Did you hear the news? We are putting our house up for sale and planning to move! It even seems surreal to write that. It doesn’t seem real yet. I don’t think it will feel like it actually is happening until we sign that closing paperwork on the new house and they hand us the keys!
While we are going to say goodbye to the house that made me “Mytexashouse”, I’m going to continue to share my love of home decor and design, as well and my rug line (and other exciting things to come!) in this new house. The house we are buying is actually not far from our current home (only about 10 minutes away) and my kids will continue to attend all the same schools (our number one criteria as we were looking). I will explain our reasons for deciding to move below, but first I wanted to explain how we got here…
How We Got Here: We’ve moved a lot!
We have lived in this house for the past 4 years (and 4 months!). That may not seem like a long time to some, but for our family, this was a record long stay! If you’re not that familiar with my story, my husband and I have lived all over the country and have moved over 10 times in the almost 20 years we have been married (most of those moves happened in the last 10 years). The moves were all the result of just life changes (i.e. graduating college and moving back home, job changes, needing more space as our family grew).
When we were married in 2001, we lived in Charlottesville, VA (where my husband was finishing up law school and I was teaching 4th grade). We then moved back home to Arizona, then lived in Northern California, then back to Arizona, and back then back to California again, and finally we ended up in Texas over 8 years ago when I was 8 months pregnant with my youngest (crazy, I know!). That was the biggest and most challenging move of them all! We had never been to Dallas and knew no one here!
We first lived in a rental home when we got to Texas to figure out where we wanted to end up. We then proceeded to build 3 different homes in the north Dallas area over 4 year period as we searched to find the perfect home and neighborhood for our family.
Our first new build, we actually never lived in. We had to back out of the deal about 8 weeks before our close date due to the city announcing there would be high tension power lines installed directly behind our property! That was a big no for us. But we got all of our money back thankfully!
We had to live in an apartment as we built our second new home. We only lived in that house a year because we decided we wanted more space, a bigger yard, plus the school district had made an unfortunate school boundary change which effected our kids negatively.
We rented again while we built this current home. The build took over a year. I picked out every detail in our house and I absolutely loved the process. Though there are definitely things I would do differently now if I was building today (but that’s a whole other blog post for another day!).
Why we decided to move
Ultimately, while this house was everything we wanted when we started building it over 5 years ago, (and I still love it), we have started to feel as though we are growing out of it in terms of the bedrooms and storage space for my business. My mom lives with us, and we only have five bedrooms for the 6 of us. So that means we don’t have a dedicated bedroom for guests or a place for me to go when my husband is snoring! 😉 I’ve spent many a night sleeping on our big living room sofa! The new house will also give my mom a lot more storage space and more room to spread out. She currently has all of her belongings in one room and a kid sized closet. We’ve always talked about the need to move in order to expand her living space, so this move will finally allow us to give her that!
While our house is big and we have plenty of living space for all of us, we have been feeling like we need more space for storage for all my products. A new house will give us the opportunity to have a dedicated studio and decor storage space for all my products! There is a very large unfinished room upstairs that we have discussed either turning into a studio for my business or even eventually converting it into a large apartment with separate kitchenette and laundry area for my mom! Lots of opportunity to grow and create the perfect spaces for my business and my mom in this new house.
Also, I have also always dreamed of having a home with a view. Ideally it would be a view of the ocean…but you’re not going to get that in north Texas, so the next best thing is having a view of nature rather than another house.
So really those were the catalysts for wanting to move…getting a house with more space for my mom and my business and having a better lot with a view/no one behind us. The bonus of getting a new house is also that I get to show you guys how I decorate a new home from scratch!
The new house: more details to come
I don’t plan to show you guys the new house until we are 100% going to get it. There are still a few hurdles that we need to get through before it will be a done deal (not least of which is actually selling this house). We have our home inspection on the new house tomorrow, so fingers crossed that goes well! But what I can tell you about the new house is that it meets all of my requirements and then some! It’s much bigger, has more bedrooms and extra storage, and has a gorgeous view! Best of all, it’s already built so we don’t have to wait a year or longer for it to be done! We plan to move by the end of November, if not sooner, depending on the sale of our house! It’s very similar in style to my home, but I can’t wait to put my own touch on it.
Update: House is sold!
**If you’re looking for info on our house (brick color, paint colors, tile info etc. click here: home tour)**
All product sources can be found by clicking here: liketoknow.it posts
Stunning! I wish we could get a home at that price per square foot here In Ontario Canada. It’s about $400/sf for a new build 😳. Can’t wait to see your next home!
Tell me about it. Prices here are ridiculous and the home styles are all generic and boring.
Hi Erin
Congratulations on finding a new home. I love your house and would love to purchase it , as my husband and I have been looking for a new house for almost three years. Your house would be perfect! Unfortunately we live in Canada 😢. Your house is beautiful so I’m sure it will sell quickly. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your new home.
Thank you Darlene!
Hey Erin!
Congrats on your upcoming move! I ,too, live in Prosper, and am building a house now in Celina (but zoned to Prosper). Im ready to see all the new ideas you have so I can incorporate them into our new build as well! 🙂 P.S… can’t wait to buy all your rugs for each room of our house… seriously. So excited to see what you have coming up!
Thank you so much! 🙂 I’m so excited to get my hands on a new space to design and share it with all of you!
Hi Erin, love following you and I’m so excited for you and your family. Can’t wait to see what’s next. Your current home is almost the exact floor plan of my son and daughter-in-law’s home as they also live in Prosper. I grew up in Texas, misplaced 😉 in Georgia at the moment, but heading back to Texas soon, most likely Celina. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Best of luck with everything.
Thank you so much, Susan!
Congrats on the new house! Hope everything goes smoothly with the sell of this house and the move!
Thank you so much!
My husband and I are looking in the prosper area, selling our home is Frisco. Can you share who your builder is? We also looked in Celina with Prosper Schools…but the is the square footage and rooms we are looking for. I’m just picky with the builders.
Hi! Our builder was Huntington Homes. They are known to be one of the best builders in Texas! 🙂
Just came across your site in our home buying research of North Texas…your work is just gorgeous! Coming from California & still unfamiliar with the areas, have you enjoyed Prosper? Are you staying within Prosper or moving outside? Your house is beautiful…we’d snap it up if we were ready to move today! 🙂 Looking fwd to following your work…
Did the curtain rods in the master bedroom come from the same place as the drapes?
Yes! Everything came from Willow Bloom Home. You can check out my blog post about my window coverings here: https://mytexashouse.com/mytexashouse-x-willow-bloom-home-window-covering-and-wallpaper-collection/
Congratulations on finding a new home to love! What stood out to me in this post was that you lived in Charlottesville, VA at one point… that’s where I live!
Your home is gorgeous!! I have followed you for quite awhile and never realized you lived in Charlottesville at one point! I grew up there, and my parents still live there. 🙂 Best of luck on your new home adventure!
I really wish this house was on a larger lot, and it was 12 years from now when we will be moving back to this area from Austin. gorgeous home, I would die for the kitchen alone 😍 many blessings with your move!
Was searching thru your links for the rug featured in your living/family room in this post (also in one of your daughters’ rooms) but can’t find it, only see other styles…is it available for purchase? Thanks!
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see the new house and your decorating style to transform it! Your house is beautiful and will sell super fast! I’m so glad I met your mom in the voting line, which is when we were still in our design phase of our remodel and perfect timing for me to start following you. Best of luck for you and your family! Dee Dee
After you had your cabinets painted, did you use any kind of top coat?
Hi Erin… A funny thing happened on my was to your blog. We live in Boston and our house in under contract. We are moving back to the Dallas area and we were house hunting several weeks ago. I fell in love with a house that was a former model home. It was waaay over priced and as of today, still on the market. I loved the floor plan of the house. My husband told me over lunch that he found the same house. I looked at the pics and I said to him… that the owner is either a decorator or a blogger or both. Lo and behold, I spotted your watermark on one of your photos. Your home is beautiful and I bet it won’t last through the weekend. We are not making the actual move until the end of October. Good luck with your move and if your house is still on the market when we arrive, I will have tell our realtor that we would like a showing. All the best…
Erin, congrats on finding a home- fingers crossed!! We live in Rockwall, TX in a master planned community. When we were looking and found a huge back yard with woods behind us and a view of a stone bridge it was the deciding factor. Having no one behind you is so great and peaceful. We are still fairly new, I love reading your blog and look forward to seeing how you start from scratch!! Good luck.