The One
Friends! Family! I’m here! Blogging! What a twist, what a rush, what a revelation.
Just the other day on instagram, I mentioned that we were finally feeling settled in our new place, and, for the sake of my own personal accountability, teased that I might even blog about it. Some of you padded my ego just enough to make sure I followed through with that, so here we are!
First, a little background: for most of last year, Matt and I were looking for a house. 7 offers, 20 + showings, and who knows how many open houses later, we finally landed The One. I feel that phrase is appropriate because, while I’ve never online dated, I’ve concluded that scouring realtor.ca for house listings and swiping left and right on a dating app are pretty much EXACTLY THE SAME.
“…This is the one, I can feel it!” “Oy. This one looked a lot better in the pictures.” “I liked it. I just didn’t get that feeeeeling, y’know?”
And then, after looking at way too many, and losing all hope: “SURE. FINE. WHATEVER.”
Thankfully, ladies, I did not have to settle for whoever offered to pay for my overpriced cocktail (this is where the metaphor stops working), because I really love my house. I loved it the moment I stepped into it, to be honest. As we walked through it at the open house, I felt like I had to suppress the goofy grin on my face growing bigger with every room. On the way home, I tried to play it cool and casually asked Matt “…So, what did you think?” He said something akin to “It was fine.” And then I was all “HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT OUR FUTURE HOUSE THAT WAY”.
The thing is, Matt has on a very different set of goggles when looking for a house. He needs to let it sit for a bit. He needs to run some numbers. He needs to make sure that it’s sound investment. That it makes sense. It’s actually a very good thing he’s so objective, since I am…not. And, thankfully, after doing his Matt-thing, this house ended up scoring high on both the “feels” and the “facts” charts.
So, we put in an offer.
And we got it.
And we freaked out a bit, because we never get it! And blah blah blah, long story short: we moved!
The thing I like the most about this house it that it’s old, but it’s been so smartly updated. The previous owners pretty much had my exact tastes, and they managed to blend the classic with the modern perfectly. So, it’s perfectly suited to my decor style – which is…whatever! No, seriously: I’ve never been able to fully embrace one dominant decor style. Mid-century modern is a little too cold, boho is too hippy for Matt. Minimalist? Oh yeah right. This house, on the other hand, is a blank canvas for a little bit of everything.
And for a thrifter like me, that’s a dream come true.
A few highlights:
-> That wardrobe directly up top was a Kijiji find. $230. I love it. It gives us extra storage and is probably one the only piece that’s as old as the house: 1930s ish.
-> The big gray couch was our biggest splurge. It’s a Gus* couch, from a furniture dealer in Hamilton: Chaise Musicale. He sells mostly MCM furniture, but also carries some great current lines. This couch is perfect because the colour hides many’a toddler stain, and the microfibre texture isn’t nearly as enticing to Maggie’s claws as our previous couches. I intend to keep it forever and ever. Even if you’re not on the market for any furniture at the moment, you should pop in there sometime, because the owner is just a really cool guy and it’s awesome to chat with him about what he does!
-> Now, since we were a little spendy on the couch, I wanted to complete the living room seating with a more stringent budget. That was proving VERY HARD. Both Matt and I agreed that two chairs opposite the couch would be the best thing for space and function, but ya’ll: chairs are $$$. I looked at kijiji so much I started to dream about it. I was about ready to just start tossing money at IKEA when I spotted these two beauties at a tiny little thrift shop in Collingwood. Actually, I spotted six of them. And, were I not just there on vacation with limited trunk space, I would’ve been tempted to take home all 6. These CHAIRS, you guys: they’re so good! Brass and wood. Vintage Hauser. Newly rehapolsterd. $40 each. So comfortable! And on wheels! That means that whenever I need to get some work done (*cough*download TV shows*cough*) at my desk, I can just wheel one right over. Speaking of that desk…
-> This was another perfect fit for our space. (See below). It’s beautifully refinished by my mother in-law, and the drawer actually opens up and flattens to reveal the keyboard and mouse. So smart!
As for the other bits and bobs around our place, most of it is from the old house or the thrift store, or the mom-store. If you’re curious about any of the items, just ask!
Oh! This dining set was also one of my better finds: $250. In perfect condition. 6 chairs with two extra leaves so we can host lots of happy meals 🙂
The other work in progress is our basement. I thought it would be the perfect place to gather up a lot of the vintage ads I already had, and we’ve got wall space to keep that collection going. Also, please enjoy the shaggy rug you see here, because Maggie has destroyed it with her all-powerful-cat-pee and it’s currently rolled up in storage because I don’t want to admit I for sure have to throw it out:
I think that will be it for now. I didn’t show you any of the upstairs rooms, because truth be told they are all in varying states of Hot-Mess-dom. But thankfully, there’s a pretty hard deadline on getting those rooms in order: March 2018. 😉
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