Sunday, March 23, 2014

Moving Day is Finally Here!

After one long year, moving day has finally arrived. Tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., two men and a truck will arrive to whisk us away to our new house.

If you've been following this blog, you know that on March 29, 2013, OG and I set out on our grand adventure--moving from the Twin Cities in Minnesota to Carmel on the central California coast. We bought an uninhabitable wreck of a house with glorious views, moved into our vacation condo, and commenced work. Now, nearly one year later, we're finally ready to move in. We've sold our condo and are happy to be turning it over to a young, single woman (first time buyer), to begin her adult life as a homeowner. She's thrilled, and we hope she enjoys it as much as we have.

The house turned out to be a much bigger project than we initially anticipated. If I had it to do over, I'm not sure I would. Due to vermin, dry rot, and asbestos, we had to strip it to the foundation and studs and start from scratch. The upside is that we have a completely new house. The downside is that we had to pay for a completely new house. 
"Before"


As with any new house, there were hundreds of decisions to make, both large and small, and we didn't always make the right ones. For example: neither we, the designer, nor the contractor properly envisioned the laundry room door until it was hung and blocked half the cabinets. They were able to re-hang it to swing to the right instead of the left, but now it blocks the utility closet door. If we'd been thinking, we would have asked for a pocket door instead. As it is, OG will probably take it down and store it in the garage. Also, the master shower is enormous. We could have added a foot to the toilet room on one side and the linen closet on the other and still have had a plenty large shower. OG thinks the fireplace is out of proportion to the living room and we should have switched the locations of the guest bath and the laundry.
"After"


Oh well, live and learn. I'm sure we'll adjust to most of these things over time. The others will undoubtedly be changed (at great additional expense). However, I plan to concentrate on what we do have--a lovely, new home in a great location with a fabulous view. I'm excited to learn how to garden in this very different environment. Due to the daunting size of the project, I hired a landscaper to install the paths, irrigation, and basic plants, but I'm looking forward to adding things and tweaking the design over time. The deer came in the first night and stripped eight of the allegedly deer-resistant plants, so my first task will be replacing them with something less appetizing. 
Finished Back


The plants look tiny in the photos, but with the near-constant sunshine and twelve-month growing season here, they'll grow fast. I plan to post pictures of my progress, so stop back by from time to time and catch up!

21 comments:

  1. I'll bet you are so excited to be "home" again! The house looks lovely. I'm waiting for the tour. :-)

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    1. Next week, I'll be excited, Liz. I'll post interior pictures as soon as the place doesn't look like a tornado hit it. LOL

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  2. Congratulations, Alison. I can't imagine what you've gone through. We did something much simpler and it was terribly stressful and exhausting. Tweaks certainly need to be made but some of that you can't see until you've lived in it a while and I'll bet you'll easily get used to some things you didn't know you could. In my case, pink countertop. Some company cringe when they see it but I'm used to it now, :) I still intend to change it but I'm not in any hurry.
    Good luck in your new home. I'm sure you'll love it.

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    1. Thanks, Mary! We're barely standing at the moment, but hopefully we'll have most of the kinks worked out in the next month or so.

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  3. Congrats on the big move! Our bedroom door swings backward, too, blocking the light switch. My husband the contractor used to say he's switch it. Yep, that was 17 years ago and still blocking the switch. LOL You'll get used to all the little idiosyncrasies. I'm so excited for you!

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    1. Jannine, it's funny how you don't think of these things in advance. Because it's now behind the door, the laundry room light switch is on a motion sensor. Mike swears he's going to replace it, but I wonder if he really will.

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    2. LOL. We have a bathroom door that swings out and the switch is on the wrong side because my husband was convinced there was room enough for it to swing in.

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  4. Look fantastic, Alison! I think nothing ever quite turns out perfect, and it looks lovely. I'm with with Liz...I want to see the inside! lol Thanks so much for sharing! Good luck with the new house!

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  5. Congrats, Alison. Happy Moving Day! Your new house looks lovely. I know how excited you must be to finally move in.

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    1. Thanks, Diane! Since you recently moved, you know how much work we still have ahead of us.

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  6. From the outside it doesn't seem too different, but it is. I can't wait to see those inside pics because I know that changed entirely from the original interior. I'm so excited for you and OG! Enjoy your new home, garden and each other.

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    1. Jody, the biggest changes on the outside are the 2 additions, new front porch, new windows, and new garage door. I'll post pix of the inside in a few weeks.

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  7. Happy Moving Day! This looks fantastic. I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to sit on that deck and view what must be a beautiful panorama. Good Luck. Barb Bettis

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  8. Thanks, Barb! I can hardly wait to eat lunch on the deck, enjoying the view.

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  9. You and OG are true heroes to have gone through what you did. But the final result is gorgeous. May you have many happy, healthy years together enjoying your new home! And, yes, like everyone else, I look forward to seeing what the rooms look like.

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  10. It's beautiful, Alison! Congrats and here's a house warming toast-- May all your days be blessed in the new house. *clink*

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  11. Hi Alison!
    Huge congratulations on the new house--it looks beautiful. I'm so excited for you--although a year after your leaving we still miss you here. Truly though, it's hard to regret anything when you've made such a success of your move! Live long and prosper in your new castle!!

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  12. California is a wonderful place to live--fantastic views, lots of people, fresh veggies and fruit all year round, very dry, very warm. Enjoy every minute-- it was twenty-six below zero yesterday morning in International Falls.

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  13. Wishing you lots of wonderful memories in your new home. My husband buys and remodels older homes for resales so I know what it means to gut a house to the bones, lots of work! Yours looks beautiful!

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  14. pretty nice blog, following :)

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