I know, such a generic title, but it was all I could come up with! I said I was going to kick this project off on Monday, but I have had my M-I-L in town and decided to potty train my two year old…need I say more? They have both required my undivided attention, so today is the day, and I am so excited! Here’s the low down:
Five years ago we lived in Arkansas and bought a house. Two years later we moved to Utah. This last October we moved back to Arkansas, back into our old house, but only temporarily (about one more year). We moved all our belongings into a condo in Utah, and I only brought four boxes with me here to Arkansas. For realz. I allowed one suitcase for each of us to take clothing, my kids only being carry-on size. I have to say that not being surrounded by all the clutter I thought I needed has been liberating to say the least. I really need to do a whole series on it, I have learned so much from the experience. All the “stuff” I thought I had to have…turns out I don’t! I can’t wait to go back to Utah and throw 90% of everything away. Anyhoo, back to the house.
It’s the house we brought our son home from the hospital to. It’s the house he took his first steps in. It is the house that all my friends here on TMH would come and hang out at. It holds so many of my favorite memories, yet it doesn’t feel like home. We will only be here for another year, and will be putting it on the market here in a few months, so I just haven’t allowed myself to get attached. It is filled with furniture that I didn’t pick out and there is nothing hanging on the walls that makes me smile. Except my new shelves :). While I don’t want to fill it up with a bunch of stuff, I have plenty of that in Utah, I do want it to feel like a happy place that feels a little more like home. I can’t spend too much money, and I have to keep in mind that we will be putting it on the market soon – I can’t get too wild ;).
So that is what this project is about. Making my house a home, one that makes me happy, all the while getting it ready to sell. It has made me happy just thinking about it! Really, I have been super bummed about the situation, feeling rather sorry for myself. I am just ready to dig in and do something about it, regardless of my situation. I more than likely won’t live in one place for too long and it is time I learn how to love a home and make it mine even if it’s just for a short time. I need to stop thinking “one day”!
The postings for this series will be sporadic, no real schedule. I promise I won’t let it take over the site! There will still be plenty of non-house stuff going on around here. I will start with Leni’s room and move my way through. I am going to ask your opinion on just about everything, in hopes to get a point of view from a buyer’s perspective. I can’t wait!
So how about you, do you live in a house that just doesn’t feel like home? Maybe a rental, or a house that is for sale?
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
My house is the house we are probably going to die in, unless we win the lottery. I came to terms with it a while back. I had better do things to make it feel like home.
Yay! A taker! You know the feeling then right? Like you just want to wait until you are in “the” house to make it exactly so. Great Kim, so glad I will have you as a partner! This will be fun!
I’m in a rental and have been for four years (and will be for awhile until hubby finishes school!). The only thing I can really change is the furniture we put in it and what we hang on the walls – so I’m stuck with a light khaki on every wall and ceiling and white laminate cupboards – ick! I’m constantly storing ideas for the day that we will be in “the” house…not sure why I don’t take this as a challenge to stretch my design mind…hmmm….
I was in a rental too, and I had blue, hunter green, and maroon carpet! So I know how you feel. But looking back, I wish I would have just rolled with it. You can work with khaki!
I’m excited to see how this goes for you! I need to do this too but my problem is I just have NO design talent or decision making capability. I hope I can gleen some direction and ideas from your projects!
I don’t either, not at all, but I figure I have watched enough HGTV to get me through! Let’s see how it goes ;)
I know how you feel. We were about to build our dream house, then my husband was relocated. Our new house will probably only be ours for a few years at the most, till we figure out the “next step.” The kids and I do lots of temporary decorating and crafting to make it feel like ours for now. It’s quite an experience I never thought I would have, good and not so good.
Yes, that is exactly what happened to us, well, kind of. We bought a building lot in Utah, and now I don’ t know that we will ever build on it. So I spent two and a half years dreaming of that, and need to wrap my head around a different scenario. Like you said, good, and not so good :)
Can’t wait to see more of your ideas. I think its fun decorating on a budget. I checked our your framed alphabet art project and love love it.
Heidi! How are you? I was just talking to Aubrey and she is getting ready to live in a hotel for 3 months and I told her you made it look so fun, seriously just yesterday, crazy!
We bought a fix-r-upper, way to much too fix. We have had so much stuff collecting over the last four years, it seems like I need to clear the clutter, fix the fix-r-ups and amongst raising my four littles I can really let the creativity flow. The kids and I love doing crafts and projects, but it is difficult when there is so much clutter. If anyone would like to come and clear my house out for me… ahh… that would be a dream. Good luck and thank you for posting all the great ideas!
P.S. Where in Utah are you moving? I have lived here on and off my whole life, currently in North Ogden. Love it!
I can so relate. We bought our home 3 years ago. My son youngest was only 6 mo and on a G-tube so our older home with “character” aka projects only got part of them done. Stuff has not been put away properly and I feel like I am constantly rearranging to make it work until _____ can be finished or begun and finished. I have very little hanging on the walls and with all the clutter I want to just grab garbage bags and gather it all up to be disposed of. On the positive side, I did remove 6 boxes of stuff that has been sitting in totes waiting for a spot and gathering dust in other odd spots in my home. I figure if I haven’t needed it in 3 years I obviously do not need it! I long to make my home feel more like “home”.
See you have a start! Just keep going, you won’t regret it!
We were in Utah County, but I would love to be up north! But yes, I know just how you feel. Our condo in Utah is packed to the gills, and just moving away from it all has been eye opening. You don’t realize how much your “stuff ” dictates your life. I was lucky to have the opportunity to walk away from it without having to throw it out. But now I can’t wait to go back and de-junk.
Thanks so much!
We have been living in rentals for our entire marriage – going on 8 years, now, moving every 2 years. We are just now both out of graduate school and our next move may actually be one that “sticks.” I’m always looking for ideas on how to make a space a little more homey without making big changes. We are in a house for the first time, at least – and I even have laundry machines that aren’t located down a sidewalk. Woo hoo! Looking forward to the series.
Thanks Sarah, and congrats on the washer and dryer, I have been there, and it is no fun.
There is an old saying “Home Is Where The Heart Is” Remember that if you have things around you that make you happy then you tend to feel happier. Destri, You need to put some of the lovely pictures that you have taken of the one place that makes you the happiest on those walls. Having a photo blown up to poster size is inexpensive and will make you smile when you see it. Great conversation piece also. Don’t even frame it. You have remarkable talent, use it to surround yourself with the places that you love.
I am so interested!! It can take over your blog; I won’t mind a bit. I am in a similar boat– we have 2 years left of residency, then we will move (somewhere!?!) for a year for fellowship, and then somewhere (?) more permanately for my husband to set up his practice. It is a long journey, and I feel like we are always in limbo, without the means or the permanence to really make our house our home. Help!
we have just made the move from the westcoast to the eastcoast. we bought a house in a little suburban french town and i’m struggling to get ourselves “into” it. we have been painting the rooms one by one and doing them up but i’m still struggling with the main floor as you can see in my post about the drapes. in vancouver i would have had them in a snap but here i just don’t know where to go! i’m hoping that on the one year mark we are going to feel settled – and then watch my husband get transferred to toronto or somewhere!!
quite excited about completing your alphabet print for our playroom though!!
I read all kinds of decorating books when I built my first house a long time ago.
BASIC COLOR RULE FOR PAINTING: if the room gets the morning sun, paint it a warm color; if the room gets the afternoon sun, paint it a cool color. period.
I’ve never had a problem selling a house, except for the one I did not paint.
What a great attitude you have. I lived in rental after rental for the first 18 years of my marriage and for the rest of it I have been in a house we bought but I really don’t like. I never knew how to make a house a home so we always just kind of lived in each house “as is” with a little bit of paint and cleaning. About 6 years ago we decided to paint and CHANGE a lot of things about this house and that has made it much more homey. I still don’t know how to decorate but things look much better and kind of feel like me/us. I have found that it is the attitude you have that makes the most difference in how your home looks and feels.
We seem to be on the same wavelength right now. We were on vacation for a week. With us, we had only what we needed during that time. Other than missing my laptop (husband’s Blackberry wasn’t cutting it for me), I didn’t miss a thing possession-wise. Even prior to this, I had started to dig through ALL THE STUFF we own. I’m excessive, but certainly becoming less so. Can’t wait for so much of it to go!
Meanwhile, we’re in a house we don’t love by any means. We don’t know if we’ll have to stay or go…..far away even. It’s hard to live in limbo, and sometimes that means not making the strides on the house that we’d like. It’s a balance to try to decide how much of your time, money and energy you’ll put in to something that is only temporary, isn’t it? Good Luck!