This type of post is a bit different for me, but I thought I’d share why it took us three years to start the process of renovating our kitchen. Maybe it might help someone else who is trying to decide whether to move or improve their home!
The Beginning
We bought this house over three years ago. After renting for four years, our aim was to buy a place where the mortgage repayments would have been similar to our rent. We had no interest in changing our lifestyle to afford a huge house! So, we bought a three-bed, semi-detached house with an extra room downstairs that would be prefect for a music room. (My husband loves playing music and has about 14 million guitars!! 🙂
After a While…
One thing I have learned from this process is that you don’t know your house until you’ve lived in it for at least a year! If at all possible, wait this long before you make any structural changes. An extension, which included a utility room and the music room, was added to the back our house by the previous owners. We thought it was a great addition in the beginning. However, not a lot of thought was put into how this would affect the light in the rest of the house. Spoiler alert: The kitchen, in the middle of the house, is now the darkest room. This has got to change!
Time to Overthink!
After countless plans drawn, the best solution we have found is to move the utility to the where the current kitchen is. Then, knock all the walls between the dining area and the back of the house. The back of the house will become a kitchen that is light filled, with a view to the back garden. This will also allow light to flow into the middle of the house. Fingers crossed anyway! There are two main problems with this. Firstly, my husband’s music room will now have to be moved into one of our three bedrooms upstairs. So we will essentially become a two-bedroom house. Not ideal.
Secondly, as the back of our house faces north-east, we aren’t even guaranteed light filled rooms at the end of all this. Turning on the lights on the middle of the day is so depressing. So if knocking down walls won’t bring in light, I know we will definitely move in the future. We are going to be spending a lot of time, money and effort on this project, but we’ve come to realise that this might not even be our forever home.
Move or Improve?
For a long time we couldn’t decide an answer for this question. This renovation is going to cost approx. 10% of the value of the house. To be honest, if it was a lot more than that, we probably would have moved. There will always be a maximum price that a three-bedroom, semi-detached house will sell for, regardless of how amazing it is. So if we do decide to sell in the future, chances are, we won’t get all our money back on this renovation. Have you ever had to chose whether to move or improve?
Decision Finally Made
If we were here forever, of course it would be a no-brainer to renovate. But what was bugging me was how do you know you’re in a house for life??? We love the area we live in, our neighbours are great, it’s affordable, it’s close to work and it’s a good size. But on the other hand, we’d prefer a music room downstairs and a place with more light. What to do?! So here’s my big revelation… I’ve finally realised I don’t want to think of any house as a ‘forever home’.
No one’s future is set in stone. Well, unless I win the lotto and build my ABSOLUTE DREAM HOUSE – indoor slide anyone?! 😉 So maybe we’ll move in the future or maybe not. But right now we’re going with our gut and choosing to improve! After so long trying to decide, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. I’m excited to uncover this home’s potential and give it all the blood, sweat and tears it deserves. Because you need to love where you live!
Update: I’ve written a blog post about the final layout we chose for the renovation. Click here and let me know what you think!