I Bought a Condo?

Hi strangers!

Almost a year ago, and after many years of thought and planning before that, I decided to take the plunge and start looking for a home to buy. The possibility of being a homeowner is something that has excited me since I was a kid, so of course, I was completely thrilled to finally be able to get the process rolling. Since I wasn't afraid of renovations, I tended to look at places that needed a bit of work. The big problem, though, was that I had a hard time reconciling finding a place that needed some work, that was in good enough condition to live in during what was sure to be a LONG renovation process, and that happened to be located in a desirable area relatively close to work and family. And a place that fit within my limited budget... in Northern Virginia. Big dreams.

BUT! After lots of home tours and more than a few upsets, I finally found my place. It's a 1,000 square foot two bedroom, two bathroom condo in Fairfax, Virginia. It was built in the late 1980s, and not much about the condo has really changed since then. Original kitchen, original bathrooms, original fixtures (luckily it has a new refrigerator, microwave, and oven, though). It's completely livable as-is, but I'll definitely be changing mostly everything about the space over the coming years.

I can't begin to describe how giddy all of this makes me. I have a tendency to focus intensely on random things for short amounts of time, so it'll be a nice to focus that energy into the long-term project of renovating this condo. I'm going to do as many renovations as I can on my own, within reason, so I'll be learning a lot along the way as well.

The to-do list is here...quite long. I've actually been living here for a few months now, so the list is significantly shorter than it used to be, but there is still a lot to do! I'll be chronicling my renovations/struggles/victories here as they come, and talking a little about what I've already done up to this point.