Happy Monday! I’ve been encouraging my daughter Kylee (you may recognize her from The Inspired Room with her illustrated recipes and wedding photos) to share a bit about her recent move into the townhouse she purchased. She’s finally here to introduce her new home and share photos, including several of her adorable puppy, Bella. She’ll be sharing more about small-space living and projects in upcoming 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 real sunlight each morning feels like a luxury after five years in a basement apartment.
When we moved to Seattle from Portland five years ago to finish school, we didn’t expect to stay in that first apartment for long. We had no jobs at the time and chose the most affordable, practical place while we settled in. It was small and dark, but it helped us save for a future home. Now that we’re both settled in careers we love, we decided it was time to explore buying. (You’ll see photos from our new house throughout this post.)
By 2014 we were ready to start seriously looking. Seattle’s housing market is anything but affordable, so we weighed our options: move to a suburb for more space or stay in the city to avoid long commutes. Because we both love city life and work locally, we chose to stay. That narrowed our choices to a fixer-upper, a condo, or a townhouse. After viewing a variety of properties, a townhouse made the most sense for our needs.
The market was intense — the first home we bid on attracted 28 offers and sold for more than $100,000 over asking. Discouraging, yes, but we kept looking. We found a small three-level townhouse we loved and, to our delight, our offer was accepted within hours.
Now that we’re moved in, we’re slowly unpacking and making the place our own. My sister Courtney recently moved into the lower level, which has been a wonderful addition — it’s great to have family close by as we settle in.
Another joyful change is our new puppy, Bella. She’s an Australian Labradoodle and has already become part of the family — so far she seems to love the new home as much as we do. You may have seen her in a recent blog feature about living with dogs.
We plan to share small-space solutions, decorating ideas, and house projects here soon. We’ve already started a few projects we’re excited about and look forward to walking you through them. Thanks for following along as we settle into this new chapter!