First of all. It's pronounced Boy-see, not BOY-ZEE. I know because I said it wrong about 2304 times, Secondly it's cuter than you think.
In my family- real estate is religion. My parents could talk about houses FOREVER and never get sick of it. Instead of Church, WE went to Open Houses every weekend. By the time I was 14 I could read blueprints, explain basic drywall installation, and tell you the difference between rough and fine carpentry- and give you a name if you needed a guy. Before Graduation, I had lived in 8 houses, and watched my parents buy, sell, rent, renovate, gut, and build like it was their job. Since then I have watched them build ANOTHER (if it was fun the first time) house after we all grew up and took off. In fact, I would bet my dad is probably looking at Zillow- RIGHT NOW. Contemplating a coastal retreat with a Zen Vibe, that he will never buy. My mom is probably watching The Kardashians and trying to pretend she can't hear him. But she will eventually look at it. She likes Coastal properties.
Since my sisters and I have scattered like seeds to the wind (Chicago, Philly and the Wild Wild West) my parents have been in a state of real estate paralysis. They are bored- they are retired. Where to go? What to do? This yields a lot of ridiculous discussions where my dad suggests crazy locales like Costa Rica and Honduras ("DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF SQUAREFOOTAGE YOU CAN GET IN COSTA RICA! ON THE BEACH!!!") and my mom refuses to even engage because she just wants to be able to go to Homegoods and take a walk. They contemplated Chicago for a minute (my whole life flashed before my eyes. I pictured them making awkward small talk with Doormen, my nice dad trying to befriend scary homeless dudes, my nice mom getting over whelmed trying to park or by a $12 Squash at the farmers market) It wasn't a good fit. Philly is nice, but they are not City People. Which brings us to Boise- where luckily, my sister Leslie is averaging a baby a year. It just made sense.
So after YEARS of hemming and hawing, Deb and Brian signed a lease ("WHAT DO THEY NEED MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER FOR!?!?!) and we were off.
I was given this photo. No measurements, no numbers. 7 days, $7K and this photo.
And it turns out this isn't even the apartment.
And here are the photos of the Condo the day I left! TADA!!!
Let's start with the wall color. I hate it. Not just like, "Dislike It", or "Wish it was something else." I full on can't stand it. It's the most 90's mushroom color EVER. BLECH. And guess what- my parents didn't want to paint. They are not sure if they are going to stay and for how long, and to them the 90's were like, just a few minutes ago. Part of me wanted to have a FIT and refuse to participate unless painting was allowed. But the other part of me knew I had to buy ALL OF THE FURNITURE, not to mention sheets, curtains, decor, rugs, DISHES, garbage cans, shower curtains, sheets for 7K and that shi* goes fast. I stuck with the paint. Begrudgingly. Good thing too because I came in at like $7018. Whew. And for as much as I hate the color- I think the room looks pretty cute :)
Now let's talk about the fun stuff.
Couch, armchair, dining room rug, mirror, dining room table and coffee table all from Wayfair. I should throw a shout out to my girl Rebecca at Wayfair who patiently listened to me FREAK OUT for 2 weeks straight about this job. She is the nicest and I love her and someone should give her a raise because I am pretty sure listening to me spaz out like a psycho is not part of her job description.
GORGEOUS MCM Dining Chairs: Craigslist from a mean old lady with Bible Quotes and Donald Trump propaganda all over her house. Normally I would have felt bad for paying only $200 for 6 chairs this cool, but she was such a B I didn't feel even a little bad.
Dining Room Rug, Light fixture, Side tables: AMAZON
Vintage Bar and miscallenous art: Richochet in Boise which is the best name I have ever heard for a Vintage Store. Genius.
Trays, glasses, vases and all the extras- Homegoods and Target
The whole job was such a whirlwind I didn't even have a chance to take photos of the bedrooms- which turned out pretty cute as well.
Thanks for reading!