I haven’t talked about house stuff in a while, but that’s not because things haven’t been happening. Ok, that’s not true: not much has been happening except within me (how very zen or something, right?). What do I mean? Well, I am finally ok with my design centre choices! Yes, finally! Sure I can’t change them, even if I absolutely hated things but I’m 100% satisfied with the choices that I made. What helped me get to this point was realizing that this is my first place, so I didn’t want to go crazy with the upgrades. One person who comments here, Lisa, has given me amazing advice through the entire process and one of those pieces of advice was that if you upgrade your house to the point where it’s worth more than other houses on the block, that will be problematic because why would someone buy a $10,000 piece of property in an area where houses on average sell for no more than $6,500? It just doesn’t make sense.

Another thing that helped give me perspective is that this is not my Dream House. This house will always hold a special place in my heart because it will be my first house and I will have so many wonderful memories and “firsts” with this experience. That being said, the hope is that I will buy a bigger and better place, perhaps with a husband, perhaps on my own, but better things will come to pass with respect to home ownership and I don’t have to act like this is my one and only chance to own a place that has 100% of everything I could ever want or need.

Neat eh? I feel so excited about the whole thing, and I cannot wait until I see how everything comes together! I haven’t been back to sneak around, and I probably won’t go there until I think they may have done some extensive work on the interior of the place! In the meantime, I have a zillion things to think about and consider, so much so that I don’t know where to start. Ok, not true, I’ll just start with the things I know I’ll need and talk a bit about the logistics. I’m counting on you to chime in with things I’m forgetting.

First off, I’d love to be able to buy all new things and have a house that looks like it could be photographed at any time for a home magazine but I’m being realistic. This means I’m going to be to castoffs and buying used, if need be.

FURNITURE
Livingroom
This is an area where I actually would like to buy new. The goal is to get lovely pieces that I’ll keep for a while and take with me when I move. I’m hoping leather will be within my budget, especially after sitting on the most beautiful leather sectional I have ever sat on last night! It was so beautiful, although its price is about twice of what I hope to pay for all my livingroom furniture.

What I’ll need to buy: one sofa and one love seat (or one sofa and two single seats) + one centre table. I may need 2-3 end tables too.

Diningroom
My parents have a lovely dark wood diningroom set that I’ll be borrowing. It’s a little beaten up but I have loved it for years and claimed it even before I had dreams of buying a house. It’ll seat six people, but I may take out the extra leaf and set it up as a four seater. The extra chairs will come in handy when I have lots of people over.

What I’ll need to buy: nothing! I don’t think I need some sort of buffet or hutch, but we’ll see.

Kitchen
There is room to create an eat-in kitchen but I don’t need one so that space, especially the part you can’t see until you’re well into the kitchen (it’ll make sense when you see pictures) will be used as my crafting and computer nook, and that’s where my desktop computer will reside. It’s a very sunny area (at least in the model home) so I think it’ll be an awesome place to have my home office/craft nook. I want an L-shaped desk with plenty of storage space for all my crafting stuff, and in my dream of dreams I will seek insipiration from Nicole’s studio (absolutely gorgeous!), at least on a small scale.

What I’ll need to buy: a desk, a comfortable chair and some great storage options.

Master bedroom
This is another place where I plan to buy new and get a bedroom set consisting of pieces that all match one another. I’ll also be upgrading my mattress size to Queen size so that’s exciting. I have a lot of closet space right now, so the closet space in the new place isn’t a big change; however I plan to get the most spacious chest of drawers for folded clothing that I can get with my new bedroom furniture. I may be able to get a good deal on a mattress like my parents currently have which would be awesome because I love their mattress and curl up on it when I can.

What I’ll need to buy: a mattress, a headboard (and footboard?), a huge chest of drawers, one of those mirrored set of drawers, one bedside table, and book shelf (maybe).

Other bedroom
I could bring my current bed to this room but where will I sleep when I sleep over at my parents’ house (hee!)? I’m perfectly fine with this space being empty for a while, and perhaps I’ll find some nice gently used pieces for it. If I decide to rent this room out in the future, then that person might want to have the liberty to outfit the room as they wish.

What I’ll need to buy: a bedroom set (with a double bed).

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I have a beautiful shelf thingy that I got for Christmas many years ago that I want to bring with me, but I’m not yet sure where I’ll put it. I know I’ll find the perfect place for it though.

Coming up next, I’ll talk about the smaller purchases I’ll need to make for the house!

Filed under: Operation Home for Jummy by jummy