Monday, April 26, 2010

Why move...

1. We traded a 45-50 minute commute for a 15-20 minute one. We tried public transportation but that took 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Each way. Not ideal for a man who essentially has two jobs. (Day, and freelance).

Stairway in new house. To be done: take carpet off stairs, refinish the wood underneath, cover in these, new, up-to-code railings, put up new lighting, remove wood paneling that is sliver-causing, remove rock garden and turn into a play area. Not because I don't like the rock garden, but because it's kind of a bad idea with children.
#2. We traded New for Old. (Or you could call that "new" for "lots of work".) We've pretty much always wanted an older home to update. This could be a post all by itself, but I'll spare you the details for now. We've been looking for several years and had several failed attempts at moving, but, finally, it all aligned. Good house, good neighborhood, closer to work.

Entryway in new house. To be done, remove wood paneling(maybe), replace tile with either new tile or hardwood.We may end up going with something similar though, still not sure,
#3. We traded bigger for littler. !!?? What??!! You downsized??? Yes, but only by a few hundred square feet. We have always kind of devoured architecture magazines and books and decided that in general, when you have less space you have to be more creative, and being more creative is way more fun, and yeilds super interesting results. Also, you fill up whatever size house you have, so moving has given us a really really good reason to purge of all the "stuff" we don't need. It's sickening. Once again, "stuff" could be a whole other post. But for now, it's simple: less "stuff" to take care of means more time to do things you want to do. I am well aware that my status as a middle-class American puts me at a much higher living standard then the rest of the world, and therefore will never, ever, lament that I don't have a 4500 square foot house.

Only a partial view of the new living room.  To be done: paint over that mauve paint, retile fireplace with something stoneish, new window coverings.
#4 We traded more rooms for less rooms. Kind of related to #3, I guess. Actually, totally related to #3. We have less rooms, but the ones we have are bigger. I've never felt like kids have to have their own room. I've also never felt like I needed 3 living rooms, with therefore a need for 3 sets of couches. We'll all be in closer quarters and I think as a family, that brings us closer to our goal of togetherness. Bryan and I will share studio space, Kids will share rooms.

Back deck. Runs length of the house, floor to ceiling windows along the back of the house. It's one of the big selling features, in my mind. The first thing I do each morning is throw open all the curtains. I love it. **And yes, those railings are insanely dangerous and are in the process of being brought up to code - in a good way, I promise.

13 comments:

el Grande said...

do you have an extra room for me and Phoebe? Do you need a house sitter? its so cute and i am convinced it will look deluxe when you two are done with it!!

Katie said...

Oooo! How fun. It sounds like you really get to start over with almost everything and make it just how you and Bryan want it. Good luck!!

Mikelle Auman-Williams said...

I'm sure it will be perfect by the time you are done. Then I'll want to move in next!

HooverBirds said...

i love it!!! i can't wait to see it. I'm sooooo glad you guys bought it!!! i'm madly in love with the deck already & so jealous of the floor to ceiling windows with the deck off of your room.
i love you!

Christina said...

I am so excited to see what you guys do with it. I know you will make it amazing. It has great bones.

We are always trying to decide where to live. We cannot decide at all. We always go back and forth between the cheap big house and the little house in the established neighborhood. Part of me is so sick of a challenge (we have been remodeling for 5 years) but part of me thinks that buying a new house is giving up.

Just because I am always on the lookout for a great neighborhood, will you e-mail me and tell me where you ended up?

Anonymous said...

Pam,

I just stumbled upon your blog from my sister-in-laws, Katie Stirling. You are awesome. I have to tell you, I think the idea of having your daughter make drawings of clothes and then making them is BRILLIANT. I'm going to have my daughter start drawing up designs tomorrow! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Vanessa said...

Hi Pammy! This house seems so "you guys" it's ridiculous! Sounds like you've got a lot of work ahead, just be patient with yourselves. our previous 2 remodels took a year +, and this one is going on 2 years. But it's so fun to really make a house yours! Great house!

Em said...

Fun to see your new place. Loved your explanation of everything.

juliannarichman@blogspot.com said...

take a pic of the outside-I would love to see it from the outside. looks like a lot of fun-I have always wanted to buy an older house and fix it up but neither my husband or I are very handy. Oh well!

Abbigail said...

Wow! This place is great!!!!!! Do you still have that awesome lucite chandelier that was in the on the market photos? If so, I know where you can get another one exactly like it to match! ;) I sort of like it in a crazy way.

The stairway is so lovely I about died!!!!!!! The garden beneath it is so classic. I see wonderful things for this house. I will want to chat remodel ideas with you. I am looking for a new flooring to put into the main floor of my home bc right now it is three types of flooring.
What do you plan on doing with the fireplace? So glad you got this house, you can bring it back to its original splendor.

Audrey said...

I don't know I really think you should try to keep the fireplace tile :). So much work but so much fun.

pamela said...

Abbi! yes, we will have to chat for sure. Anytime, it's my current life and will be for a year or more, i'm sure.

We're thinking of doing stone on the fireplace where the tile is - super slender, maybe even vertical. staggered. i'll post some sample ideas.

Brandi Raye Turner said...

oooh, I love the new house! I also love before/after pics, so it'll be fun to see what y'all do with it. good luck!