The New Home - Second Floor

Last time I wrote about the new home I told you about all the rooms that made up the first floor.  Now let's get on to the second floor.

The second floor is about bedrooms and bathrooms.  When you head up the stairs from the main floor foyer and arrive at the second floor landing, the door to your left leads to the Master bedroom, and the door straight ahead leads into the main bathrooms.  Turning right there is a hallway that leads to the other two bedrooms.  On the way you'll find the linen closet on the right and a large closet to the left.  At the end of the hallway are two doors - the one to the left goes to the smallest room which we are using as a guest room, and the door to the right leads to Walter's room.

Master Bedroom

This is a good sized room which can probably accommodate a King size bed.  We are sleeping in a twin bed.  I know, I know, why such a small bed for a couple?  We are snugglers.  Even in the heat of Summer there is usually some part of us that the other person is touching.  We haven't felt the need for additional space until recently ... and it's not really us that's brought this about, it's Walter.  He usually sleeps in his own room without any problems, but occasionally he has a bad dream or is a bit scared at some point in the night and he wants to be with us.  We've never turned him down.  When he was smaller it wasn't too bad, but now that he's older he's getting a bit too big to fit nicely between us.  Plus, he moves a lot during the night.  One of us is always complaining the next day of getting no sleep and being pushed around.  So, yes, we are in the midst of searching for a new, Queen size bed.  I think we've been dragging our feet a bit because Manuel built a lovely frame for the current bed and he'll have to build a new frame for the bigger bed.  Perhaps Walter will get the old frame when he gets a bigger bed at some point in the future?

Although the room size is good there are a few things we would like to change.  The wall colour - a dusty rose - is one of the first things we'd like to change.  We have paint left over from the townhouse, so we'll likely use that for now.  It's a much lighter, happier colour for us.  Second the drapes for the windows - just too old-fashioned for us, and again, the colour (dusty rose) is so not us.  Plus, the blinds are in serious need of some help.

 

I think, for the blinds I might try converting them into blackout shades.  The tutorial makes it sound reasonable and I've found other bloggers who have followed her lead with success.  The worse that can happen is I have to throw out the blinds and use the material for something else.  At present I'm hunting down the perfect fabrics - cheap, good colour, right fabric thickness - before getting started.

Walter's Bedroom

Walter's bedroom  was really the first room in the whole house to be made comfortable and homey.  We felt it was really important that he had a bedroom that was really welcoming.  A place he would want to play in, sleep in, study in.  I think we've been successful - he plays there quite often on his own.  When we get home at the end of the day he'll often race up to it to play by himself.

Even I enjoy spending time here, sitting in the wicker chair reading a book while Walter plays happily with his Lego while humming or singing to himself.  And as you can see, he's done a fair bit of decorating of the space himself!

Still, there are a few things his room needs - Manuel needs to build some shelving in his closet so all his toys can be stored away when not in use.  And his blinds too suffer from the same problem that we have with the Master bedroom blinds.  Another blackout blind project!

Guest Room

The final bedroom on this floor is the guest room.  Somehow it seems the most complete.  Yes, it needs a different colour on the wall, a window treatment to soften the blinds, and some artwork on the walls ... yet, it still seems to have most of what you expect in a guest room.

Main Bathrooms

You might have noticed that I always say main bathrooms - never main bathroom and ensuite.  It's kind of a weird setup.  When you come into the main bathroom there is a good sized vanity with a single sink.  That's it.  The space is approximately 6 x 8 - large for just a sink.  To the right is a pocket door that leads to our indoor pool - basically a huge, over-sized tub that needs at least three full time hot water tanks in order to fill it up with warm water!

To the left of the main bathroom vanity area is another pocket door.  This one leads to the ensuite section.  It has it's own toilet, teeny-tiny shower (don't drop the soap you won't be able to bend over to retrieve it!!), and a good-sized vanity with another single sink.

There's even an extra closet in this section that I've put my dresser in so that when I'm getting ready in the morning I don't have to go back and forth from the bedroom to the bathroom all the time.

So, yes it is a weird setup ... but the really weird thing is?  It grows on you!  It actually works pretty well.  We all can go in and out from various areas.  You can have privacy when you need it, but can also chat while you are getting ready and not get in each others faces while you're doing it.

The two main issues is a lack of an adequate shower - since Manuel and I only use the shower this has been just tolerable - and the bathtub sucks.  For now we're making do while we work out what the layout should be.  Should it be two separate bathrooms or keep the basic layout and just replace the fixtures?  Once we have that figured it'll be our second big project.  The first big project will be putting a bathroom into the basement.  It's got a roughed-in location for one.  Having that bathroom done will mean pulling out the second floor bathroom can be done without causing us too much heartache while it happens.

Well that's the basics for the house.  Yes, there is a basement.  Almost completely unfinished at this point.  We won't tour it for now ... once we start doing some work down there we'll give you a tour of the space!

The New Home - First Floor

Warning:  This is a long post.  Get yourself a cup of coffee or tea and find a comfy place to sit while you read this one!

Moving into a new home is exciting.  A chance to both recreate what you already love, but also a chance to try out something new and/or different.  Of course, you can't get it all done in a day (even though I'd love to be able to do that!).  The challenge is sorting out the various needs in every room, coming up with a plan, and then doing it in the right sequence.

Since we went through almost two years of renovations in the townhouse, we had a fair bit of stuff in storage.  So along with trying to find a place for everything we had from the townhome, was remembering what was stored away, deciding if we still needed it, and figuring out how to integrate these stored items into everything else.  While doing this we're getting a sense of what each room needs.  It's a big home, so there's a lot to be considered.

Where to begin?  Let's start on the main floor.  We'll visit the upper floor in a separate post.

Entrance/Foyer

This is the main entry and exit point for the home.  It needs to have a space to drop things off as you come in as well as a place to put things to be remembered when leaving.  There needs to be some seating so people can put on and take off shoes.  A spot to put wet/dirty footwear.  A place to drop mail.

 

The foyer came with a music console from the previous owners.  I can't see it staying there permanently, but for now we've put a table lamp for ambiance, a pretty blue runner to camoflage the top a bit, and placed a tray for mail.  We've also put a small mat in front for shoes.  And I've taken one of the dining table chairs (the only one with arms) and placed it here so there's some seating (besides the stairs) - it has become not only a place to sit at when tying up shoes, but also a place to drop Walter's coats off.  The reason Walter's coats are being dropped off there is that they are really too small to hang nicely in the coat closet, plus he needs to be able to get to them so he can dress himself ... the coat closet would be hard for him to reach.  In the townhouse Manuel had made a great little coat rack with hooks for hanging Walter's outdoor wear.  We'd like to hang it opposite to where the music console is, but my teak desk is standing there right now.  I'd love to see that taking over the spot where the music console is with a nice soft mid-century chair next to it.  Then Walter's rack could be hung up on the opposite wall with a nice shoe mat for wet gear.

Dining Room

Directly in from the foyer is the dining room.  We find we're using it for doing homework, artwork, crafts, sewing, etc.  Everything but eating.  I'm sure when we have guests over we'll use it, but we definitely need it to serve multiple roles.

Like the foyer, the dining room came with a dining table, chairs, and sideboard from the previous owners.  Not our style, but for now I think we'll leave these items here.  Perhaps we'll change them with some paint and new fabric for the seats.  We are in the process of changing out the existing curtains with some curtains that were in Walters new bedroom.  We need to change out the rod and I'll have to trim down the over-long curtains and sew a hem before we can hang them.

The sideboard is housing some of Walters puzzles, games, and craft materials, but it's not big enough to hold it all.  Besides the sideboard we have a tall narrow table that Manuel originally built to hold an aquarium.  It's served as a change table when Walter was a baby, a desk in the townhouse guest room, and right now it's being used to store additional craft materials and toys.  It definitely won't stay there.  On one of the short walls we've hung a shooter case that Manuel built (we still haven't found the box with all the shooter glasses - hopefully we'll find that soon!).  Beneath it we've placed a small folding bookcase where some of Walters books have been placed.  It looks too small for this spot and I'm thinking some kind of dresser, bureau, hutch, sideboard should go there to house more puzzles, craft work, and treasured artwork (Walter loves to hold on to everything he's created or received).  If I find something that will work there I'll probably replace the tall narrow table with the folding bookcase since it would look nicer there than the table does.  (Where the tall narrow table would go after that?  I'm not sure.)

Living Room

This space is huge - 21'4" x 13'1" - we don't have enough furniture to fill it properly.  I think we've determined that it's more of a visiting space, a place to read and/or listen to music.  A place to relax and chat.  We've decided no TV is going to be put in this space.

It too came with something from the previous owners.  In this case a rather large, traditional sofa.  We've put my old Ikea Klippan sofa in there too, and there's still a sense of emptiness.  We have an old two-drawer dresser, a music stand for the stereo equipment, and on the far back wall beside the fireplace a china cabinet that Manuel built.  There's a rather large space in front of the china cabinet, next to the over-sized sliders that lead out to the balcony.  It would look weird to leave it totally bare, but it wouldn't be appropriate to add another sofa.  Perhaps some kind of lounger/chaise?

Both the front bay window and the back sliders have curtains that I'm not overly fond of.  I'm not sure, though, what to replace them with.  They'll need to compliment the furniture and since the furniture isn't quite settled yet ... we'll probably leave them as is for the time being.

Kitchen

The kitchen looks like it's basically original to the house.  Too dark for my liking, but it functions fairly well.  The window by the sink could do with some softening - perhaps a fake Roman shade.  You know - the kind that doesn't actually work, but hangs from the top to soften the window box, and add some definition and colour?  The reason why I don't want a working window covering is that the window ledge has become home to a lot of ... stuff.  Like plants, knick-knacks, doodads.

Other than the window covering, I feel like I could live with the kitchen as-is IF we could just paint the inside and outside of the cupboards a light colour.  I'm finding I can't see too well into the cupboards which means I'm not utilizing them very well.  By painting the interiors a light colour there will be more ambient light (dark interiors just suck up all the light that tries to get in).

We did agree that the little closet that is probably meant to be used for brooms desperately needs some shelving so that it can be more functional.  We've got some ideas on this and hopefully Manuel can put something together in the not too distant future.

Family Room

The Family Room is basically an extension to the kitchen.  There is a door that leads to outside stairs that allow quick access to the garden.  Beyond that is a space where we've put our old round dining table.  A rather overbearing brick gas fireplace sits on the far wall, flanked by two floor to ceiling oak bookcases.  It's not a big space (17'2" x 10'4"), somewhat narrow.

It also came with a sofa and armchair, both somewhat reminiscent of mid-century although I'm not sure of their origins.  We've added an old antique stereo console and placed our TV on top of this.  The window in this room had no covering, so we took the curtains from the upstairs guest room, trimmed them down and hemmed them before hanging them here.

This room is used constantly by us.  It's so nice to be able to cook a meal while the boys are right there.  We can chat, play and totally hang out together.  No one is in another room, isolated.

Although the armchair is quite comfy, the sofa is only so-so.  I'm not sure if changing out the foam seating would make a difference (it's one of those three-part sofa pillow types).  Perhaps a single length of foam seating would make a difference.  Still, the arms are hard wood, and the throw pillows that came with it just don't give any support.  We've got to figure out something.

Powder Room

The Powder room was missing a mirror when we moved in.  Thankfully, we had a lovely mid-century, wooden mirror that we've been able to place there.

We will eventually need to do something with the vanity.  Also, the toilet ... sucks!  How else can I say it?  You have to hold the handle down until the water whirls away before you can let go.  And it likely uses a zillion gallons of water per flush (yeah, yeah, a slight stretch, but you know what I mean!).  Also, the laminate wood floors from the foyer extend into this room.  Big no-no.  We'll have to take these out and put some tile down in the not-too-distant future.

Garage

I'm going to mention the garage here too.

One thing we really wanted when we were shopping for our next home was space for Manuel to use as a workshop.  Well, this home came with an attached two-car garage.  Right now it's filled with everything that we haven't had a chance to go through, that we knew could handle an unheated space.  Manuel has managed to put up his metal racks, and is slowly working through everything.  I can't wait for everything to be sorted through here - I'm so excited for him!

Well.  That's it for the main floor.  In our next posting we'll move up to the second floor to see how it's laid out and what we need to do there.

The New Home

It's been 26 days since we moved into our new home.  We've settled in, have our daily workaday routine ... but we still have lots of boxes to empty out.  I'm overwhelmed by how much stuff we have.  We came from a 1400 square foot townhouse.  Our stuff fit in there fine.  Our new home, with its 3000 square feet, is causing me grief.  I can't find places to put all that stuff.  With more than double the square footage it should be easy.  And it's not that the place is lacking closets.  It's just well ... I don't quite know.  Somehow what worked so well in the townhouse doesn't work here.

In any case, let me give you some photos so you have a sense of what we've moved into.

This is what the outside looks like.  It is a basic contemporary with some colonial details.  It plays small from the outside, but it's got 1000 square feet on each of its three levels.  From this outside aspect you see the main and upper floors; the basement is a walk-out to the backyard, so actually gets plenty of light.  It was built in 1980 and we are only its second owners.  The trees you see at the back of the house are part of the park reserve that the house backs onto ... so no neighbours back there.  We are truly enjoying the quiet of our new neighbourhood. 

Here's where we are at right now.  A living room still filled with unopened boxes and 99% of our artwork still to be hung - hiding behind a huge sofa that was left behind by the previous owners.

Speaking of things left behind - we did agree that the previous owners could leave some furniture behind.  We inherited the aforementioned sofa, a full dining set with buffet, table and seven chairs, a large stereo cabinet stationed in the front foyer, and another sofa and armchair in the family room.  I can't say any of the pieces speak to me, but we're trying to incorporate them into our belongings.  Here's a collage showing the stereo cabinet (top left), and the dining set, including a detailed shot of one of the chairs.

There are things I'm not sure what to do about.  For instance, the chandelier in the dining room?  Definitely not my style.  Perhaps I'll spray paint it some bold colour?

And there are other "design" issues.  A crystal chandelier in the foyer, a country-inspired pendant in the stairwell, and ... umm, lace curtains in the stairwell window.  No, none of them "speak" to me.  I think I will have to find replacements for the lights and beg Manuel to take down the curtain.

My study?  The thing I've dreamed about for eons?  It's a bit of a caterpillar waiting to become a butterfly!

But the most perplexing thing for us is the main bathroom.  It has, what we jokingly call the indoor pool, a huge bathtub.  It is surrounded by a sharp-edged, tiled platform that scares me as a Mother.

Still, Walter has managed to infuse some decor changes to this space.

Maybe I should take a cue from him and use stickers when I'm at a loss of what to do?

PS:  For the first time I have won something from a Blog giveaway!  Rosa, from Flutter Flutter, was giving away tickets to BC Home and Garden show.  I won them.  We're so excited - it's a perfect chance to check out products and ideas.  There are so many things we'd like to do in this new home and we're hoping to get truly inspired.  Thanks, Rosa.

Not Gone ... Just Overwhelmed!

Just a quick note to say we are all alive.  We have moved into our new home and we're just trying to get everything unboxed.  Deciding where to put everything is hard.  It's incredible to think that all this stuff we have used to fit into a 1400 square foot townhome and now that we are living in a 3000+ square foot home you'd think we'd have lots of space.  Space?  Yes ... but it's trying to fit the old patterns in a new environment that makes it challenging.  I'm having to think up new solutions.

Still ... we love our new home.

I am hoping to get a chance this weekend to snap some photos of how things are right now, so that as we begin to make changes - renovate, decorate, reinvent - that you'll be able to see Before and After photos.

Counting Down to the Move

Remember when you were in elementary or high school and it was summer vacation time?  Remember how at the beginning there seemed like there was so much time?  And then, as it got closer to the end of the summer vacation you started to realize that there weren't so many days left ... and as it got closer and closer to the start of school you started to count the days.

That's me with our house move.

Last night I thought, this is the 3rd last Wednesday of sleeping in the townhouse.  After Thursday and Friday nights are gone from this week, each day has only two more sleeps left.

Only 16 more days.  16 more sleeps.

Do you do this - count the days until something exciting, waited for happens?

Three Weekends Until Move-Out

We have spent this weekend packing up everything we could from our second floor - bedrooms, linen closet, and bathrooms.  Manuel and Walter moved everything out of the crawl space and into the garage.  We basically tried to box anything we didn't need for the next three weeks.

My workstation was a lap tray - labels, pens, markers, tape gun, and notebook.  Each box was marked with two labels - one a colour coded tab-style label marked with either a U, M, or B plus a two-letter abbreviation for the room.  A second, larger label indicated the box number and the full room name.  One set went on the top of the box and another set on one side.  If a box had fragile items inside an extra FRAGILE label was added to these label sets.  I did 38 boxes this way, taking an occasional break to make popcorn and watch some Magoo videos with Walter.

Next week we'll concentrate on the first floor - kitchen, living and dining rooms, laundry room, and hall closet.

The last weekend before we move we'll spend shifting the upstairs boxes downstairs, and finishing off anything that is still outstanding anywhere in the house.

We've booked a U-Haul 17' panel truck for Thursday night - Saturday.

Preparing to Move

Anybody who knows me well knows that I like to be organized and prepared.  That means research first.  I've been spending several days researching the idea of moving.  How to pack, when to start packing.  How to organize packing.  Who needs to be notified about the move at what point.  Supplies needed.  How best to transport home contents.  There's a lot to consider.

I've found it's somewhat similar to paying bills.  You don't want to pay too early or pay too late.  You have to remember all the bills that are coming due.  Where is the money coming from and where is it going to.  I find that if I think about all the parts that make up the home (including the people in it) - heat, light, food, water, safety, communication, comfort, transportation, education, etc. - and how those things are connected to businesses and institutions I can remember what's coming up.  I use this same idea when planning camping trips, and I'm using this same concept for our move.

So far I've put together a sheet within my Microsoft OneNote file for the new home called Checklist.  I have:

• 2 to 3 Weeks Before You Move
• 1 to 2 Weeks Before You Move
• 2 to 7 Days Before You Move
• The Day Before You Move
• Moving Day
• Post Move In

Under each of these I've been adding bullets for various things that I need to think about or remember to do.

We're right now in the 2 to 3 Weeks zone.  We've organized Gas, Hydro (Electricity), Phone, and Internet/Cable hookups.  Arranged for Canada Post to forward mail for the next 12 months (that's $84 ... $7 a month).  Notified the bank, Doctor, Dentists, Employers about the move. (Still to do - notify Walter's school, update driver's license, car insurance, income tax/government agencies, accountant.) We have been collecting boxes for months.  Have the tape gun (and just bought six more rolls of tape to be sure).  Fragile labels, other labels, a notebook to record box contents.  I'm going to take shredded paper from work to use as filler in packing boxes.

I've decided to label each box in the following way:

• Circle Label with a big single letter to refer to the floor level - M for Main, U for Upper, and B for Basement
• Label to designate room.  I'm considering colour coding these labels with crayons (Yes - crayons.  They won't wash off and they give me a wide assortment of hues to choose from).
• On the same Label the box number.  This number will be recorded in the notebook along with a general description of the contents.  I don't think it's necessary to itemize every object going into a box, but enough information to help locate items is useful.  This list will be used on moving day to check off boxes as they come into the new house.
• Use a Fragile sticker if needed.
• All these labels applied to four vertical sides and top side.  (Yes, I know, that's a bit OCD.)

I've got a floor plan - I'll blow up each level and designate it with the M, U, B.  Colour in the rooms so that there is a key plan that I can post on moving day.  I'm thinking:

• Blue - Bathrooms, Laundry
• Green - Kitchen
• Orange - Walter's room
• Yellow - Our bedroom
• Pink - Guest room
• Grey - My office
• White - Living room, Dining Room
• Red - Family Room
• Brown - Garage
• Purple - Basement

Now - when to do all of this packing?

Weekdays are difficult for us - we work all day, come home, make dinner, spend time with Walter.  Then bath and bedtime with Walter for one of us while the other cleans up.  By the time that's all done it's almost time for bed.  Just a bit of time to relax before we fall asleep.

That means the weekends become critical for us in getting this move organized and carried out properly.  We have three weekends before we move.  Oh My, how did that happen?!

This weekend our plan is to empty out the crawl space - either recycle, give away, toss, or box everything.  Items being boxed will be placed in the garage.  In addition, I plan to box up the contents of the guest room and linen closet, leaving only the furniture pieces alone; and Manuel and I will go through our clothes and box up out of season items.  All these boxes will be stored in the guest room.  Manuel plans to do some boxing of items in the garage that haven't already been boxed up (we boxed up a fair bit when we staged our townhouse in preparation for selling it).

I also am aware that this move is likely quite stressful for Walter.  My plan is to leave his room and the common rooms alone as much as possible so that daily life goes on.  He needs routine and calm.  I'm sure, despite these efforts that he's going to act up.  Children do that when life gets stressful for them.  He IS excited about moving.  He really wants to pack up his own things and be there for the move.  So much that I've agreed he can take off a school day on the Friday (January 25th) to help on the big day.  I've also arranged for my Mom to be around to take him away when he needs a break.

Psst ... We Have a Secret!

We have a secret ... but we don't have to keep it to ourselves anymore.  We've bought a house - yeah!

After selling our townhouse in the beginning of November we started seriously looking for a new home.  We had our list of needs and wants:

• yard for Walter (need)
• workshop for Manuel (want)
• good schools (need)
• out of school care that worked with our schedules (need)
• possibilities for rental suite and/or homestay (want)
• place to park the RV (want)
• 3-4 bedrooms (flexible)
• 2-3 bathrooms (flexible)
• family room (want)
• study for me (want)

On the Need side not too much (3) - all related to Walter.  The Want side was a little more difficult and caused us the most grief.

We lost out on several places before finally being successful.  The end home?  It's not our "dream" home, but it's a good home.  It has the yard, space for a workshop, good schools, out of school care with great hours, there's space for putting in a rental suite if we want and there's space for a homestay student.  The RV parking might be a smidge difficult - we'll have to play that one by ear.  There's a family room and a study.  The neighbourhood is great ... we back unto a park reserve and there's a wonderful community park nearby.  We got the house for a great price - if it was up-to-date and had been staged we'd likely have paid another $200,000.  As it is, it's a solid house that needs some loving and inspiration.  I think that is probably the right level for us at this time.  Something that's completely liveable as is, but allows us to get creative and add value.

We move at the end of January.  In the meantime?  We're saving every box we come across!

Money vs Snobbery

I've been puzzling about what Manuel and I are both looking for in our next house, and I've realized something.  Manuel is all about making a profit.  Finding a home that we can turn into big dollars when we later sell it.  I want a house that I can show off (blush - I didn't realize I was so vain).

We're both wrong ... and a bit right.

It is better to make money then lose money on a home.  No doubt about that.  It's also nice to be proud of your home - you work hard for it, you should be proud.  But ... well, spending all your free time renovating leaves no time for what's really important; and having a home that has a large price tag on it means you also have to work harder, longer hours to pay for it which means, again, no time for what's really important.

And what's really important?  Us - Manuel, Walter and Me.  Family.  Friends.  Having lots of great memories of times spent together.  Time to unwind, time to read, time to play.

We'll be looking at four houses on Sunday - one that fits Manuel's goals, one that fits my goals, and two that fall somewhere in-between.  I'm going to try to look at all four realistically.  Without prideful eyes, without money-making eyes.  I'm going to try to look at them with my whats-really-important eyes.

Move In Ready or Fixer Upper?

Looking for a new home is exciting.  Sort of.  Yes, yes ... of course it's exciting ... but ... it's also stressful. 

It's not like buying a shirt.  You try on a couple, buy one.  Even if it wasn't right, you aren't usually out hundreds of thousands of dollars!  But a home?  Oh my ... what if you get it wrong?  What if the neighbourhood isn't what you thought it was?  What if the home doesn't work for you and your family?  What if there is something terribly wrong with the house and you can't afford to fix it?  What if a better home comes to market next week, after you've had your offer accepted?  What if, what if ...

I'm a planner.  I research everything to the nth degree.  I have thought this out a lot.  Have analyzed each area and determined the best suburb for our family's needs, wants, and future goals.  I'm pretty sure I got that right.  But the home?  Ugh ... it's more difficult.  How do you analyze a potential home?  How do you know that house X is better than house Y?  Are all homes potentially equal and viable?

We are currently struggling with whether or not to get a home that is basically move-in ready or find something cheaper, that needs fixing up.  The fixer upper would appear to have the potential for bigger gains.  The downside?  Spending more time renovating.  There is also no guarantee that our sweat equity would gain us more in the end.  And isn't it time to enjoy our home and focus on family?

What to do, what to do ...

Homeless

We put our townhouse on the market in September, signing papers on September 4th, finally having photos done two and half weeks later on September 20th, followed by the first viewing September 23rd.  After a total of six viewings we got an offer on October 29th, less than eight weeks since putting pen to paper.  One stressful week full of home inspections, and CMHC wows all the subjects were removed.  The offer was lower than we wanted, but sometimes you have to give a little to get what you want.

We are now homeless ... well ... by January 29th.

This is something we've been working on for nearly two years.  Two years of hard work, personal sacrifices, and crazy make-shift living while chaos reigned around us.  Our goal, to move from a townhouse to a house - with space for everyone.  A yard for Walter, a workshop for Manuel, and a place for me to create.  A neighbourhood that feels like it really has a sense of community, a place to call home.

Now, we have the difficult task of finding this place.  We've been tossing around different ideas - go for a home that's totally move-in, with nothing to do but unpack our boxes; or go the other extreme and find a home with good bones, but no updating.  Put our own mark on it.  It's a difficult decision.  Part of us wants to just take it easy.  We've had a hard two years of living in the midst of renovations.  It is, perhaps, time to rest and enjoy life.  But ... our creative side wants the challenge of taking a diamond in the rough and making it ours.  Which way to go?  Which way would you go?