Life Update: We're Moving!

I’ve been dying to share this update for months now, and today’s the day I can finally spill the beans… we’re moving! 🥳

This has been in the works for a while, but for obvious reasons I wanted to wait until it was a “done deal” before sharing. The past few months have been a bit of whirlwind behind the scenes, but now it’s final. We sold our current home off-market and are in a leaseback with the new owners right now. We move into our new Austin home on April 15th.

If you don’t know me in real life, then you might be surprised by this news, but family and friends reading this know we’ve been considering a move for a couple years now. While I love our current neighborhood and will be sad to leave it, we wanted to shorten my husband’s commute downtown, settle into that different school district before Kate starts elementary school, and gain better access to restaurants + get inside the ride-hailing/food-delivery app zones. Basically, we wanted to improve our quality of life. Less time in the car and closer access to the activities we enjoy like Lake Austin, shopping, and bars/restaurants. Spending the better part of the previous year in quarantine certainly sped up that desire for change. I was also hoping to find a home with a view and/or a more private lot + add one more bedroom or maybe a guest house (note: you don’t see her on social media, but we have an amazing au pair, so adding a bedroom was a high priority for me!).

The formal living room and entryway. To the right is the formal dining room, and to the left is the home’s main staircase.

What made us finally decide to take the leap? Well, if you’re familiar with Austin real estate, then you know it’s seriously insane right now. Last year we were discussing the crazy market with my realtor (and good friend!) Ellen, and naturally the conversation led to us asking how much she’d list our home for if we decided to sell it. We were pleasantly surprised by the number she gave us, but still hesitated to list because we didn’t want to put our home on the market until we knew we could find the perfect new home for our family. After all the work I’d put into renovating our current home, I wasn’t going to move unless and until we found the perfect place to move TO!

At this point, Ellen convinced us to set up a home search on MLS so we could get a feel for the market and see what was out there in our price range. We casually searched for a few months, and even toured some homes we thought might be “the one” only to see them in person and feel underwhelmed and disappointed. There are also a lot of what I refer to as “white box” homes on the market right now, and that super modern, sterile feel is just not my vibe. We weren’t having much luck! After several months of searching, I reached a frustration point and almost pulled the plug on the whole thing when my husband decided to revisit some older listings we previously passed on.

Front exterior.

That’s when we (re)stumbled upon a Mediterranean-style home with a gorgeous oak tree-lined driveway that had great bones but was in desperate need of updating. While we’d seen the listing before and decided not to tour it, my husband convinced me we should go see it in person. I’m so glad he did! As soon as I stepped inside, I immediately saw the potential and knew I could turn her into a dream home. Overwhelmingly, buyers moving to Austin want move-in ready homes and don’t want to do extensive remodeling. So even though the market is insane, this home had been sitting on it for a while. Because of that, I felt like we could get it for a price that would make my renovation dreams possible. Thankfully, it all worked out!

No home is perfect, but this one comes pretty darn close. 😍 It’s in a great neighborhood, cuts our commute downtown in half, is located on a large and private lot, plus has hill country views and that extra bedroom I hoped for! We expect to be in this home for at least the next 10 years, and maybe longer. The plan is to renovate over time and in phases. And even though I said I’d never live in a construction zone again, it appears that’s the plan for now. 😅🤦🏻‍♀️ I’m hoping this go around won’t be quite so terrible since I learned a LOT during our current home’s renovation. Hopefully I can avoid some of the mistakes I made last time - mainly taking on too much at once, not having a clear-enough vision, and hiring the wrong contractors.

The main family room, which overlooks the back porch and yard.

Even though I’m exercising patience and will be taking things slowly, there were a couple things that needed to get done before moving in. I’ve been working hard behind the scenes (with some help from my friends on the Heather Scott Home & Design team!) and those minor renovation projects are already underway. I’ll be sharing those on Instagram and here on the blog as things progress! Eventually, we’ll tackle remodeling the kitchen, main living space, and bathrooms.

Because the style of the new house is Mediterranean, I’m leaning in to that aesthetic and will stay true to the home’s architectural style (note: I did the same with our current, traditional-style home… I think this is so important!). I’m actually SUPER excited to go Mediterranean. Y’all know I love Italy. I’ll be using my love for that region as inspiration for the interior redesign, landscaping, and home decor decisions. I’ll also note that my personal style - while still classic at its core - has evolved to be more casual, rustic, and earthy since renovating our current home. I think you’ll find that the new home will be a departure from what you’re used to seeing from me. Bottom line… I can’t wait to see the ideas in my head come to life. Much more to come!

I recently saw a quote that went something like “If you're sad to go but excited for what's ahead, then you're living life right”, and I feel like that perfectly sums up where I’m at emotionally with this move. We didn’t make an impulse move and have given this a lot of consideration and thought. It will be very sad to leave our current home, but I am excited about the vision I have manifested for our new home. Rather than looking back, I am looking forward with a smile on my face. Here’s to making happy memories in our new home in the years ahead. 🥂

XOXO,

Liz