HOME. Hmm… what a loaded word, isn’t it? We all have a yearning to have a place to call home. Young and old. Renter and home owner alike. It’s how we’re wired.
It just so happens, that today marks exactly 3 months in our new (first) home! House anniversaries are a thing, right?! Regardless, I’m celebrating by working this beautiful Friday night in my functional (and on it’s way to being beautiful) home office. It seemed like a fitting spot to write this - the place where I focus on everyone else’s homes and not my own. Ha ha!
No REALLY. We bought a tiny home - 687 square feet - and the interior was renovated top-to-bottom by the previous owners, just before we purchased it. So there was literally nothing we “had” to do. To my own surprise, I can honestly say, I am so relieved we went that route. While we were house hunting, I fell in love with a big two-story character home that I could see being our forever home! I pictured us slowly renovating every square inch of it (I had the home totally re-designed in my head before I even did the walk-thru), raising a family there, and just putting down roots for the next 50 years.
It was so appealing! Having moved about 8 times in the last decade or so, I wanted so badly to just buy something, set up camp, and never move again! I’ve also dreamed of owning a character home since I was a little girl playing the “Game of Life”. I chose the Victorian home nearly every chance I got! The rest of the time, I gravitated towards the Country Cottage - a smaller home that felt at once modest and attractive.
Which brings me back to the home we purchased. The first time we saw the house, it felt like I had stumbled upon a tiny cottage in the city! OK, maybe I didn’t feel that way from the home’s exterior (it was definitely NOT renovated prior to purchase), but the moment I walked through the door, I was drawn to it’s simple, relaxed interior. The renovations weren’t showy or overdone. They respected the home’s humble shell and outfitted the home with creamy white walls, trim and cabinetry throughout, punctuated with hits of black and charcoal on light fixtures and these beautiful decorative wood beams. It was simple, yet stunning!
To my delight, Kyle felt the pull towards the house too. This was a great surprise because our home “wish lists” couldn’t have been more different; and, up to that point in our home search, we had agreed on very little! The only thing we could agree on is that we wanted to put the full 20% down on our house, and we didn’t want to be neck high in debt!
This house delivered. Because of it’s small footprint, the home was well within budget and beautiful to boot. Would I have loved to design the entire interior myself? YES, of course. Would I have had time or money to do so? NO, definitely not! It amazes me how even though Kyle and I are both good with money, and I work with house budgets all the time with work, we still were surprised at how quickly your resources are depleted when you buy a home! We bought a handful of “fun things” - this beautiful cabinet and this kitchen island from IKEA, and a couple of large picture frames for wall art I already owned, and that’s about it. The big dent came from things like a vacuum, lawn mower, dehumidifier, freezer, and most recently to combat this heat … a fan and window coverings for throughout the house. The next big ticket item will be installing air conditioning, with current plans being to wait until next Spring, but this next heat wave may change that! LOL.
Despite the heat and the constant flow of money that has managed to escape our accounts these first few months, my husband Kyle and I can honestly say we’ve loved owning a house - specifically THIS one! The home has felt like “home” from the very first night. It feels restful, peaceful, and calm; and, that’s really all that a home needs to be.
I work in a business where people seem to want and have it all. But that has never been my approach to life or design. Home has always been important to me, but I have never lived in an extravagant home. In fact, just the opposite. I’ve always lived in a modest, and often small space (the tiniest one being a 328 square foot apartment!), and have loved it. I have fond memories of every home I’ve lived in, and despite having moved A LOT, I made a point of making each space look and feel like home for the time that I was there.
I have BIG plans and dreams for our little house, but they can wait. Right now, I am just enjoying the home and all it has to offer in it’s current, humble state. So if I can impart any wisdom on the subject of home today, it’s simply this: love your home and love sharing it with those around you. Don’t wait to enjoy what your home has to offer right now! Here’s to humble beginnings!
- A.W.
PS. Tell me about your first home! What was the look and feel of it?