Signed, Sealed & Delivered!

Well, figuratively speaking. We found a place! And signed a lease!

Let's break this down...

Location: Ridgewood, NJ (in Bergen County, about fifteen miles from my beloved NYC).

Type: Duplex apartment (two floors) in a large, white Victorian-style home(!) Two bedrooms + office/den, huge living room, eat-in kitchen, 1 bathroom

Other awesome things (i.e. reasons we signed a lease so quickly):

PRICE (A super steal, coming in at $300 under our monthly budget);
AMENITIES (Laundry room in the finished basement, a parking space across the street; outdoor maintenance);
OUTDOOR SPACE (large patio in the back for grilling);
LOCATION (two blocks from the center of the village of Ridgewood with an 8 minute walk to the train [45 min to NYC]);
STORAGE (both the master bedroom and living room have walk-in closets, and each of the other rooms have closet space (including a separate "bonus room" for storage!);
AESTHETICS (French doors, tons of windows with great light, authentic wood moldings and cabinetry)

Things we are changing (i.e. DIY projects mostly taking place the first weekend in April):

Kitchen updates: (the kitchen has slightly ugly floor tiling. We will be figuring out a more aesthetically pleasing alternative, perhaps through the use of a rug or temporary tile replacement).

Painting: The bathroom is currently painted an icky salmon color, so we will painting that a more neutral tone. The second (guest) bedroom has interesting wallpaper that doesn't quite jive with us, so we will be stripping and repainting that room to match the rest of the house (a creme color).

I think that's it. We are so excited to have found this gem and can't wait to get the keys to "our first place together" on April 1st.

Now, on to a crazy six weeks of packing and furniture/decor shopping...