![Life_Would_Be_Perfect_Cover[1].jpg](http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/Life_Would_Be_Perfect_Cover%5B1%5D.jpg)
The title alone resonates with many of us home-obsessed folk. Have you’ve ever thought, “I’d be so much happier if... I lived in that unattainable house, moved from the city to the country, moved to a different block"? Or do you think that finding the perfect shade of color for your walls, out-of-this-world drawer pulls, impeccable flooring proves to the world that you are more worthy than before? You’ll definitely find comfort in reading this memoir.
Life Would Be Perfect If I lived In That House, written by Meghan Daum, details the trials, triumphs and, let’s face it, fixation that the author has about moving, renovating and redecorating. More specifically, her memoir ponders the plight of the frequent mover: Is the constant changing of residences a way to fabricate happiness and pique life? And what does the “perfect” house entail exactly? This true tale of Ms. Daum’s desire to redecorate, fix and refurbish in order to prove her worth is humorously detailed and may strike a familiar cord with readers who may be on, or have previously traveled, down that road. Her constant compulsion to move, not only to new living situations but also to various states and cities, can definitely be viewed as an obsessive disorder. Psychological analysis aside, this book is humorously written with amazing recall about her every move. It importantly and approapriately delves into the discussion of what makes a house versus what makes a home.
Have any of you readers read this book or been on a similar journey as the author?
Image: Life Would Be Perfect If I lived In That House, written by Meghan Daum
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How timely... I just finished reading this book yesterday!
It was indeed a good read. Ms. Daum writes well. However I would question that she has, as the poster states, "amazing recall about her every move."
I found her recall to be amazing in places, but almost unbelievably lacking in others. She uses the phrase "I can't remember..." very often, and in surprising circumstances, esp. considering the things she DOES recall.
Still, I would recommend this book to the AT community.
Having just undertaken a tedious remodel that was of course, late and over-budget I can safely say the answer is a little more nuanced.
No, another house, or new paint doesn't make you "happier", but your old house, paint, stained carpet, or holes in your walls, can truly make you irate, or generally bummed. The same way removing a sliver doesn't make you happy, it just makes you not pained. Removing or changing these things simply offers you the opportunity to worry about new thorns in your side.
That's me. Or it was until my only child left for college. I was obessed with perfect paint on the walls, new, evolving furniture and arrangments and all such things.
Now I won't part with the deep scratch on my floor left from my son dragging his old guitar across it and the worn front porch where we've sat and talked, really talked, throughout the many years. I've said many times that I was working to make my house a home. I didn't realize it was. And it is.
Yeah when I see some houses I think that you could never been sad if you lived in a certain house but thinking has to be flawed. On the other hand I am renting a place that I love and I have been dreading the day of the expiration of my lease for 1.5 years now. 6 months left. I am praying the rent doesn't increase too much. Fat chance.
Sounds like an interesting read, with neuroses that many of us [cough!] could identify with...
BTW, It's "strike a chord", not cord...
Sgroi,
Oh your comment brought tears to my eyes! My son is not yet two and I have to tell myself to live in the moment and not rush around but enjoy him each day because one day...
Sometimes a stranger on the internet can share their feelings that resonates so deeply it could have been you. Peace to you. I hope your "empty nest" is soon filled with joy and new ventures.
I feel like i should read this, I haven't lived in any place more than a year since I started college. Lived in three cities since college and I'm only 23! And I just keep going!
We have moved 13 times in 21 years, and we have the itch to move again! Everytime we settle someplace we think "this is it" and then within 6-12 months we want something else. I love browsing through books and websites of anything related to houses, always creating this fantasy of what my life would be like if I live in such and such a house, and with every move I hope "it" will be the one. In the moving Under the Tuscan Sun, there is a line that goes something like "I bought a house for a life I don't even have..." I often wonder if the idea of the perfect house, and subsequent perfect life that would accompany said house is what gets most of us into trouble?? On the another hand, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't cheat...houses are my passion!! I will definitely be checking out this book.
I suppose you could call me an obsessive mover as well. I've lived in I think 13 or 14 places in my life (only 23 years old), and about 8 of them in the last 6 years. Pretty ridic. So I feel like this is something I should read!
I have learned to not even pretend "perfection" exists. I love my new house, but it's not perfect. (To be perfect, it would include a studio for me and a greenhouse, and maybe fewer stairs, contemporary styling not colonial, and a zen garden... you know...)
But it's flaws are few and ammenities we designed into it make life easier and more pleasant. Like the laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms, so no basket hauling. And the hidden litter box locations on each floor so the aging cats always have one nearby. And the tilt-in windows for easy cleaning -- if and when I feel the need, which isn't often!!
Making housework simpler though design choices is a big deal to me. Life is too short to spend a big chunk of it cleaning! "Low maintenance" is an ongoing goal and that DOES make life better! But never perfect!
there is a book called the architecture of happiness, that is more academic and less personal memoir, that touches on this subject - the idea that a perfect house doesn't shield you from all of life's unpleasantness (although its easy to pretend it does). Im still working my way through it but it has some really interesting thoughts about what architecture and design can provide its inhabitants (and what it cant).
Thank you, bookcat.
I, too, am addicted to moving. I never thought of it as a problem when I was single, but since moving in with my boyfriend (who lived in the same home his whole life) I've realized how compulsive it is. His stability helps balance me, but the need to move and change is a constant nagging feeling