The moment we've all been waiting for...

I know, I know. We announced that we bought a house a month and a half ago and still no pictures of the house!! I'm totally the worst for holding everyone in suspense for so long. Well, that's about to change. Full disclosure is that we really wanted to get professional pictures taken in May to make the reveal more special, but the budget did not allow. So, if we do decide to go ahead and do that, it will have to wait till later.

We bought our house knowing in advance that it needed a little cosmetic TLC, so after closing, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work! With some help from family, we knocked out several DIY projects and decided to hire some professional help on a few others. On top of all that, we've been gradually moving out of our apartment which we completed on Memorial Day. We didn't want to take off too much time from work, so we did almost all of this on weeknights and weekends. So it's safe to say we've been busy in our first month and a half of homeownership!

I'll be revealing inside pictures as rooms are completed, so you'll have to continue to be patient for those, but for the exterior, I'm happy to show you right now!

So without further ado, here's The Piatt Family House.

It's a 1960s ranch home. As you can see, it has a two car garage and fenced-in yard which were huge wish list items for us. Of course, we have a few projects planned for the outside which include power-washing the exterior, painting the white trim, replacing the garage doors, replacing/updating the front door, but other than that, we love it! It's such a blessing that we get to come home to this place. Can't wait to show you more!

House Color Palette

I just looooooooooove colors. Picking out paint for our new house has to be the most fun part of this experience for me thus far, and I'm so excited to share what I've come up with for the color palette of our new home. I know it stresses some people out, but with my art background, I've been looking forward to this for years! Just in case anyone is interested, I'll share a little background on my color choices - where I got them and why I chose them.

WHERE DID YOU GET THIS COLOR PALETTE?

Well, I came up with this color palette on my own. I researched quite a bit on Pinterest and elsewhere, but I didn't come across a premade color scheme that was quite what I wanted for our home. Several were close, but none were an exact match. I spent a lot of time going through paint chip samples from home improvement stores and narrowed it down until I had it just right.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THESE COLORS?

First, it was really important to me to select colors that represented and felt good to BOTH of us. I have been partial to the colors "blue and gray and green - the colors of the sea" (Sarah Plain and Tall) for quite some time. Even though I've never lived near any major bodies of water, I've always loved the imagery of those colors together. For Nate, he did grow up living near a lake. Incorporating "blue and gray and green" into our home is one of the best ways I can pay homage to that for him in this season of our lives. Second, we want our home to be relaxing and inviting to both of us and our guests, so muted tones and neutrals were definitely the way I wanted to go to achieve that goal. I've always been more partial to cool colors than warm colors, so you will not really see any warm colors in my house. Finally, the color choices needed to align with our style. The best way I can describe our home decor style is half beach house/lake cottage and half victorian farmhouse chic. I am sure I will dive into what that style looks like and means to me in future posts, but for now, it's just important to note that the color scheme needs to help tie those two things together.

The inspiration for our home color palette stems from all of those reasons, which I think is kind of perfect. So there you have it - neutral white, gray, silver, and tan/beige accompanied by grayed blue-green or muted turquoise/teal/aqua - whatever you want to call that color, whether it's a light or dark shade, I love it.

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We went with Valspar paints for two simple reasons: price and successful past experience using it. There you have it, folks. Can't wait for everyone to see the finished product!

LINKS:

ValsparPaint.com
Lowes Paint

New Start

It's hard to believe how time has flown, but it's been three years since I've written in this blog. The last few years have been full of both fun and heartache, struggle and success, but for better or worse, I didn't feel the need or desire to write about them. Now, my husband Nate and I are officially starting a new chapter in our lives, and I'm excited to begin writing again.

Without further ado, I'm thrilled to announce that a few days ago we closed on the purchase of our first home!

Here we are on closing day with our realtor, Sandy, who gave us this gorgeous welcome mat for our new home.

Friends and those who have been following our story for many years will know this is a big milestone for us. We've never been shy to share about our journey towards Financial Peace because we know our transparency can help inspire others in the same way we were inspired when we first started. After 5 years of dedication and hard work while following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, we are so excited that the time has finally come!

I know everyone is super curious to see pictures of the house. I can assure you they are coming, but for now, maybe these details will help appease you:

The Piatt Family's New House

• 1960s brick ranch
• 3 beds | 2 baths | 1,513 sqft
• 2-car garage
• Large fenced backyard (essential for our 2 pups)

We had a great experience with our realtor, Sandy, and would definitely recommend her to anyone in the DFW area who might be looking for a house. Several people have asked about the doormat she got for us, which we absolutely LOVE. The quality is really stunning in person. Links will be at the end of this post for anyone who is interested.

I'm so excited to begin sharing about our lives again, and not surprisingly, the focus will mostly be on the house and moving in, especially for the next few months. We have the entire month of May to transition out of our apartment and into our new home. Nate and I are so grateful we aren't going to be rushing moving and can go at our own pace! The next several weeks will be filled with getting new carpet, painting, and of course, SO.MUCH.PACKING and UNPACKING. We hope you will enjoy following along with us as we get settled and reveal pictures along the way!

LINKS:
Lender: Bart at Churchill Mortgage | Realtor: Sandy at KW Kocher Team | Personalized Door Mat