small split level house - renovated

lizzasarah · October 2012

Hey guys. My husband and I bought a 1700 sf house in a nice neighborhood. I am not excited (if i had to rate the excitement, I'd put it at a 5 out of 10). I've dreamt of getting a house more than anything as far as I can remember.

My dream consisted of high ceilings in a center hall colonial with a front and back yard with historical details ready to renovate over time to match exactly what our stye would be.

I am having a hard time being happy, or even ok with being in this house for the next 20 years and having a family here.

I am not trying to sound bratty, snobby or unappreciative..it just kills me inside.

There are a ton of possibilities to expand, but is it even worth it?

Anyone here in a similar boat?

Luvmy2sons · October 2012

When I first bought our split level, I was excited for the purchase of our new house, and the neighborhood, and the yard, but I also felt like the house wasn't my dream house. But in our instance, we live here because I am a stay at home mom of 3. And in this house, we can live in a beautiful house (we've done alot of renos), with a great yard, fantastic neighbors AND take vacations, buy things when we want, drive new cars, etc. Sure, I would love (and dream) about living in a center hall colonial with cathedral ceilings... but if we did that move now, things would change financially for us. We live in a high COL area. So to see people who live south, who paid less than what we did, and have big, gigantic, dream homes, is difficult. But it's because of where we live. Right now, we would have our dream house, but be house poor! Our house is about 1900 sq. ft, and we have 3 kids here. It's not a tiny house, but it's not huge. For now, it's perfect. Did jealousy hit when my friend went and bought a new house this spring? Sure. But I am grateful for where I am, and what I have right now. I would trade a big, beautiful dream home anyday to spend everyday at home with my children. Are we going to live here 20 years? Probably not. We've been here for 5, and I assume we'll do 5 more. Then all of my kids will be in school, and I can work full time again. The more changes and renovations we made, the more I fell in love with my home. The more I made it what I wanted, the more memories that we made here. I get so many compliments on my house, the landscaping, the inside, the decor. That's what I love and what makes me proud. When we bought this house, it needed alot of work. Do the renovations that will bring you equity in your house, don't do any that will price it out of your neighborhood. That's my best advice. And be proud that you could buy your home, because there's alot of people out there who can't, so it's a big accomplishment. Most people don't buy right into their dream home, they have "stepping stone" houses. Don't let it disappoint you, let it motivate you to make the changes you need, and save the money you need to possibly upgrade when the time is right! Good luck!

lizzasarah · October 2012

Wow. You could not have said it better. Thank you so much!! It means even more to me knowing you have 3 children! We don't have any yet and that is one of the things that worried be with the square footage. The renos I want to do wouldn't price us out b/c the 2 houses on either side of us are huge and the rest are identical to ours, so I think it would make ours like the other 2. We want to make an open front porch, possibly make the kitchen even bigger by taking over the current dining room so I can have my dream kitchen and then make a bigger dining room out of the current deck and just have the patio (who needs a deck and a patio??) and add a master suite above the first level and posssssssibly.......a sunroom on the right of the house to make it look even less like a split.

These are the things that excite me and I know we can afford over time starting in a few years which would really make it what I want and raise the value so much to match our neighbor. I just wonder if those things are worth it or if we should just move by the time we would even start doing those renos. Because if we do them and after ALL that work, I feel like it would lock us into another 10 years of living there. I guess only time will tell that and whether we should do all, any or some of those renos. But for now it is very nice. I just always wanted to be proud of what I and other people would be pulling up to. The area, I am. The inside, I am. The outside, eh.... The other splits on the whole block...eh...

I know we'll make memories there and my opinions will probably and hopefully change over time. I am very appreciative that we can afford a home that has a beautiful inside like it does with a yard that it does. The way you wrote everything was so honest, which is how I am and we share the same exact feelings. It's almost scary but extremely comforting.

If you ever want to email, I'd love to get advice on good "split" living
e@elizabethsarah.com

Thank you so much!!

Luvmy2sons · October 2012

I'm glad I helped! I like to drive around the neighborhood because it gives me an idea of what renovations people are doing to their houses. Seems like alot of kitchen and front porch renos going on in our neighborhood. We're getting a new roof today, so that makes me excited

Check pinterest too. Type in Split Level, you'll get some ideas of renovations and how people have made the outsides look. Our split is a 1985 split, so it needed alot of updating when we moved in. The bones were all good - wood floors, good kitchen, etc. It's just a matter of making changes to make it what we like. Like we started with replacing all the 80's brass! LOL. One thing at a time, and as you make those changes, you'll fall in love with your house.

And what I love about our split, is the lower level. It's our playroom. SO when people walk into my house, they don't step right into toys. The toys are contained downstairs, and I have a pretty cool cubby system to keep them organized. Neighbors come over and love the playroom. SO that's an idea (not all splits are laid out the same, so not sure if you have that). I love having my living room (since it's where you walk right in) to myself, aka, no toys all over. Of course the toys from their rooms migrate here, but at the end of the night we do a 10 minute clean up so they all migrate back. LOL.

Definitely PM me if you have any more questions. I used to have photos on here, but the baby board I was on got all weird with trolls and stalkers, so I took them off.

You'll be so surprised at how exciting replacing one light fixture can be, then you do two, or paint the walls. Then it's like, WOAH! I love this!!

ABColeslaw · October 2012

I know I'm late to the game and you probably won't check this, but we're in the same boat. When are waiting to close on a 1780 SQ FT Split level. I always said I could never picture myself in a split....BUT.... I fell in love with the neighborhood. Its called a family haven neighborhood, super safe streets, all nice neat little homes with beautiful yards, tons of kids everywhere... I wanted this neighborhood for my son. Homes in this neighborhood may be tiny, but they rarely go for sale, so while it may not be the home of my dreams, it is certainly the neighborhood of my dreams.

My sister and best friend both own large, gorgeous homes, and sometimes I am very jealous, but then I remind myself that one of them is house poor and the other one is so much better with her money than I am, that well....she deserves it.

We may sell in the future or we may add on an addition to at least give me my dream Master Bedroom with catherdral ceiling. Who knows, but for right now 1700 plus square footage is just right. And since it has a smaller kitchen and smaller layout, I can afford to decorate it the way I want, buy new furniture to fill it, reno the bathroom and kitchen. In a larger house, I'd have to live with it.

I also don't want to resent my home later on when I can't afford to take my little boy to Disney.

small split level house - renovated

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