They say that breaking up is hard to do, and man was my almost break-up with our current home difficult. I spent sleepless nights for months pondering the "should we stay, should we go" question over-and-over in my head. I'd finally made a list, because that's what I do; I make lists! I charted out everything I loved about the house, what work needed to be done, and what I absolutely did not like. The work column and did not like were stacking up against what I loved. My lists were telling me it was time to move on. That's it. I was ready to break-up with our Dutch Colonial and ready for a new challenge! So, I let my logical, attorney-mind guide me and chatted with the hubs about moving. He had actually made some comments, too, about the fact that maybe we had outgrown the house. It could be partly because I'm a collector and I like "stuff," but he was right. It was getting tight regardless. We like to entertain, we have family or friends stay with us on occasion, we had only one full, but tiny, bathroom, and it seemed we needed some more room to spread our wings a bit. So, off on house-hunting we went. After about six months, two failed offers, and dozens of home tours, we discovered that every house we looked at was no better than what we had. So, after a ton of more soul searching and more lists, we decided to stay put.
So, how do you fall back in love, after you've already decided to move on? For me, it was about making some more lists (yep!) about everything I really loved and what I would miss most about our home. I didn't think about the work that needed to be done, just how I would feel if the house was exactly how we wanted it. I also starting thinking back to how we fell in love with the home in first place. Here's the quick story.
Before we even moved onto our current street, the neighborhood and actual street had been on my "dream list." I did not think we could find a house in our budget on this beautiful, historic, tree-lined avenue in our city. We were looking for our "starter" home, so I thought that we would just have to wait on the dream. Well, who says that dreams don't come true? Our soon-to-be dream home happened to be the last we looked at one Saturday with our real estate agent. As we drove up, I literally started to shake I was so excited. At the same time, I was hoping it wasn't a cruel joke by our agent showing us a house that was well out of our price range. I had been very direct with him from the start, not that anyone who knows me would be shocked by that statement. We had a limited amount we could afford, and that we were approved for by the bank. So, I was even a bit ticked because I thought it might be a waste of time to look at a house out of our range. I had actually seen this house in the paper, during the Saturday weekly Real Estate section, and I circled it and said out loud, to no one in particular, "if I could have one house, that's the one I want."
So, we drive up the slightly inclined driveway, walk in the main door and immediately notice the hardwoods, the crown and cove mouldings, the old features, the pocket doors, the french doors to a screened in front porch, the 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths. And, then we stumbled on the the small and wonderfully outdated kitchen. Yes! I wanted projects and I also knew that outdated meant a lower purchase price. In fact, the house needed a pick-me-up from top to bottom. But, cosmetics I could deal with. As long as the mechanics and structure were good, they were, we could handle the rest.
Over the past 16 years, we've done so much work to our home and had so many wonderful moments. We've redone the kitchen, the bathroom, painted the exterior, redid the floors, totally re-landscaped the backyard, added a deck and patio area, and more. More importantly, this was the home where we became engaged, where we held our after-wedding brunch, where we celebrated Christmases, Thanksgivings (my family's favorite holiday), and other life milestones. This home saw me make a major career change when I decided to quit my job as a PR executive to become an attorney. And, it's the home we found comfort in and shared with our fabulous felines - Jack & Josie, beautiful Pit Bull mix - Libby, and the little clown and ultimate snuggler Boston Terrier mix - Dexter. Sadly, in the past three years, old age took Jack (18), Josie (18.5), and, most recently, Libby (16). Once the baby, now little Dexter (7) is a big brother to Gracie Lou, a rescued Boxer Pit Bull mix. So many great memories, great family gatherings, great neighbors, great bones, great neighborhood, and hopefully more to come.
So, there you have it. We've decided to fall back in love. Of course, with me it's never that easy. With this decision is going to come quite a bit of work and renovations. I am going to tackle some of it myself; after 16 years here, I've learned electric, plumbing, carpentry, etc., so I'll be doing many of the projects and hiring out what we can't handle (more structural stuff). That is, of course, when I can fit it in between my full-time job, volunteer work, and everyday commitments.
That's where this blog comes in. I thought it would be fun to share our story and chronicle how you fall back in love with a home. Whatever reason you have: financial, sentimental, location, family, etc., you want to feel good about where you call home. So, see how we're adding some fabulous to this tired, and desperately in need of a refresh, 1925 Dutch Colonial. Stay tuned.
