Our Next Chapter: We’re Moving! –

If you haven’t heard yet… we’re moving! And, I’m sharing photos of our new house HERE FIRST with all of you! 

Our garden this summer

Terreeia and I have been thinking about building for years but haven’t done much about it other than look for real estate. 

And, we still haven’t been in a big hurry to move because we so love this rancher. It has so many memories and has held so much joy!  I love that it looks EXACTLY like I want. And my garden, especially this summer, has never been more beautiful. Our Lucy loo has never been more beautiful either 🙂

We’ve decided to keep this place and put it up for rent for November 1. If you know anyone who wants to live in Yarrow, contact us! 

Why are we moving?

Both Terreeia and I have NEVER lived anywhere more than four years, and three times I’ve had to move from rentals that I’ve lived in (way before I was ready to move) because the homeowner decided to sell it.

When I was having this conversation with my business coach, and also sharing how I not only over-renovated the interior, but ripped out the landscaping and starting again outside.

“He said wow, you had to move 3 times? That alone, is very traumatizing to your system because as a woman, security is very important, so basically with this house, you peed in every corner, THIS HOUSE IS MINE!! he stated. I laughed, that is 100% true.

I think I’ve also been blocked in some way. The house we’re in now is too small for us and has been for a few years.  Also, since I’ve become obsessed with dressing with colour since the beginning of the pandemic, my closet is also waaaaaay too small. 

And I also realized one reason why I often had nothing to wear was because I’m a big purger. If I don’t think I need something, out the door it goes to whoever is nearby.  

I realized the advice that fashion stylists often give “If you haven’t worn something for a year, get rid of it” is wrong. Consider you don’t have anything to go with it. 

I had this problem constantly, the minute I’d get a bunch of new clothes, I would purge an equal amount. At the time, I had no idea that I was shipping off to the Sally Ann, burgundy pants that might have been perfect with the new orange blouse I had just purchased (for example). 

Dressing with a commitment to wearing colour also means you need selection. Bottom line, we were busting at the seams.

One day I shared this with my coach and he said “Maria, get a storage space–lack of space creates repulsion” Wow, you’re right I said, I immediately rented a storage room last year and BONUS, last fall when Abbotsford had that bad flood that almost came to Yarrow, our crawl space flooded. But most of the stuff I had been storing down there had already been moved to the storage room, meaning, I didn’t lose anything but a few empty boxes that were left down there.

Anyway, one day my coach called me and said “I’ve been meditating on you and I’ve decided you cannot build, you need to find a house you can treat as a project which you need for your business, start looking with intention!”. A week later my sister sent me this listing and I immediately KNEW, this was our house! It’s 4 minutes away from where we live now!

And, it’s a MIRACLE that there are so many things I like about it ALREADY.

Are you ready? Keep in mind it looks a lot bigger just like all listings do because of the wide angled lens all real estate agents use. Also these are the same photos from when the house sold 4 years ago. It was rented out then and now the trees in front and back of the house are overgrown and need to be removed immediately. 

Also the gardens are untouched, they will need a similar overhaul to what we did to this house.

Read more: The Problem with Wide Angle Realtor Photos 

Yes it has a pool. And yes it was built 11 years ago in the Tuscan trend. It needs a lot of paint!

This house was built by a couple who had 23 grandchildren. It has 2 playhouses in the backyard along with a full size playground.

Inside there’s a huge entertainment room with another full size kitchen on the second floor.  (Yarrow doesn’t have basements because we are on the bottom of a lake). We can hold a colour workshop for 20 people up there. Terreeia can hold her own cooking class as well.

We are so excited!

First look at our new home

It does not have 3 garages (above). The one on the right is about half the size of a garage, it’s a storage room.

I love the windows (below). And the staircase isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty simple and would be way at the bottom of the list of replacements. 

I do not love the taupe tile but it would be a project for down the road. Not an emergency either.

The house is filled with perfect medium brown floors! So good.

I like the cast stone fireplace. 

Too many cheese lights of course but I will have to ignore those.

Read more: One more reason to Skip Recessed Lighting Altogether

And look at this kitchen! So pretty! Timeless marble backsplash with white quartz countertops on the island. 

The countertops on the perimeter are a violet grey quartz. They will need to be replaced, as well as the lighting of course. The cabinets will be painted.

There’s a butlers pantry straight ahead.

Here’s a sunroom off the kitchen.

Here’s the bedroom. Kind of cavernous feeling. It needs a canopy bed. I like the moulding, I don’t like the shutters at all. They block out the MOST amount of light than any other window covering. Good for hot climates, period. 

The bathrooms are all Tuscan. I actually don’t understand how the primary bathroom could be this modern and, well bad, given how pretty the kitchen is, but it will be a project too:

This trend continuing from the 80s I will NEVER understand. Who wants doors that don’t close in the BATHROOM. 

This means, you get out of the shower, the room is COLD. Same for when you’re in the tub. And look at the placement of this tub??? What the heck? Anyway, this room will need a complete overhaul as well as DOORS. 

This is a workout room that is off the very small closet. This will be turned into a proper closet for me! Woo hoo. 

This will be Terreeia’s office. It’s right beside the front door.

Again do not be deceived by all the wide angled photography. This laundry room is a lot smaller in person.

This room above the garage will be my office.

There’s an overdose of taupe in this house. As was typical in the Tuscan trend.

A Jack and Jill bathroom in between two of the bedrooms. 

And here’s the large entertainment room upstairs. Those three openings will be drywalled over immediately. 

The fireplace will also need work. The TV will need to be moved into millwork on the right side. 

This is the view from this room:

Here’s the upstairs kitchen. It will need paint and I think those uppers on the left should come down. And the window only on one side bothers me too. 

This is the pool house.

This is a playhouse, could be a chicken coop.

We will need to hire a full time gardener/handyman/painter.

And here’s the cute red barn along with a greenhouse! Terreeia is very excited!

The playground is in the middle of this photo, kind of hard to see.

This is a playhouse as well at the very back of the 2.2 acres. It has an outhouse.

So there’s the tour. And yes, I’m leaving my stunning garden, but now that you’ve seen the photos, you might understand why. We are so happy and grateful to have found this house!

Can’t wait to hear your comments! Did I mention I was completely out of projects in this house! Now I’ll have endless projects to share with you!

I’m currently in Vernon for a few days with my Sisters and Mom! 

We snapped a pic because we matched the table and each other!

PS. Still looking for a Junior Colour Designer for our eDesign department, see the job posting here.

Related posts:

500 White Tulips for Mother’s Day

New Video; My Colourful Home Tour

My Living Room Makeover with Ballard Designs