TJ and I have been in the market for a home for a while now. We recently decided, though, that we better take action since things seem to be looking up with real estate. Sure enough, as soon as we got serious about looking, we realized just how competitive things have gotten. Good homes were snatched up in a day or less. It was crazy. Calvin and I went on many adventures with our broker Ryan to look for the perfect home.
Let me just do a quick shout-out for Ryan Henderson. He is amazing! No, seriously. He went above and beyond to help us find our home. He would be brutally honest with us about homes we liked, telling us why they may not be a good investment. I really loved one home in particular, but Ryan helped me realize a few things about it that gave it poor resale value. In the end, after dozens and dozens of homes, we settled on this one. It seemed to have most of our criteria and the price per square foot was awesome. Ryan really got us a great deal and was able to use his skills to keep talking down the price. If you are in Utah and need a house, please contact him because I swear there is no one better. Just message me and I'll give you all the details.
There are a lot of little upgrades in the home, like high-quality blinds, tinted windows, and plush memory foam carpeting. The previous owner only lived here with his wife and small dog, so hardly anyone used the finished basement. Lucky for us, he is a really nice guy and has helped us a lot with additional details about the home as we've needed them.
One thing that had to go almost immediately was the kitchen color. EW. I hated the red as soon as I laid eyes on it. Within one day of our moving in, I had it painted the same color as the rest of the house. TJ wanted me to wait, but I just hurried and did it while he was at work. :) It was one of those things where nothing can stop me until it's done because it bothers me so much. Below are before and after pictures.
Excuse the poor lighting, but so much better, right? My next project is to stain the cabinets a beautiful java brown. Then granite countertops, then a pretty backsplash. I am really excited about it, but we can only take one step at a time. :)
Let's take a tour!
Amy Clement helped me plant some pretty flowers in our garden area. Even now, the stargazer lilies are blossoming and we added some beautiful dalias. We also planted a bunch of herbs and veggie plants in the backyard! Well, who am I kidding - she pretty much did it all while I watched. (Side note - AMY, you are not allowed to move away!)
Here is the entryway as you walk in. There are two rooms and a bathroom on the right half of the hall, and a closet and laundry area on the left side.
The first room on the right is the office area. It still needs to be unpacked and organized, but I've assigned that to TJ.
The second door on the right takes you to Calvin's room. The window is blackened out with a flattened box, and I still need to stain the little side table he has, but overall it's a big improvement from our walk-in closet. :)
The guest bathroom connects to both the hallway and Calvin's room.
To the left of that hallway, just before the banisters, is the laundry room. I LOVE our washer/dryer. I will never tire of doing laundry. In our apartment, we always had to drag all our stuff over to the communal laundry area (like .25 miles away) where you had to pray someone wasn't hogging all the machines at once. It was such a pain. We did that for two years. Not anymore! :) Also, that nasty fingerpaint thing the previous owners did to the back wall is going to disappear soon.
The living room. We are currently on the market for a living room set, so don't let this sad sight fool you. It'll be a lot more welcoming soon. Bonus points if you can find Calvin in this picture. :)
To the right of the living room is the kitchen. Ahhh... to be rid of that red color! So happy. Still a lot of work to do, but it's a start.
Dining area.
To the left of the living room is our master bedroom. It's so nice to have all this space! I am taking these pictures inside the master bathroom, to give you an idea of where it is.
Dual sinks are awesome. The tub is amazing. I love taking baths and it feels so nice to be able to do that as often as I want now! The shower is huge and has dual showerheads, too. Behind where I am taking this picture is the walk-in closet.
Backyard and patio. Ignore the dead grass - I think we may have to lay some more down in its place.
Before you reach the living room, you hit these stairs that take you down to the basement. It's fully finished except for a 35 sq yd patch that needs carpeting.
Wet bar with granite counters. It's too bad the granite didn't make it upstairs... :)
To the right of the wet bar is this big space - you'll see where TJ laid some extra carpet down. The basement does have some laminate wood flooring and carpeted rooms. It's just this patch that needs carpet. The previous owner was a wrestling coach, so he had a mat down here covering this patch. The ceilings have canned lighting. This would be perfect for a movie/tv room in the future. It's always nice and cool down here.
This is the first basement room you hit (you can see it a little from the above picture).
The downstairs bath. Dual showerheads again! And granite. I almost think the basement is nicer than our upstairs. :)
The second basement bedroom. Well, it's an odd little room - it does have a closet and a window so it is technically a bedroom, but the previous owner's wife used it as a salon. They even had a hair sink plumbed down here. TJ wants to use it as a work-from-home office.
Continue down this basement hallway (to the right of the big open space) and on the left side is the third basement bedroom.
This room has a walk-in closet and is the biggest of the bedrooms. This will probably be where guests stay most of the time.
We love having this home and feel so incredibly blessed. We really prayed hard to find the right place, and we think we've found it. It'll be a great investment and will bring us a lot of happy memories. If you're ever in Riverton, come stay with us!! We would love to have you! :)
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