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The Weekender: We Fell In Love with a House

We fell in love with a house.

One week ago, a message with a link to a neighborhood house listing was sent to my DMs. Next YBH project?, it read. I clicked through only to find myself throwing my phone at Scott so he could see why I couldn’t stop gasping. The home is a historic brick two flat located on our bucket list street, over 100-years-old and having only had two homeowners in its existence. Because of this, it’s a rare find with (almost) all the original charm intact, including windows, built-ins, antique tile, coffered ceilings and hardwood floors. Oh, and it’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places! Imagine my jaw on the floor while crunching numbers and texting our real estate agent.

We considered buying the house!

The following day, we spent an hour at the open house and after a sleepless night, we spent the day after that exploring every nook and cranny for another couple of hours with our agent. We were giddy and scared and excited, and I was already laying out the living room in my mind, imagining which light fixtures I’d Add to Cart. My pragmatic husband reminded me to not get ahead of myself, but my heart felt like it was going to burst. Could we make this work? And if we did, would we move in? Would we lease it? Would we renovate it slowly over time?

For everything we loved about the house, another thing would bring us down to reality. Stunning hardwood floors, yes, but no HVAC system whatsoever. Move-in ready kitchen in unit 1, yes, but a leaky basement that smelled of mildew after a night of hard rain. Original, functioning wood windows, yes, but a lack of insulation against our cold Chicago winters.

We debated our options with our agent, oscillating between daydreams and real life. Would it be contingent on selling our own home? Or would we lease our home and take on another property to care for, maintain and love?

Where we landed.

In the end, we decided against putting in an offer. The conversations were long and winding, the nights were long and our emotions were scrambled, but we felt good about walking away. The thought of living in that historic home was lovely, of course, but it was too hard to imagine us leaving this home without a clear plan in place. However, one very surprising thing happened: It felt so, so good to be excited about a home’s potential again, making us wonder if we’re really done and what our future holds.

See also: Realizing that Chicago is HOME, and The One that got away. We still talk about her.

A Few Fun Links From the Week:

The kitchen renovation is back in full swing! We boxed up all our kitchen-y things and went shopping for countertops (again, after our original selection cracked in transit). We couldn’t resist purging our kitchen items for the most functional space, and during that purge, I donated all my mismatched crock utensils and bought this pretty wooden set. They’re inexpensive and beautifully made. 10/10!

Bre is crushing her kitchen renovation! The stove, the tiny ledge, the brass details, all the way down to that adorable little cutting board. Go, Bre, go!

Jenna never fails to work her magic. (Can you tell all I do is stare at kitchens all day?)

I am crushing so hard on the floors in Ashley’s bathroom. What an unexpected and stunning color combination!

A Boundaries Chat with Yami. Yes! Yes to all of it.

I’ve been a die hard fan of Superhero mascara for years now, but I recently tried this mascara and made the switch immediately. Wears all day and adds so much length.

The sunglasses I’ve been wearing and loving! The color you’ve seen in my Stories is ‘beige.’

Weekend Sales

Have a Great Weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend? The entire kitchen is being removed tomorrow, so I hope to have a few dance parties in there with the family! Enjoy your weekend, Friends.

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  • Katy7.29.22 - 9:05 AM

    We went through a similar experience last spring- a neighbors house that we have always admired was going on the market, and they gave us an early peek and option to buy before then- we debated and I was practically sick over it, but we decided to walk away. It made me realize how much I love our old, tiny, quirky house, and I’m not ready for this chapter to be over! It completely renewed our love for our home. Enjoy this moment together!! ????ReplyCancel

  • Bridget7.29.22 - 9:25 AM

    That house! Would you be willing to share the link to the listing? ReplyCancel

  • Kelsey7.29.22 - 9:37 AM

    Wow wow wow. I’m sure that was a hard decision! What a beauty….is it still on the market because I could move lol.ReplyCancel

    • Kim7.29.22 - 10:18 AM

      It is. Somehow the first few offers (we thought we’d be competing against) must’ve been turned down!ReplyCancel

      • Kelsey7.29.22 - 11:37 AM

        I immediately sent this post to Mike <3ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

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