I love our house, I really do, and I'm not finished with it yet (I still need to figure out the kitchen floors, and I do still want to bring in granite and a backsplash). BUT we live about 30 minutes away from downtown Charlotte and there are so many days that I am frustrated and stuck in traffic wishing I could live closer.
I also have a major itch to buy an OLD house and renovate.. in my dreams it would be from the 1930's or 1940's.
I pass this house all the time and it has so much potential.. I would LOVE to get in there and fix it up! (It even has the perfect side entrance/room for my office. Do you see the second door? It's perfect... sigh.)
(even if we could move, it's out of our price range.)
I'm not writing this post to whine or complain, but because maybe some of you out there can relate?
And whenever I get this feeling, these are some of my very favorite words that I try to remember:
I also need to stop looking on Zillow ;)
I can totally relate on some levels. I'm one of the bloggers who's about to move...again. And we are totally drawn to the older more established neighborhoods with really charming homes but surprise surprise everything in our price range is tiny and needs renovations we couldn't afford after buying the house. Blah blah blah. It's so alluring to see those charming old homes and all the amazing things people are doing with them. I'll let you know what it's like to live in one minus the updates. ha! It's always easy to want what someone else has right.
ReplyDeleteI hear you-kinda, except I have too many days where I just want a FINISHED house. We've been renovating for 5 years now. Unless you have the money to hire everything out (we don't, so it's a complete DIY project), the dust,dirt and hard work gets to be frustrating. You can see ours if you want on my blog, but I'll warn you our progress is slow. I have to remind myself too, to be content when I sometimes look at other bloggers and see how fast things happen on their renos. It's still fun to look at houses though and see the potential! -Janna
ReplyDeletewww.swooninteriors.com
I know exactly what you mean. We use to own a place but are now renting and waiting to see where we may want to live. It's so hard to stop looking at real estate and dream about fixing up an older home (especially when the bathroom in our rental is so crappy). That house is beautiful by the way- I'd buy it.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean! I'd love to move just for the chance to redecorate/renovate. And I love that house, that era is also my perfect home/style. I will say, I can't even IMAGINE buying a nice home like that for only 350k! My 434 sq ft 1 bed was 254k!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the exact same boat. I want somewhere closer to downtown, an older and smaller house we can fix up, everything. But it's not going to happen anytime soon... however, I live vicariously through bloggers and with the hope that the right time and house will come for us! The important thing is to look at it not as something that we don't have right now, but look at it as something awesome to look forward to in the future!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to this!! It is way too easy to compare and get discouraged with all the social media... or as my hubby says "compare your behind the scenes with someone elses highlight reel".
ReplyDeleteWe are renting and are actually in the market for a new house, and it is such a challenge to not get discouraged when it feels like we will never find a house we both love that is within our budget! I just want to decorate somethin already!!
I love those encouraging quotes. Thank you for sharing!
I'm feeling the same way. I'm stalking a particular house right now. The price seems to drop on the 10th of each month. I almost emailed my realtor friend today to ask how fast he thought we could sell my little condo. My little condo, which is the basis for my "live small" philosophy.
ReplyDeleteThose quotes are PERFECT. Thank you!
I just read the six comments that came in before mine. How funny that so many of us are seeing greener grass elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWe just bought a new house but its old and not charming old like 1900 old like 1987 old and it needs sooo much work just to bring it up to date, but it has the space and yard we need right now so I'm just going to have to make do with it for awhile. We live outside of DC so seeing that you can get a house for $350,000 in Charlotte made me almost cry- you can't even get a townhouse for that around here and definitely not near the city!
ReplyDeleteFunny. We just bought our house, so I can't picture leaving it just yet. But we had always wanted an older house to fix up. Which we now have (1920's) and love. And we are taking our time to ensure we get all the things we want....just in due time. The one thing that I knew would be a reality but obviously hasn't hit home until you are actually in said 1920's house are all the "other" things.....like old wiring, no AC, old plumbing, a 15 gal water heater, and the list goes on. In the end, we are still very happy with our choice and are looking forward to updating around all this beautiful wood work and built ins but we still aren't super stocked about saving up to upgrade electrical service. There's just so much more satisfaction when a new floors are installed or a new rug is laid down, lol! Anyways, keep dreaming!! Dreaming is good!!
ReplyDeleteWow - how timely your post is. I feel the itch, too. Bad. I didnt think it was because people in blogland were moving, but that could have some kind of subconscious effect now that you mention it. my hubs and i want more land and to have our horses on our property (instead of squatting on my moms!). And I want a new challenge too, of course. So I'm right there with ya. We need to save a bit before this can happen, but I too want to move! We should just start a moving pinterest page to satisfy our itches ;)
ReplyDeleteyou are doing an amazing job Janna! I hope you get some slow solid benchmarks of joy out of this long drawn out process ;)
ReplyDeleteTotally relate. I'm a total glass half empty by nature, and then something like Bailey's whole house reno comes along and I think I want to transform a space (and then have a magazine shoot it and become famous among my nerdy shelter blog reading peers). But then I realize I don't have the cash, and renovating without a slush fund is more stressful than happy. But I did buy a powerball ticket today to make myself feel better.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever do it, you have to promise to publish your budget. I hate seeing these transformations and not knowing if it was $20K or $200K.
Oh boy, can I relate to this. I live in San Francisco and buying a home here is 100% not happening for us being that average home price is about a million for a 2-3 bedroom. It is so depressing to constantly read other people's stories about them renovating a dream home. It's my lifelong dream to do that but right now we are stuck in a tiny city apartment until we are ready to jump ship in the city. You should know that when I read your blog you are one of the people I'm jealous of so you are right, it's all in the perspective. Your house is gorgeous btw.
ReplyDeleteHeidi | The Rustic Modernist
www.therusticmodernist.com
Haha...I'm obsessed with looking at real estate and fall in love with a new home every few months. Those quotes are great though... a good perspective. :)
ReplyDeleteI stopped house-browsing once we actually moved into our house (which I designed, so goodness, i must love it). You can always look at houses in my neck of hte woods (San Francisco) and then everythign is SO expensive it will make you feel extra happy to be where you are:)
ReplyDeleteHa!! I've SOOO been there, done that. In all honesty - I say DO IT!!! You only live once, ya know! I was having the same internal discussion 6-months back, so we listed our house (just to see if anyone would bite) and it sold in an hour, an hour! So we were temporarily homeless, he he.
ReplyDeleteThe house we just bought - looks an awful lot like that brick charmer! ;) We also moved way closer to town (we are a mile from downtown now - I walk to work, hubby rides his bike - he's a bit further out) - these type of life changes just improve your quality of life so, so much. I say, list your house, and see what happens.
On the flip side, if you opt to wait, another house will definitely pop up. Just assess why you are thinking about staying put, and if your list for moving starts to be longer than the list for staying reassess your options. Selfishly, I'd also like to see how you design a new space! ;)
$350,000?! I am sooo jealous! Yes, that's a lot of money, but here in California, something like that would be well over $800,000. Makes me want to move to NC! That house is amazing but we'd never be able to buy it out here.
ReplyDeleteAlso - I really love your house and what you've done with it! If I do move to NC I'll buy yours and you can go fix up something else ;)
It's like we're on the same wavelength. I can't wait to redo our kitchen and refinish our floors but at the same time I sort of already want to move and start fresh. Currently our house is full of color, and now I want a more neutral palette. Those two first quotes you posted are constant reminders for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd yesterday when you said you buy home accessories from HomeGoods and West Elm, I almost squealed. Me too !
Thank you for your honesty - and I can totally relate. Having recently moved after a years-long obsession with Zillow listings, I can tell you that the "itch" doesn't seem to go away...now I'm itching to repaint...next for all new light fixtures...then for furniture...oh yes and then the eventual kitchen/bath renovations. All the time, I have to take a step back and be content with what we've got, as you've thoughtfully done here! Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteThe itch to move often comes and goes.....just have to keep it all in perspective. Great house though - totally see the draw.
ReplyDeleteLook- If you can sell your house for a profit, afford something like this and it matches your future goals better (kids, location, school district, work, quality of life) I say go for it! Life's hard enough to not do what you want and can do. Will it be a hassle? Sure but so what! that's temporary. That cute-ass house could be forever!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great post, Bryn! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh Bryn......it is so easy to always want more isn't it!! I have to think those thoughts all the time since I have lived in my home 20 years....it is like I'm bored with it:).
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head, exactly. I am graduating school this year and entering my residency to train as an emergency medicine physician... and we don't find out where we "match" until March 15th (which is now so close!) But I could end up anywhere from Orlando to Chicago to San Antonio to New York City... but all I want is to stay in Gainesville or Orlando and put down roots and buy a house.
ReplyDeleteIts really fun and educational watching everyone do their renovations... but I would probably be kidding myself if I said it didn't also lead to hours on Zillow and Realtor.com mentally renovating houses in those two locations.
Where I might not even end up.
Woomp woomp.
At the end of the day, I just try to hang out with friends and family and my dog and focus on cooking and learning how to be a better doctor!... Instead of this huge pending move and all the what-ifs of mortgages and lot sizes and how gross of a house can I *really* handle and this growing dissatisfaction with having lived in 6 different dorms, apartments, and condos over the past 8 years.
Everything in good time, right?
http://16thandmain.com
Can totally relate to this post. Zillow makes it easy to obsess. Just curious, I also live in the CLT area, what other local design blogs do you read/follow? Btw, love your work!
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