It’s been a long time since I updated you on what we are doing with our living situation – you may remember that we were living in a 2 bedroom apartment in central Edmonton with 3 young kids about 3 years ago, and now we are in a decent size bungalow home in St. Albert. Originally we wanted to buy a house in St. Albert, live there for 5-10 years and then buy a small acreage with a house or build on it. Now we have stopped looking at St. Albert houses and have decided to go in a different direction! But before we decided to not buy a house in St. Albert I spent 4 months driving up and down St. Albert neighbourhoods to get a feel for where I wanted to live or type of house we wanted to live in.

There were certain things we preferred for the inside and outside of our house that we would have communicated to a realtor eventually, even though that is scrapped I want to share with you what our preferences were and what St. Albert neighbourhoods we were interested in.

I won’t say this is a blog post highlighting the best neighbourhoods of St. Albert because they are all individually great, but you will see why some were left out from our preferences.

These were my 7 preferences for finding a house in St. Albert for our family:

1. Large fenced backyard: Little to no unique landscaping. We want trees along the fence line for privacy, but other than that we want a large grassy area for our kids to run and play in. No fountains, ponds, pathes, patches of garden in the grass. Basic. I know we could landscape it ourselves but that leads us into the next point…
2. Ready to move in: We are not handy people, we would need to hire a professional to handle any renos and we would prefer it to be ready to move in. Even though it is my dream to have a custom house, it would be so outside my comfort zone and expertise I don’t even know where we would start.
3. Two Story House: We are a large family, 4 kids and 2 adults. We have been living in bungalow, it made me realized I want to have our bedrooms on a separate floor and a finished basement (we would be willing to find a house with an unfinished basement, I’ll talk more about this at the end). This is a tricky one because of the next point…
4. Mature neighbourhood: We prefer the older neighbourhoods, with bigger older trees lining the streets. This goes along with more curb appeal but it’s something that grew on me. When we lived in our apartment I wanted to live in a brand new home, but as we grew to love our new house I now adore older neighbourhoods. While we want a two story house, a lot of the neighbourhoods we adore have split levels or bungalows or a walk up floor plan. It makes what I want in a house a needle in a haystack, unless we want to spend $600,000 on a St. Albert house, which we don’t.
5. Lots of natural light inside: As a photographer I want the most natural light for taking photos, it makes sense for photography and overall I just feel better when my house has all the lights off and the house is filled with natural light.
6. Large kitchen: I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, whether I like it or not, so to have the space to bake and cook in a kitchen that I like is a big thing for me. I want lots of counter space and storage. Matt doesn’t necessary feel the same way, but this one is important to me.
7. No corner fireplaces or angled walls: This is the first no-no in our preferences! I don’t know when the corner fireplace became a trend, one of my childhood homes had one too, but I don’t want it. Or funky angled walls, I feel the same way. I want a fireplace, but I want it on a wall not in the corner.
8. Location close to work and to school: While we work and go to school in St. Albert, the city is growing fast! It can be a 15-20 minute drive if you hit every red light on St. Albert Trail getting from point A to point B. Finding a house that wasn’t a crazy bus ride for the kids and not too far for Matt to pop home had a little weight in our decision.

That’s uber specific! But we’re the type of people that are willing to wait for the perfect house, we have been waiting and saving for a long time so if it doesn’t check most of these off then it is not for us.

It is difficult to see exactly what the houses look like from the street, some houses are listed for sale so it wasn’t hard at all to take a peek inside those ones, but overall I could get a sense of the neighbourhood by driving through it a few times.

Here are the St. Albert neighbourhoods I wanted to buy a house in:

1. Lacombe Park: Matt grew up in this neighbourhood before they moved to an acreage, and while the nostalgia is there for him I really like this area of St. Albert! Lacombe Park (or otherwise known as the “L” neighbourhood) is a large community that starts close to St. Albert trail and works its way back to Ray Gibbon Drive. I love the homes closest to St. Albert Trail and to Ray Gibbon Drive (across the way from Bellerose High School). The houses are beautiful older homes on larger lots, many made of brick, and are two stories tall. There are some stunning european cottage looking houses closer to Bellerose, that I am obsessed with. Lots of mature trees, it’s an easy neighbourhood to get to the Anthony Henday or drive into Edmonton. This was one of my favourite St. Albert neighbourhoods!
2. Braeside: This is the community where we already live, it is so close to Matt’s work that it is hard to pass up when his drive is less than 5 minutes. This neighbourhood in the river valley of St. Albert, and it can be hard to find homes with a very flat backyard but overall it’s a beautiful community that we were still keeping tabs on. Braeside is super close to the St. Albert farmers market when it is located at St. Albert Centre and it is very close to southern St. Albert – making it easy to get in and out of the city.
3. Grandin: Specifically north Grandin, across from Riel Drive, had caught my eye. There are some stunning unique homes with large windows along the north side of Grosvenor Park. Then there was a few quiet streets off of Grandin Road, closest to St. Albert Trail (and I mean almost backing onto it) that had large elegant brick houses, while they were stunning I’m not sure if being so close to St. Albert Trail would be right for us – but they caught my eye so I wanted to mention them! Grandin is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in St. Albert and sometimes gets a bad rapport, but I made sure I drove through it to see what I could find. I’m glad I did because these houses were on large lots and were reasonably priced for houses in St. Albert. Plus the location was easy to access St. Albert Trail and 170th Street to drive in and out of St. Albert.
4. Oakmont: This St. Albert neighbourhood is an exception to our location and older neighbourhood preferences. While it’s more of a teenager neighbourhood than a older neighbourhood – the trees are mid sized and the parks are almost brand new – it is also not located in between work and school, but it’s not completely out of the way. I like the modern builds in this area, they would be ready to move into and would provide decent open layouts.
5. Erin Ridge: Again like Grandin, I was interested in a specific area of Erin Ridge. I really liked the closest area to Boudreau Drive – they have the type of houses I like though the yards on some seemed to be a little smaller. Though I wasn’t hopping over people’s fences to take a peek so I really don’t know the size of their yard. It’s a quiet area surrounded by busy streets, though we are climatized to street noise after living in our apartment in Edmonton listening to all the ambulance sirens by the hospital.

Those were the St. Albert neighbourhoods I wanted to buy a house in! Hopefully this can help someone looking to buy a house here, but I highly recommend driving through the areas yourself and forming your own opinions about them. St. Albert is an amazing city to live it, lots to do and very friendly people!

I will keep you updated with our new plans and how we are going about them as we go through this journey – from mortgage brokers to step by step planning. You will be in the know!

Shameless plug, if you are looking for a St. Albert Real Estate lawyer call my husband’s, Matt, law office! He can suggest some of the best real estate agents in St. Albert if you don’t have one yet. Real Estate Lawyers are always apart of a house deal whether you are selling or buying, they handle all the bank transactions between the two parties. Call Kaup Law Office in downtown St. Albert to arrange a meeting!

If you have any questions feel free to ask in a comment below or send me a message on Instagram at @honeyandbetts! Thank-you so much for reading, you are so amazing for supporting and loving on my family and I as we grow through the years.

Welcome new and old plant parents! I am excited for you to start your indoor plant journey with my beginners guide to being a good fiddle leaf fig plant parent. I’m sure you’ve had your eyes on the beautiful tropical plant for a long time, but doing your research into taking care of a fiddle leaf fig is a great way to get to know the needs and wants of fiddle leaf fig trees and bushes!

If you haven’t read my Tips On Growing A Fiddle Leaf Fig in Canada post, read that first and then come back here.

Now that you are more familiar with what fiddle leaf figs prefer and how to accommodate growing a tropic plant in less than ideal conditions – let’s get into these must have items for making your life taking care of a fiddle leaf fig easier!

1. Moisture Meter: To help you know how often and how much you need to water your plant, for my home we water once a week but I also live in a very dry place and studied my fiddle leaf figs moisture meter to give them the perfect amount of hydration.
2. Soft Plant Ties: Sometimes if you purchase a smaller fiddle leaf fig the trunk will not be strong enough for the amount of leaves it is carrying or it can start to grow at an angle. I use these soft plant ties to secure it to a stick from my yard to help it can grow straight.
3. Watering Can: An obvious essential for indoor plants – I used to carry my fiddle leaf fig plants to the bathroom but they eventually grew too heavy to carry and now I use a small watering can so I don’t overwater them.
4. Microfiber cloths: My home is constantly dusty, and when I notice that it is not growing at the same rate as it was in prior week it usually means I need to dust my plant. Using a microfiber cloth is the best way to gently capture all the dust particles on the leaves that are preventing the plant from utilizing all the sunlight.
5. Liquid Plant Food: This is a fiddle leaf fig hack, especially if you do not live in humid hot places where fiddle leaf figs thrive. I use a very small amount weekly during the summer months and then none during the winter while it is dormant.
6. Draining Pots : Fiddle Leaf Figs need excellent drainage, because you are essentially mimicking an African rain from where they thrive. You want to dowse the soil with lots of water at once and then let it dry out during the rest of the week, then repeat. If you don’t use draining pots you are more prone to hurting your fiddle leaf fig with root rot because the soil is too wet.
7. Decorative Pot Basket : Well, this one is not essential for most people but I consider my plants as decor and love using these baskets to bring a room together.
8. Dirt Protector (from kids and animals): I have never had a kid love dirt so much as my son, he is always digging his fingers into potted plants! This dirt protector helps keep cats, dogs, and kids out of your indoor plants.
9. Light Meter for Plants: You may find that the room that you want your fiddle leaf fig to live in does not have an adequate amount of light, but how do you even tell? Use this light meter for plants to detect what window space in your home will bring in enough all day indirect sunlight.
10. New Plant Parent Book: If you are not following @houseplantjournal on Instagram, you need to! He has a whole Instastory highlight on fiddle leaf figs and a few time lapse videos of fiddle leaf fig leaves opening. This book is awesome if you are looking into other house plants but are unsure of what they need for water, moisture, and sunlight.

This beginner’s guide to being a fiddle leaf fig plant parent seems like at lot at first, but it makes a huge difference if/when you have fiddle leaf fig issues like unhappy leaves, dormant growth, or root rot. You’ll save yourself the hassle of guessing what the root of your fiddle leaf fig problems because you will have a tool kit of everything you need to diagnosis and treat your plant.

What are your biggest worries or questions about being a fiddle leaf fig plant parent? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me on Instagram! I’d love to chat plants with you.

Make sure you pin this post on Pinterest so you can come back to it!

If you like this post, check out my 3 Reasons Your Fiddle Leaf Fig Is Growing Wrinkly Leaves post before you go!