We’re Homeowners Again

We’re in our new house. It’s magical. It instantly felt like home.

We closed in early October but waited almost ten days before moving in. That gap allowed us time to install light fixtures, cabinet hardware, and wallpaper—so much fun stuff!

We love our new home. All the thought we put into choosing the right layout, choosing structural upgrades, and designing the kitchen and owner’s bathroom has finally paid off.

I honestly don’t know if I’d build a house again, but I can say, now that our house is complete, it was worth it. I think of it like having a baby, it takes a while to forget the pains of labor before you’re ready to have another one. As long as we live in Texas, I think we’ll be happy in this house.

Our boys are happy too.

We were a little worried while building the house that they wouldn’t like it. They kept comparing it to other houses, bigger houses with media rooms and game rooms. “Why can’t we have that?” they asked. “I miss our old house,” they said.

But now that we’re all moved in, they’ve both had nothing but great things to say about the house. I don’t think they could visualize it until it was finished and furnished. Now they’re happy and comfortable.

We feel so at ease in this house. The natural light is amazing, especially in the kitchen (I did not brighten that photo above). We love one-level living—and I know our 14-year-old dog doesn’t miss the stairs. Plus, for the first time in her life, she has a fenced yard.

Changes We Made Before Moving In

We’ve already done three big updates to the house! We couldn’t wait to close on the house and start personalizing it further. Unfortunately, there were some important design elements we couldn’t do with our builder. We extended our apartment lease past our closing date, so we could “finish” the house before we moved in. 

New Light Fixtures

First, we replaced most of the builder light fixtures. Our builder offered very few lighting options and we weren’t thrilled with any of their packages. So, we designed our own mid-century inspired lighting package. 

I pre-ordered all the lights. We installed them before we moved in furniture, so we could move the ladder around freely. It made the job much easier.

Although, I’m not going to lie, installing 11 new light fixtures was not easy. It took us a week to get them all up. Between removing the builder fixtures and dealing with 10-12 ft ceilings, we had our work cut out for us. We still have two ceiling fans to replace.

We lucked out, and the electrician accidentally installed LED lights in all the closets, pantry, and garage, instead of the standard fluorescent lights. Since no one caught it until the walk-through, the builder allowed us to keep them, which totally saved us from replacing a bunch of lights. That was one building mistake that worked out in our favor.

Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

We installed hardware on the kitchen cabinets. Our builder had an extremely limited hardware selection, and you couldn’t mix and match knobs and pulls. So, we did not purchase hardware through the builder. Instead, I shopped around for the best modern nickel kitchen hardware. 

At the last minute, I discovered some new options that I fell in love with. I’ll share more about our cabinet hardware soon.

I didn’t quite get all the cabinet hardware on before we moved in, but it was still immensely helpful to have the knobs installed when it came time to unpack the kitchen. I still need to install knobs in the bathrooms.

Wallpaper Accent Walls

I wallpapered two accent walls—one in the office and one in the dining room. This was a huge undertaking since our walls are textured but well worth the effort. Wallpaper adds instant personality. 

One of the reasons we chose white for our walls was because we wanted to have fun with wallpaper. I can’t wait to show you what we did. Now I’m hooked on wallpaper and plan to hang more in the bedrooms.

More to come…

I know it’s a total tease to tell you about all these fun projects but not share any pictures. I need to brush up on my photography skills so I can create a house tour for you. Until then, enjoy the kitchen sneak peek above with that gorgeous backsplash tile and sparkly polished nickel hardware.

P.S. I will probably get more pictures up on Instagram before the blog, so follow me on Instagram for more frequent updates.

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