Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Deep or Not So Deep Thoughts... House Lust



So I am currently re-reading the book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. I've read it before... a couple times and I always pull more bits of food for thought from it. The last couple days I have been pondering house lust, or more specifically, my own house lust. We are selling our home in North Carolina and moving back to Minnesota. We will be renting for least least a year, but Philbert and I enjoy looking at houses online. It's a hobby of sorts.

I rationalize my thoughts on what I believe I need/really desire in a home. Four bedrooms - so the girls have their own rooms and we have a guest room or room for a third kiddo. A dedicated craft/sewing space - I love to sew and desire a place where I can create. A front porch - I want to sit on a swing and read to the girls like I used to do at my Oma's house in Duluth. A open floor plan - We like to entertain and often crowd in our kitchen at our current house. A finished basement - for a family room so the TV can be hidden away for infrequent viewing. Bedrooms on a second floor - I like the idea of the family sleeping space being separate. The list goes on and on...

But I don't really need all these things. My girls currently share a bedroom and it's not an issue. My sewing room/guest room/office is really a blessing. It works. I don't need a front porch to read books to my girls on nice days. We can read lots of places. So what if we crowd in the kitchen, the last I checked no one has declined an offer to join us due to the lack of an open floor plan. Really our home we have right now works for us and hopefully at some point we can find a similar home in Minnesota that works for us. I'm not going to go broke paying my mortgage just so I can have a breakfast room, playroom, sewing room... you get the pictures. It's not what matters in the grand sceme of things.

So what do I really need in a house you ask? I need somewhere my family can call home. I need a little yard for the dog. I need it to be in neighborhood that is a community with folks out and about who connect with each other. I need it to be close to where we work and where we play. That's what I need.

The four bedrooms, open floor plan, sewing room, finished basement and breakfast room... not such a big deal.

4 comments:

  1. hm, very interesting. You may not *need* those things but it's also not wrong to want them. I think in the end it comes down to what is the actual cost. Trading a smaller house for a more walkable neighborhood seems to be a good trade to fit your family's lifestyle. Having a crafty room can be tax-deductible if you're selling things through "Tread Therapy." But yea, space at what cost? You can have a really neat-o house but struggle for groceries or eliminate fun side trips... and that doesn't make sense at all.

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  2. I have many of your same thoughts. And like Julianna said, it's not wrong to want those things, but I always try to see how many things I can double up. For me, the smaller the house the better because there's less to clean! (As long as there's sufficient storage/organization opportunities!) I may have to check out this book. I hadn't heard of it before now.

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  3. Megan - you are indeed a woman with your head securely attached to your shoulders and not only know what is important, but use that as a guiding light. Once again, another reason I am so proud of you!

    * But it wouldn't be so bad to want a sewing craft dedicated space . . . . I'm sure it could be managed in "not so big house" :-)

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  4. I am now re-reading the book and having many of the same thoughts.

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