I recently made one of those sight-unseen moves we covered last week, and my new home held lots of strange (some rather unwelcome) surprises. After taking the tour for the first time, I confess I was rather disheartened, and then things took an unexpected turn for the better. You see, despite the jerry-built cabinets and the inexplicable floor plan, my new house has a hidden gem — the absolutely fabulous backyard and patio pictured above.
Though the patio won't get much use until the temperatures drop at least a good 30 degrees, I can already picture how wonderful it will be to host friends here during the cooler winter months. This great outdoor space was a totally unexpected element that helped me start to see the potential in my new home.
Sometimes, no matter how carefully you have searched and researched, your new home presents you with some unexpected delights. I've had friends reveal fabulous hardwood floors hidden under atrocious shag carpet, uncover windows that had been blocked up inside and out, and discover a hidden attic storage room filled with furniture original to the house. So often even the oddest, most dismal place has at least one feature that makes you smile (even if it isn't always enough to overcome the other shortcomings).
Whether you moved sight-unseen and found the perfect nook to house your favorite reading chair or chose your home for the great kitchen only to discover your new neighbors host regular gourmet potluck dinners, we want to hear your story. What was the best discovery you ever made in a new home?
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I just moved into my first house, everything is pretty much as I anticipated and hoped for (hard wood under ugly carpet, floor plan layout is wonderful, minor touch ups updated the kitchen nicely...).
what I hadn't expected and what I am enjoying are the little things that I am learning about the woman who lived here. she and her husband built the house in 1950 when they were newlyweds and lived here for 60 years until he died and she entered a nursing home. she loved butterflies--the two ceiling fans have little stained glass butterfly pulls, the stained glass window in the family room has butterflies on it, and outside of the dining room she planted butterfly bushes so that when you are sitting at the table eating you can watch the butterflies.
I recently had a "sight unseen" nightmare with an out of state rental. Currently we're living in a beautiful townhome with tons of little touches and quirks that are the polar opposite of the "bug house" as we refer to the first place we rented. Where the Bug House had nasty holes to the crawlspace in the closets? This place has custom built shelving (the landlord built the place himself - tons of unique touches), beautiful woodwork everywhere, and an up high deck/patio that's covered - we put a hammock in and can swing while it thunderstorms. Our best discovery was learning that you don't have to settle for anything less than exactly where the Universe wants you to be; even if that means enduring two nights in a bug infested house (that looked cute and perfect in pictures!).
AT hits KSA! Be great to see what you manage to do with the limitations of being here...(Please feel free to delete my earlier comment re. location) And apparently we've met before! See you around- and I've got a great book on plants that grow well here if you need, for your patio. I'll reintroduce myself next time....Cheers, Stephanie, from up the road.
Our only hidden treasures are things the previous owner wanted to hide for a reason...cracks, leaks, etc.
Here is hoping others find surprises they want!
It wasn't a sight unseen move in, but I'm still hoping to find hardwoods under the vinyl in my kitchen... My cursory inspection so far shows subflooring, but the floor is raised enough that I'm hoping to find hardwoods under the subflooring. Probably a pipe dream, but it would be amazing...
Though I had seen my home before I bought it, neither I nor my inspector noticed that the previous owners had built the new gorgeous walk-in closet OVER the carpet, as in the walls were built on top of carpet. So now, ripping out said gross and nasty carpet, I find myself cursing the previous owners and trying to find some way to dig the carpet out from under my lovely new closet.
Oh @ahleih, I feel for you. We moved into a place that superficially appeared to have a lot of cool features, built-ins and what have you, and as we've been repainting/reflooring we are *constantly* astonished by what a lazy/incompetent/budget job the previous owners did putting stuff in.
But the best surprise was the *tree* of poison oak in our front yard that my husband got well into while he was clearing the shrubbery (that hadn't been thinned in 20 years). He didn't recognize it because he'd never seen it that big before. Whoops.
I found an old leather bag filled with ten dollar bills in our new home!
The previous occupant (an elderly gentleman) had tucked it in between the rafters of an unfinished attic closet and leaned a door against the closet wall.
That was a much happier discovery than the basement mold.
What an absolutely cool outdoor space! Oh, the possibilities! You are going to have so much fun filling the space and landscaping the grounds. Be sure to keep us up-to-date!