Well, I guess you’ve all probably been wondering why I have not updated anyone on our move recently. What happened to all the house buying talk? Well…there’s news for you,
WE ARE NOT MOVING!
It’s been a tough decision and definitely not easy to come on here and share about and definitely not the most exciting news of staying in our home. To say I’m happy would be a lie, but to say that the stress level has gone down 100% is definitely real. I can not tell you how much stress I felt trying to find a new home and of course all the thoughts that go along with it. As you all know we sold our home, in one weekend and that was a true blessing. I could not believe how much traffic we got in that first weekend on the market and to be in attorney review by that Monday was an amazing feeling. The couple that was going to buy our home were absolutely wonderful and we were so grateful to be able to have a couple that appreciated our home and hard work to be the ones buying it.
Now, there is a lot of personal reasons for us not moving on from our home, that I will not be sharing, but I guess the most important detail is that when it’s not God’s timing it’s just not God’s timing. A lot went into our reasoning behind pulling out of a great deal and contract on our home.
Since, that adventure is over and like I said somewhat relieved because I don’t think I slept for two months straight (another reason you know it was not God’s plan) Because as my mom always says “God is not a God of confusion”. So if we were confused and stressed beyond what a normal stress level of buying a home should be then it truly was not the right moment in time to do so.
Anyhow, so now what???
Now what, now that we are staying in our small home that we felt was just not practical and had reached most of it’s potential. We for sure put a lot of work into this house since moving in almost 4 years ago. Well, we decided to make the most of it all. Embrace our favorite time in our home which is the Summers, and do those changes that we have always wanted to do, that we held of on thinking we would be moving sooner than later.
Since, we are staying we have a list that goes on and on. I am grateful for it and look forward to what our house will become with all of that. We thought maybe we would do major work at one point and extend our Family room, maybe build a new laundry room, but with the thought of resale one day we are just not quite sure that will ever be worth it in the end. Â Not to mention I still want to move eventually. Whether that’s one year, ten years, or when the kids have gone on to college, I can’t see this being our forever home. Only the Lord knows.
I would be bluffing if I said that I’m content. There’s those moments of jealousy that still come and go when I see bigger homes and bigger kitchens and big projects that I could be getting my hands on, but then God gives me this Peace of just being content. Still working in phases at this point The hardest part to overcome is that NJ is an expensive state and you really need to spend a whole lot here to get something really nice. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining, being 28 and having a home is beyond a blessing.
So our plans for the home…I’m sure you’re curious right?
New Kitchen Floors!!!!! YESSSSS! (SEE ABOVE PHOTO) I can tell you that I don’t care if nothing else gets done, as long as I have new tiles in my kitchen I’ll be one happy woman. Those tiles are so dingy and they show everything. I wash these floors too many times in a week. We so far have been shopping around, but I am going for a gray “limestone” feel for the kitchen. Keeping it with a real European farmhouse feel.
Then there’s the new appliances for the kitchen,
possibly new windows in the living room (to brighten up the space),
New furniture for both family room and living room,
Re-stain our living room and dining room wood floors,
Master bath makeover- that will be coming during this ORC (be sure to follow us along on that during the month of April)
New Front Door (yes, I talked about this all last summer, and then settled on our screen door (which broke), and now we will officially be getting that wooden french door that I’ve been wanting.
Possibly new garage doors
New fence (not that excited about this one but gosh you don’t want to see what ours looks like)
and Some new landscaping.
I know it’s a lot, but it will for sure make our home livable for the moment. These are those things that we held off on for so long with the thought that maybe we would be moving this year, but if we stay longer and (who knows for how long), we might as well embrace our home for what it is.
I guess the best way to describe our tiny home is
“love grows best in little houses”
My kids truly love our home too. They have great friends on the block, and the bus comes right at the corner. I guess kids don’t notice the size of a home as much as us adults do. When I think back on those small homes from years ago that families the size of 6-10 would squeeze into, I think we could make it here. I mean both my kids have their own room, we 2 have living room spaces, a dining room, an eat in kitchen, and a decent size yard. Heck I’ll never get chickens living here, or have that privacy from our neighbors that I was hoping for, but after all I can always get that when the kids are grown. The hardest compromise I think is not having an open floor plan, a basement, and of course an office so this girl can have that space to blog (instead of the dining room).
Well, friends I’m happy you’re still here. I hope my honesty wasn’t too much for you all. Also, I’ve still got tons of stuff to blog about now that we are doing some major changes to the home, so be sure to stay for all those makeovers coming to our little home.
Your time here is valuable to me, and I am grateful everyday to share with readers who come back again and again.
XOXO, Deb
15 Responses
I just nodded my head right along with so much that you said in this post. I have been discontent with our home for a while now. We bought it before we had kids and now with 2 kids and only one full bathroom (half bath in our basement) we are wanting a bigger home. Our current home is in a great location but it’s older and needs constant upkeep. The basement is not a full-height one so it’s hard to do much down there. We cannot easily add on to our house. But we had it listed for a full year and we only got 1 low-ball offer. But we’ve decided to stay while we accomplish some responsible long-term financial goals and just make the best of it. We are grateful to have a home, like you said, and it’s all our kid’s have ever known. One day we will get to build our home on family land (the plan all along) but we don’t know when that time will be yet. God has a plan for us and when it’s time then the pieces of the puzzle will fit easily. In the meantime I’ve decided to make the best of what we have, just like it sounds like you are doing. I hope your plans work out! By the way your home is gorgeous!
Thank you so much for sharing your story April. It’s such a tough thing to deal with, but knowing that there are worse things to battle and having a home is big enough of a blessing. I know the Lord will bless your family with the perfect home at the right time.
Hi, I’m new here. I can relate to your story but in an opposite way. Our house is over 3,000 sq. ft. and I am desperate to move. We came from a 1,400 sq. foot home for our family of 7. We lived there for 10 years. It was brand new when we moved in but right after barely getting settled my body crashed from adrenal fatigue/fibromyalgia and I was bedridden for several years. Our time there was just awful. As our 3 boys grew we moved them out to the garage. I painted it and we put cheap carpet down. My sister and her husband came into some big money from stocks he had built up at work so they offered to buy us a house. That’s how we came to have this big one. However, this was only until our kids began leaving home, which they’ve been doing for the past 4 or 5 years now so I have been dying to downsize into a smaller, more affordable and manageable home. Unfortunately, my sister and I have had a falling out over the past few years so she has been refusing to hand over the title to the house. We are stuck here until she does so. My husband had to take an early retirement last year due to health issues so we are trying to live on 60% of his former income. I’ve been begging God to work out the details so we can have this house put in our name, which was promised, but for over 2 years He hasn’t done so. Every day I have to fight against bitterness and anger. I’m constantly miserable. Our plan is to be able to sell this one, downsize, pay off some debts and invest the rest for our retirement. It’s SO hard living in a home you don’t want to be in! And I’m such a homebody-I’m here all the time! I’m so afraid the Lord is trying to tell me my dream home is an idol in my life but so far I can’t lay it down. We can’t afford to stay here so eventually we’ll have to move but I somehow need to get to the place of facing the fact that I may never have a house I love. Sigh…such a work in progress. Anyway, this is the longest comment I’ve ever left anywhere-so sorry! I just wanted to share that I can relate to where you are in life and I’m a heck of a lot older than you, lol. I love your house, by the way. 🙂
Oh Joanna, I’m sorry to hear all that. You will be in my prayers that the Lord finds you and your husband the right home. I know my parents went through that for a long time too. trying to downsive for almost 5 years eventually it all worked out and God found them the perfect home and their home was finally sold.
I was one of the many that came for a showing. I was completely smitten and could not imagine for the life of me why you would want to leave! Im glad to read you decided to stay, and will probably be contacting you for some ideas to update the home I ended up purchasing! Your work is amazing, you are incredibly talented, and God will reward you guys for trusting His timing and plan for your lives 🙂
Hi Christina! Thank you so much, you are incredibly sweet. I am so glad you are following my blog. I would absolutely love to help you with your new home. Congrats to you!
Hi Deb–I can’t even begin to tell you how much I can relate! We have an itty bitty home that I definitely don’t see as our forever home and I check Trulia at least once a week and find myself dreaming about the newest homes that have gone on the market and what I would do with them. At the end of the day I know that we just aren’t ready financially to take on a move so I focus on loving and enjoying our house that will always be known as our babies’ childhome home. 🙂
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I’m so glad to hear your story Angela! I think when you love decorating and being a homebody it’s so hard to not want something more or bigger…but making the most of what we have now for sure will make it worth it for the time being.
I love that you shared your heart with this post. It’s never easy when intended plans get changed, especially if we can’t see the reasons why yet. But I love your outlook on all of this!
Thank you Jen, trying to stay positive and know that God has his own timing and plans for it all.
Deb thank you so much for sharing this at the Inspiration Galore Project Party. It was lovely to drop by your blog and read about your story. Sounds like you are making the right decision and I know God will bless that <3 Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much Lisa! I appreciate you coming by and reading my post : )
Dear Deb
Big houses are over rated. I grew up in a small home that was about 900sqft. There were 10 of us, five boys, three girls and mom and dad. Bunk beds were a must. We eventually moved to a 1200sqft home that we thought was a mansion. We were a very close knit family who had everything we needed. I long for those days. I now live with my husband and children in a 2600sqft home that seems to get bigger by the day. The children are leaving and making their own lives. I’m looking forward to a small cozy home some day.
Thank you Carol, you are so sweet for writing me that! It think its prob best to make the most of the space you’re in no matter what the size or location.