Ugh! I have posted anything since WHEN? April 2012!
This was me this morning. I know I had a least a dozen or more good things to write about, what happened?
Oh, yeah.....now I remember.
Last April we had just finished the boys room. That was right about when it hit me like a ton of bricks that our house of 12 years that was so perfect for the 2 of us, wasn't so great for the 5 of us, and no amount of remodeling was going to make it work.
Deep down this was something I knew since the birth of our third child. I had been in denial telling myself that 1600 sq. ft. and 3 BR was plenty of space for 5 people. I had the best excuses.
-Families in third world countries live in a fraction of that.
-A smaller house helps keep the family together, right?
-We'll never find a house in our school district as as nice as the one we were in, and certainly not with the mature trees and big yard we loved so much.
-Do you know how hard it is to keep a house "show ready" with 3 kids? THREE, and a cat!
I Finally reached a point where the denial stopped and the reality sunk in. Our house was too small, poorly designed and lacked storage. Our neighborhood was fine, but we lived on a busy street, with no other kids to play with and the kids had to be supervised while they played in our yard. The large yard was weedy, often home to stinging or biting creatures, and although we had lovely trees, one huge sycamore in particular was too close to the house. It was time to move on and open ourselves to new possibilities.
We interviewed realtors, made a list of repairs to make and things to do, panicked a little, then started boxing up everything we didn't use every day. The house was scrubbed and painted, floors were replaced, it looked amazing. We did most of the work ourselves and by August it was on the market. I became an organized cleaning machine keeping things 15 minutes from "showable" at all times. Within 2 months we had a buyer. A buyer who wanted to move in ASAP. With the help of our Realtor, Mike Albritton,who was awesome, we began a frenzied search for a new house.
Mike showed us everything, and I do mean everything in our school zone. They were older and needed work, or newer but too expensive, or in the middle and just plain yucky. Time was running out. In desperation we looked into other school zones within our city. Then we found it. A charming, well maintained, 2600 sf. ft, 4 BR, 2.5 BA, in a very good school zone. The neighborhood was stable and quiet with level lots, and lots of families with kids. It had things I dreamed of finding in a house, but never put on my list because I thought it impossible. Things like a porch with a swing, a privacy fence, an enormous master bath, a separate laundry room, hard wood floors, and a beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless appliances. There was even a laundry shoot. The best part of all, it was within our budget, empty, and move in ready. The house was almost perfect, but there was still one pesky problem. The kids would have to change schools. That was the only thing we'd promised the kids would not happen when we started this process. With the clock ticking down, we left the final decision to them. They approved the decision.
We moved in Nov. 8th. and we are settling in slowly, "rewinding the bobbin" and recovering from the chaos created by the move. As I walk through our new home, I can't help but see it's potential. My head is filled with the most wonderful ideas for projects to add character and make it more functional for our family. It is a very nice house, but I know we can make it amazing.
This was me this morning. I know I had a least a dozen or more good things to write about, what happened?
Oh, yeah.....now I remember.
Last April we had just finished the boys room. That was right about when it hit me like a ton of bricks that our house of 12 years that was so perfect for the 2 of us, wasn't so great for the 5 of us, and no amount of remodeling was going to make it work.
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| Back of our old house showing the herb/butterfly garden. |
Deep down this was something I knew since the birth of our third child. I had been in denial telling myself that 1600 sq. ft. and 3 BR was plenty of space for 5 people. I had the best excuses.
-Families in third world countries live in a fraction of that.
-A smaller house helps keep the family together, right?
-We'll never find a house in our school district as as nice as the one we were in, and certainly not with the mature trees and big yard we loved so much.
-Do you know how hard it is to keep a house "show ready" with 3 kids? THREE, and a cat!
I Finally reached a point where the denial stopped and the reality sunk in. Our house was too small, poorly designed and lacked storage. Our neighborhood was fine, but we lived on a busy street, with no other kids to play with and the kids had to be supervised while they played in our yard. The large yard was weedy, often home to stinging or biting creatures, and although we had lovely trees, one huge sycamore in particular was too close to the house. It was time to move on and open ourselves to new possibilities.
We interviewed realtors, made a list of repairs to make and things to do, panicked a little, then started boxing up everything we didn't use every day. The house was scrubbed and painted, floors were replaced, it looked amazing. We did most of the work ourselves and by August it was on the market. I became an organized cleaning machine keeping things 15 minutes from "showable" at all times. Within 2 months we had a buyer. A buyer who wanted to move in ASAP. With the help of our Realtor, Mike Albritton,who was awesome, we began a frenzied search for a new house.
Mike showed us everything, and I do mean everything in our school zone. They were older and needed work, or newer but too expensive, or in the middle and just plain yucky. Time was running out. In desperation we looked into other school zones within our city. Then we found it. A charming, well maintained, 2600 sf. ft, 4 BR, 2.5 BA, in a very good school zone. The neighborhood was stable and quiet with level lots, and lots of families with kids. It had things I dreamed of finding in a house, but never put on my list because I thought it impossible. Things like a porch with a swing, a privacy fence, an enormous master bath, a separate laundry room, hard wood floors, and a beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless appliances. There was even a laundry shoot. The best part of all, it was within our budget, empty, and move in ready. The house was almost perfect, but there was still one pesky problem. The kids would have to change schools. That was the only thing we'd promised the kids would not happen when we started this process. With the clock ticking down, we left the final decision to them. They approved the decision.
We moved in Nov. 8th. and we are settling in slowly, "rewinding the bobbin" and recovering from the chaos created by the move. As I walk through our new home, I can't help but see it's potential. My head is filled with the most wonderful ideas for projects to add character and make it more functional for our family. It is a very nice house, but I know we can make it amazing.
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