Our home has become too small for us. It seemed so big when we we first viewed it, almost 5½ years ago. Then I got a positive pregnancy test the day before we closed on the house. Even with two kids it worked. We turned a small under the stairs closet into a really cool toy closet, where all the toys with little pieces were kept. Little by little we added more and more small storage bins and shelves for that closet, and before I knew it, all of the board games were taking up the space where my serving dishes once were stored.
Then came along the littlest one, and although at first the plan was to have her share a bedroom with her 4 year old brother, we realized quickly that the combination of a baby who was a light sleeper and a boy who takes 2+ hour naps and talks in his sleep at night was not a good one. So, she's been living in our room for the past 6 months, which is not too bad, if not for the lack of privacy and space! My husband and I each gave up one drawer in our dresser for her clothes, and I gave up one long rack in my closet. The changing table is arranged with all types of storage containers for diapers, socks, crib sheets, and towels. One shelf of our bookcase, once occupied by my favorite books, now holds board books that we read before bed. So, it is time.
Problem is, with two kids in private school $$, my husband coming off one of his worst fiscal years ever, and it not being a seller's market, it's not a great time for us to think about moving.
Tomorrow I'm calling the mortgage company and getting preapproved. Friday our realtor is going to come over and confer with us on what we need to do to get our home ready to sell. I think we're looking at: Painting the kitchen, including cabinets and ceiling, painting the laundry room, installing new sinks and faucets in all three bathrooms, and repairing siding that a bastard woodpecker pecked the hell out of. Aside from that, lots of decluttering must happen. We are going to rent a storage space and dump the majority of our extra crap in there. Storage bins really excite me, I love to organize and label them. I'm pretty well organized with the clothes bins, but I'm throwing out and donating a lot of random crap that are in others. Last New Year's Day the boys and I went through toys and stuffed animals and put a lot of stuff away. Anything that they've not asked for in the past year is being thrown away once I determine it's not something that the baby will want/need. Nothing worse than searching eBay for an obscure toy that you *used to have and threw away in a fit of organization. I will also make an attempt to plant some flowers, but with the extreme drought we're in, I don't know how well anything will do.
Wish us luck!
