Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Be It Ever So Humble

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: There are certain achievements, as you grow and mature, that help self define you as an adult. Alas, no one hands out a "graduation from adolescence" diploma and a card from Grandma with $100, but these milestones confirm to each of us that we are, really and truly, grown-ups: buying a car. Starting a family. Getting married. Living on your own in the Big City. Snagging that real, career-building job. And of course, especially here in the US, buying a house.

Ladies and gentlemen, please let me introduce you to Maine's newest homeowner, my daughter Victoria. 


It's been a long, hard slog for the Maine Millennial. She moved back in with me after breaking up with the then-boyfriend and intended to begin looking for a house a few months later... in spring 2020. Ouch. Then in April she got laid off, as the company she worked for - which primarily sold to gyms and municipalities - saw the writing on the wall and did a 20% reduction in force. 

 

 

She was hired at the hospital she's now at in November 2020, and started the clock ticking; she knew from talking to our credit union's loan officer that she would need to be employed for a year in order to qualify for a mortgage. Meanwhile, as work-from home allowed people to cut the commuting cord, lots of folks realized they wanted to live in Maine. Housing prices rose 24% from '20 to '21 and another 17% from March 21' to March '22

 

 

It hasn't helped that here, as in many spots in the US,  housing construction collapsed in the Great Recession and still hasn't caught up to anything near the demand for homes as the largest generation in our history - that's right, Boomers, it's those avocado-toast-eating Millennials - hits their thirties and starts looking for that white picket fence.

 

 

 

 

I'm not even going to mention the construction material supply chain shortage, the inflation, or the rising interest rates. Because despite all adversity, after several months of bidding on just about anything in her price range, Victoria is about to purchase a sweet little place with two and a half acres in beautiful Wiscasset, ME!

 

 

 

 

So, dear readers, tell us about your first house/apartment/grown up quarters. And if you have any suggestions on how to decorate around wall-to-wall teal carpet, Victoria would like to know. She's going to keep it because it's warm and feels good underfoot. Her first decision about her very own piece of the American dream.




84 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Victoria! Two-and-a-half acres sounds very nice indeed. As for decorating around wall-to-wall teal carpet . . . choose things you like and it will all come together.

    We rented a house from a friend when we were first married, so we didn’t buy a house of our own until the Little Ones came along. It was small, but cozy, a home with a yard big enough for playing in, and a little gazebo in the corner of the back yard . . . .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like the perfect first house, Joan!

      Delete
  2. Congratulations Victoria! Make your new home, yours. Put your love into it when adding furniture and decor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She has plenty of decor from college and her apartment with the former bf, Dru, but she visibly paused when considering moving in and said, "I'm going to need furniture, aren't I?"

      Delete
  3. Wow, congratulations, Victoria! How delightful to have your own place, and in a pretty quiet spot, too. It's always good to get a foot in the real estate market, even if you don't stay there forever.

    The first house I bought entirely on my own was after my divorce twenty years ago. It was a sweet, well-built three-bedroom ranch on a quiet street in the same school district that my young-teen sons already went to. It had a yard not too big for me to manage and a deck off the addition. It was perfect, and I was so proud to be a solo homeowner (also so happy to be out of a long-term unhappy marriage). I turned fifty two months after I moved in!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well done, Edith! I have a dear friend who bought her first house at around the same age, after an unhappy marriage and renting for several years. It was such an achievement for her, and that little cottage shone because of her pride and happiness in it.

      Delete
  4. VICTORIA: Congratulations on your first home. Since I have always lived in urban centres, I am envious of your 2.5 acres in ME.

    After 1 year of co-ed residence living at the University of Waterlpp, I moved into a one-bedroom apartment in a low-rise building in Kitchener ON from second-year onwards. I deliberately chose a place far from the university campus. Back then, my carpeting and walls were pale gray and I accented it with pink. Most of my furniture (Billy bookcases, desk, dining table) were pine/fake pine from IKEA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GRRR! Spellcheck does not work on my laptop here. The correct word is Waterloo not Waterlpp!

      Delete
    2. Don't worry, Grace, we could figure it out! Yes, I think if Victoria can find a friend with a pickup or SUV, a trip to the IKEA in northern Massachusetts might be an excellent idea. Or can you order online now?

      Delete
    3. JULIA: The IKEA store in Ottawa certainly had online ordering & delivery but that's within an urban city. Definitely the quality of the Billy bookcases I bought in the 2010s is poorer than the ones I bought in the 1980s. Not sure how far they would deliver in ME?

      Delete
    4. Grace, I'm sorry to hear the quality has deteriorated. Everything is "fast furniture" these days, which is why I'm looking to reupholster the sofas I have from the early 90s instead of buying new.

      Delete
  5. Oh wow: 2.5 acres! What wonderfully exciting news, Victoria. The carpet sounds cozy; fill your new home with comfortable furniture and things you love -- don't worry about anything matching anything else. It's always worked for me.

    I didn't own a home until my early 30s, having always rented. I've always loved the excitement of moving into a new space -- the possibilities of those first few days, with all the boxes to be unpacked and all the furniture to be sorted into the right spot. A favourite memory is of eating dinner off a Pepsi crate in the new (bare) living room, before we scored some second-hand furniture from the lovely couple who owned the apartment. (We had just moved cross-country. By car. Small car.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fun times!

      Our neighbors moved here from NYC in the '60s for his job with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, in a Volkswagen Beetle. With his bass in the backseat. Can you imagine trying to do that now, with a lifetime of accumulated stuff?

      Delete
    2. I moved from California to grad school in Indiana at twenty-four with everything I owned in a convertible bug. Needless to say, I didn't own any furniture!

      Delete
    3. I didn't start acquiring any furniture (other than an antique twin bed which came with me from college digs to grad school apartments) until after I was married at almost 26. Ross and I had a table with no chairs in the kitchen of the townhouse he had rented, and two folding director's chairs in front of the TV! I wrapped boxes of books in old curtains to serve as end tables and our coffee table.

      Delete
  6. How exciting, Victoria! You'll have fun finding colorful and interesting decor to go with that fun carpet. Teal is the new beige, right? Will you have a garden on that wonderful yard? I see many trips to the local nursery in your future. Your dog will love all that space.

    Until we were married 40 years ago I always lived in apartments. Steve had bought a house a year earlier, and I'd helped him decorate it, so it felt like my first house, too--a small cottage-type house with acres of woods behind it. We lived there until our first child was one, and we'd gotten very cramped. (My oldest daughter is 14 years older, and she needed her own space from the baby.)

    Don't be in too big of a hurry to get rid of your moving boxes. After collecting them for the last three + years, I'm now using them as sheet mulch for my garden. Very effective at suppressing grass and weeds without chemicals. And free.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen, I've done that too! With the added benefit that the ones I stored in the barn had bird poop on them, so I also get a free manure in my compost! :-D

      Delete
  7. Congratulations to Victoria! Look at a color wheel and pick colors opposite teal for accents.

    We moved into our first house, an aluminum-sided tract colonial, with a baby, poodle puppy, and a hundred boxes of books. Nine years later, when we'd updated everything, roof to basement, we moved to Atlanta.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember thinking that when Ross and I put our first home on the market. We fixed everything that had been bugging us, and then handed it to someone else!

      Delete
  8. Congratulations to you and Victoria! My best advice is to go to craft fairs and art shows near you this summer. You'll find beautiful things that you love, made and painted by locals, and not bank-breaking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea, Lucy. Her very sweet bf used to work at an adults-with-disabilities day program, and it was focused on arts and craft - the program actually runs a little craft shop!

      Delete
  9. Congratulations to Victoria. Teal? The color of the ocean on certain days... Could be a fun color to work with.

    Our first 'home' was a piece of land - 40 acres with a view of Lake Champlain. We built a house there (with our own hands) - lived in it while we built. Sold it 16 years later to a family from Montreal who use it as a vacation home - though not for the last two years, obviously.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JC, I've known one other couple that built their place from the ground up themselves. It always looked like a project that will either fuse you together for life, or send you screaming to the divorce courts. Glad it wasn't the latter in your case! (Also, I would kill for a place with a view of Lake Champlain...)

      Delete
  10. 2.5 acres in Maine! How cool is that. Congratulations.

    Advice from My Mother: keep up with maintenance and fix what breaks quickly. It will save you money in the long run.

    Teal carpet? Think of it as a frame for area carpets. Those drugs can become a life long friends.

    Have fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rugs, not drugs. Autocorrect. Again. That's 3 days in a row

      Delete
    2. I laughed at that one, CD! Because, for some people, drugs definitely become lifelong friends...

      Delete
    3. Edith, and rugs can become drugs!

      Delete
    4. DEAUN: Autocorrect was my nemesis when posting comments from ABQ using my Android phone!

      An addition to your mother's comment is to buy the best quality furniture that you can afford. Those solid pine tables I bought for my first apt in 1986 are still being used in 2022!

      Delete
    5. I am using my parents beautiful mid-century modern maple coffee table!

      Delete
    6. Buying the best quality was my mom's trick as well! I have her super comfortable mid-sixties armchairs in my office now, and they're in great shape despite some 50 years in her various living rooms.

      Delete
    7. Oh yes, buy good quality. Antique malls and craft shows are a great resource not to mention relative's attics. One of my favourite rugs came through my father's side of the family when his aunt went to India and had a bunch of textiles shipped back to the US. This particular carpet lived under my grandparent's bed for as long as I can remember and when they were gone, it came to me. That's going on 60 years at least. It is now threadbare and almost unusable, but I can't part with it.

      Delete
    8. Yes, area rugs are your friends! And nothing makes a place feel cozier.

      Delete
    9. I just had eight dining chairs and a table from the 1920s refinished, repainted, and reupholstered. There were also two slipper chairs from the same era, in faded red damask with silk fringe (I called the period "early bordello"). The upholsterer not only recovered them in a jazzy modern black and white print (with tailored skirts instead of fringe), but I had him build up the seats to dining height. They look like brand new furniture.

      Delete
  11. Congratulations, Victoria! I have been following your saga in your columns and am so glad your persisted! (LOL) My first experience living alone was as a graduate student at Rice in Houston. I lucked into a small, sweet place from the '30's but with an AC unit! There was a little door in the breakfast nook where in the day, the ice man had left the big chunk of ice. There was a small porcelain cabinet by the sink for the ice. I just used it as storage. I drove a U-Haul it from Atlanta to Houston with all my worldly possessions. I bought a bed when I got there. and a friend's husband gave me his childhood desk. It worked well.
    I agree with whoever said to go to craft shows and thrift shops and area rugs are wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes to area rugs, Atlanta. One of my grad school apartments had flat indoor-outdoor wall to wall carpeting, clearly chosen by the landlord to be indestructible no matter what the student tenants did. I got some cute cheap area rugs from K-Mart (remember them?) and scattered them around my room.

      Delete
  12. This is such great news! Congratulations. It’s such a fabulous feeling… And we cannot wait to hear all about it . My first purchase was a condo in a gorgeous brownstone in Brookline Massachusetts. And I have to say it was gorgeous! With hardwood floors and lots of gorgeous woodwork. And a fireplace… It was all very wonderful. I actually still dream about it.
    Teal, huh? Khaki goes with teal, or white, or charcoal gray, but I might just ignore it. I love the idea of putting area rugs over it, not to cover it, but just as a base. Just think about being chic rather than Easter egg.
    Hooray hooray hooray!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, Hank, your place is so chic but also super comfortable - you should do a post about home decorating techniques!

      Delete
  13. Congratulations! Your first real house - fabulous. Don't worry about that teal carpet, it will look great with your furniture. My first grown-up apartment had mauve carpeting. I decided to consider it a neutral and work off it! Of course, my first house (the first I bought and the first I ever lived in as I was apartment raised) had a pepto bismal pink master bedroom with burgundy curtains. That went in the first, second, third, and fourth paint job that it took to cover the walls. What where those people thinking? Or were they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Burgundy I can see, Kait - that was a huge color in the 1930s and again in the '80s - but Pepto-Bismo pink has NEVER been stylish in any decade. I'm pretty sure it's only colored that way to stand out on the drug store shelf!

      Delete
  14. I am so happy for Victoria! I didn't realize how much I had been worried for her - especially as I saw the interest rates rise - until I'm seeing her news with tears in my eyes! Her new house is gorgeous and it looks to be just perfect for her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really will be, Judi. There's an extra bedroom that her bf can use as a studio, and loads and loads of space for Janey to run around.

      Delete
  15. My first, brand new just built house wasn't one that we owned but rented. I used to drive by the house as it was being constructed and it didn't look like anyone was living there, so I asked around and found out that the people built it to be their someday retirement home, when they sold their farm to their son. They offered to rent it to us and made me very happy. Sometimes things just work out.

    ReplyDelete
  16. 2.5 acres! Living the dream, Victoria!! My current home had original pink bathtub, pink sink--painted the walls taupe with a pinkish undertone, added sage green towels and artwork and the fixtures just blended in. I'd suggest doing the same if you want to downplay the teal carpet in some of your spaces--let wall color and furnishings take center stage. And don't hurry--as you live in the space, you'll get ideas about what you feel comfortable with and what brings you joy.

    My first home was a little old lady-ish cottage tucked into the side of a ravine and surrounded by trees. Upon stepping inside--a great room with original beams, stone fireplace, hardwood floors and a converted porch with windows on 3 sides on the ravine edge. An addition on the back with kitchen, bath, and loft bedroom above. I might still have been living there if not for the traffic ('20 minutes to downtown!'--at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, maybe, but those developers sure sold a lot of houses...).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! The salesman's trick with traffic times is to take the shortest time humanly possible and hold that up, Flora! Fortunately, no one selling houses today can bribe Google maps, so it's easy to get more accurate commuting times...

      Delete
    2. Julia, I lived on the northern edge of the county. Immediately north of me in the next county, developers were buying up huge swaths of farmland for housing developments. 100 cars would go by my home every 5 minutes morning and evening.

      Delete
    3. Oh, Flora, that's the worst. I've been perturbed by the growth in traffic on my road, which is also a county highway. As more and more people settle in towns farther and father away from Portland, the commuting has gotten heavier and heavier.

      Delete
    4. Yep. Victoria is going to love that shorter commute--get out of traffic and ah, home again!

      Delete
  17. Congrats to Victoria! That is an achievement for one so young. Lucky it’s in Maine. There is no way she could do this in California where starter homes near one million.
    We bought our first home six months after we were married. A dear little summer cottage in Marin County. It cost us $20,000 and is now worth 1.2 mil! Wish we’d kept it. But we had no money for furniture and furnished it gradually from garage sales and hand me downs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The rise in prices is crazy, Rhys! I have no idea how young people do it in higher-priced areas like yours.

      Yes, Ross and I did lots of garage sales, estate auctions and junk shops in those early days. Now, I believe that's a whole look - shabby chic! Who knew we were all style forerunners?

      Delete
  18. Check out the attic at your family home, Victoria. When I was moving into my first apartment, my grandparents had just left the house they lived for 40+ years. I scored a fabulous, large trunk with a flat top. Great for storage and side table. It had little treasures in it - an old very usable quilt, old art and a sampler. I also took two lovely, framed watercolor paintings. The basement had my dishes. Congratulations of on your new home, Victoria. I see a riding lawn mower with 2.5 acres in your future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I told her that as well, Deana!
      Me: "You'll have to get a lawnmower, you know."
      V: "No, I'll just let it grow naturally. It's better for the environment."
      Me: "If you don't mow, it'll be completely tick-infested."
      V: "....."

      Delete
  19. Victoria, congratulations. I am so very happy for you. It sounds like a dream come true. Everyone has made great suggestions: maintenance first, decor second; area rugs; flea markets and art shows. Slowly buy things you really love. Splurge occasionally. Have fun. When in doubt, ask mom!

    I bought a condo on my own in 1977. I decorated it with flea market furniture and my parents bought me a couch. Irwin bought the condo across the street from mine in 1979. Kismet.

    Wishing you everything good!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Judy, I do love the fact you met your sweet husband because he moved across the street from you! I guess the old real estate adage is true: location, location, location...

      Delete
  20. Congratulations on your new home, Victoria! It is quite an achievement for a young person under the age of 40 to buy a house. I wonder how much a house would cost in Maine?

    The house prices in California are INSANE! A tiny house with one bedroom could sell for almost a million dollars or more!

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diana, right now, the median house price in Maine has risen to something like $330,000, although that varies enormously - you pay well over a million to live on the ocean, and can get a small place away from population centers for under $150,000.

      Delete
  21. I forgot to add another great aspect to Victoria's new home - it's a half hour commute to her job. That's going to save her an hour's driving time each day compared to living with me, and with the price of gas the way it is, she may make up most of the cost of the house in fuel savings if she stays long enough!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I just bought my first house, solo, in December and moved in the first of February. As a newly single mom of 6, leaving a relationship with mental and emotional abuse, this was so huge for me. Congratulations to her, I hope she makes it feel like her own and enjoys many happy memories. It's something to be proud of, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations on your new home and having the courage to move forward. Enjoy the day.

      Delete
    2. That is huge, Nicole, and worth being proud of, as well. Wishing you only happy days and memories in your new home.

      Delete
  23. Congratulations to the Maine Millennial, and to you Julia for "being there" Everyone has offered good advice indeed. For decorating, down in Florida, teal goes with lime and lemon colors for the Caribbean nautical look. Suggest you stay away from cliches, no sand dollars in the bathrooms.

    The house on Nome Street, purchased in 1999, is my first singly owned home. Like ME, lots of folks are thinking Florida is a good place to live, driving up the home values as well. Next hurricane season might change their minds. Wise that Victoria took her time and listened to her heart. May she enjoy the joys of northern living.

    ReplyDelete
  24. "two and a half acres in beautiful Wiscasset, ME!" !!!Indeed!!!
    How perfect is that?
    I agree with Joan, "choose things you like and it will all come together."
    Fill it with your spirit and enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm happy for Victoria. I live in a vacation destination that has seen house prices skyrocket as the older, bigger (and smaller) homes have been taken over by folks who turn them into Airbnbs. There is also nothing left to rent. Our little town is in tough shape as the community has been hollowed out by absentee owners. So I have worried for Victoria in Maine, facing some of the same challenges. As for furniture, I spent decades in faculty housing so mostly owned about 20 Ikea bookcases, the books to fill them, two family antiques (both bookcases!), and our beds. When we finally paid for our own home I had little money left so furnished the entire house on Craigslist. It can definitely be done if you are able to wait for what you want, have access to a pickup truck, and are willing to drive if you're not near a metropolis. I kept a list and was especially vigilant in June and July, when families tend to move and just want things GONE.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Congratulations to Victoria! What great suggestions from everyone. Pretty much everyone starts out with a combination of hand-me-downs and Ikea-ish for the basics. Wayfair/Home Decorators is a great resource for rugs and reasonably priced essentials. Now I wish I'd kept some of my parents' mid-century modern stuff that I started out with--it's so back in fashion now.

    When my ex and I moved back to Dallas from England, we bought our first house, a 1940's brick bungalow, two bedroom, one bath with a little sunporch added on. We painted inside and out, landscaped, remodeled the kitchen. Such fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might add, slipcovers, if you or Victoria know anyone who does them. It's a great way to give ugly or worn furniture a great new look. Even now, we have a hideous but good quality and very comfortable sofa in our sunporch, a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law, disguised by a very nice tailored slipcover.

      Delete
  27. Congratulations on the new home! In today's economy, that really is a HUGE accomplishment!

    The first home my husband and I bought hadn't been updated since the 1970's and was full of orange. We removed a lot of it but as we began to run out of both money and energy, we still had orange walls and carpeting in the guest bedroom and orange fixtures with brown countertops in the guest bathroom. For the bedroom, we found a comforter and curtains that were a white background with a small wildflower print on them, and painted the walls bright white. That really toned down the orange carpet and made it kind of disappear! In the bathroom, we also painted the walls white, put up a Cleveland Browns border, and decorated with Browns memorabilia. Understand, this was not out of football fever, just a was a way to squeeze some lemonade out of those awful fixtures.

    ReplyDelete
  28. BIG congratulations for Victoria!! And a Bronx cheer to the economy that's made it such an uphill climb. Jerry and I lived in a 1-bedroom apt on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 6 years when we were first married... two years later we moved to the house I'm still in. We paid $34.5K ... but I was making 6K a year and Jerry was making 11K. So it was a stretch. And IKEA hadn't been invented yet but YARD SALES had! Also estate auctions. Sturdy stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Congrats to her! No real tips from me. I've been in my condo (my first purchase because I couldn't afford anything else even in 2003, not that I need more room since it's just me) for almost 19 years, and I still have hardly anything in the way of decorations. What can I say, I'm a guy.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Congratulations to Victoria! Being that she’s in Maine, may I suggest looking at farm sales and such for old quilts or wall hangings to decorate the walls.... multi colored items will help tone down the teal and quilts or rugs will add insulation as well. Enjoy your new home!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Congratulations on the new home!

    In Southern California, being single and working from entry-level up at Social Services, it took me until I was 44 to buy my first home, a two bedroom 900 square foot condo.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Congratulations, Victoria, on becoming a homeowner! I'm sure you will have it filled with the essence of you in no time at all. And, it comes with two acres. That's a huge bonus. I do agree with your mother that mowing at least some of it will be necessary, but when it's your own space, that's even easier.

    This has me thinking back on my husband and I buying our first home. It was in a subdivision, a nice little house with three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, kitchen, dining area, and a garage we turned into a family room. Oh, and a small laundry room. We paid $28,000 for it in 1977. The estimated price now is around $180,000. It's crazy. It's a wonderful time to sell, but then where do you go? Because, I don't have to tell you, Julia and Victoria, it's a challenging time to buy.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Brava! Persisting in a difficult market deserves an award. When I moved from condo to house, I insisted on NO carpets (dust allergy, allergist had already persuaded me to get carpet out of the bedroom) so I got cork floors and I like them.
    I'm now reminded of our art center's project with their very old, stained carpet, a painting party and really interesting abstract designs on that floor . . . not really recommending that extreme action, though perhaps, with stencils, who knows? Estate sales and Habitat's Re-Store (and relatives) might be good sources for furniture -- have fun and enjoy it!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Congratulations on her first home!

    I don't know that I have a lot of tips for decorating with teal. Look for items in complimentary colors?

    The first apartment we were in after we got married was the upper floor of a house. The entire floor sloped to a single point, so if you dropped a ball anywhere, it would always roll to the same spot. The living room had flimsy paneling and brown shag. I painted the bathroom, which caused us to lose our security deposit (the light mauve was a definite improvement over the peeling cream paint - the landlord should have thanked me). And frost formed on the inside of the dining room windows in the winter.

    Ah, good times, good times.

    We're still in our first house, although we've been looking for a new place now that the kids are grown so I know all about the challenges in home-buying these days. I'd kill for two acres of land.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Big congratulations to Victoria! Hooray, hooray!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Congratulations, Victoria!!! That is quite an achievement these days! I'm still in my starter home, because recession number one and now housing price boom. I have no idea where I would go if I could go. Good thing it's now an empty nest with plenty of room! Enjoy your new address!!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Congratulations-been following your search. Our daughters bought homes in the last few years so I understand your frustration with looking. You’ll love the 2 1/2 acres. No neighbors looking in your windows.
    My hubby & I were looking for a reasonable home in the Baltimore suburbs in the late 70’s. Once we saw a house that sloped to the middle with one support beam. After that we decided we’d be better off in Oregon building our own. We lived in a 25 yr old mobile home while we built. Listening to the mice running through the walls was quite an experience, but it was the copper pipes turning my hair green that made put the pressure on to get into our new house.
    Good luck making happy memories in your new home!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Congratulations to Victoria! And Lavender and teal are often a nice color combination, depending on shades of each. In fact, her carpet would look rather nice in my lavender-walled bedroom...

    ReplyDelete
  39. Awww! Good luck to Victoria. It's a big milestone, and very exciting. (She'll figure out the teal carpeting problem) We're at the other end of the road now, thinking about selling the house we have owned for 40+ years. And yes, we will spend awhile first doing all those pesky small repairs we've been ignoring. I had rented a few apartments in my early adult years and thought I was quite grown up.Husband and I bought our first property(really a co-op apt)when we expected our first child.I persuaded him to consider Brooklyn, over his insistent "Never."It took just one look -a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, eat-in kitchen apt in an elevator building, on a tree lined street a block from Prospect Park. And it made it possible to buy the house a few years later. Wishing Victoria her own adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Congratulations Victoria...so exciting...especially 2+ acres in beautiful Wiscasset! As for the real carpet, but lots of colorful prints, plaids, florals, stripes in pillows, curtains, etc. and all will be beautifully tied together.I
    I bought my first home, a condo, at age 38 and am still happy there 35 years later. May you make many wonderful memories in your new sweet home.

    ReplyDelete
  41. No exciting first house story, but I’m envious of Victoria for living in the same town as the best lobster roll ever!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Who cares about teal carpet when you have a wonderful field and trees just outside! Oh, the lovely gardens you can create there. Just get donations from the gardens of people you love. It becomes a living memorial to them. I still live in the first house I bought 30+ years ago and I have my grandmother's hydrangea out back that my mom transplanted to her garden and then I took a bit to my own yard. Inside, every year I picked a different room to improve as money allowed. I think I started with the red and black bathroom...

    Enjoy and congratulations!

    ReplyDelete