Home sweet new home

Nate and I bought a condo downtown when we got married 9 years ago. It's within easy walking distance to multiple coffee shops, breweries and restaurants that we enjoyed frequently. It's kitty corner from the farmer's market. It has a pathway that leads to a beautiful park on the water. We LOVED living downtown. The condo itself had some great perks too. So small (780 sq ft) that we could clean it easily. No yard to take care of. Tall ceilings. A tiny little porch that got a lot of sun in the summer. We made so many memories there, with friends packed into the small space and just the two of us in the ups and downs of life. It was the perfect place for us. Being two bedrooms it was even perfect when Wyatt came into the world. At the same time, we knew that eventually we would want a yard for Wyatt to play in. Space for hosting people better. Storage for bicycles and toys and hobbies. 

PLUS, Nate began working at home and his "office" was a tiny space next to our bed that looked like this:

We casually looked for a house to buy. We found newer houses that had designs we liked but practically no yard. We found older homes that needed tons of work or had layouts that just didn't feel right. 

And then, we found our home. We can't say that we have our future planned out but if we were to hope, this is our forever home. A few of you have said you'd like more pictures...so here they are! Plus, come on over and visit us, we have space now!

This is a picture of the kitchen in the new home BEFORE we tore out and redid (had a contractor do) it. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't what we wanted, was outdated and we figured we should take care of it before we moved in. Also, two features were very annoying...the fridge was so big that the doorway was squished and a flyswatter had to be used to get to the lightswitch. And the stove was next to a wall so any pan handles couldn't go to the right of the burner. 

They completely tore out the walls of the kitchen, gutted everything else, put in a beam that matched the one across the living room and basically started from scratch.

 We weren't living here while the work was being done but loved seeing the progress every time we were over. While the kitchen was being done we painted just about every room in the house, worked on the yard, bought blinds and messed around on plenty of other projects. Since we are renting our condo out now we were thankfully able to keep living in it while all this work was done on the new house. 

The cabinets were made by Smith and Vallee Woodworks down in Edison Wa. They did a great job of getting the dark color we were hoping for while still keeping the integrity of the dark walnut they were using. We got to do some designing of the cabinets. We chose to have skinny corner cabinets and drawers that opened from both angles rather than a big awkward space that needed a lazy susan. We also had pan racks built into one cupboard and a tilt out drawer for the sink. 

The pantry has four huge pull out shelves so we can reach the farthest back items.

The stove is in the island and we had it off-centered so there is one bigger end for food prep right next to our trash can drawer.

We LOVE the way the upstairs is open and spacious now. Kota construction did the work and we were happy with the process with them and are thrilled with the way it all turned out. 

We painted these built in bookshelves because they were an older wood that looked funny with a brand new kitchen. We also had all new doors put in throughout the house to replace the old wooden hollow ones. This was a huge improvement in the appearance and in preventing sound from traveling as much which was important with Nate working at home on the phone all day.

A pool table was already here in this house and we ended up getting to keep it thanks to our realtor! The bar was in Nate's parents' house that he grew up in and has been in storage for the last 10 years until we bought a house. I like the window seat, pool table, bar combo for a little old fashioned side of the living room. 

One feature we loved about this house was the porch downstairs as well as the porch upstairs. The downstairs one is a private, calm place to sit in the sun or the shade and the upstairs one has a pretty awesome view of sunsets, the Canadian mountains and even a glimpse of the water. 

View from the top.

Downstairs porch

A yard! 

AND now Nate has his very own space to work!

When we first moved here in July Wyatt kept yelling "home" any time we were downtown near our condo. Now, he says it when we turn into our driveway. There are other rooms in the house but now you'll have a better idea of this place we've settled into and have learned to call home!