So, my husband and I sat down and really tried hard to separate our TRUE needs from things that were really just wants. Funny how easy it is to get the two confused ;)
We came up with a few things...we really did need another bedroom for fostering. We did need some additional storage space. In a house with no attic space, no storage closets inside the house, and tiny bedrooms and clothing closets...we had reached a point where some of the things we needed to keep around were taking over and cluttering up the entire house. Then there's what to do with all my school things I needed to keep if that room was going to be converted into another bedroom :/
Fast forward to the month of February and we have decided we are going to put up a wall between our school room and dining room in order to create that additional bedroom. This one has been very hard for me, but I know it's the right thing to do. We are going to put in a storage building next to our house to store all the school and other household things we need to keep, but may not necessarily use on a day to day basis. We are also going to convert the existing and unused tiny front porch into a hallway to keep the flow of traffic from going through the dining room and to help with the air conditioning circulation to our living room (which has always been an issue in our L-shaped house).
We do have a small list of wants too...depending on the cost, they may come at the same time the needs do, they may come later, or perhaps not at all.
We'd love to add a half bath in the laundry room. The water and sewer lines run right past that room, the backdoor to the laundry room is right by the pool, and it's located off the living room so people who visit don't have to go through our entire home to use the bathroom. We put in an above ground pool and deck 2 summers ago, but we (and guests) have to walk through the entire house to get to the bathroom. I sop up lots of water during the warm months...which, in Texas, is pretty much 75% of the year. And it ain't easy trying to keep those wood laminate floors from getting water in the cracks and bubbling up :(
I'd love to update my kitchen by adding in a few cabinets along the side wall (which would give me some much needed kitchen storage) and painting the existing cabinets. I'm fond of the antiqued/distressed look. Hey, what's not to like there? If you bump or scratch the cabinet doors, it looks like it's supposed to be there ;)
And finally, we'd love to add on a usable front porch that we can actually sit under on a porch swing, watch the rain, the birds and squirrels, and anything else that might be going on outside. We love the outdoors...
When we finally had our minds made up as to what we really needed to do, we both have felt at peace since then. I don't know if God will have us move in the future, but for now, we feel He wants us to stay right here :)
It's great to settle on a workable plan! David and I made a list, room by room, of what needed to be done. Then we decided to prioritize the list and begin working on them in order. I think it's important, now that you know you're staying, to do this (list and prioritize) and once you start in one room, don't move on until it's 100% done. Over the years, we would start something and half way finish, get sidetracked and start something else. When we finally realized we had too many half-done projects, we felt overwhelmed. So, once we made our list, we vowed to actually complete each room before moving on to the next. We started with the living and dining rooms, since those are the most visible to guests. Just some thoughts for you.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice, thank you! I'm not sure how much we'll be doing ourselves yet and how much we'll try to contract out due to time constraints with my husbands job and school schedule (he's taking online seminary classes). I do get easily overwhelmed when things are unfinished. We will definitely have to prioritize ;) Thanks again!
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