Living in an older home is tough. My house was built around the 1950's. It is a small ranch house, typical of that era. It is kind of cute and quaint looking from the outside, but the inside is just entirely too small. We have three bedrooms, and one bathroom. ONE BATHROOM. It is ridiculous. We lived in a one bedroom, two bathroom house in KY. In some ways, I feel like we have moved backward instead of forward.
Although I am grateful that I have a roof over my head, I really don't like my house. The rooms are tiny. The kitchen is outdated. We lack modern amenities - like a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. In turn, it is really hard for me to appreciate what we have. Instead, I find myself continuously pining for a bigger and better house. But in reality, we can't really afford a bigger and better house.
My husband, on the other hand, is very optimistic about our situation. He thinks that we can transform our crappy little house into our dream home. He talks about adding an addition to the back of the house. He dreams of converting our partially finished basement into a huge family room. He wants to remove walls and open up our living room/dining room/kitchen. I have a hard time getting excited about these over-the-top plans. They sound like a lot of work. And a lot of money.
What this all boils down to, is that I need to work on appreciating what I have. My life could be a lot worse. We have food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. These are all good things.
In summary, I suffer from a horrible case of The Wants. I don't NEED anything, but I WANT everything.
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” ~ Socrates
10 comments:
I, too, live in the 1950s! And we bought our house from the original owners who were in their 90s, so you can imagine what we were working with when we moved in! Last January, we finished our basement (we have a colonial, but sounds like the same amount of space as you--3 bedrooms/ONE bath) adding a full bath, laundry room, storage room and what is now a playroom. It has made all the difference in the world! Now we're on the fence about an addition. Our kitchen is SO SMALL and our son's room is really the size of a nice closet and I would love to have a master suite! Of course, we don't really NEED all of this! We've now discussed how much we like to travel and that if we do an additional, that will have to stop! Decisions, decisions! I think we'll try to manage with what we have for a while! Good luck to you!
There's this Dr. Seuss book called, "Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?" that we are reading that may help. :) As you know my life is pretty awesome but I still find lots to complain about, too. It's like a hobby. Don't feel bad!
This house was built in the 60s, and the house in Sweden in the 40s, with the same kind of crazy bathroom situation you've got. Of course we plan to renovate the shit out of it, too.
My house was built in 1914. 1914!!!
It has been updated and remodeled a couple of times but still... it is a little bit creepy and messy in places from previous owner's "do-it-yourself" projects. Thank god it is in an amazing neighborhood... otherwise- MEH.
My husband also dreams of transforming our home into our dream home whilst I HIGHLY DOUBT that is possible- unless we bulldozed the current house and started from scratch, that is. ; )
i feel you friend. our house was built in the 1920's and every project seems to take longer and cost more than we could ever expect.
but i am pretty sure that you at least deserve a garbage disposal until the BIG projects start taking over! you and hubby can install it together on a date night...sooo romantic :)
ps - and for the record - the basement finish project - totally worth it!! even though it took us a total of two years (first we had to get it dry and secure) and i moaned about it...now that it's done - i puffy heart each and every penny we spent!!
We don't have houses with basements over here, but i would like one!
BTW I don't have a dishwasher either!!
it is so funny to always want what we can't have! i want a smaller house with less stuff to maintain, so annoying how we are never happy!
I am with you. I go through fazes of the Wants then I cool down. The more I am in the house the more I realize I the things I want.
Oh - who doesn't have a case of the wants here and there... I have it all the time with my champagne tastes and beer pocket book. But the kids put everything into perspective. I think, "we can have a perfect house - the kids would destroy it" and "a bigger house would just mean that I would have an even harder time keeping track of them." It's all about spin.
I love your husband. Nothing better than a positive outlook for the health of a marriage. Lacking a dishwasher sucks. But having a husband who chooses to dream rather than complain? Priceless.
You two are great.
I am in the same boat..i want a new house sooooo bad!! It is painful at times but I try and remember that we could have it way worse and i try to appreciate what we have and not get jealous of all my friends super awesome new houses..sniff.
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