How do you feel about your home? Do you absolutely love it, or are you just spending time there until you have have your dream space? I was told once that no house is perfect, and I believe that. We have lived in several places during our marriage, In our first apartment, we had to walk through the bedroom to get to the kitchen. The next one was in Geneva, Switzerland where we lived while Mr. Right played professional basketball. It was a one room studio that the team owners furnished for us. (It had a great Persian rug.) Then we graduated up to homes on acreage and then a home in the suburbs. I can honestly say that I loved each one. I have always enjoyed nesting and creating a home, and it really didn’t matter what it was or where it was. Jordan and I thought it might be fun to pick out the five things we each love about our current homes and write posts about them. Today is my day to share my favorite things with you.
1. I love the fact that we now live in a townhouse. We are empty-nesters and don’t require the space we once needed. Wherever we have lived during our marriage was the right space at the time, and so it is with this place. Having just a stoop and a courtyard to maintain is pure heaven. I can spend about 10 minutes a day in the courtyard tweaking and sweeping and pruning, and that’s all it takes. Heck, I can even go a whole week without doing a single thing, and it still looks good. The best thing about living in a townhouse is that when it is time to travel, we can just lock the door and leave. We don’t have to worry about lawn care, plant care, etc.
2. I love that our laundry room is on the second floor near the bedrooms. When we bought this townhouse, the laundry was in the basement. We (along with our architect and builder) created this second floor laundry room out of a wasted corner of the guest room. It’s getting a new paint job soon, but I still love it. Each of the homes that we have built or remodeled has had an upstairs laundry room, and they have all been so convenient. I never have to lug a basket of clothes up and down the steps, and if something needs to be ironed at the last minute, the ironing board is just steps away.
3. I love a good pantry, and this house has one. It isn’t a fancy butler’s pantry. No, it’s a working pantry. I have my bake station in there, store all of our food along with the pots and pans in there. I even have my office in the pantry. It is a great workable space. It isn’t a beauty, but it is completely adequate for my needs and wants.
4. I love our kitchen. It’s the smallest kitchen that we have had, but that’s okay. It is also the only kitchen we have had that didn’t have a fireplace. We are only two people these days. The kitchen opens into the great room so that I can have a conversation with Mr. Right when I’m cooking dinner, and he is watching the news. I love the marble countertops, the blue ceiling, the stove, the farmhouse sink, the rustic shelves, the French doors, and much more. Good things happen in our kitchen. I recently made a small tweak that we will be showing you later this week.
5. Finally, I love our sunroom. It’s really an all-season room, and if I want to be fancy, I call it a solarium. I always enjoy seeing all of the solariums on the country houses when we are in England, so I was thrilled when our townhouse came with one. The previous owner added it. I have mentioned here before that it gets the afternoon sun which determines the times of the day that we can use it. It gets too hot in late afternoon/early evening. Plus, we can’t use it in the dead of winter, but I can decorate it all year long. I have thought that it would be a great place for an office, but that would require that we add heating and air conditioning, and I don’t think Mr. Right would go for that.
So, now it’s your turn. What are some of the things you love about your own homes? We would love to know. Jordan will be sharing hers next week.
Kay says
Looks great! I love your pink rag rug; I am going to order a blue one from Land of Nod, later today! My own house love would be the 2 bays with huge windows — one facing south in the LR + another facing west in the DR. Let there be light! 😉
Patty says
We are now empty nesters with a five bedroom house. I have been trying to convince my husband it is time to move out of State (we live in Connecticut and it is just too expensive. The house is too big for us and my laundry is in the basement and I worry about carrying laundry up the stairs (we have a shoot to drop it down). Unfortunately because of my husband’s health we have to stay near Yale/Smilow Cancer center but he finally agreed that we can start looking at a one floor house out of the Town we live in to a more affordable Town with a lot less people. I love your home.
Cheryl Ann says
We retired three years ago and left our lovely big home in Seattle to move to Nashville and be near our children and grands. It has been quite the journey and we are grateful for our lovely smaller home in a planned community in Thompson’s Station. My favorite things are 10 ft. ceilings, only two bathrooms, a lovely front porch, a large side screened porch, and the open concept kitchen/family/dining room for when our family comes over. We were all just together celebrating our granddaughter’s birthday and had a wonderful time…I’m still smiling! Thanks Janette for sharing your home with us.
Rhonda Smith says
Hello Cheryl Ann, from a neighbor in Spring Hill! We are blessed to live in a wonderful community of kind, generous, family-oriented people. Glad you’re enjoying your home and those grands!
kathy says
I love that you love your home. I like that you are dwelling on the positive things. So many times we are thinking about what we need to change. I like that my kitchen is fairly large. I love that I have granite counter tops and can just sit hot things on it right from the oven. I like that my bedroom is large…a happy thing that we rearranged closets to make the room four feet longer. I love that I have four windows in my bedroom to let in lots of light. Finally, I love the hardwood floors that are in most of the rooms. Now I need to stop thinking that I need a huge closet, huge bathroom, and taller ceilings.
Rhonda Smith says
Thank you for sharing your home with us. The pantry door is awesome and decorating our sun porch when its too cold to enjoy is an excellent idea!!