The emotions of house hunting

I'm about to rant so if you come to this blog for beautiful inspiring designs then you might want to skip this post. I’ll be back later or tomorrow (depending on how busy today is) with gorgeous rooms.
Today, I was hoping to sign on and write about our beautiful new house. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. We never heard back from the sellers last night. Our offer expired at 6pm and now we feel like we've been hung out to dry. Last we heard, the seller was at his lawyer’s office (this is a messy sale because the couple is getting a divorce). This news led us to believe we were nearing the end. The end it was since we haven't heard from the since yesterday afternoon. I believe we've lost the house but they don't even have the decency to let us know.

Karma will definitely come back to haunt these people. If you do badly to others it comes back two fold. The sellers were greedy this weekend and honestly treated our offer(s) like crap. I realize the real estate market is one tough cookie to crack but honestly, does it really need to be this difficult? Those who say house hunting is fun and that buyers should enjoy the process must have been high on drugs or they've never gone through the process because so far we haven't had any fun. It has been emotional torture and we've only been at it 3 weeks! I have friends who have been house hunting for 13 months!! Maybe by month 4 or 6 you start to see it as more of a business transaction and less emotional. Right now I'm on the emotional side of it. I thought we found our dream 'starter home'. I should have known it was too good to be true. At one point last night, in the midst of tears streaming down my face I started to think is it my Karma? Have I been greedy? Were our offers not good? Did we go about it the wrong way? You know how it goes in your head (well, if you're anything like me you do). I over analyze and have conversations in my head about how I could have done it better or differently. I swear I'm not crazy! I don’t have these conversations out loud… just in my head…

I was drunk with exhaustion from all the emotions and thoughts racing through my head. Luckily I fell asleep quickly and woke up this morning knowing that we did all we could. We played our cards right. We just didn't win this hand. For now, we need to keep playing. We'll find the right house and it will be better than this one. I need to project positive thoughts. I believe the universe has a plan for all of us. Each step of the way we must learn something to move onto the next step in order to reach our destination (whatever that may be). I’m sure this stepping stone is to teach me more patience (because I have none!) and to leave my emotions out of a business deal! The test will be how I handle the next offer we make. Only time will tell.

I hate ending things negatively so let’s image ourselves enjoying a lovely picnic here. It’s a gorgeous hot sunny day. The water is warm and inviting.  We're fit and looking hot in our bikinis.  There isn't a worry to be thought of and we're with our loved one.  LIFE IS GRANDE! 

Have a great day!!

J’adore Paris!

As you know, Restoration Hardware is one of my favourite stores!  I'm on their mailing list so I can be one of the first (million) to hear of a sale or new product.  :)  Today they featured a vintage map of Paris.  It's beautiful!  I would absolutely love to hang it in our living room as it would fit in so well and be a great piece of art.  Anyone have an extra $1,795?? 

Oh well, for now we can all just admire. 

The house hunt continues.  So far it has been a lot more frustrating than I originally thought it would be.  We drove an hour north of the city on Monday evening to look at a new development that advertised the starting price $50,000 cheaper than the actual starting price!  We were extremely annoyed!  What is even more frustrating is that they are not the only builders who have done that.  I have learnt to call ahead and confirm the price list before hand.  Yesterday was looking promising when we saw a gorgeous house in the area we want.  They were holding off all offers until Sunday.  That left us plenty of time to view it and research our offer... or at least I thought it did.  Someone offered $16,000 over the asking price and it sold.  I didn't even know you could do that! 

Over the last week I have learnt a lot about real estate! 

1. Do not get excited until you have purchased a house!
2. Be wary of all advertising!  (I should know this by now since I'm in the ad industry)
3. Call to confirm the price before you drive an hour north in rush hour!
4. Be patient!  House hunting takes time. 

I'll be back later with more delicious photos.  Have a great day!!

Weekend Update

Good morning!

It was quite the weekend for me.  We started our search for new homes on Saturday.  After dropping Ryan off at work, I drove up to an area called Maple and North Thornhill (north of the city) to browse and get acquainted with what we hope will be the site of our future home.  Needless to say at first I was completely freaking out because let's be honest I'm a city girl (always have been) and moving out of the city freaks the heck out of me.  I realize it's the only way we can afford to have a backyard, garage, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms but it's still scary.  After giving myself a pep-talk I opened my eyes and realized it's not that bad.  The area has a lot to offer.  The houses are new and gorgeous.  The schools are new and there are a few shops.  I was able to get a manicure for $16!!  Yes I stopped for a manicure!  The sales offices open at 11am and I was an hour early.  What else would a girl do?  It's necessary to check out all the amenities.  :)  Any who... I ended up loving the area and called Ryan to tell him we must buy!  He was excited and so was I. 

Fast forward to me leaving the fourth sales office and crying in the car.  It seems all of the affordable starter homes have been sold and all that's left are the expensive estate homes.  I was told that we wouldn't even get a town-home for our price range!  The sales reps said it like a townhome was the most disgusting possibility ever.  Most of the offices I went into were on phase 3 of construction.  Phase 1 is apparently when you want to buy a starter home.  

I heard people talk about getting emotional about house-hunting but I never really expected it to be such emotional torture!  Forget physical torture for war-prisoners just make them buy a house in Toronto!  Ok... maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit but it's tough out there!  Don't worry though, I have not given up the battle.  We are heading up north again tonight to check out a new build that started selling on Friday.  Please cross your fingers that they still have houses in our price-range and that we absolutely love them.  It would make our lives so much easier.  :)  

Today I will leave you with this dreamy kitchen by Kvanum.  Look at all that cupboard space!  The natural floors are what makes it look country casual.  If the floors were a dark high gloss stain it would completely change the feel of this room.  I also love a hidden fridge. 

Have a great day!

How small is too small?

This morning I woke up at 6am to workout.  I gave it a good go and lasted 20 minutes.  My body just couldn't move fast enough to keep up with the video and I finally realized that instead of struggling to get through feeling like crap I would write my blogpost to get ahead start on the day.  To be honest, I'm happy that I got at least 20 minutes excercise and that I'm posting so early! :) 


Today's post is more of a rant. This morning I read The Globe & Mail which featured an article about the construction of 30 Toronto condo rental suites 270 square feet in size.  Each comes with built-in wall beds, tables, chairs and flat screen TVs.  Is that not ridiculously small?  Look around your bedroom; it's probably the same size as the suite.  I can only imagine how much they would be to purchase.  They will be rental suites for $750/month.  It's like buying one room in a house.  We live in one of the largest countries in the world.  Do we really need to start packing us on-top of one another in these small rooms?  Does anyone else feel like they would be closterphobic?  How much smaller can the condo developers go?  I understand that Toronto is a very expensive city to live in and that it's hard to find affordable housing for anyone earning under $35,000 but don't they deserve a bit more space???


On a more positive note; I love the natural looking floors!  

Todays a very busy day.  I'll try to post something a bit more design related later.  For now it's time for me to shower and get pumped for a great day!  Have a great one my dear readers.  

What are my chances of winning??

TGIF!!!  It's been a long, stressful week.  I'm sorry for being off-line these last few days.  I promise to make up for it over the next few days. 

I have fallen in love with the newlyy designed house for The Welcome Home Sweepstakes for Cancer Research.  It was built by Lynda Reeves and her House & Home team, with architectural designer Ray Murakami and custom home builder PCM Inc. It's located at 1306 Cambridge Drive, Oakville.  You can walk through it between now to the end of October.  Here is a sneak peak.  Oh, I took the photos from the video... so they are not the best quality or best angle but at least it gives us a peak at the gorgeous interiors!! 

The house has French doors throughout the entire first floor leading out to manicured gardens, exposed beams and natural wood.  It has a European country feel to it.  Love it!! 

Relaxing in this room would be a breeze.  I love the Montauk sofa and chairs.  The extra tall floor lamps are from Cocoon. 

I could totally be soaking in this tub right now. 

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  If you're in town (Oakville or surrounding area) then go and check it out in person and purchase a ticket to support cancer research.  If you don't purchase a ticket then cross your fingers and hope that I win! :) 

Have great day!!