Oddly enough it was January of last year when I wrote this post about not renovating our kitchen and the reality that we may eventually look to sell and move.
It’s interesting to me that nearly a year later, here I am again writing about this subject, only this time, we haven’t moved and are talking ourselves out of that again.
Yes, I am a bit crazy.
But hear me out: In the spring we started going to open houses and really started looking at the market. It became clear that within the price range we wanted to stay we can find some nice, larger homes in nice neighbourhoods close to where we already are.
We saw some beautiful ones – many just weren’t the right fit in the end, many were simply over what we should allow ourselves to want to afford (for us, affordability doesn’t mean how much mortgage the bank will give us, it’s about day to day enjoyment and not being ‘house poor’).
This fall we came our closest to finding something we really saw that could be a home. It was older, but so well maintained with upgrades galore and within a good price range. But we weren’t really ready to put an offer in anywhere and it sold within days. Far too quickly for us.
Then a funny thing happened. We started talking about how we like to spend our time. As a family, with him hopefully working less (not more), travelling, eating well (and by well I mean organic, fresh, fancy on occasion and out) etc. We liked the freedom we have (and remember, I’m a stay at home mom, and while I make some income online, it mostly gets rolled into that business).
So we started looking back at our 1867 square foot town home with a pair of eyes like we did last year. What can we do to maximize the space? The layout is quite nice; open and not cramped. It’s almost 9 years old, so yes, there will be maintenance to do. But if we invest some equity and make it really amazing for us now, it is still less expensive than buying a new home and gives us the flexibility to spend the time as a family we like to do. I don’t want a bigger home so that the kids and I can be in there alone (and I have to clean it!) and Andy has to work more. That makes no sense to me.
Let me tell you a bit about my home, and what I thought (or will one day want) in a bigger home.
Pros of my current home:
3 good sized bedrooms and 2.5 baths (including an ensuite with tub and shower)
Location (minutes to the school, green space and parks ample, close to bus route, close to grocery/shopping, nice neighbourhood).
Open concept
New maintenance free backyard (we did this in 2007. It’s small, but there’s no grass, beautiful garden and space to enjoy outdoor time).
Hardwood floors on entire main level and in master bedroom. (if we buy new, we’d have to change carpets anyway at the new place)
Huge master and ensuite. (Seriously, when looking at open houses, we really fell back in love with our current bedroom)
Large basement window and finished basement (some basements have no light, and since it’s our playroom, we like the light!)
What am I looking for that it doesn’t have?
A single home means larger yard. More running, more sprinkler space, more play space. BUT we have parks very close by and the sprinkler is still used in our current yard.
The fourth bedroom. So, this may be my biggest hang up. I want an office space. I want space for Andy’s guitars and the music stuff. I want a place for crafting or creating that I can shut the door and the kids can’t get at.
More storage. The townhome with single garage doesn’t have a huge amount of space. BUT we also know we aren’t using the space we have very well.
The other thing is that when we built this home, we left some things out because it was going to be a 3-5 year home (at most!). Welcome to 8.5 years later 😉
Anyway, this is a tale of indecisiveness and perhaps over planning but that’s exactly who Andy and I are. We are pretty sure we can make this place work, and it means that we can go to PEI again this summer, among the many other trips and plans we like to make.
So, dear readers, tell me how crazy I am. Did you move from your small space into bigger and loved it? Regretted it? Have you renovated yourself? If so I’d love to see pictures and hear details!
Be prepared for future posts about this including my ‘if we stay here’s what we are going to do’ planning.
Also, I’m madly pinning stuff on Pinterest about the home (and other fun things) so feel free to follow me there.
Thanks for your input and still reading! (ps: Andrea over at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl is doing renos and blogging about them. I am following with great interest!)
