Welcome to my blog. I thought it fitting to tell the tale of how I got here and what I’m doing to stay put.
I live in a small house in a small town in Southeastern PA – Phoenixville. I have a bad habit of moving every 6-8 years out of boredom (I have ADHD!). I stayed at my previous house for nearly 10 years, so I was getting very antsy – it was time to move. This move took me to Phoenixville. I chose this location for a few reasons – first it was much closer to where I worked, it was a darling town, and it has an amazing art scene!
Although my kids were all out of the house at this point, so my moving didn’t have as much of an impact on them – they were still ready for me to stay put. So, I needed to come up with ways to help me WANT to stay in Phoenixville – and especially in this house. Time to get creative!! I had sold my previous house before I found the house I’m in now – so, finding a new house was urgent. There wasn’t much for sale in my price range and as soon as I saw a house – it went under contract before I even had time to consider it. The house I found, and currently live in, didn’t meet all of my requirements, but it did meet the most important – it was in my price range, and it was ‘in town’ (not on the outskirts). It was a plain little house, on a nice, albeit too busy tree-lined street – walking distance to everything that Phoenixville has to offer.
Getting creative!
My house was nice, but it was so boring. Easy enough to make a plain white house interesting. I started with the black door – I painted it bright teal. Next, I painted flowers on the back fence. Then, I painted the front step and other outdoor accents. The mailbox – it’s on its second look now! I made ceramic tiles and concrete caulk to adhere them to my back porch. I started painting animals on pieces of plywood that I cut out and I’m adhering them to the fence in my tiny front yard. I still have a lot to do to spruce up the place, but I think it’s coming along nicely.
Here’s a picture of my back fence from the MLS listing. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the painted fence and I had to get a new regulation-sized fence for the pool
These are the tiles I made for the back porch.
Pictures of the front door and step after my updates.
Painting of the first mailbox (in my studio)
After much wear-and-tear – the current mailbox
One last thing I did was put in an in-ground pool in my back yard! It was the one thing I missed from my previous house.
I’ve been here for 8 years. I still look at houses when I’m bored, but I think I’m going to stay, for now.