Be Colorful Coastal

Twenty-Two Months To Move In - First Peeks At Our New Downsizing House

Welcome to our downsizing home up north.

It took us twenty-two months to move in.

If you are a follower of Be Colorful Coastal you already know our story, but if you are new here let me quickly bring you up to speed.

For over twenty years we lived in this large century-old home up north. 

 

Five years ago we purchased our forever home in Florida. 

But, because of family and friends up north, we weren't ready to commit to being here full time. So, we continued to hold on to our big old rambling house in the Midwest.

Three years ago we made the decision that since it was just the two of us now that the time had come to say goodbye to the old family ponderosa and downsize to something smaller and more efficient. Let the house hunting begin!

Then, two years ago we purchased this fixer-upper and the transition began.

 We knew that the renovations to this house would be extensive.  We ended up taking the interior down to the studs. We moved walls, stairs, windows, and doors. From the walls in it was an entirely new house.

The remodel on this downsizing property took a year and a half - much longer than we had planned but then it took another six months, after its completion, for us to finally sell our old home. 

But sell it we did.

 

What made this chapter interesting is that not only did we sell our older home, but the buyer also wanted the furniture and decor. 

We were starting fresh. We needed everything - furniture, lamps, accessories, bedding, and rugs. Everything! 

 

 

It has been two months now since we made our move. We had hoped that our buyer would be interested in some of our furniture because so much of it would not fit in this smaller space and because we were still living in and showing the old house nothing had been moved over to the new place. It was a gift when they decided to buy everything but it also created a few hiccups. The biggest hiccup was that the new owners wanted a quick possession and most of the furniture we selected for the new house needed to be ordered. As a result,  things have been pretty sparse around here. We were back to the days of a mattress on the floor and carrying a  single lamp from room to room. 

Case in point, because I am still waiting for a dresser, it has been Ikea drawer inserts to the rescue.

 

But now, two months later, the furniture is beginning to filter in. Yay!

 

The new living room ( I got to keep the dog).

Here are a few glimpses of how it looks today. Enjoy the peeks but I hope you will consider signing up for emails of new blog posts or follow Be Colorful Coastal on Facebook as I share our latest home updates in this house and also in our Florida home.

 

 

The kitchen table and chairs

The master bedroom

 

 

artwork

 

Lighting

 

Fans

 

The newly configured entry

 

 

 

 

 

Sold House, New House, and Family News

Where did I leave off?

It was late summer and I had just posted about our coral family room in the house we were trying to sell.

I have a whole queue of posts that I wrote promoting our century-old home in an effort to stir up some interest and I still intend to share more of those posts with you here on Be Colorful Coastal. You can find some of the earlier posts featuring that house here:

The Entry

The Living Room

The Library

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

 

 

But then it happened. We had a buyer.

A terrific buyer. A buyer that bought almost all of our furniture and wanted a very quick possession.

 

Yes, it made for an easier move but because most of the furniture we were buying for the new house needed to be ordered, that meant living without furniture for several months.

 

 

We were fortunate that we were able to head back south for a while. Finally, about a week ago most of the new beds, sofas, and dressers began trickling in. We aren't all the way there but it is beginning to look like a home. I'm still waiting for the big triple dresser for the master bedroom. So, currently, things are lined up in Ikea boxes along the wall.

 

 

 

Then, a couple of weeks before the new owner took possession, we discovered that we were going to be grandparents for a second time.  We are absolutely blessed, but I also thought to myself that while we are downsizing our family is growing. Oh my. LOL.

 

 

                                   

 

Then we learned that our oldest son and his wife will likely be moving back to the United States. We are thrilled that we will be able to see them more than once a year or so. Again, more people around the dining table that I don't have. Haha.

The whole gang in front of our new digs

 

Did we downsize too soon?

I don't think so. We had eight and ½ of us all sleeping here over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was more than a little cozy, but we did it. 

Any more babies, though, and we might be talking about adding on. 

So hang in there, the posts will be flying and hopefully, you will find something to inspire you and take away a few helpful hints so you can avoid some of the pitfalls that we experienced with our rebuild and move.