What’s Your Style?

Mine is a mix of American Eclectic and Euro Eclectic. I know that kind of makes me sound like Emily Henderson from “Secrets from A Stylist”but it’s nice to know that the book I picked up from the library today, Ethan Allen Style: Create the Look You Love, was easy enough to shift through to determine what I look for in my furniture and the overall vibe I want my home to have.

And honestly, it’s making me feel a whole lot better about some of my previous thoughts about home decor because I was thinking they didn’t really mesh well together. Apparently not at all! I am just a mish mashing kind of person and here, thank you Ethan Allen, was something reaffirming how I felt about my home. And not so oddly enough, there were clear styles that I just haven’t liked for years…hello Caribbean vibrant colors (same goes for Southwestern bright colors) or the Swedish Country look. I love white but there’s a fine line for me; one, I have a kid and a husband and at some point again after we own a home, a dog. Not just a dog but one that’s going to be barreling around the house chasing my kid and being egged on by my husband. Not what you want in a home that’s mostly light and white. Did I also mention that I’m not a big fan of toile?! Sure it looks nice but I don’t want to be getting ready for bed or sitting down at my dining room table and getting caught up in all the pastoral scenes on my furniture. I think it’s far too distracting.

I know our home has always has a bit more of a masculine vibe with feminine touches. We both favor medium to dark colored wood floors, wrought iron, speakeasy doors, claw floor tubs, and ornately carved furniture even if it’s not handmade. We both like the idea of a sleigh bed and black and white checkered marble floors for the Master Bath.

If you saw the home idea book I’ve been working on, you’d think I already bought a home. There’s so much stuff in there; it’s a shame I don’t already have a home. I can tell you our home, when finished, is going to be very detail oriented. I couldn’t embrace a purely Modern or Zen home design; it’s too bland for me. I need something to catch my eye everywhere I go but I do want a sufficient amount of natural light if at all possible. I know I am kind of limited by my budget and the home builder designs down in Arizona but a girl can dream, right?

I am going to still stick with my vision of earth toned paint colors. I think there’s just so much of those details already in the furniture and fabrics in our home that it’s what we find most pleasing. Browns, blues, greens, and maybe some yellows will be our primary color choices and maybe choose real pops of color for accessories. I want Avery’s room to be a nice muted gray though. I think that would provide the right sophisticated palette for the other planned colors of her room (white, pink, and green).

Our room is the wildcard right now. I would love to make it a bit more lavish than the rest of the home since it will be our private retreat at the end of the day. I know that might sound a bit weird but right now our room is nothing like a retreat. It’s small and boxy and located right next to Avery’s room so we hear her crying and yelling ALL THE TIME. No, I want split bedrooms thank you very much. I always think it’s funny when parents talk about wanting their kids right next to them (for safety or coddling reasons) and I’m on the opposite spectrum. My kid sees enough of me during the day at night I need some peace and quiet away from her. Plus at some point, she’ll grow up and when she comes back to visit it will be good for her to have her own private space as well.

I don’t think I mentioned last time but I did find out about a new housing development going up in Queen Creek. I have to wait for the details to be released but it’s worth looking into; it will have homes from 1,200 sq ft to 5,400sq ft, some with 3 car garages, 13 floor plan options, and 39 elevation options. The neurotic house hunter in me is going crazy. I love house browsing even if it’s something I have to do online for now.

Did I Mention I’m Indecisive?

Oh this is going to be a long journey for us; I hope you don’t mind the wait. And I do apologize for not writing on my blog sooner. I have been busy finishing up my dual Bachelor’s degrees. I was studying criminal justice and social science and will graduate May 5th. Whoa! About damn time. I freaking hated the school that I went too and whenever I do decide to pursue my Master’s degree, it will not be through the school I got my Bachelor’s degrees through; it has been such a chaotic mess completing my last year and it’s way too much to get into on this blog. So….back to the good stuff.

Let me update you. We have expanded our search parameters YET AGAIN. I have just spent so much time thinking and thinking about how little we’ll get for our money in the city of Chandler that it might be worth expanding our search to the Queen Creek area. Now no real decisions have been made because I still have to find the right balance for our lives.

I am still making it a priority to increase our distance away from sex offenders (Arizona’s sex offender registry can be purchased online for $25 and I do think it’s a worthy investment for any future home buyer) and our daughter’s schooling. It’s amazing just how much more offerings there are down in Arizona. I have never known that school districts could give so many opportunities to their students.

As it stands, Chandler and Queen Creek are a top two contenders and it’s kind of an interesting mix because they are so different. For this reason, I have created two separate binders detailing the aspects of each place to figure out what suits us the best. I have narrowed things down to overall community lifestyle, schools, homes (reviewing what homes are currently in our price range), crime statistics, and miscellaneous (because I’m sure I’ll find out more things the further I dig).

Obviously, our home hunter efforts are contingent on getting me employed once I’m down in Arizona full time but my goal is to buy a home between 2 to 4 years from now. I do not wait very well (hence all the mental purchases you’ve seen on this blog). I could mentally buy a home every couple of months if I had to to hold me over. I hope you don’t mind.

I know this journey always gets a bit harder for me each time I hear of someone else I know that’s my age buying a home. It’s like where did you get your pot of gold from?! I catch myself not knowing how to embrace their good fortune and wonder where they got the money to buy a home. I know I’ll qualify for a VA loan when the time comes but seriously, it annoys me having to wait.

Hopefully though, the wait is well worth the effort.

p.s. Can you see me in a house like this one? I love the architecture.