This past summer, I finally took the plunge and signed my life away on a new two-bedroom condo in South Loop! It is such an improvement from my dungeon of an apartment I was coming from because now I have floor-to-ceiling windows and get to see sunsets every night!

 

There are so many things I absolutely love about owning this condo, but not going to lie, there are quite a small things I took for granted when renting.

 

But first, the good stuff:

• Refinishing floors! Goodness was that an undertaking but it was SO WORTH IT! My place had these ugly orange/yellow stained floors that just looked worn and old. The very first thing I did (after painting) was have my floors refinished to a nice dark stain and I am obsessed.
• Painting doors. See above – they are ugly like the floors, and one of these days I will paint all of my doors to be white to match the trim. I swear. One of these days it will happen.
• Replacing light fixtures. I never realized how fun picking out light fixtures could be. Instead of dealing with crappy ones that have been in the rental for 20+ years, I get to make them my own!
• Replacing closet systems. My old closet system had no room for dresses so I busted that thing up and created my very own Zara-proof closet! Thanks, IKEA!
• No pet rent! Zara gets to live rent-free in my pretty condo. I’m very jealous.
• I own it, ME! Man it’s great to feel like I am putting money towards something rather than throwing it away on a rental. That mortgage is totally worth it.

 

I could keep going but that would just take up so much space, all you need to know is that I love it and pros FAR outweigh the cons!

 

But there definitely are cons my friends, let me tell you. I mean I have your basic set of tools and can be pretty handy when I need to be (need shelves drilled into the wall, I’m your girl), but I am by no means a plumber, electrician, etc.

 

So it seems only fair to share what I hate about homeownership next month…it deserves its own blog post, don’t you think?