Right Neighborhood, Wrong House

For a while I've been looking into new neighborhoods for my family. Not because our neighborhood is terrible, actually it's far from that; it's an ideal area for us. So why am I looking to leave such an ideal place? It's because our house does not live the way we do. Some will say a house is a house, be thankful you have one when others do not. I am thankful, more than most would know but a house is meant to be lived in and when you've spent four years trying to make your house a home and it's not happening then it's time to realize the house and your family don't fit together.

My home is a nice colonial built at the end of the seventies. It's traditional in layout and would be great if we were a formal living type of family. Our formal living room is dubbed the dog's napping room, our formal dining room has taken many forms since we moved in first it was a dining room we never used except to stack things on the table, next it was a dining room and my office for a time. Then last year I sold the dining room furniture and we turned it into a homework computer area for the kids. But that lasted a short time because my kids are slobs, so now the kids have their computers in their rooms. I've heard all the information of why not to put the computers in their rooms, but the opposite seems true for my kids, they're actually online less and when they are online I'm usually in my office, which is right next to their bedrooms.

Anyway, I digress. Now that the kid’s computers are gone the dining room is going to be the new home to the dog's crates. We'll finally have our entire family room available to lounge in. The sad part of living in our house is we spend most of our time in the back half of our home, the kitchen and family room. The ideal home would have a great room; gone from the floor plan would be the formal living and dining rooms. I'd also want the master bedroom on the first floor and the kids upstairs. I've found many homes locally and in my current neighborhood that meet our needs, but have come to the realization after cleaning my home this weekend that our home is nowhere near ready to sell.

Since I'm not that attached to my home, I looked at it as I went room-to-room cleaning noticing all the little things a buyer would notice. While most of the things are small it adds up money and time wise. So for now, I am going to work on knocking off each of the items I noted and maybe by this time next year, or sooner if I win the lottery I'll have it all ready and the home of MY dreams waiting in the wings.

Until next time, Good Writing!