The long of the short of it is … we sold our home.

What a wild and crazy time to have our home on the market too. It has been the longest, most exciting, in the weirdest way, two months. We decided to put our home on the market mid-February. We were lucky to have immediate interest that lead to immediate action. Where that was lucky, we still had to travel this journey during one of the weirdest times in history.

In hind site, the process went perfectly. However, based on the times that we are living in, there was an emotional chaos attached to the entire process. We accepted the offer prior to COVID-19 really taking off in the states. The inspection was completed without issue. The paperwork was processed and the fixes were fixed. Then about 14 days into our 30 day close process everything went sideways… The country started closing down and fear was on the rise. We moved our move-out date forward by a week, booked an AirBnB (to ensure the close fully went through prior to any long term agreements being made) and crossed our fingers.

As life often does, it all worked out. We sold our house, we moved out, we committed to building a new house (more on this in future posts) and we made it into a rental – all during this pandemic. Now we are hunkered down and riding this all out with the rest of the world.

Where we’re ready for our next adventure this house holds a lot of memories and magic for our family. This house came nearly perfect, but in the three years we lived there we surely added our flare and made it our home. We completely overhauled the backyard to create a small but mighty oasis. We updated the master closet and pantry to maximize storage. And we certainly created moments throughout the house that were us.

As with every home, there were projects on my list yet to be completed. Here’s a look back as we prepare for our move forward…

The great room, bar / lounge space, kitchen and dining nook were the hub of our home. Christmas Eve’s spent at the island decorating cookies for Santa and playing charades in front of a fire where stockings were hung with love. Dinners around the table, moving the lamp so as not to block the TV. Riding a hover board around the family room. Playing fetch with the pups down the long hallway. And never quite finishing the bar / lounge with furniture, though our Christmas tree always had a feature position in that front sliding window. These are just a few memories I’ll take with me.

Where the master closet got my immediate attention, the rest of the master suite was last on my list to tackle. Which means it never saw it’s full potential. I had a vision to change the vanity mirrors and lights to reflect our more modern aesthetic. There was always going to be a bed frame at some point and some of the walls were going to get art. There was a reading nook in my visions too. This space was an exceptional master suite with an epic closet if I do say so myself.

The kids wing of our home may have been the best reflection of the people living in it… The Doodle, Rachel, our guest suite and our fit room. These rooms had the most character and personality. As kids often do, they wasted no time making their spaces feel like them. They thumbtacked things to the walls and added a whole bunch of personal flare. Our guest suite absolutely had the most color and personality of all of the rooms in our home. It was sweet and warm and cozy and comfortable for those that visited and stayed a while. Our fit room started as a teen room and quickly morphed when the need presented itself.

What I loved about this home – the storage space was ample. It felt like a big home, yet there was a cozy nature to it. It was bright and light. Every room was quite sizable and each bedroom had a walk-in closet. There was character built in and yet enough blank space to add character and personality as well. We had dedicated spaces for people and all of our needs. After moving from a very small home in comparison – J got an office versus a dining room table to cop a squat. Each kiddo had their own closet, with none of our overflow impacting them at all. The third car garage was key for storage. And of course our backyard was an oasis that felt soothing and magical every time I stepped outside. It was peaceful and playful and provided so many moments of relaxation.

What I didn’t love about this home – it was built in a very country cottage manner structurally and with finishes. The engineered hardwood floors were unique, as was maintaining them. The house felt too big quite quickly after moving in, with not much livable space for those of us that were there all of the time. We didn’t hang much on the walls. I didn’t take action on priority projects while we lived in the house. There were simple ways I could have made the house feel more like home easily and I never checked the little projects off of the list. We never built out our bar / lounge fully. I didn’t spend enough time living in and loving this house. I was often thinking up a new project and dreaming up changes.

What I will do differently in our future home – wrap the bow around it as soon as possible. Hang the art. Use more color and cozy textures. Finish a space fully and then move on to the next one. Prioritize spaces – get that bar / lounge done first, not last. Not linger on decisions too long, I know my style and I love it, I need to trust it and go with it. Allow for rooms to come together naturally and don’t force design. Make sure the spaces we use most often are completed with love and intention. And take more time appreciating and loving the home I live in.

This house will be missed, but a home does not create love, it is the people in the home that make it magical.