You've got to look out for Number One

Part of this journey to redefine our family is finding somewhere new for the boys and me to live. "Expert nester" means I am feathering a nest - mine, yours, my sister's, ones I see on Pinterest - without them actually being mine. So the search for a new abode for me, the boys, the dog and the cat will include full layouts and space planning. If I cannot see my things in it, I cannot put my people in it.

 

I am going rounds with myself about buying vs. renting. What I can afford to rent is not necessarily where I would feel safest alone with two children, and not anywhere in an easy commute to the school. What I can afford to buy may lock me into something it may be difficult to unload in a couple years. Since I fully expect to be making a more significant and permanent geographic change when Jake starts high school, I am running on a two-year housing cycle. In reality, who knows what my housing needs will be in two years. They are dramatically different today than they were two years ago. I need to do the thing that provides the best space for us, is easy on my budget and is not too difficult for me to maintain on my own.

 

Last night we went to look at this 1,500 sqft townhouse, forevermore known as Option #1, in a gated community a few miles from our current home, a straight shot to the school, in a good neighborhood.

 

It has an adorable façade, with a slate roof, that opens onto a wide surrounded courtyard. Surrounded = "go play outside until I call you in for supper."

 

 

The entry has a coat closet and space to put a small table for keys, mail, etc. There is also a large half bath, and a long wall inviting organization or board-and-batten.

 

 

The front door opens into a very large L-shaped dining and living area. The carpet is in bad shape, but I have an ample rug supply to cover each area until I save up for new flooring. Beyond that sliding glass door is a patio with both grass for dog poop and concrete for walking not on dog poop. Beyond that is covered, lit parking for two cars. That makes those sliding doors my main entry into the home. They are old and would need immediate replacing. Since that door unit is more than eight feet across, that is going to be a hefty purchase to install more secure patio doors.

I have wood laminate in my house now, and I love it. It looks like wood but you could throw a bucket of water on it and not warp it. I would do wood laminate in every room but the bathrooms, even in the kitchen.

 

The kitchen is very large for a townhouse. Storage space is comparable to my house. Not crazy about the countertops (tile flooring) or the backsplash, but those are easy projects to save up for. Needs a new dishwasher, and there is room over the stove for an over-the-range microwave. The laundry area is also in the kitchen, in a double-door closet under the stairs.

 

Upstairs are two large bedrooms, both of which need new light fixtures. The smaller of the two is this one on the front of the house, with the bay window. Even though the boys love this window, I would take the smaller bedroom. The closet in this bedroom is the size of the master bathroom in my house. The room needs finishing touches like crown molding, and to me, a less yellow paint, but those are simple weekend projects.

 

The second, larger bedroom has two separate closets. Jake and Landen did paper-rock-scissors for who would get which closet, until I informed them that one closet would be for clothes and one would be for toys and related male equipment. I love the idea of a closet big enough for chests of drawers, which would put less furniture in an already-large room. Pre-adolescent boys grow into adolescent and teen boys without permission, and they would not be cramped into this room together with a bunch of furniture.

 

The upstairs bedroom is a Hollywood bath, so each bedroom has a toilet and vanity and the shower/tub is shared in the middle. There is a huge linen closet across from the tub, which has been refinished. The vanities and cabinets in the half baths upstairs are horrendous orange wood, and both are wallpapered. I've never torn off wallpaper before, but I bet I'll be darling at it.

 

The back patio even comes with a tree.

This is the short side of the courtyard, which is fenced at both ends. Landen fell out of a tree while we were there, because he has the ability to make himself fully at home anywhere.

 

This is a very loosely-drawn floorplan of both floors. I say "loosely" because the measurements for the top do not match the measurements for the bottom, but I am pretty certain both floors are the same size.

 

I told ya. Loose.

Because I am a freakazoid, I also put my furniture in the living room and two bedrooms. If it looks sparse, it's because the whole point is living with less, so what we do not need stays in storage. I'm absolutely not going to try very hard not to put furniture in it for purely aesthetic reasons.

My room

Boys' room, that green being a large wall shelving system for books, TV, movies, trophies, etc.

So this is Option #1. We have not made an offer. We have not contacted the seller. We have done not anything but walk around, take pictures, fall out of trees, fall into holly bushes, and spend an hour making floor plans and space planners while one of us watched Game of Thrones. Option #2 may be scheduled next week. Let's discuss all of them, shall we?

 

I got word this morning that my dad and his Friends Who Fix Stuff are coming down here Saturday and possibly Sunday to work on the fix-it list for the house. That will be a fully documented sh!tshow, because I am not at all prepared. I also feel my feet getting cold, as all those repairs being done means that I have to put the house on the market, keep it clean so people want to buy it, and then leave it. I'm so glad I've made the wise decision to put all my sillies on the street, so y'all get to keep me company in this tomfoolery.