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.