House hunting… and dreaming

ByAshley Last Updated on

House hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.com

While pretty much everyone I know is pregnant or just had a baby, I’m house hunting… and dreaming. Leave it to me to be the odd man out, but what can I say? It’s like a disease. I seriously drive by every house and think of what I could do with it, but it just seems so far out of reach most days, especially in the heart of Houston. Property here can be kind of ridiculous if you’re wanting to stay inside the loop.

Real talk: Did/do you all ever have the “How am I ever going to afford a house?” thoughts? I guess considering I’m not married, 26 years old, and trying to kickstart my own business that I’m probably really jumping the gun on this, but sometimes I feel like I barely afford life, let alone buying my own home in the kind of up and coming area I’d want to be in without a mountain of debt.

My Dad is Mr. DIY so I lucked out on the sense that I could buy a river rock and between his handiness and my ideas, we could turn it into a diamond, but even river rocks cost a pretty penny these days! What I lack in cash I make up for in Pinterest boards though, so we’re practically all square. Here are some of my dream spaces for someday…

House hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.comHouse hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.com

I’m currently obsessed with all thing midcentury, I love the clean lines and modern touches. Without realizing it, I also love vaulted, beamed ceilings. I think just about everything I pin has these exact ceilings! I definitely prefer the all white over the dark beams though.

This probably goes without saying, but my hypothetical home must be filled with lots of light, with a white palette and pops of color here and there.

dream home | sugarandcloth.comHouse hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.comHouse hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.com

After visiting Bottega Louie in LA, I MUST HAVE a gold and marble kitchen. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I was there. This kitchen is the perfect mix of classy and modern, with just the right touches on gold.

House hunting... and dreaming | sugarandcloth.com

To really solidify this being my dream home, it would definitely include a little rectangle pool, with a touch of garden flair. How perfect is this one?! Especially being in Houston when it easily reaches 100+ degrees in the summer, it’s practically a necessity for survival.

What about you all, what would you dream home have to have? If you already scored your dream home, do you have any advice or lesson learned? I’m all ears!

photo sources: photo one by Smitten Studio // photo two by A House In The Hills // photo three by Smitten Studio // photo four by A House In The Hills  // photo five by Jason Grant via SF Girl By Bay // photo six by Kristin Hojd // photo seven by Tim Van de Velde

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19 Comments

  1. I’m also dreaming to have a house someday at Pa href=”https://paradisedevelopments.com/”>Paradise Developments. I’m also in my late 20s and I’ve been renting for almost six years now. I think this would be the right time to step up since I am not getting any younger. I just need to re-assess my finances and prioritize expenses that are only needed. Good luck for me!

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  8. House dreaming (and hunting!) is so fun! If you really want to torture yourself (in the best way possible) download the Trulia app and open it and check out the houses for sale when you’re in new neighborhoods. It’s especially fun when you are in really nice areas of town and can take a peak inside them!

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  9. I know what you mean! I feel like I’ll never get to own a house if I want to stay inside the loop. After years of living in Montrose, we finally got pushed out by the ridiculously high prices that skyrocketed within the last couple years. We only moved a few minutes drive away from Montrose though. Just on the other side of 288, closer to UH. I refuse to move to the burbs dammit!

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  10. I couldn’t agree more with all of the advice Amy V dished out above! I’d also like to add that you’re doing it the right way – I couldn’t be more envious! – Hang in there!!

    I’ve worked as an engineer sitting behind a desk, day-after-day. It’s the safe & responsible thing to do. I earned enough cash to buy a home (though it was way outside the loop) at 25. I loved it, remodeled the heck out of it, and then flipped it. My dream home is now being built in VA; however, I’m still sitting behind that desk, dreaming of a more creative life & career. So it’s a trade-off.

    Hang in there, chase your dream job, and the home will come! And it will be gorgeous!

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  11. I totally know what you mean – the Houston real estate market is insane! Even finding a river rock to rent at a reasonable price inside the loop is getting tough. I wish I could have been one of the lucky people who smartly invested in a property a few years ago.

    I absolutely love your inspiration pictures! My dream home is very similar. If you do find a home to purchase, I’m sure it will be positively beautiful. :)

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  12. I totally get where you’re coming from. My major dream is to buy a little house with a backyard. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area though where cheap is $800,000. It will be awhile but that just leaves me plenty of time to daydream about my perfect house!

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  13. My husband and I (we are in our late twenties, early thirties) just moved from Montrose where we rented for 9 years. We had relatively low rent on our house in Montrose, so we saved although it was very hard. We did feel like we were never going to be able to buy a house. When we were seriously looking for houses late last year/early this year, we quickly found out the housing inside and just outside the loop went up significantly from just a few years ago. We moved to a mid century style home in the suburbs because we could get a TON more house for our money and that we would be stretching ourselves in order to stay inside the loop plus constantly having to fix up the houses we could afford. The lofts downtown that were in our price range had ridiculous maintenance fees. Houses inside the loop were gone so quick after being listed. I miss Montrose/ Downtown area a lot and there is a ton more to do and see there than where we are now, but I work predominately inside the loop so I am there a lot and my commute is only about 20-25 minutes in no traffic. This is just what worked for us for this point in our lives.

    Would you consider Glenbrook Valley near Hobby Airport? They have a ton of mid century homes that are relatively “low” priced for the area right now for the amount of home and property you get.

    Advice:
    Save, save, save.
    If you get a warranty company research it to make sure you are going with a decent one.
    Expect to spend a lot more money when you move in for new furniture, fix unexpected problems, and possibly more bills than when you were renting. It sucks not being able to call the management company to fix little/big problems.
    Get a great realtor who is willing to work hard for you.
    If you like where you are at now maybe talk to the owner to see if you could maybe buy the place from them and use past rent/current rent as down payment. We have known several home owners who rent properties willing do this, it’s worth a try.
    Constantly be looking for properties and putting feelers out there to people you know and meet in the area you want live in because you never know who has a property they just want to get off their hands quick and cheap.

    Sorry the comment is so long.

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  14. Beautiful inspiration photos! I love the blank canvas that the white walls and ceilings create. My dream home would have lots of natural light, a huge dining room that could fit my entire family and then some, and of course a little in-ground pool (even though I live in Chicago and could only use it for 3-4 months…worth it!)

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  15. I love Smitten Studio and A House in the Hills. They always have such great interiors inspiration.

    My dream home would definitely have huge windows, white walls, and a pool. Actually, it would probably look a whole lot like the examples in this post.

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  16. I’m with you on the house dreaming! And also on the gold and marble kitchen thanks to Bottega! You’re going to have the most gorgeous house on the planet someday, my dear. So expect house guests… ;)

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  17. I have pinterest boards and photo albums dedicated to stuff I want in my dream home. It’s finding a good contractor that’s hard. Have you seen the stair case with a slide right next to it?

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