We live in a little house. It is cute, but little. 7 years ago when we moved into this house without any children it seemed the opposite of little. How quickly we have filled it up. Not just with kids and stuff, but also with love and memories.
The best part about our little house is the little mortgage payment (like all my Seattle friends are so jealous). And we want to stay here a little longer, because we have some not-so-little student loans we'd like to payoff.
But we are bursting at the seams. Our '3 children & 2 dog carpet 'is dingy. Our 'used to be in-style' faux paint wall treatment is, well, so 7 years ago. Hubby wants a plasma TV with HD so he can hang out with the cool kids on the playground (and he works hard for the money so he's definitely earned that right). Besides all of the cosmetic wants, we need some hardcore organization--and we needed it yesterday.
So we came up with a game plan to do some little-ish updates. Updates that will hopefully get us more organized, but also so we can feel at home and relaxed in this space of ours for the next little while. I figure a small investment is worth it to keep us here and happy a while longer. We really want the next move to be "the" move, to "the" house. We are trying to make design choices that fit our tastes, but will also benefit our resale value when we do decide to move.
So here what's on the to-do list:
new laminate/hardwood flooring through the living areas (dark, but not too dark)
new neutral colored paint throughout the same area (barley by Behr, just like this gal has throughout her house and I love it)
new flat panel TV (and now I'll be able to see it from the kitchen while I'm slaving away)
reconfigure living room furniture layout to maximize space (made possible by the newer/thin TV...so happy about this)
New chairs/seating in living room
do away with desktop computer & desk (don't use it anymore because it is horribly slow and we like the laptop more)
new storage from IKEA takes the place of computer & desk (lots of place for all our stuff to be corralled)
new "home station" for calendar, message center, cork board, etc.
a "gallery" in the hallway for all the boys' artwork
tile back splash in the kitchen and new hardware for the cupboards??
some major decluttering/purging in all rooms/closets/drawers (nothing will be safe)
some landscaping projects out back that we have been putting off (this is for next spring/summer)
My problem is I want it all and I want it now! All this will have to wait until the end of soccer season. But really needs to be finished before Chip's boys' soccer season starts up in March. Do you think we'll make it? For now I'll continue to peruse design blogs and storage magazines. And take all my "before" pictures.
3 comments:
I've got a bad case of the wants myself....let me know if you figure out how to do it all at once!
I know the feeling about wanting it all now. We moved into our "the" house a year ago, but in order to get here we wiped out our savings so there was no money to decorate or get new furniture. So here we have our new modern house with our hand-me-down furniture and not-so-new decorations. I too am trying to take baby steps to what I really want to do with this house, but there is never enough time and there is always something else to spend the money on.
Good Luck and don't forget to post about it. I loved your bathroom remodel post from months ago.
Krista
P.S. Enjoy your little mortgage because big ones are no fun at all.
I have so many of the same feelings. On one hand I'm dying and going crazy in my tiny house, but on the other hand our house payment just went down again and it's pretty sweet how low it is right now. Good luck on all your projects. I've got a list that's been growing for Riley, but it's to the point now where it's almost just too overwhelming. That is life I guess!
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