A hobby farm has always been a dream of both mine and Chase and I want Lucy to grow up with the responsibility of raising an animal for 4H or FFA. With the housing market on a steep incline here in the Boise area, a few months ago Chase and I got caught up in the nervous frenzy of feeling like “it’s now or never” on getting into a little larger house with more land. We even put an offer in on a house with an acre (I already had our goats picked out and practically named). The house had one bedroom more than we have and just a little extra square footage, which seemed more than perfect. To say the least, my contentment with living smaller and simpler was having some issues. And as we thought about the decision, it just didn’t feel right. We live in an amazing neighborhood with an even more amazing location, which means we live ten minutes or less to most anything it seems. With park-like landscaping and a community pool, Woodbridge, our neighborhood just can’t be beat for our stage of life. So, our offer fell through, and we sighed a breath of relief. But we got to thinking, why not make a few changes to our home and make it exactly what we want? Our thought: those little updates will only help the resale value and we will get to enjoy them while we stay put!
Our main pain points were counters (we DIY’d our guest bath countertop with spray paint and kitchen countertop with concrete and they looked good for a few years but were needing attention), our master bathroom, and exterior paint. Obviously those things are pretty big projects (you can see my dream bathroom remodel here) so we prioritized and then scaled the projects to fit our budget and need. The counters were top on the list, so that made the cut for sure. I absolutely love the quartz we picked!
Inspiration:
Then for the bathroom, the main things were shower glass, updated fixtures, a new backsplash and paint (wall and cabinets). It has been amazing to see how those updates have made an incredibly huge difference! I didn’t realize how frustrated I was with the nasty old builder grade sink and faucet in our bathroom until we replaced with the new! Now, every time I go into our bathroom I feel like I’ve entered a spa, and it’s not even complete yet.
As for exterior updates, we were in dire need of a new paint job anyways so we had to do that. And it’s a bit comical, since the minute we bought the house, Chase has been wanting to change the exterior color. He always has said our tan was much too pink! Why, oh why, does it take 7 years to follow through and make the change? We’ve been so excited with the exterior update, and I can’t wait to show photos once the landscaping is put in.
So what I’ve realized is that we don’t need an extra bedroom or an acre to be content. But I also think it’s okay to make the changes necessary so that the everyday can be thoroughly enjoyed. Our simplicity is not about never indulging, but it is about learning contentment and knowing less comparison. Your living simple may look different than ours, and that’s perfectly okay.