How I Almost Gave Up (& Why I'm So Glad I Didn't)

I haven't told you about this yet, but last year at this time, my family was in turmoil.

Everything seemed to be on its ear, a family member was struggling with medical issues, and we were seriously considering putting our beloved old house on the market to move to what seemed to be greener pastures. 

I just wasn't feelin' the love anymore.

You see, in March 2015, in a freak accident, my son hit his head and suffered a serious concussion--serious enough to miss more than three months of school, and require occupational, physical and speech therapy through most of last summer. 

Where did he hit his head??

In the doorway to his bedroom. 

So, feeling a weird sense of betrayal and definitely NOT feeling like myself,  I guess you could say I was DONE with our house.

A lot of our doorways are low--as is often the case in a home with the foundation dating back to 1778-- and my son, being a healthy teenage boy, was growing to beat the band...

(this picture was snapped last summer, when my sense of humor was just starting to return...)

All of the things that were less than perfect about our house suddenly became intolerable to me and I just wasn't sure that we could change the many things that needed to be changed. I just wanted OUT. Another, different, better house just had to be the answer. 

We looked at other houses, contemplated fixer uppers, argued, fretted, grew more grey hairs (thank God for hair color!), prepped our house to go on the market, looked at more houses, cried, drove to neurology appointments at AI DuPont...

And then, because we couldn't find anything we liked as well (even with all of our home's flaws, which seemed to be SHOUTING at me at that point), we decided to stay.  

I guess it was time for me to be the House Whisperer for myself. *sigh*

So started the process of re-thinking everything about how we lived in our home, starting with my home office. The doorway you see Liam standing in above was the door to my former office, in the center of the downstairs of our home (great when the kids were little, torture now that I needed more quiet and focus to lead a growing company). 

Here's what that little room looked like on a typical busy, messy day last year: 

This room was the first one to undergo major change as we settled in and recommitted to our quirky historic abode. 

So here is what this little space looks like now, with its new identity, higher doorways, and new lease on life:

Even though we have a large family room just around the corner, we often find ourselves squished into this hopelessly cozy and welcoming space to read or watch tv...

And even though it is teeny tiny, it still has adorable, interesting corners that are full of character...

This strange little space that had been such a source of frustration has literally become everyone's favorite room in the house!

(You may remember the chair in the picture above from an earlier post a few weeks back. The cute little thing went through quite a transformation itself!) 

So, if you are ready to give up on your house, take heart! Things that seem hopeless can actually be an opportunity to recreate your rooms into what you always wished you had all along.

And where is my office now? Well, I can't wait to show that to you in a few weeks! Stay tuned... :)

A heart-felt thank you to Laura Kicey for her beautiful photographs of our new space!