Wow, that was fast!
It seems like just a few months ago that I stood with my young (and much shorter) sons watching, in amazement, as the house that formerly occupied the lot where we were going to build our home was razed on a very cold, snowy, December morning. The home had been a rental. It had a fire in the kitchen, the foundation was cracked and there was no way to save it so we salvaged what we could and tore it down.
I have to admit, it was a little sad at first but then, it was fun to watch...at least my sons thought so.
After that, they marveled at the heavy equipment that excavated a big hole in the ground and again when the concrete pumping truck came to pour the foundation walls. I learned early in the process that my sons cared far more about the heavy equipment than the fact that it was building our home.
As for me, I was more excited to see a home that I had designed and drawn and lived in "on paper" for years, finally come to life. After having done a "gut" rehab and a "gut and double the size of the house" rehab, I was more than thrilled to have the opportunity to undertake a "build from scratch" custom home.
Over the course of the next year, we sold our existing home and lived in a rental house while our new home took shape; board by board, stone by stone. We lived with boxes stacked to the ceiling in the basement and in every room while we slept on mattresses on the floor and cooked most of our food on a grill in the back yard. It was like "indoor camping" than living. But the boys loved it and we managed to survive for twelve months without even a television!
Of course, I'm not objective about our home. How could I be? I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to design and build a home. I'm blessed. I know this. My sons walked to school for grades K-8 and played baseball in the park that is, literally, a stone's throw away...(well, maybe not the way that I throw)...but still.
The community has amazing schools, an ice cream shop with a proprietor named Chuck and a hardware store that still has a gumball machine and a rack of candy. What's not to love?!
With that said, we knew when we built this house that it wouldn't be our "forever" home. The plan was to stay for ten years, until my youngest finished high school...or sometime shortly thereafter. Well, guess what?
It's been ten years! I don't know where the time went. It's been a crazy blur of making memories, entertaining friends and family and making this house our home. However, my youngest will be graduating next month, my oldest is moving to Georgia for an internship this summer and our home will be much better suited for a new family while we're looking for a smaller home on what I hope will be a little more land.
So, over the next several months, I'll be readying this home for its new family and figuring out what and where my next project will be.
I've already spent the last year looking at everything from vacant farm land on which to build a home to vintage farm houses to remodel. From a 1920's brick bungalow that's in foreclosure to a Victorian that's been vacant for ten years...Yes...ten years! I've looked in Illinois, Wisconsin and even Massachusetts and I'm still only minimally closer to figuring it out but the search continues daily.
I wanted you to know that this is the reason that I've been a little absent. There are a bunch of things going on in my life and it's all very exciting but it's occupying a big chunk of the time that I have away from my job.
First,the good news: It looks like I'll finally finish the "home tour" portion of the blog as we get things cleared out and tidied up. It may take weeks...or months. We're in no hurry...especially since I haven't decided where we're going "next".
Second, I'm not sure how many home decorating projects I'll have to share while we go through this process but I do have some furniture that's in need of a makeover no matter where we end up. There will also be cooking and craft projects, after all...you've probably figured out by now that I don't know how to sit still!
Of course, I'll let you know as things progress. In the mean time, I'll be right here...making a few more memories and enjoying spring...when it finally gets here. The photo above is last year...but my daffodils started to bloom yesterday!
xo,
