It’s been almost three months since my last post and so much has happened.
I briefly moved into a house in Boston with David where we’ve been learning the ropes of living on our own. It hasn’t been the best, but it hasn’t been the worst. My main complaints come with city living in general but I already knew I didn’t like the city. The best parts are all of the amazing food spots and being able to find places to eat late into the night (including a 24 hour diner we just tried last week for some 1 AM lunch).
What’s even more exciting is that I finally bought my first house! I’m moving in this Friday into a 1954 colonial with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, a fenced in back yard with a dog pen and a huge shed, a partially finished basement, and everything else I could want. AND it’s in the last lot on a dead end street for added quiet and privacy. I truly can’t believe how I got away with a house so perfect.
There are definitely some parts of the house I want to change to update it a little. I’ll be replacing the carpeted upstairs with hardwood floors or newer carpet in the bedrooms. I also want to renovate the kitchen ASAP to add counter space and fix the layout to make it feel a little bigger. It’s also in need of a dishwasher before David and I start having big family dinners and kids. I love cooking and the counter space is a must. There are also a few electrical updates that need to happen at some point.
Friday morning I’ll be moving in with nothing but a mattress, box spring, and a recliner. I did let the seller know to leave behind whatever furniture they don’t want to take in the move and it seems like they might be leaving a few things so I’m excited to see what else will be there. Other than that, all we need is WiFi (which will be set up that morning) and I’ll be good to go!
I’ve been looking through Facebook Marketplace at all of the free furniture out there that is in such good condition. It’s amazing what you can find and I have a feeling that I’ll be furnishing most of my house that way to start. I have tons of dishware in the basement of my parents’ house that they will be giving me so I have nothing to worry about there. I’ll go shopping for some cheap curtains, or maybe even make my own, and also get some nice towels and such for the linen closet. I’m thinking of this like a long and slow project I get to work on over the next few years, gathering little things to make the house really feel like a home (on a super small budget). David and I are already talking about foraging our own Charlie Brown Christmas tree from the woods and adding two handmade ornaments to it for this year. We also plan on making little home videos along the way of the first day and then maybe six months down the road and see how far we’ve come at turning it into a real living space.
I’m even more excited to start two other major projects: a permanent studio space and a garden. I have been on a long hiatus while I’ve been moving around the past few months and all of my creative projects are in boxes waiting to be used again. I’m a little sad I didn’t get to paint anything for the holiday season this year but by next Christmas I’ll be ready for it. I want to either take one of the bedrooms or the little room off of the den and turn it into a complete crafting space where I can have a corner for painting, storage for my yarn and knitting needles and crochet hooks, storage for my embroidery works, and a desk for future sewing projects. I also need a large space for the scanner, printer, and Cricut machine so I can continue making prints and stickers.
The garden will most likely have to wait for next season to start, although I have plenty of indoor plants to take care of in the meantime. I plan on cleaning up my Aerogarden and getting it ready for seed prepping for the spring. The winter will also give me time to save for some more containers for container gardening while I work out a good layout for the back yard. I want to DIY a nice greenhouse and some moveable garden carts too. I’ll be stealing a lot of my dad’s woodworking tools and any free palettes I can find to make most of the garden setup. YouTube will be my best friend over the winter.
The last space that I’m really looking forward to setting up, but isn’t necessarily a top priority to me is the office/library space. Since I was little I always had this idea of building my own library filled with all the books I’ve read. I have boxes of books waiting for shelves already and I’m so excited to be able to organize them all and decorate this space to feel super cozy and inviting. I also plan on having a desk set up in a corner for my Xbox, PC, and my remote work. I picture big comfy armchairs everywhere for someone (me) to curl up with a book, project, or my laptop to get some work done.
At some point I do plan on adopting two cats and a small dog, but they will have to wait until I have solidified my budgeting and can make sure I will be able to properly afford and care for them.
This has been such a crazy journey getting to this point and I’m still in shock that I will have my own house in less than a week. Stay tuned for plenty of updates!
