This spring we will pass a major family milestone, sometime in May we will finally have lived in this house longer than anywhere else! In the past 20 years since my husband and I married we have lived in a few different cities well over 4 years but never in the same house/apartment/flat. We knew when we bought this home that it was for the longer term and that we would take our time making it the right space for us. This house was literally the only house that fit what we needed when we were house shopping; 3 bedrooms for the 6 of us, office space, a space from my mom (bedroom & bath on a separate floor), walking distance to the kids school & other amenities and lots of nearby parks. Another big win, we could see that the house would be flexible, the function of spaces and rooms could change as my mother’s health evolved and the kids grew.
As we look forward to 2023 we are ready to start taking advantage of some of this home’s midcentury open plan flexibility. The following are the things we plan to tackle in the coming year;
1. Create another bedroom. This is the project that really creates a bunch of other projects. We currently have 3 boys in one room and as our middle guy inches towards 11 we are at a point where he needs to have some space of his own. We considered a lot of options to do this and decided that we wanted to undertake a project that was in line with our longer term vision for our main floor so buckle up while I walk you through this haha!
2. Transform my office into a boy’s bedroom. This was a hard, hard decision for me but I know it is the right one! I will likely eventually reclaim this space but for now it makes the most sense to give it up. I haven’t yet done a full reveal of my finished office, completed last Spring, so I have a post on that in the works! In any case if you are wondering where will I work……
3. Reclaim the playroom as a dining room/office space. From the minute we first toured this house I knew 2 things; the kitchen needed a rethink and we would put in a wall with double doors to divide the dining & living rooms. I actually want to do something similar from the hall into the living room but that will not be tackled until we do a full blown kitchen renovation in a few years. For the meantime the goal is to create a space that can be closed off when necessary for me to work and to accommodate our family at meal times, 7 people eating in our kitchen is getting trickier the more the boys grow. For reference we are projected to have 5 people in our house over 6 feet tall……
4. Finish the current library/living room refresh. I will complete this first as much of the refresh will translate into the new living room area that will be created in the late Spring/early Summer.
5. Refresh the kitchen. Ah the kitchen, the space in which I spend the most time and that lacks functions so poorly! I have spent the past 3 years really thinking through what we need in here and I think I have finally landed on the best layout for our family and this space. I have a mini renovation planned that will allow us to have a much more functional and frankly attractive space for the next couple of years before we embark on the larger reno. This is of course all finally possible because we won’t be eating in here so I can reclaim all the space from the table and benches!
6. Mini re-jig in the soon to be twins room. We will likely move the majority of the toys into the basement but the lego will go into the boys room.
7. Our closet. This is likely to be one of the first projects. This space is super dysfunctional and leads to a lot of dumping of clothes, shoes and accessories which drives me crazy! I plan to massively upgrade the function of the space - think up and give it a lot more visual appeal as well!
8. Create a study space out of a closet. We have a closet outside my office that isn’t used much at all and as the boys grow we see the value in having different work areas not necessarily in bedrooms. I’m planning to install a desk and shelves in this nook.
9. Applecroft, this is the biggest and by far most exciting item on the list. My mom recently inherited this wonderful country home. It is nestled in beautiful countryside and we are planning to rent it out throughout the year when it isn’t in use by family. Certain things need to be upgraded and refreshed throughout the home so I’ll be working on this as well!
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