, a condo, or a townhouse. We looked with open minds and ultimately decided a townhouse would fit our needs best. The market was and still is intense — our first offer faced 27 competing bids and sold for well over asking. It was discouraging, but we kept searching.
Not long after, we put an offer on a small, three-level townhouse. Within hours our realtor called to say our offer was accepted — an exciting and surreal moment.
Now that we’re moved in, we’re slowly unpacking and settling into the space. My sister Courtney recently moved into the lower level, which has made the transition even more fun — it’s great to have family close by.
One of the best parts of this move is that we welcomed a sweet new puppy, Bella, into our home. She seems to love the townhouse as much as we do and has already made herself comfortable in every corner.
We’ll be sharing small-space living tips and a few house projects in upcoming posts. We’ve already started on some changes I’m excited to show you, so stay tuned for ideas on making the most of compact city living.