Lessons from one year of home ownership

It’s been just over a year since we bought and moved into our townhouse. A lot has happened these twelve months so it’s a good chance to check in and reflect on the lessons learnt from home ownership. For starters, it’s great that we have a long term place we can grow our lives in and call our own. That we have a space we can change and adjust as needed. One that we can build many memories in.

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Take Small Steps

The biggest reflection, and o path that we went down, is to take small steps and not to rush in straight away to do things. Prior to moving in, we spent some time discussing if having an empty place was the ideal time to make changes. Did we want to paint before moving in? Did we want to change the carpet? Ultimately, we gave ourselves permission to not have to have everything right before we moved in, to experience the place as it is, and make decisions later. Now that we have bee in our place for a year, we are much better situated to make changes because we know what we know like, and don’t like. 

Small, incremental changes are a good way to see how things go. I’ve changed the layout of my office three times so far. Each change I’m mostly happy with how the redesigned configuration works. Pulling the desk Ito the middle helped to open up the edges and got better lighting. Now, I want to add more bookcases and photos to really transform the room. Longer term, I do want to change the carpet, which I’ll get to later. 

We also made small changes with how blinds and curtains worked. The kitchen is on the backside of our place. We took the blinds off, and were surprised by just how much more sunlight and brightness we got. It really freshened the place up and was an unexpected find. It’s a small change to experiment with. If it didn’t work, we just slide it back into the racks. It’s a non reversible decision. Play around with these to see what fits your own style preferences.

Roll with then flow

Some times you’ll just get really unlucky. We were pretty stoked because all three bedrooms had air conditioners installed. Unfortunately, a few months after we moved in, gecko’s got into all three and friend the motherboards. We ended up having to replace all three. It sucks. Life happens. Thankfully we are in a position where we do have an emergency savings fund where we can draw funds from for these type of things. You’ve just got to roll with it when these unexpected repairs need to happen. Thankfully, these were the only repairs we needed to make within our first year. 

Build your skills

Build up your skills and tackle what is just above your level of ability so you can learn and grow. First, I needed to figure out mowing and gardening and keeping the backyard in order. Then I started to rake and broom the patio and do more maintenance work. Weekly watering of our plants now just happens and it’s part of the routine. Now we can add more plants. Now I feel like I have the capacity and ability to look at getting a whipper snipper to look at the edging of the lawn. First I had to hang some photos on the wall before we then started rearranging our photos and adding new ones. I had to get a regular mopping and vacuuming schedule in place. You learn when best to slot it in and when it should occur.

Build a wish list that it will span several years and can change. Our focus now is to pain the interior of the house, which we are commencing once this goes to air. Later this year we are go ing to drop the roof on the patio so it’s angled, then get lights in. Next year I want to replace the carpet upstairs and move to floorboards. That could change. It’s good to plan out the major works and have some space so we can enjoy other hobbies and pursuits.

I’ve also discovered that handyman work is fun! I really enjoy the activities that come with home ownership. I like mowing, I like drilling, I like moving things around. I love sitting down with my wife to plan out changes and look through catalogues when it’s time to replace things. 

Memories

Finally, the biggest reflection is that it’s been a wonderful place for us to build and enjoy the memories. We’ve had lots of gatherings, hosted friends and families, and built many fond memories by being present. It’s not about always having to get out there to be content or even do things that are interesting. That can be found in the 394m2 of land that you own.