Oh Happy Days

Exciting news. We are finally putting this house in the woods on the market! Over the past few months I've been searching online for an old farmhouse to make our own, and recently actually been viewing some in person! Two weeks ago I looked at one on Somerset County, NJ. It has such a romantic sound to it, Somerset County, it almost wouldn't have mattered what the house was like. But it does. Of course. And to me it was perfect. A big blue 1800s farmhouse on almost 5 acres, with pines for privacy and open fields filled with horses and alpacas around. It wasn't the greatest layout inside, and the kitchen, although open to an eating area, certainly wasn't my dream kitchen, but I could see it working perfectly all the same. It had a greenhouse, flat grass, a huge porch, and bright sun filled rooms with wide pumpkin pine floors, and that was enough for me. Unfortunately when my husband viewed it, he decided it was a bit too rural for him, and he pointed out all the flaws, I hadn't really noticed.. love blinds you that way! The road to the main road was long and winding. Beautiful for long walks on a Sunday, not so beautiful for commuting to the office I guess!

On to the next. Last week he found a short sale in the Chester, NJ area, which is a lovely town filled with antiques stores and surrounded by farmland, but much closer to highways etc. I went to see it at the weekend. Needs so much doing to it, including septic, oil tank removed and such a lot of cosmetic stuff. But it's a good looking 1800s colonial with a big porch, and 2 fenced paddocks. Nice big rooms, and a finished attic, that could make a perfect craft room for me.

It has a huge kitchen open to the dining area with skylights and big windows. Really my dream kitchen. Even had a cast iron gas cooker, one of those very expensive retro ones. Perfect! My husband is there today, so I'm yet to hear what he thinks. Regardless of what happens with that house, things are definitely moving in the right direction, so I'm feeling happy and excited. Packing up this house and fixing all the annoying things is not so exciting, but at least it being cleared out it's starting to resemble how I wish we could live - less clutter, easier to clean. Certainly something to aim for in the next house anyway!

living vicariously through others until my time comes...

I've become slightly addicted to HGTVs new show "Fixer Upper" http://magnoliahomes.net/fixer-upper/ It's always been my dream to find a diamond in the rough and make it my own. The two houses we've bought previously have been at the top end of our budget, so we've never been able to make the changes we wanted a reality or let's face it, even fix things when they break! For years I've loved to watch the moving shows, but they all become much the same - people looking for the granite kitchen, the finished garden, the perfect house. I'd hate to move in somewhere that was finished to a high standard - but not my standard, not my tastes. I feel like I'd just live with cherry cabinets and beige granite because I'd feel bad about ripping that stuff out. Which is why I have NO intention of looking for any of that when it comes time for us to move.  I love browsing the http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/ site for ideas. The forums are so valuable for real life experiences of what to do and of course what to run a mile from. Now there are hundreds of shows on home improvement there's always something to watch to get excited about. Here are some great examples of a fixer-upper turned dream home - and surprisingly all of these were done with a budget of under $50k!

The house I fell in love with months ago is still on the market, so there's always a chance it will become my dream forever home! (I have the agent letting me know if any offers come in). It's priced very low, and with the profit from the sale of this house we would be able to make it beautiful with cash to spare. There's so much potential. It's on 15 acres, we could sell 10 of those for over $100k in that area and still have a huge piece of land. There's a walkable attic ready to be finished. A double garage could be added with a master suite above. There's a big red barn with 6 horse stalls, fenced paddock, pasture, a stream.. need I go on! Here's a picture of it.. 

...imagine it freshly painted, with shutters, rambling roses, a horse in the background, a few chickens dotted around and children playing and you there you have it. So until I have it, in the bag, I keep that image in my head on days like today when I'm faced with the end of school rush, piles of laundry, noisy landscapers and a messy corner office that I can get no work done in! Happy Wednesday people - the weekend is just down the hill.