In 2017, I needed a place to live, badly, and the price to rent was way more than if I just bought a house. Thus started the search for a townhouse, one that looked like an after house from Fixer Upper on HGTV — in other words, I was delusional on this home tour. Reality set in when my mortgage broker informed me of what I could actually afford. So eventually, I decided something that had potential for change would be the better solution.

I narrowed it down to wanting a townhouse. I was 26 and wanted to live in a community with neighbors close by — someone should hear me if I screamed bloody murder. I don’t regret that choice. It was the best decision for me at the time. That being said, I do look forward to the day that I don’t have to get projects approved by an Architectural Committee.

I looked at six townhouses and started to feel like I was never going to find something. When I got to the point of considering renting because my lease was running out, I got a call from a friend that a townhome in her community was up for sale. It was all bright yellow kitchen walls, warm-toned walls, and carpet everywhere. Aesthetically, it wasn’t for me. Space-wise, it was perfect.

Below are some of the pictures of what the townhouse used to look like and in upcoming blog posts, I’ll highlight rooms that I changed. Some I tackled in 2017 — some we’re just starting. It’s certainly been a fun ride filled with blood (literally), sweat (lots of it), and tears (there was a whole mess about a dining table as a desk).

The Living Room

The living room was carpeted, which I don’t love. The color was a bit too flesh-toned for me, not sure if anyone else gets that vibe from the color.

The Kitchen & Dining Room

In the kitchen, there were bright yellow walls, green countertops and oak cabinets. I am not a fan of yellow — I honestly couldn’t imagine ever wanting to cook in there. Painting was one of the first things I did, literally within two days of getting the keys to the house.

The Basement

I will use the pictures of the basement from when I bought it and not what it looks like now. Let’s just say my storage habits landed squarely in the “toss it down the basement steps” approach.

The Bedrooms

I don’t have very good pictures of the bedrooms before but I will share that project with you when I finish as that is also a 2020 project — it was a 2019 project so I’m hoping for better luck in 2020.

The Outdoors

This is the space that I will readily admit I cared about the least when I moved in. Are there things I wish could look differently? Sure! But if you’ve ever been a part of an HOA, you know that you’re very restricted in what you can and cannot do. It wasn’t until Matt moved in that I really cared about what the outdoor space looked like, mostly because he cares. When we get around to finishing up our fire pit project (still waiting on approval from our HOA’s Architectural Committee), you’ll see how much he probably wished I still didn’t care.

*The third picture is when we finally got rid of the garden that I had inherited to start making room for the fire pit. I don’t have a green thumb, and so for the longest time it was just a bunch of dead plants. I think my neighbors might be much happier that I removed it.

Honestly, I could have lived with a lot of these spaces as they stood if I wasn’t inclined to have the Pinterest home of my dreams. I just had a picture in my head of what I wanted this house to be — and my excessive HGTV watching did not help. Besides, if you’re going to live somewhere and pay for it, you should really love that space.