6 MONTHS
It took a lot of time to get here, but this place is really starting to feel like home. I think I’ve been struggling with the idea of this house as my home mainly because I live so close to where I grew up. I still find myself nearly driving back to my parent’s house after running errands instead of back to my own. It also took a while to pull together enough furniture for this house to acquire that “lived-in” feeling that it was missing. But now? Now I’ve redone this space enough times that it’s become a place I really want to be in all the time.
I’ve managed to furnish my entire house for under $1000. I was fortunate enough to find a local antique shop that had quality furniture in it that I fell in love with. Lots of browns and earthy tones and solid wood pieces. I was able to get a matching couch and loveseat, a coffee table, a dining table and two dining booths, a wicker armoire that I use for my craft room storage, and a wicker chair all for under $800. The woman who sold them to me was also generous enough to gift us a beautiful white afghan and a full antique set of Pfaltzgraff dishware. I felt like I won the lottery that day. It took me three trips back and forth borrowing my dad’s truck to get everything home.
I’ve also been able to find several other pieces on the side of the road for free, including a massive cat tree for Frog and Toad (which took me several hours of laborious cleaning before it was allowed in the house), a short solid wood book case, and a set of two very tall book cases with a third slim corner book case. I was finally able to unpack my book and notebook collections, rearrange my bedroom space, and store my clothes off the floor since I didn’t have a dresser up to this point. I also set up my new altar space on top of the shorter book shelf that became my clothes storage.
The cats have really helped this house to feel like a home. I’ve never been solely responsible for the care of a pet like I am with these two (the snakes and gecko don’t count). Their toys find their way across every floor in the house and help achieve that lived-in feel and their mischievous antics keep my days full. We’ve developed a great routine together and their company makes me so happy. The downside is I’ve had to restart my indoor garden seeds twice because they’ve found a way to trample and eat them every time. I’ve also had to quarantine my indoor plants in a room the cats aren’t allowed in since they’ve also been eaten one too many times.
Another seemingly small thing that I changed as soon as I could was the blinds. This made such a huge difference for me in how much I enjoy this space. I went thrifting for some nice curtains and found the perfect ones. There is something so satisfying about opening and closing curtains that I can’t seem to live without. I immediately went home and took down every blind I could possibly replace with a curtain. The curtains I found are a lovely beige color with red and green leaf silhouettes across them in very muted colors. It makes my entire first floor feel like a cottage and they go really well with the rest of the furniture I was able to pick up. Unfortunately, in the second floor there are some missing curtain rods so I was only able to replace two of the blinds in my bedroom with curtains. The curtain rods are quite outdated anyways so eventually I plan to save up to buy some new rustic looking ones that fit with the cottage vibe I’m going for and replace all of the rods in the house. I did hear from someone that you can’t sell a house in Massachusetts without blinds (or something to cover the windows) so I will be hanging onto the old blinds in case we sell this house in the future. I will be taking my curtains with me!
1 YEAR
It’s been over a year now. True to my nature, I completely forgot to post this after 6 months. So here I am, a year and three months into my life in this new house. It doesn’t feel so new anymore, which I rather like.
The house hasn’t seen many updates in the last six months. I suppose it was a combination of a lack of energy and a lack of funds. The biggest change is that half of the 5 foot wide paneled mirror hanging in the living space has come down. Yes, only half. I managed to get the first panel off the wall in one piece, the rest were not so lucky. I ended up having several large pieces of broken mirror strewn across the floor before deciding it would be better to wait until I had the ability to safely remove the panels. The mirror had been basically cemented to the wall by use of large sticky squares on the back. It also sits on a tray mounted to the wall and is clipped on the top of each panel as well. This project would have been a piece of cake if not for the sticky squares on the back, but alas, nothing is so simple.
Once the weather warms up and the glue on the back of the mirrors loosens up a bit, David and I can finally begin working on taking it down and cleaning up the walls before we paint the entire lower level. We’ve already picked out a gorgeous palette of mostly greens to fill the downstairs. We also have plans to redo the carpet in the upstairs, fix the front yard (which has been my personal battle for the entire summer of 2022), set up the basement as an entertainment room, and fix up the craft room to be more multifunctional. I also envision turning the mud room into something of a small shop for my paintings and maybe as a place to do readings. But that might be a stretch to convince David to go along with that one!
I am overjoyed to say that I received a hefty raise and a promotion at work, making all of these goals so much more achievable now. I can’t wait to get started.
In other little bits of news, here are some highlights from the first year in the house:
- David and I woke up around 3AM one morning to catch a mouse running around my bedroom with nothing but our bare hands and wits
- I was weeding the front yard and found my first ever black widow spider right where my hand had just been
- David and I take walks quite often through the trails behind our house and explore the surrounding areas
- The neighborhood cats all hang out in my back yard
- There is a gopher living under my shed
- I was able to practice javelin throwing most of the summer using a wooden stake in my back yard
- The nearby train is just audible when it goes through the town at night which we love hearing
- David and I throwing an Andes mint back and forth across my bedroom for hours one night
- We heard a pack of coyotes take down a deer behind our house and later we found the bones
- Frog and Toad always
Overall, it’s been a very calm existence. I get to blast my favorite music and paint whenever I want to. I get to stay up late and knit or read or watch shows to my heart’s content. I can cook food that I love and try new things all the time without having to cater to anyone else. David has complete freedom of his space and his time. Everything is just…good. Just as it should be. Just as I’ve always imagined. So much so that I couldn’t think of a single new year’s resolution other than to maintain exactly the life I’ve had for the last year. There’s not much else I dream of these days and that’s one of the biggest reliefs I’ve ever felt. It’s a time of recovery from so many changes all at once. Maybe in a few years I’ll reach another point in my life where I have a lofty goal to reach out for, but until then I’m enjoying the little moments of life in a place I’m slowly adding my own touch to every inch of.
