As a typical Type A personality , I’ll strategize and ultimately worry myself sick before making any decision. Though I’m a creative person by nature, I secretly love planning everything in an excel spreadsheet out to a “T” and even account for error. Why? Because, ultimately, I love the satisfaction of being in control and knowing the outcome.
Well, as the saying goes, “life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” Recently, life happened to me.
My husband and I have been looking for a new home for about 3 years now. A little bit more space for our growing family, both inside and out. We have done the fixer upper thing many times before with previous homes, so were looking for something with little to no work to do. Close to both of our jobs. With adequate storage as my husband’s tool collection rivals Sears’. Don’t forget the gourmet kitchen… and our budget.
A couple months ago, my husband pulled up a listing online and showed me. “Look at the Barn”, he commented. “Ehh” I replied, turned off by the wallpaper, dated carpet and quite frankly the location. Time went by and we saw and put offers in on two other homes, each one of them not working out for what it seemed to be impossible circumstances. My mind kept wandering back to the house with the barn, though every part of my logical self said “too much work”, and “too far away from work.”
As soon as my foot crossed the threshold I was in love. There was built in storage galore (perfect for my OCD self). A great yard to play in and a barn where Rob could have all his “stuff”. And, a gourmet kitchen- straight out of 1977, complete with harvest gold countertops. But it was immaculate, well cared for, and had great potential.
Despite our recent misfortune with putting an offer on other homes, to the point where we almost gave up, we put an offer in on the house. Fast forward a few months to me sitting in the family room, writing this, gazing at my “gourmet” kitchen. And, I couldn’t be happier. No, this house didn’t check all the boxes on my list, but I was able to step out of my Type A self and I can always use my wicked excel skills to organize every aspect of the renovations we will be doing on our new home. What I won’t always have is the feeling that says “this is the right home for us”. Sometimes, you just have to put all logic and reason aside and trust your gut.
