I’m so excited to share that we are building a home in Nashville! If y’all have followed us in the last few years you have known that our path after college was a bit different than others. If you’re new here, I’ll fill you in briefly.

Kollin and I met in middle school and dated off and on through high school. We got back together in college and dated long distance for 3 years while Kollin was in Colorado and I was in Kentucky. After college, we moved to Chicago for Kollin to attend law school, got married in 2019, and lived in Chicago for 5 years. We then decided during the Pandemic that we wanted to prioritize our ideal living situation in 2021 (you can read about that here - part two here) and made the choice to move to Nashville with the intention to buy a home. *Crazy housing market enters the chat*

With the market the way it was and wanting to make sure Nashville was our forever home, we decided to get an apartment. Fast forward another year and we still couldn’t compete with out-of-state, all-cash buyers and the stress that comes with a competitive market. That market had driven new build home prices way up and we couldn’t afford that route anymore - especially in an already escalated price point that is Nashville. We felt a bit stuck but remained faithful that the right time would come. We re-signed our lease and chose to just go with whatever was to come, which was very hard for me if I’m being honest. I’ve always been the type that needs a plan, that works through the details and understands all the options.

When that plan and how I thought our lives would look these last few years didn’t match reality, I felt pretty defeated. When would we be settled? I’d see friends and family buy homes, have kids, upgrade their kitchen, buy fixer-uppers and keep moving forward. I felt jealous, behind, and not good enough. When was it our turn? After some much-needed pep talks and validation from friends and family, I made the decision that 2022 was going to be the year of letting go. Keeping our faith in God’s plan and the patience we’d built over the last 2.5 years.

We canceled our travel plans for the month of January after a tough holiday season and focused on resetting our intentions and goals for the New Year. With some downtime and the understanding that our lease was up in June, I took another look at the market around Nashville and saw some promising homes listed for sale. We decided to start the search again. On a Thursday I shared a builder with Kollin I had seen a couple of times and we decided to book a meeting to see the development and area of town. We toured on Saturday, went back Sunday, and started the process of buying that following week. To say it went quickly would be an understatement! As first-time buyers, the learning curve was steep. With the help of family and many Google searches, we are under contract and our lot is currently being graded by the developer! We have a long way to go but are hoping to be move-in sometime in July or August.

All this to say, I know your path might be different or feel ‘behind’ compared to others. You might ask yourself when your turn is or why your path isn’t going the way you intended. But, like many things I’ve learned about life - it’ll happen when you’re not expecting it and might be faster than you planned. Your time is coming and you just have to keep going.

I can’t wait to share this process with y’all if you’re interested and am so excited to be creating our home in Nashville! Thank you so much for reading!

SHOP THE POST

Hey y’all! When we moved to Nashville and found our apartment we were so excited about the outdoor space. Coming from Chicago and sub-zero weather for more months than not, it was so fun to not only have this space, but to actually be able to use it was another level! Our families were so kind to gift some items to use for my birthday and Christmas so we needed to get a few things to finish out the décor this spring. I found almost everything at Target and love the way it turned out!

Before we jump in, I wanted to share the things that I love in an outdoor space that work no matter the design you go with!

1) Cozy seating with plush pillows: why not make the space as comfortable as your indoor space?

2) Ambiance: add some lighting or candles to the space to cultivate a vibe people gravitate toward.

3) A Touch of Nature: I kill everything and definitely do not have a green thumb, but I love the touches of greenery we have on our patio with the faux fiddle leaf fig and faux flowers. It instantly warms the space and adds a homey, yet elegant feel.

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The foundation of our patio comes from these teakwood pieces. I immediately wanted the two chairs and loveseat. They had such a unique, but still classic look to them, and the white cushions brought a crisp and chic vibe to the space. The designer Shea McGee designed a collection with Target and I wanted everything but settled for the rug that ended up being perfect for the space. I wanted a touch of contrast given the light palette of the furniture and I love how it grounds the space a bit more while also creating a modern base.

For accessories and final touches, we added some lights to the railing, repurposed a faux fiddle leaf fig from inside, and hung some affordable drapes for the outer corners of the patio to finish things off. I’ve always loved the saying that window treatments are the eyelashes of the home. It can instantly transform a space and I love the cabana vibe these created.

I’m still wanting to add some throw pillows and lanterns or smaller accessories, but until we know our next move housing-wise I’ll probably hold off on getting those! I still linked everything and put together a couple of inspiration board based on what style you gravitate toward.

furniture

I don’t think that Target sells our exact couch and table anymore, but these are very similar in look and price point. I love the teakwood and these are a great starting point for any type of aesthetic and décor.

DRAPES & RUG

This rug comes in several sizes, but we went with the 5x8 for the patio. I loved that the pattern was a stripe, but not super obvious like a block stripe. The material is similar to a rattan and durable, yet soft. We grabbed these drapes from the Target college section (lol) and went with the Command strip drape holders. They actually worked really well and have held up since we stuck them on on the wood columns of the patio. We measured the spacing of the columns and then got adjustable rods to match the Command strip holders, super easy!

ACCESSORIES & EXTRAS

If we were planning on staying for a while I would add these to the patio to create a super fun atmosphere, but for the time being I went with a fiddle leaf fig we already had. It is from Home Goods, but this one is similar and I love the pot it comes in! From there we got some lights for the railing and some flameless candles from Amazon and called it a day!

Inspiration Boards

Before deciding on what vibe we wanted for the patio I was between a few different styles and found making mood boards really helpful! I’ve put together three different moods below of some common themes that a lot of people gravitate toward. All the details and links are below each picture or you can click directly on the item to take you to the piece!

I hope this gave y’all some patio inspiration and you found something you love if you’re in the market! Thank you so much for reading and I hope everyone has a great weekend!