Matt and I bought our first home in February of 2019, right before we got married and right after I finished grad school and was starting a new job at the beginning of the year! Between studying for finals, planning a wedding, interviewing for jobs, and house hunting; it was a very exciting and busy time of our lives. We searched for about 2 months and probably toured about 20 houses before choosing the one! Yes, I said 20 haha. This was our first major purchase other than cars so it definitely took some serious time and thought when making a decision. Our struggle at first was deciding where exactly we wanted to buy. We started out touring homes in the Cypress area because we thought we might want to live in the suburbs. After thinking about where we spent most of our time, my job location being downtown, reviewing property taxes/the long-term value and investment knowing that this wouldn’t be our forever home, etc. we ultimately decided that buying in the Houston inner loop would make the most sense for us. We also have a very knowledgable family friend who is a realtor and knows her stuff, so if you need a recommendation for a good agent in the Houston area, give me a shout!
We originally looked mostly at traditional style homes, but when we started looking in town, we shifted towards looking more at townhomes that were free standing (so our walls wouldn’t be connected with someone else’s). That’s kind of the more common style home in town so this gave us a lot of options. We ended up with a mediterranean style home that is different than what I imagined us buying, but I immediately loved it! I remember walking in and telling Matt “I think this is it”.
We knew we didn’t want to buy a home that would require a lot of projects. I love seeing people’s before and afters of how they fix things up but we just knew we wouldn’t invest the time in that and wouldn’t even know where to start on home improvement projects. If we were to make one change though, I would swap out the carpet flooring in our bedroom to a wood or tile or something. With pets, I find carpet to be much more difficult to keep clean! Maybe that’s something we will do later on.
We completely changed the living room setup to allow for extra space. The curtains were custom made that the previous owners left and we planned to change them out once we moved in but they’ve actually grown on me. Plus, with it being an extra expense requiring a lot of effort in finding custom ones we like and the right color that would go in this room, we’ve put that way on the back burner! The coffee table is from Wayfair, you can find it here. I found the faux tree at a HomeGoods so I can’t link the exact one. I love when I find great deal there! You can’t see it in the photo but it came in a really pretty white planter. We LOVE the sectional from Gallery Furniture, I will link it here. This isn’t the exact rug we bought, but I found a very similar one on Amazon here!
I had these photos printed from our wedding and hung them in the little inserts in the staircase. They are sweet reminders of our favorite day!
We loved that the kitchen was completely open to the dining area and living room, so you aren’t closed off if you’re busy cookin’ up something in the kitchen! We found our dining room set from Rooms To Go! It is a 5 piece Cindy Crawford set linked here. All of the placemats and napkin table settings were gifted to us for our wedding from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and wine glasses from Crate & Barrel. It was so convenient getting married around the time we moved into a new house because we could register for a lot of home items! It helped so much in filling out the house quickly.
This is one guest bedroom that has now turned into our baby nursery room (a new post will be coming out on that later). The other guest bedroom, Matt’s brother lived in for the first year and a half. We’ve now moved this furniture to that room and rearranged a bit! I haven’t been able to find the exact bedroom set we got, but it’s very similar to this in the sleigh bed style. It was so funny because my parents recently built a home and purchased new furniture for their guest rooms. I ended up getting the exact same one my mom had picked out! I had completely forgot what they got and just happened to love the same one when we were looking at sets in store! We have similar taste on this type of stuff.
It was super easy to decorate this guest bathroom. I found the shower curtain and floor mat at Target and they weren’t actually placed together as a matching set. Luckily, I happened to find them both and thought they went well together!
This nook area connected to our master bedroom was such a great added feature to the house. It’s been the perfect spot for our dresser and Matt’s desk to use as an office space since he works from home. Now, after rearranging for the nursery and my brother in law moving out, we moved the desk down to the first floor and will use this space as a mini nursery for Baby Barron to put his bassinet and lullaby playard so we don’t have to go up and down the stairs all through the night!
I recently updated our master bedroom with new bedding! I’ve been loving the all white look and it just makes me feel so fresh and clean when going to bed. Makes sense why hotels use all white bedding. The furniture is the bedroom set my parents got for me back in college and I’ve kept it ever since, no reason to buy new when I love the one I have! Everything is linked on the LIKEtoknow.it app here, mostly all from Pottery Barn. Also, if you are in the market for a new mattress, I 1000% recommend the TEMPUR-breeze. I remember the first night we slept on it, I literally did not move the entire night. Best sleep ever. It has the cooling technology built into the materials that absorbs heat so you feel cooler when you fall asleep. Life changer!
Another huge selling point for this house was the spacious master bathroom! Matt is the biggest fan of taking baths haha, can’t blame him right? We love the jacuzzi tub and walk in shower and I think they’re actually easier to clean.
I was so obsessed with this egg chair from Target!! I chose the outdoor furniture for this balcony and Matt chose the outdoor furniture for the furniture on the top floor, which I love too! We use this space when it’s not crazy summer 100 degree weather, but it’s really nice in the other months to sit outside and read or hang out and drink coffee.
I love looking at homes and the different character and styles that go along with each one. It’s amazing how every house is so unique and made special with your own personal touch. I can scroll through home inspo photos online for hours, if you ever want to chat about home interior or decorating I’m your girl! Hope you enjoyed a little peek into our style and our experience in decorating our first home!
Cheers!
M+M
