My House Is Shrinking!

When the hubby and I bought our adorable Cape Cod style cottage that was built in 1949 we thought we had purchased the Biltmore.  Having lived in DC for 7 years we were thrilled with a front yard featuring a circular drive that has a pine island hidden behind a rhododendron bush, a front porch perfect for rocking chairs and a porch swing, the adorable bricked in courtyard covered in ivy, a downstairs master bedroom, and a fairly decent sized guestroom upstairs.  The upstairs also has a charming seating area and small office.  Xanadu!  But that was in 2007 when the family consisted of me, the hubs, and Winston - our beloved Scottish Terrier.

This is the picture I took after we first toured the house.

 

Fast forward to present day 2013.  Sadly the dog has died but two little people have arrived.  Suddenly, the Biltmore turned into Papa Smurf's house.  When you walk in our home, there is one big room that is our living and dining room (and now the kids playroom).  The kitchen is in the back with a hideous laundry room attached.  To the right of the front door is the stairs going up and then the door to our bedroom.  Our master bath connects to the kitchen and is also our guest bathroom during parties. 

Once upstairs, you have a sitting area in front of you, the guest room was to the left and the hubs office was to the right.  With the birth of Thing 1, the hubs office turned into a nursery.  With the birth of Thing 2, the nursery turned into a "Big Boy" room and half of the guest room turned into a nursery.  Now that Thing 2 is in a toddler bed we have transformed our guest room into the children's room and the hubs has regained his office.  (Poor thing works from home and his desk has been smushed into the corner of our bedroom.)  So this means that when we have guests, they are left to sleep on a blow up bed in the office.  Nothing says, "we're so glad you are here" like making guests sleep on the floor.  This was okay in our twenties but not now that we are flirting with 40.

And don't even get me started on the upstairs bathroom.  It was without a doubt the inspiration for the term, "water closet."  You can sit on the toilet and brush your teeth at the same time without stretching to rinse in the sink.  Then you practically have to walk sideways to get into the shower.

The obvious solution to this problem is to call a Realtor and put the house on the market. Well, that would be easy if the market wasn't in the tank.  I want to build my dream home but we are a few years away from making a decision.  SO - I am going to use this time to go through and do some much needed sprucing up in an effort to get the house market ready. 

My first project is finalizing the boy's room.  I can't wait to show it off to you!!!  It is practically done but I have a few more tweaks and then it will be ready for the big reveal.

In the meantime, I really do love my house.  It so sweet and charming and will be hard to leave behind.  I am going to enjoy sprucing it up for a new family.  Here is my sweet family in front of the house posing for our 2012 Christmas card.

 

 

Let the remodeling begin!!!

 

xoxo,

TSS