About

Hi, I'm Katie and that's me on the dinosaur!

About Me

I was born in Greenville, SC but did most of my growing up in Boone, NC. I have had a love of architecture and design for as long as I can remember and even helped design the house my parents live in to this day. When it was time for college, I decided to follow my dream of becoming an architect and moved to Charlotte, NC to attend UNCC's SoA.

After a couple of semesters and a lot of soul searching, I realized I would lose my passion for design if I actually became an architect. Even with the change in career plans, anything related to houses, design, décor, and architecture is pretty much my life's calling.

My dad and brother are the type of guys who know how to fix everything and I learned a little bit from them and a little more from other blogs and Google. I'm not the handiest chick in the hen house, but I do have overinflated self confidence and a serious case of  "I think I could do that."

I spend my 8-to-5 hours as a recruiter and love every minute. I spend my non-work hours browsing blogs, reading catalogs, and taking on DIY projects way out of my skill set.

Pets

I believe that pets are just as much a part of making a home as any decoration or organizing, so in addition to normal shelter blog topics, I blog about my pets and general petkeeping.

I am that crazy lady with four pets: two dog and two cats.

Boone is a Golden Retriever and is named after the town where I grew up. He is the highlight of every day and my best friend. I'm more attached to this dog than any person should be and am constantly covered in a layer of blonde fuzz because of him. I have a really unfortunate habit of speaking Boone's thoughts in a lispy voice. I've tried, but I just can't stop.

Boone loves his Chuck-It Super Ball, Milkbones, and anything he can pull the stuffing out of.

Boone's number one girl is the precious Rosie Posie. She is the girliest dog to ever walk this planet and is truly and undoubtedly, a princess. You may be thinking to yourself that dogs don't have gender identities the way people do. If you are thinking that, you need to spend a day with Ms. Rose, or as she is affectionately called, "Potato."

Rosie is a rescue from Ohio, where I dragged my mom over Mother's Day Weekend 2015. The rescue originally believed her to be a purebred golden puppy - and she looked so much like one, she constantly fooled other Golden owners.

As she aged, it became obvious that she was mixed with something, maybe a Beagle or a Toller. Clocking in at 45 lbs, she's just over half Boone's size and she looks just like a mini-Golden. To this day, people are constantly asking how many months old she is and will she get as big as her brother. #no.


Like any little sister, she loves everything Boone does. She also has a bad case of "the nibbles." Now for the shameless plug: you can follow Boone and Rosie on Instagram!

I also play roommates to two grouchy cats, Atticus (grey) and Leo (yellow).

I adopted Atticus in college, and he was my first baby. Atty has had a multitude of health issues his entire life resulting in my being well versed in everything from Coccidia (don't Google it) to seizures.

Leo came next and is named after my first true love, Leonardo DiCaprio. When I brought him home, he was six months old and - while I don't know what happened to this little guy in his first life - he is still scared of almost everything except his baby brother Boone.

the Woodward Place 

The inspiration for the Woodward Place came when my ex and I decided to build a house in early 2013. I over research just about every major life decision (and to be completely honest, most minor ones, too) and quickly discovered how many people write blogs about their home building experience.

I read every blog I could, but quickly became frustrated by how little information these bloggers were willing to share. I was looking for the good, the bad, and the ugly and each blog only managed to tell one type of story. What good is a blog if it just tells pretty stories and can't help others going through the same thing?

So I decided to write a completely honest and open blog about building our home. We chose the Vanderbilt plan with Standard Pacific in Charlotte, NC's Brightwalk neighborhood. If there's anything I've chosen to omit publishing on my blog for the sake of privacy, I will be more than happy to answer over email (katie.rached@gmail.com).

Now that the house is finished, there will be plenty more to blog about because the adventures of creating a home don't end on closing day.

Note: for the time being, I'm a blogger without a camera (it's a complete suicide mission). After posting "forgive the crappy pictures" about 22,000 times, I decided to just add this disclaimer. I know the photography here could be better. I also know y'all are as tired of the iPhone pics as I am of posting them; please bear with me for the time being. Soon, my darlings. Soon.