With the pandemic putting travel on hold, Johnrick and I decided to go back to our non-travel related jobs. Johnrick went back to working in a cable company and I went back to working as a nurse. Then five months ago, we decided to open up Zillow from our phones and just see how the housing market was going. It was no surprise that it’s much more expensive than when we were looking three years ago, but the interest rates were also in an all time low, so we decided we should give it a try.
At first we weren’t really serious about it and we were just checking out houses to have a better idea what kind of homes in what neighborhood will fit into our budget. Sadly, there weren’t that much options. We decided we’ll just wait till the bubble bursts and the housing market goes down, wishfully thinking it will happen next year, but we still went on house tours. I don’t know when or how exactly we got serious with the house hunting. I just remember five months ago, we’ve been touring five to six houses a day, even after work. And one day, I even toured eleven homes with our realtor. We were just aggressively touring homes and I know this sounds crazy but we toured 47 homes in a span of a month! I am so grateful that our realtor was just as persistent as we were. We were outbid four times and so my heart was broken four times as well. But you know what they say, “if it’s meant for you, it will be yours”. So I knew it was just a matter of time. Who would have thought that after touring somewhere far but more affordable, we would still end up closer to our families? We were super happy when our offer finally got accepted. True story, I was in the shower when my phone rang and as soon as I saw it was my realtor, I answered, and she told me the good news that our offer finally got accepted! I was super happy and went back to shower and there I cried and cried. It was like a scene in the movies. LOL. I was just so relieved that I no longer had to be frustrated in the Bay Area housing market! It was a crazy journey but all worth it!
Fast forward to four months, here we are in our new home. We are settling in well, slowly putting together furniture, and trying our best to make our home as cozy as we can. So far, it’s my favorite place and it’s been hard for me to leave home even just to go to work. But I HAVE TO, cause you know… mortgage. Haha! Every homeowner like me knows how I feel right now.
There are still so much that we want to do and buy but we are taking our time. So far, I am loving everything that we have, and if we’re not sure about it, we don’t get it. I wanted to show you guys some of my favorite parts of our home as well as photos of how it looked like during our tour back in July. I will be linking all of the pieces that we have as well!
MAIN LIVING ROOM
BEFORE
AFTER
One thing I noticed about the homes that we toured was that the living rooms were staged without a TV in mind. We had to think carefully where to put our TV and it only made sense that we hang it on this wall to maximize the space. I love so many things here like our plants, the pampas grass that I got for free, the globe and the camera that I added to remind us of our love for travel and photography, the magazines where we have some of our photos featured, some of my thrifted vases that I painted myself, some books of Johnrick’s favorite sport and our favorite players, and the big gold jackstone piece to remind us of our childhood. The garlands and small houses were recently added as part of our holiday decor. You can probably tell that it’s not done yet; I am still collecting items to put here and the photo frames are still empty. But so far I am loving this view!
RECEIVING AREA
BEFORE
AFTER
One of the best decisions that we made is to buy a daybed that doubles as a couch in our receiving area. Guests love it, Luna is obsessed with looking out the window on it, and it’s the perfect spot to chill and read books. I remember seeing this daybed in World Market and wanting it so bad but it was sold out! All the other daybeds that I liked were twice or even thrice the price of this one from World Market. I didn’t know if they will ever sell it again but I still signed up for notification in case they do, and to my surprise, one day I got an email that it’s being sold online again! So I immediately put it in my cart and checked out. One of the happiest days of my homeowner life! LOL. I’m not even exaggerating! And let’s talk about my floor mirror from McGee & Co. It’s super pretty and sturdy! I get so many questions where I got it and although unfortunately, they are currently back ordered, they will be sold online again in January! I’ll keep you all posted! I also have a mini garden on the corner beside the daybed and at this time I am not really sure yet what I want to put in that corner permanently but the lighting is just so perfect for the plants so they’ll live there for now. My pillows and faux fur rug are from Home Goods and my cute round pom pom pillow is from H&M, which is currently sold out but I am linking some that are similar to it. I swear everything I like were mostly sold out then I just sign up to get notification once they’re on sale and waited patiently, same story with this pompom pillow.
ENTRYWAY
BEFORE
AFTER
This small wall is actually part of the receiving area and I just kind of think of it as an entryway cause it’s the first thing you’ll see once you enter the front door. I didn’t want to leave it empty and I thought it will be a perfect spot for our keys. The wall is not of any standard measurement so it was a challenge to find a console/stand for it. My coworker actually helped me and she found this one from Wayfair. I couldn’t believe she found it because I have been looking for days and couldn’t find anything on the internet and I almost gave up and thought of just building a floating shelf. And you can probably tell that I love mirrors. They really make the area look more spacious. This round brass mirror is from Target.
DINING AREA
BEFORE
AFTER
FUN FACT: Our first ever furniture is our marble dining table from Castlery. Loved it then, still loving it now! I love how it can be styled in so many ways. It also has a solid feel and weight in it and the oak wooden legs are exactly the shade I am going for. It’s super easy to clean and just the perfect size for us! We also changed the chandelier to the modern sputnik style I wanted. Then there’s our McGee & Co. carpet which is the perfect size for our dining area but I am still undecided if we should keep it here or move it to the living room. I’ll update you guys if we ever move it or let me know your thoughts in the comments section!
MASTER BEDROOM
BEFORE
AFTER
What I am going for when it comes to our bedroom – minimalist and spacious. A bed, some sort of decoration, you guessed it, a mirror. Our platform bed was from Floyd and it’s the perfect style and design for us. Then I just put up my hats to save some storage space and also because they look cute hanging on the wall. This was taken a month after we moved in. We haven’t changed anything that much other than we moved our floor mirror. I am still on the hunt for another one but we are also planning on moving from this room to our other room which is actually bigger. I was going to turn it into my cloffice but I figured I don’t need that much space so we might swap rooms.
GUEST ROOM
Our guest room was just empty before we moved in but this is how it’s looking now.
We got the platform bed and mattress from Zinus. The room isn’t that big so the queen bed just fits right in. I have a bamboo ladder on the side which can’t be seen on this photo but I use it to hang blankets. One of my favorite plants that my sister in law gave us is the ZZ plant which started so small but now super huge and full! I love it because we have gone to a lot of trips already and it’s the only plant that survived during those years. My tan macrame plant hanger is gifted by my friend Nicole who just opened her own shop, Yemalla. She has the cutest pieces that were made in Nicaragua and are helping local workers. You need to check it out! There are still so much that I wanted to do in this room but for now, I think it’s cozy enough for when we have guests that needs to stay for the night.
There you have it! There are still so much to work on and it always feels like it’s never ending and it probably is, but we are enjoying every moment of it! We finally received our shed and I cannot wait for us to build it so we can have a storage and we can start cleaning up the other rooms! And I just ordered some prints of our travel photos to make a gallery wall in the dining area. I am excited to put them all up to our empty walls!
Hope you guys enjoyed this four-month homeowner update!
xo,
Cherrie
Looks so beautiful!!!
I am so proud of you!
Author
Thank you, Jules! And I am proud of you too. ☺️