I’ve talked about moving, and even written a good-bye ode to our house, so now it’s time to share a peek at our new little cottage near the sea! By bicycle, it’s less than a mile to the beach. {squee!}
We’re downsizing.
This little 1960’s ranch-style house is 40% smaller than our current home and although it does have a carport, there is no garage. We’ve packratted away a ton of stuff in our garage — plus a large attached storage room — so we’ve had to be brutal in cleaning out. Since we’re also losing that storage, I think that counts for another 10%, which means we’re moving our family of five into a house half the size of our current home. And I’m giddy about it!
This is not merely an issue of what we could afford. We specifically wanted a smaller home. Ironically, the buyer of our 2,500 square foot home is a single older woman.
Want to see some inside pictures?
Note: these are all just photos from the real estate listing, so this is not our furniture. We haven’t moved in yet!
The part I’m the most ridiculously excited about? The screened porch! It’s swoon-worthy, and I plan to spend exorbitant amounts of time there.
Although the house is small, the living space isn’t. I love the open feel. And yes, that’s a washer and dryer in the kitchen. Let’s just call it European; isn’t that sort of thing common there?
Yes, it has bedrooms, but no good photos, so we’ll skip that for now.
We’re moving to an island, and therefore the lots are small. There’s only so much island to go around. In fact, they’re usually measured in square feet, which is not something I’d seen before. However, this house sits on two lots, so we’ll have about 1/3 acre, and the back yard already fenced for the dogs. Another thing I love about the whole area is the abundance of trees!
I’m already planning things to do inside and out to make it more ours but we’re off to a good start. Since I figure the only thing worth photographing for at least a few weeks is going to be boxes and chaos as we get settled, it’s fun to share these photos for now.
And hey! Want to hear something I think is kinda crazy? You’ve now seen just about as much of this house as I have! I did have Ken facetime me while he walked through a second showing so I could see and ask questions about a few things, but I’ve never stepped foot in it.
Let the adventure begin!
Ken and the kids drove out with all our STUFF yesterday, and if all goes as planned (I’m writing this ahead of time!), today Kathryn and the dogs and I are on the road after taking care of some last minute details in Georgia. I won’t have a week-end post on Friday but I hope to be back next week, posting from our new home!
I love it! Close to the water. Downsizing. All sounds very familiar! What island in NC? We’ve been to a few when we were living in Atlanta.
LOVE IT!!! I totally relate to wanting a smaller house. It’s funny how God changes your perspective because I used to fall into the “we need, want, deserve a bigger house” especially with 7 children. Now I want to simplify with maybe a 3 bedroom ranch!
I am so SO so excited for you guys! Cheers to your new adventure.
Oh, my goodness that porch! I think I’d just live there. {sigh}
I absolutely love it! I can’t wait to see it become yours!!! What wonderful fun and learning will occur there, I’m sure!
I bet you will be drinking lots of tea on that porch. 😉
Beautiful! So excited for y’all!
This is so exciting. I’m enjoying watching your family take this journey. I was just telling my husband about this stranger I follow whose family is following their dreams! LOL! Then we started talking about how we hope to one day do this. It’s nice to see real life people take a leap and follow dreams like this. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thanks for making me covet and then having to repent of it : ) that porch! that open living area! WALKING to the beach for a break!! so happy for ya’ll, while pining for one of our own : )
nicole
It’s so beautiful! A washer and dryer in the kitchen is really convenient, I find – we only have a washer, but it means I can just stick any dirty towels in straight away and laundry can’t pile up in the murky laundry room where no one goes, because there isn’t one. If you don’t deal with it straight away, you fall over it while making dinner.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of your new home, it looks like the perfect place for the kids to grow and run around. As long as you have adequate space, it’s far more important to have experiences than acres of boredom.
Very cute! Lovely to be so close to the ocean. Phew, will be interesting to watch you unfold all those boxes in the new downsized home! Cheers to you! Love the color of paint too.
I’ll email you the specifics. 😉 How long has it been since y’all moved?
It is funny, isn’t it? And that’s what ours is; a 3-bedroom ranch. Of course we’ve only got 3 kids still in the house.
Thanks, Cheryl!!!
I know! Can you believe I haven’t spent any time there yet? It’s the unpacked-boxes repository at the moment but NEXT WEEK is my set up the porch goal!
Thanks, Chandra!
You bet I will! 🙂
Thank you, Robin!
Haha! Thanks, Bethany! I’ve watched a few folks online do something along these lines and it’s been fun. Also fun to be someone whose adventure you’re following, so thanks for reading and commenting!
Ha! If you saw the porch full of unpacked boxes and all the clutter everywhere — oh and the teensy master bathroom with the water heater in it, you’d be a little less covetous. 😉
Yes, I agree about the smaller house, May. And so far I’m rather liking the washer where it is; just need a more attractive solution to having piles of laundry in the kitchen when I’m doing the washing!
Oh yes, it’s a challenge. So. Many. Boxes. ;P
Looks absolutely lovely!!! Have a fun time getting settled and I know with your touches it will feel like home real soon!
Jamie, it’s beautiful! Many congratulations. An island!!!
Thank you, Nancy!
Thank you, Renee! The fact it’s an island sounds a bit more exotic than it is, but it’s delightful nonetheless. Loving your Montreal posts, too!
Oh I LOVE the porch!! Our home has a sunporch and we spend most of our time there, I’m sure you’ll make good use of yours as well.
Can’t wait to see it morph into your home, but I must say I love the color scheme it has now!