house #5.5

the last three years have been achingly difficult for me.
in addition to losing our business, AND every penny that we earned during the previous 10 years, we also left our newly remodeled house in tennessee, and moved into a dated rental house in utah.
(pretty much a recipe for insanity...especially for an interior designer).
like a lot of design-lovers, i have always been VERY sensitive to my surroundings. when i am in a place that i FEEL is unattractive, i get depressed.
sad.
angry.
uncomfortable.
a little crazy-in-the head. 


throw in a leaky basement, toilets that rarely flush, a totally rusted out mailbox, an oven that won't fit a regular size sheet pan, bad 1970's light fixtures, squeaky floors, doors that stick, ugly wallpaper, and a floor plan that just doesn't work for our family, and you can see why i have been a "little grumpy" for the last three years.

two weeks ago, we discovered a "new" leak in the basement. it was literally the. last. straw.
with two weeks left before school started, we began a search for another place to live.
and guess what?
we found something.
yep. we are moving. to another rental house.
so, why another rental? why not just buy?

1. the housing market continues to decline. sad, but true.
2. we are unwilling to buy something that we don't love.
3. we are unwilling to buy something that we don't know is a great investment.
4. we are not interested in a long commute for my husband, so that really narrows down the area where we would consider buying a house.
5. we are *pretty sure that in order to get what we want, we are going to have to build. we have looked at hundreds of houses over the last three years, and have only seen two houses that we even liked "a little". not very promising.
6. the new rental house is right next to a development we are considering buying a lot and building...so, that means no school changes when/if we do build.
7. our oldest daughter is going into 7th grade, which here, means junior high school. we figured it was best to switch schools now than wait until she is in 8th or 9th grade and is more established and hates us even more for moving her than she does now...

the good news is that the rental house is much more "makeover" friendly than our current house.
the entire main floor (minus the kitchen and baths) has hardwood floors. they are natural maple (i'm more of a walnut or medium-dark stained red oak gal), but HEY, i'll take maple over what we have now ANY day! ( two kinds of cheap, dated vinyl, three different carpets, and some really hideous marble--and that's just the main floor! the downstairs has three MORE kinds of carpet! it's insane.)
there are obviously things about the new house that as a designer make me cringe, but overall, i am really excited to move and to make "house 5.5" feel like home.
i hope you will join me!


i have three years worth of ideas about "my next house", and i am SUPER excited to get started on some of them.

now, pardon me while i pack a few hundred boxes....
(and be patient over the next few weeks with my posting. i am packing and preparing for our move next week, and then the week after that, we are going to hawaii for our 15 year anniversary. 
i am SO going to need that vacation after the next two weeks...)