House Looking...But Not Buying

We went again yesterday to look at more acreages. I'd previously been to two (one of which the pictures were WAY better than the actual house) and the other needed way more work than what we were willing to put in. And both had hardly any outbuildings or ones that were ready to fall in if you touched them. (a husband's requirement!)

The ones we saw yesterday were...UM...Okay. One was in town and was a huge old victorian with a wrap around porch. Thought I'd love it. And I did. For it's craftsmanship, oak woodwork, and open-oak-curved staircase. GORGEOUS!! But not practical for my family. With four kids, four inside cats and a dog PLUS a quilting studio I am NOT going to give up, there just wasn't enough practical space. It really hurts me to say that because my dream has always been to own a Victorian house with a wrap around porch.

The second one we visited had a nice metal building wiht heated shop area and office (score for the hubby), detached two car garage and a house with ALL hardwood floors (score for me!). Unfortunately, it was S-M-A-L-L. I need space. I'm a closet claustrophic, I'll admit it. Large open spaces are what I need...

The third one we looked at scored BIG time. Of course, looking at it from the outside, it was the one I thought I'd like the least and actually ended up being the one I liked the most. LOTS of space, five bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, 5 acres of ground, a metal shop buildling and two big bins. It had been lived in by a little old lady and, when she either passed away or moved to the nursing home, the son moved in and renovated it. All new everything...fixtures, carpet, hardwood (Pergo), linoleum, etc. It's bad side came after thinking about living there for 30 years and having to do all of the stairs. It was a split-level so when you walked in the front door, it was either up or down but no where else to go. And am I going to want to do that 30 years from now??? Am I even going to want to do that right now? Visions of carrying a sleeping baby with armloads of groceries came to mind... The other bad thing is the carpet that was redone was put in as a tight-weave Berber. And I HATE Berber carpet. Especially with kids.

Anyway, all of this 'looking' has me thinking about what I do want in the "perfect" house. Then I'm going to try and get my hubby to do the same so that we know what we're looking for. The thing that scares me the most is being able to find it around HERE.

My perfect house would have:

1) Five bedrooms
2) Three bathrooms (kids, master, 'community')
3) Large open room with separate entrance (or opportunity to make it so) for quilting studio with room to put a long-arm that I hope to acquire someday
4) Eat-in kitchen with an island big enough to sit six seats
5) Breakfast nook off the kitchen with a fireplace
6) Private balcony off the master bedroom
7) Double hung windows
8) Walk-in pantry in the kitchen
9) Fireplace in the family room
10) Rec room for the kids

I could live with a ranch style house if the basement were finished and a walk-out. That's all I can think of right now.

Otherwise, not much quilting going on here this week. I'm preparing to put in a book order over the weekend, ordering more Vintage Valentine patterns (see further down in the post for pics) and ordering some patterns from Jacqueline de Jonge of the Netherlands. You can see her patterns here. Very, very nice paper-pieced patterns. Let me know if you're interested in any of the above! I will be putting orders in on Sunday evening so payment by then is appreciated. Contact me for pricing and more details.

Even though I haven't gotten any actual sewing time in, my thoughts are quilting-based EVERY day. Since my trip to Minneapolis to IKEA, I'm slowly getting my things put together and moved into my studio. Of course, that type of thing always takes three times as long as you think it should!!

The kids are home from school today and Monday for Spring Break...so I'm off to help them clean-up in the toy room today. Then we're going to color Easter Eggs later on!