You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

Perhaps I should say, "we."

After much thought and discussion, we have decided NOT to move after all.

We took the lists of wants and needs that were guiding our search for another house and applied them to this place. What we discovered was that we were looking for this exact same house in terms of the interior spaces and porches, albeit with a back yard. I did some research and learned that having the concrete parking lot behind the house removed is not as costly as I had imagined.  We decided that instead of moving, we will completely make over the outdoor space so that we have a back yard, so that I have a real garden to play in, so that we have privacy, and so that Sadie has room to run off leash.  So bring on the fencing, arbors, trees, shrubs, and lots of cottage-y flowers!

 In honor of our decision to stay and to celebrate my falling (again) in love with the virtues of this old house, here are some pictures taken at various times in the past year.  The one above was taken before we even moved in.  I have since painted the porch and done some foundation planting, but realized today that I have not taken any photos of those improvements.

Deciding not to move is a lot like deciding to salvage a rocky marriage.  You have to look deeply into your heart and be honest about the things that attracted you to the house in the first place, the things you fell in love with.  You have to assess its strengths and attributes, along with its limitations.
However, while it is indeed possible to change a house to suit your wants and needs, we cannot possibly change another human being in any way, even if we might want to.  The only thing to change in that case is one's perspective or to move on.

I still adore this pantry.  It holds an abundance of food and kitchen wares while being accessible and easy to keep organized.

One of the things most difficult in hunting for another house was finding one with ceilings tall enough to accomodate our campaign bed from Restoration Hardware.  The bed is almost 9' tall!
 This room has 10' ceilings, so there is no problem.  I also appreciate the architectural interest of three-sided bay.  This would be hard to find in another house as well.

The proportions of the living and dining rooms, along with the tall windows, provide light and airy spaces for living.  The rooms flow well into one another.  The house has never felt dark or cramped.

Most of the planned changes involve the out door areas, however, I am determined to replace the interior window and door trim so that it matches the original trim boards that I found in the basement.  In the 1970's, when the house was being used as a doctor's office, the original trim was taken down and ranch style trim was put in its place.  By painting walls and moldings the same color, I have been able to minimize the visibility of this fact, but it is something that bothers me about the house.

So, I am feeling like the weight of indecision and disappointment has been lifted.  I am starting to reconnect with my house emotionally and to turn my thoughts to planning upcoming projects.  Visions of climbing roses are dancing in my head!

Stay tuned for my next big adventure.  Thank you for your on-going support and friendship through the many adventures I have had thus far.  I appreciate every one of you who take the time to stop by and visit.

Until next time...

Anne

P.S.  Apologies to Bob Dylan for borrowing the title for this post.