Thursday, March 4, 2010

House Hunters Edition

Hubs and are are very nonchalantly looking at houses.

"In Cleveland?" you ask. "But Jenny...you hate Cleveland!"

I know. I know. But you know what's in Cleveland?

Hubs.

Hubs = home...therefore home = Cleveland.


Fortunately, Matt and I tend to prioritize the same things in a house. Does it have a good sized yard? Is the garage big enough to fit both of our cars AND a lawn mower? Can we fit our entire bedroom set in the master bedroom? Essentials.

But there is one room that can make or break a house for us. And that's the kitchen.

I'm a kitchen person. My family is probably cracking up right now because when I was little I couldn't even follow a recipe. My aunt bought me Easy Mac to take with me to college because that was all I could make. I once attempted to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and left the bag of chocolate chips on the oven while it was preheating. FAIL!

But with age has come a love of cooking and baking. I meal plan for two weeks at a time and cook almost every night of the week. Clearly I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen; therefore, we have definite needs and "I want, I want, I wants!!" for our future kitchen.

I need an area to roll large amounts of fondant for my cakes. I want a huge island.

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I need smooth counter tops. I want granite.

I need an oven. I want two.

I need a ton of storage. I prefer darker stained cabinets.



And I flat our just want it to look pretty. And to be an open floor plan looking out into the living room. And to have matchy, matchy appliances. And to have a pantry. And, and, and...

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Matt and I can walk into a kitchen and tell you in two seconds whether we would consider buying the house. We are definitely up for future renovations and have no way of being able to afford any of my dream kitchens at this time...so think of this as my kitchen wish list!

What rooms do you prioritize when looking for a house? Are you a kitchen freak like me? What are your must haves?

17 comments:

Patience said...

When we built our house we put a lot of time and money into our kitchen. I love everything about it, well except that our builder messed up and we didn't get to have our island, ugh! We also spent a lot of money in our master bed and bathroom. I love your pics, they are beautiful.

April said...

My in-laws recently re-did their kitchen/living room area - it is GORGEOUS. And what's so sad is that my MIL doesn't cook that much. i mean, yeah, she'll cook occasionally, but if I had that kitchen ... well, let's just say we'd get really fat, really fast.

I am SO a kitchen person, and having dealt with some tiny crappy ones (ah, apartment living!), that will be hugely important when we go to buy a house.

Lucy Marie said...

For me the must haves are the kitchen, the yard and a basement. I want a basement so bad to toss stuff ... toys, kids, you name it.

Emily said...

My first comment on your blog, even though I've read for a while...what can I say, my desire for a fabulous kitchen is enough to break my silence! :) My current kitchen is SO outdated and I have horrible tile countertops. So, I daydream constantly about my dream kitchen - it would look almost identical to yours. A girl has to have dreams...
(P.S. Love reading your blog!)
Emily

Mrs EyeCanSee said...

Those are some fabulous kitchens!! Unfortunately in our price range, most of the homes were older and they just didn't build kitchens that way back in the day! If the house had a totally outdated, too small kitchen though it was definitly a deal breaker!

Our other must have was either a finished basement or two family rooms. Adam was dead set on having a "man cave"

Lucky for us the house we found has both a finished basement and a new kitchen. It's only missing wish list item was an island...but otherwise it's great!

Anonymous said...

I needed to hear your first part today about matt=home.

We always say the next house will have a yard, and i want a fireplace and a big porch. I agree though, the kitchen is important.

Kristen said...

now THOSE are some fabulous kitchens!!!

5th Belle Avenue said...

Those kitchen pictures make me SWOON! AH, I'M IN LOVE! How exciting that you two are house hunting! Can't wait to see what God has in store for you!

Girl Meets Beau said...

Fist off, I am dying at the fact that you forwarded my post to your hubby!!! LOVE it!! HA and I love his comment back! Men... :)

Also, I completely agree with the kitchen being #1 priority in a home. When we were house hunting I remember that being super challenging. I love a big open kitchen. I want to be able to see my kiddo's running around in the backyard or watch the living room t.v. and not be tucked away in a little hole in the house!

The Shabby Princess said...

OK, the second or fourth are pretty much my dream kitchens. I really, really wanted a kitchen that connected to the living room since I want to feel "involved" when I'm cooking since I cook almost every night. I wanted a fancy kitchen with dark cabinets and that nice gold-ish toned granite--and a big island, and, and, and! When we were looking at houses, we found maybe 2 houses that had my dream kitchen--sadly, the houses didn't really fit. The house we bought has a very nice kitchen, and it is very pretty. It might not be my "dream" because it's away from the living room, but, it's a great kitchen--it has two ovens, which is fantastic, but, they are like weird sized mini ovens, so, it's really only like having one! For us, the kitchen was very important, but, we needed to "fit" the entire house. We can always re-do the kitchen. Current gripe on our casa? We need re-paint the dining room. 2 years! 2 years and we can't find the time to repaint it! Ha.

Dollface said...

the way the kitchen looks is very important..... I think that the size of the bedroom and the closet space would be important to me... as well as the yard and the deck, etc..... i cant wait to see what you choose!! xxxooo

jenn said...

LOVE those pictures! a kitchen is a huge deal breaker for me, too. right now - living downtown - we don't have a huge kitchen. but someday...

Lisa said...

Those kitchens are amazing! I've always wanted to have breakfast bar seating in the kitchen... One day! Good luck on your hunt!

USCEmily said...

I want a big kitchen, too! Especially after living in a house where you turn around from the stove and bump into the sink. Our kitchen is TINY and has one electrical outlet besides the ones for appliances.

Tasha said...

I'm a kitchen person too (which is hilarious since I don't cook that much)! I think you and I have the same taste- granite, dark wood, nice big island, stainless, classy hardware on the cabinets. We're looking at houses now too and the kitchen will make or break a house for me! Good luck with your search for the perfect home!

Llama said...

Kitchens are def a deal breaker for me. The kitchen is the heart of the home. I hope I could have a kitchen like one of those one day...then hopefully id be inspired to learn how to cook!
I hope that you are able to find something! good luck sweetie!

Shannon Dew said...

OMG I would die for ANY of those!!!