About the $ 40K Garden-Style Townhome/Condo. . .

In many parts of the country, buying a home right now is not a good idea.  In Central Texas, however, renting is often not the smartest financial move for many.  I found a small, part-brickstone, condo-townhome in a tree-filled community with plenty of sidewalks and spacious land.  Vaulted ceilings and laminate-wood floors sealed the deal.  Actually, the price sealed the deal.  I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Something had to be wrong with my new home.   But nothing was.  It was simply too small for big-space minded Texans and had remained on the market forever.  More power to them.  The $297 monthly cost is easily handled (even with my self-imposed income of $850 per month from savings).  Additionally, the back-yard allows me to finally give my Aussie Shepherd plenty of space to do what Aussies do and will be perfect for a garden, zen space and outdoor entertaining (if my Aussie  “River” allows it, that is).  A lot of my repurposing efforts and home improvement projects are a part of my new home now.   Most of my blogging is based on those initial efforts.  So many projects to cover…forgive my spastic-ness…but here are the details on the home.

Enzo’s 40K garden-style townhome:  The Details

- 560sq foot corner unit (I’m not as dedicated as Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Tiny Homes)

- 1 bedroom/1 bath

- Soaring Ceilings

- Laminate/Plank/Tile floors

- Fenced Backyard with Deck and Zen Meditation Deck

- Mature Trees

- Gated Community

- $135 HOA fee (includes water, trash services, and security...it more than balances out)

- 2 reserved parking spots

I guess my garden style home can be described as a combination of a small beach cottage with a slight Hampton’s influence in some of the interior craftsmanship.  Repurposed shelves, comfy chairs, and minimal Scandanavian style décor can be found in nooks and crannies.  A guy’s décor is definitely part of the visual aesthetic too. Oversized, thickly-framed Formula One Posters along with a French Spy Comedy flick poster  (OSS 117 starring Jean Dujardin is a current favorite—where were these films all my life??!!) keep the place from looking too overly-cottagy. 

 The bold gray walls of the bedroom with stark white furnishings and ash-black bed/nightstands add an additional look of a clean-cut, modern-urban Brazil bachelor’s pad.  The bathroom transitions into the most Hampton-style feature of the house with subtle nautical accents and re-worked tile (think of Emily Thorne's house on "Revenge" and that's the style of the bathroom).  Never a big fan of dining areas, I converted the dining space into a book-reading area (albeit with plenty of oversized, custom-made tv trays for dinner—one with a clock as its table-top.)  The drop-down pendant light makes for a perfect reading light in the reading/dining area.  The kitchen has more than enough cabinet space with hand-crafted hardware.

Just about everything in this home was done with re-salvaged, bargain items (of quality) or massively discounted goods.  Old bi-fold doors were turned into a stand-alone pantry/closet (so easy when the wood cuts are already there for you), ceramic hardware for kitchen and bathroom cabinets were purchased for .50 cents a piece.  Oversized posters were framed (at home) using old jersey shadow boxes with 3-inch thick wood frames (at a 90% discount).  Industrial, modern-retro shelves were made out of 2 x 12 x 16 discounted wood.  And the paint, $9 a gallon.  Suffice to say, time is really the only negative factor in all of these projects (and maybe a bit of  "patience" to find the right stuff).   I'll post each project or "bargain-find" from time to time.    

My Aussie is getting tired of seeing me excited over the interior stuff. She only likes the deck I built for her.