When we first began house hunting, my husband and I formed a list of criteria that was important to us in our search.

Dream Criteria

• garage, preferably two car and attached to the house via a mud room
• wood burning fireplace
• two story home
• updated with modern fixtures
• located on a quiet road, preferably closer to town but on a rural country property or a subdivision on a larger lot
• finished full basement
• four bedrooms, but three was acceptable
• hardwood floors, clean carpeted bedrooms
• in our county with the good school district

What I Ended Up With

• no garage which leaves both of our cars exposed to the elements
• no fireplace or woodstove
• Bungalow style home
• semi updated kitchen – everything else is original to the house
• located on a large, country lot but on a busy road
• unfinished basement
• three bedroom
• 11 different kinds of flooring throughout the house
• in our county with the good school district

This was our first house. I didn’t expect a whole lot in what we were going to be able to find in our price range. The main thing that I wouldn’t budge on was where the house was located. It is on a busier road yes, but it is in the county that I wanted. Notice how every other thing mentioned is literally the opposite from what we actually purchased.

I’ve learned to love our house. I love how we’re slowly customizing it to suit our needs and it has made for an interesting journey. My husband and father in law replaced our flooring downstairs with a beautiful laminate. We painted the walls, added some trim and now it’s looking more modern and beautiful. They custom built a library for me in the basement that allows storage for all my books and it doubles as my office. We turned the rest of the lower level into a full time daycare play room and the children use it on rainy days.

I will miss this house that we’ve turned into a home when we build our forever home one day. Until then, I’m glad that we didn’t get everything on the list.