Moving In A New Direction...Literally.

A little over a year ago, we sold our two-story suburban home and moved into a, slightly smaller, ranch nestled alongside a lake and some acreage. We get asked this question a lot by friends and family- why did you move? Our old house was beautiful, we loved our neighborhood and made good friendships with our neighbors. It was not an easy decision to move. However, Eric started working in a town, the town we eventually moved to, and really enjoyed it. Out of curiosity, we started looking at houses online. Right away we found one that we fell head over heels for. It’s strange to say that about a house like it’s a relationship. We honestly had this gut feeling, a good feeling about it.

We liked that this home has solid bones, as it was built less than 15 years ago, and a one-story with vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, and a full basement. Having an open floor plan was very appealing to us. However, the kicker, the one thing that drew us in and completely sold us...the taxes. Ha! Just kidding. I mean, the taxes are waaaaay better than what we were used to, I’m talking- about 50% less, but that’s not the biggest reason. It was the property. The best part is the location.

Directly south of our backyard is paradise to us. We open our fence gate to a little less than 100 acres. Featuring a decent sized lake, stocked with plenty of fish, grassland for the dog to roam without limitations, and prairie land with a small wooded area that houses wildlife- deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, and coyotes. We watch the sunrise over the lake and see the sunset down the trees to the west. We hear the birds chirp and see squirrels scurry all day long. It is peaceful.

Before this house, we lived in a typical middle-slightly upper-class neighborhood in rural suburbia. Large two-story houses closely huddled in every direction. The lot sizes were less than a quarter acre and there were barely any trees in sight. There were a few trees, but they were all tiny. Very little privacy, very little scenery. So moving to another location which still offers the luxury of a neighborhood, but able to look out our back windows and see no neighbor’s windows is serene. Note: we do have a highway located directly south of the acreage, so it’s not perfect, but still, we’ll take it!!! On the upside, we have main highway access that less than 2 minutes away. Ideal considering we moved out into the country.

While this house has a great foundation, we wanted to customize it to fit our style and needs. It’s been a little over a year and we can successfully say we have about 50% of the house updated! Which is a lot, considering we’ve done everything with our own two hands. We probably would have more done but, you know, life happens. Things popped up. Like our air conditioner breaking down during the hottest months or the flood that destroyed our basement and much of our belongings. Minor hiccups. We also spent time enjoying the house for what it’s worth, and living life and having fun in it.

I plan on sharing before and after pictures because it’s highly requested...all.the.time. Which is exciting, that people are curious and want to see our hard work. We are extremely proud of what we accomplished so far. We are learning as we go, and it’s neat to see the finished product of our efforts! A lot of cursing, sweat, patience, and dedication has gone into this place...but we are happy to call this house home.

I started a renovation page that will host all of our projects thus far. You can find it on the homepage by clicking 'Design' at the top, or simply click here.

xx
Katie