And at first... there was light

I guess in order to get to point B in my master plan to decorate our townhouse, I should probably start at point A - how we came to be in this teeny townhome out in the burbs. When the hubby and I first got married, we lived in an incredible rental suite about 15 minutes away from our current abode. It was everything I envisioned our first place to be; sweeping views of the valley, wall to wall windows, an expansive cobble stone patio, granite counters and a spacious open floor living plan. The only thing missing was that it wasn’t ours. And no matter how much we loved living there, it never could be ours.

And so our hunt began for our very first property. Not being “downtowners” nor “country folk”, we found our perfect neighbourhood in the same city I grew up in. It’s the perfect blend of suburban comfort with a trendy urban vibe, and to boot it’s much more affordable than living in the heart of the city. We knew we wanted a townhouse, but beyond that we were clueless. Geared without a realtor in hand, we limited ourselves to new home builds within a 5 minute walk of a bustling new shopping village. Location really was key, because had we expanded our search just another 2-3 minute drive past that, we would have opened ourselves up to about 9 different communities, but instead we narrowed down our search to 3, and then ultimately 2.

Falling in love with both new home communities for very different reasons, we decided to write a contract on both homes and then had to think long and hard about our priorities. Our original home we purchased had *almost* everything that we were looking for. The finishes were top of the line, the clubhouse was divine, and there was even a promotion that covered the tax, which would amount to close to $15 000 savings compared to the second home we were looking at. But in the end, my practicality won over, and I realized cosmetic things can be changed, but location and specific home features can’t be.  The home we ended up purchasing afterwards shows just as well (sure it’s lacking the composite stone counters in the bathrooms- but then again it’s just more reason to put my own mark on the home, right?), has a very good sized walk out backyard, and an open concept floorplan. I am happy (overall) with our decision, since I wasn’t able to marry the 2 homes to create my dream home, I figured I might as well do it step by step. Starting now…