I love HGTV and I love watching House Hunters but some of the ridiculous demands people make on that show drive me insane. When it's time to start our house hunt in earnest next year I promise I will be flexible if the counter tops are not granite or if the appliances aren't stainless steel. I won't complain about no room for guests or entertaining but I do have one unusual request I will need fulfilled. Every family member must have their own bedroom.
Some of you just said "what the hell" in your mind, yes we are a couple with one child. No most nights we do not share a bedroom. As a matter of fact the lack of an additional bedroom in this house severely limits my early morning activity which gets on my nerves, I want to be free to move around my house at 6 AM without tip toeing.
Let me explain, Tyson and I have always worked opposite shifts. I work a normal first shift office job except for the fact that my office is now in my bedroom. Tyson works as a cook and his shifts can range from 2 PM to 12 AM or beyond depending on how many tourists want dinner at his restaurant any given night. When he gets home like most of us he does not head right to bed, he has a beer and spends a little time winding down from work. Bedtime for Tyson comes someplace around 2 AM most nights.
Now if you've been paying attention you know that at 2 AM we're just a few short hours away from my wake up and work in the bedroom time (as well as get K ready for school time which will start even earlier). That means typing and phones ringing just like at your office only with a bed behind me where someone should technically be finishing his good nights sleep. Since that isn't possible Tyson sleeps most night's in the living room on the couch, which means when I want to get up I'm stuck in the bedroom. While the master bedroom houses the office the kitchen/living room where Tyson is sleeping houses everything else. TV, food, drink, and the doors to the outside world.
I try to be as quiet as I can each morning when I let the dogs out and back in, make something to eat, and grab my first glass of water for the day but inevitably something wakes Tyson up. Like most people who are woken up when not ready he's grumpy, like most women when their man is grumpy I am grumpy, like most kids when their mom is grumpy Little K is grumpy.
So in my next house each of us will have a bedroom with a bed for sleeping. My little family is totally nontraditional and I see no reason to stop without sleeping arrangements.
What is your unusual house hunting request? Do you have things about your family that are nontraditional?
for me, the kitchen is where it's at; same with the layout of the downstairs living area. i can't stand houses that seem cramped downstairs but so incredibly spacious upstairs.....as if humans spend most of their days in their bedrooms or upstairs hallways (yes, i've seen houses like this before).
ReplyDeletemy next house will have double wall ovens and a little den for my office; not a makeshift office i have now but a legit den that is meant for an office!
Ryan sleeps on the couch about half the time. Partially because I hate it when he wakes me up if I have less than 3 hours left to sleep (his sleep schedule is totally erratic, and his work is flexible so he can go in late if he stays up working to the wee hours), and partially because he just likes it. He thinks the couch is the most comfortable thing ever and he likes falling asleep to the TV (which I can't stand).
ReplyDeleteI could totally see how having an extra bedroom would be handy. I think, in our case, we just need the TV room away from the kitchen so I don't have to feel guilty about making a smoothie in the morning when he's sleeping on the couch. Although Ryan's pretty good about not being grumpy. I'm not sure if I it doesn't wake him up or he just handles it well, but he's always pleasant when I say goodbye to him for the day. I can see how working from home would be different because it's not just an hour of getting ready time, it's noise all day.
I was pretty house hunter crazy. The only thing I gave up on was double sinks in the master (yet somehow, we have miraculously survived!) and a kitchen large enough for an island. I realllllly didn't want carpet, at least not in the living area. With a cat who has some throwing up issues, hard floors are so much easier to clean. I also really wanted a laundry room big enough for a litterbox (I never realized how much my cat impacted my choices!). When we found our house, we just knew, imperfections and all, and I know you will too... just as long as it has three bedrooms!
ReplyDeleteI think when purchasing a home, there are musts that you have that shouldn't be compromised. There are too many options out there and it is essentially the biggest investment you make....so you need to be happy with it! There are some cosmetic things that are easily fixable that people bitch about like paint or what not and that is silly. But main things for me are a basement (mainly for safety reasons since we have a lot of tornado warnings here). hardwood through most of the house, a minimum 2 car garage, at least 4 bedrooms, at least 2 full bathrooms but preferably more, a driveway that isn't too steep or weird, a decent sized lot for my dogs to run when they are outside (preferably with a fence so we don't have that cost when we move in) and new to my list for the next house? A laundry room! We have a laundry closet right now and I freaking HATE it.
ReplyDeleteWe aren't too off schedule, but I do have to make an effort to change mine a bit. He gets up for work at 4 or 4:30, whereas I could sleep until 6:30 or 7. I just started getting up when he does and going to bed when he does. Not a big deal, what's 2 hours in the morning versus 2 hours late at night? Whatever. But it's just 2 hours - not totally opposite shifts! I could see why you'd want separate spaces.
ReplyDeleteJohn's house hunting request that is currently driving me bonkers is the entertaining space. We'll be hosting the family 4th of July party so he cares about outdoor space and entertaining space and I'm like WE ARE NOT CHOOSING A HOUSE BASED ON A SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR. We have to live there for 364 other days, with no other hosting or entertaining gigs on the radar. He is not understanding.
I need to be able to get up and make noise in the morning so that's important to me too!
ReplyDeleteI don't see any unusual request like that at all considering your opposing schedules. Everyone deserves a good night's rest! Hopefully you can have separate bathrooms as well. Just gotta find a house that fits your needs within your budget :).
ReplyDeleteI would love to have more rooms! Pete and I are going to start looking for a house next summer and I would LOVE to have 3 bedrooms, even though it's just the two of us!
ReplyDeleteIt took me over a year to find a house so I know a thing or two about looking at houses. I was mostly looking for resale value since I knew it wasn't going to be my forever home and I didn't pick on anything really but I loved all the hardwood floors. I didn't mind some renovations needed. It also had a lot of storage options which I really liked.
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