Louisville's Christi Mack shows us the 5 favorite rooms in her home

You know that feeling you get when you spend time with someone who is filled with so much excitement and passion for something that you immediately feel invigorated too? That's what it was like the morning Christi Mack showed me around her new Louisville home.

The mom of three kids and wife of University of Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack is crazy about their new digs in the Prospect area. 

When I asked her to give Courier Journal a video tour and show me her five favorite spots in the house, I certainly expected to end up in at least one room filled with U of L memorabilia. What I didn't expect was an enormous space with sky-high ceilings to accommodate the equally tall basketball players who spend their free time at the couple's spacious 12,500-square-foot Georgian-style home. 

But before we got to the stunning basement, that is truly decked out for the ultimate U of L fan, we started someplace, well, ordinary. 

The laundry room. Well, one of the two laundry rooms in the home. 

"With three kids and a husband who is 6-foot 5-inches and wears a lot of clothes throughout the day ... big clothes ... I swear, each day he comes home and it's like a load of laundry," Mack said from her perfectly organized laundry room that opens to an equally organized walk-in linen closet. 

TAKE A TOUR:Chris Mack's home with decked out basement was designed for his team

Next up, her children's arts and craft area. "We've never had this in any of our houses and it's been, honestly, a life saver for our kids to come in right after school and do homework," she said. 

Located right off the kitchen, the craft room is the perfect place for the Mack kids to get some work done and get their creative juices flowing still within eyesight of mom and dad. 

"I love the color in here. It's bright, it's just a nice little spot," she said. 

One of Christi's other favorite spots in the home is the kitchen, "although my husband would say 'I don't know why because you don't cook,'" she told me. But take one step into the kitchen and you'll immediately understand why it's one of her absolute favorite spots in the home. It's bright, spacious and immaculate. 

Meet Christi:For Christi Mack, Louisville is home. And basketball is life.

"I made Skyline chili just the other night ... and I said 'Chris, it's not that hard,' but he thinks it's a big deal," when I cook, she said. Her kids, on the other hand, love to bake. 

"I think they do it just to make me angry," she said with a chuckle. "I'm not big on messes. That's why I think I don't like to cook. We always joke that by the time we sit down to eat, I've already cleaned up the dishes." 

The open floor plan on the main floor blends the kitchen into the living room, the Mack's most used room in the home. 

"This is where Chris watches film. When he comes in after we eat, he plops on the couch, he's got his laptop and watches film. Sometimes the kids will come in and sit with him," she said. 

When decorating the living room, "Chris was like 'I don't care what you do with this room but it needs to have ... comfy carpet and a comfy couch,'" she said. 

As I nestled deeper into the incredibly spacious cream colored couch, I thought "comfy, indeed."

For the Mack family, who moved to Louisville in late 2018, finding a space that fit their family of five, plus two dogs, and Mack's "second" U of L family, meant a spacious home that could accommodate everyone comfortably. 

As much as Christi and Chris like to entertain, as she walked me through her favorite rooms it was abundantly clear that family comes first in the Mack house — and cleanliness counts.

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/kirbya.