It’s Closing Day!
By the time many of you read this edition of The Weekender, we will have sold the condo! Today is Closing Day, but Scott and I technically signed all our papers and sent them through to the attorney a few days ago. As of this afternoon, the first home we owned in Chicago will be filled with someone else’s moving boxes, the kitchen cupboards will be stacked with another’s dishes, and it’ll soon become the new owner’s memories to make.
If you’re new here or simply catching up, the condo was our first Chicago home we owned together. It’s also when we started this blog (in 2009)! These posts give you the backstory: why we’re selling the condo | our to-do list before we sell | q+a with a real estate pro | the condo kitchen makeover
The process from listing to sale was much longer than any of us anticipated. Not surprisingly, it was a roller coaster of emotions, but we have an awesome realtor that was great at keeping us motivated with our eyes on the end game. Well, we’ve made it to the end game, and we feel… happy! But also a little caught off guard by the whole experience. I have hard time separating my own anxiety and emotion from big life changes like this, so I asked Scott if he could write a helpful blog post sharing the top takeaways from the selling process. That’s coming down the pipe, so keep an eye on the blog for that one!
Until then, we plan on properly celebrating tonight by doing our favorite thing: Enjoying a homemade meal together, followed by snuggling up on the sofa for a family movie night. (We’ve got Coco queued up!) And popcorn, definitely an extra large bowl of popcorn.
#YBHDIYs to Love!
It’s been far too long since I’ve shared some of your amazing creations using the #YBHDIY hashtag! To kick off the weekend, I thought it would be fun to scroll through the feed and share the love. We appreciate you following along!
We always love seeing what you’re up to. Be sure to tag @yellowbrickhome and #YBHDIY when you recreate projects from our tutorials or as inspiration strikes, and I’ll continue to share!
Weekend Sales
- Anthropologie: Up to 30% off entertaining essentials
- Boutique Rugs: 65% off Early Black Friday with code BF65
- CB2: Up to 50% off clearance
- Crate & Barrel: Save 10% off when signing up for email list
- The Company Store: 30% off storewide! Use code FRIYAY21
- Equilibria CBD: 15% off all first time customers with code YELLOWBRICKHOME
- Everlane: Up to 50% off sale items
- Frambebridge: 20% off orders of $50 or more using code GIFTBETTER
- J. Crew: Rewards members receive 40% off with code FAMILY
- J. Crew Factory: Up to 60% off storewide, no code needed
- Lowe’s: Savings now on these sitewide deals
- Old Navy: 30% off your online order, no code needed
- Rejuvenation: Up to 20% off lighting, hardware and bath
- Rugs USA: Up to 75% off Veterans Day sale
- Unison Home: Free shipping on orders of $50+ with code GIVEMODERN
- West Elm: Up to 40% off ready-to-ship furniture and bedding
- Williams-Sonoma Home: Additional 20% off clearance with code EXTRA
Have a Relaxing Weekend!
What are your plans for the weekend? This is one of our last slow weekends before things back up for the holidays. Aside from Coco, we plan to turn up the holiday tunes, color with Lucy and maybe make a handmade ornament or two for the tree. Have a warm, relaxing weekend, friends. xx
Congratulations !
Congratulations! It’s beautiful. You guys did such a nice job on this one. It’s hard to sell your very first home, but going out to dinner with closing proceeds takes the sting out of it! ;)
Congratulations – enjoy your weekend! At some point, if you have time, I’d love to hear your thoughts on virtual staging vs real-furniture staging since I believe you ended up using both options. I’d especially like to see a few photos comparing the 2 strategies in the same rooms.
Thanks Sheila! We’ll see what we can do there, but unfortunately not sure if we have access to all of the photos of the listing with each staging type since our agent handled the photography. The short answer is that there is a place for both, we think. The compact layout of this particular unit made it hard to envision the space without actual furniture in place, so actual staging became necessary since the unit was completely empty. Hope this helps!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!! So happy for you guys and yet I understand all the emotions that you must be experiencing. It took us 3 years to sell our first home (height of the recession so it was understandable, but still rough) and even tho I was so, so ready for our next chapter, I sobbed in the parking lot at the realtor’s office after the closing! And then as if that wasn’t bad enough, the realtor knocked on my car door (as I was still sobbing) to ask me for the keys I’d forgotten to hand over. I can laugh about it now, but all of our homes are full of meaning and nothing comes close to the feeling of letting go of your first home, no matter what the circumstances.
Oh, this is so heartbreakingly sweet. Thank you for sharing, Danielle!
Congrats on the sale, I was just wondering about that, and glad to hear it’s CLOSED! Also, if you like Coco, check out Vivo! It’s out go to cartoon movie these days, and the music is fantastic! I love the shares, I know what I’m spending my next free hours doing….
Congratulations on the sale! You made it! The home’s new family is going to love it just as much as you have.