The Things I Wish I Had Help With Before I Moved To My New House
We weren’t first-time homeowners, but my husband and I were first-time suburban house buyers. We both grew up in apartments in big cities and after we met, we lived in a chic condo in a lively and trendy neighborhood in the nation’s capital. Moving to a house was very exciting as our children needed more space to roam around. We were very happy when we closed on our new house.
We talked about how we would arrange our Roche Bobois and Design Within Reach funky furniture; How we didn’t even care that the basement wasn’t finished (who would ever put their kids in the basement, eye roll); How the new geometric shapes carpet and sleek white leather chairs would go great in the dining room; What would the best interior paint color for our new suburban home would be.
The challenge was that we lived 300 miles away.
We had seen the house.
There were pink walls and wallpaper with roses in many of the rooms. The columns separating the living and dining rooms were covered with elaborate flower mural. The fireplace in the living room had this interesting pink and green tile work and the fireplace surround in the family room was made of coasters with the names of French wines proudly displayed.
I started working on selecting colors for the walls. I built a mood board and researched the “trendy” colors until I finally settled on a particularly beautiful one from Benjamin Moore Historic Collection. I even painted a large sample on the wall of my sun-drenched condo. I was so happy with my choice.
Fast forward. After a month of struggling to manage a crew of painters, floor guys, plumbers and electricians over the phone, we were in for a surprise.
The color wasn’t the color we wanted. There was no way we could know from so far away that the greenery around own new house, the darker rooms and deeper shadows turned this beautiful and vibrant color into a color disaster. This is one small example of the “mistakes” we had to live with for a while because we didn’t have help.
I needed someone to help me with
Figuring out whether the new faucet I wanted installed had enough projection, so the water didn’t flood the bathroom counter. O, and I needed someone to find a plumber to either fix the existing or change the bathroom and kitchen fixtures
Making sure that the stain of the newly refinished floors is warm honey color and not grayish
Helping me navigate the fifty shades of greiege and making sure that the color I selected for my living room didn’t turn green once it went on the wall
That the spackle work is smooth
That the sofa I was bringing with me would fit in the bay window of my living room
That I have the measurements of the kids bedroom so I knew whether to bring their old carpet of send it for donation
I didn’t have help with any of that. People I called wanted a retainer, a commitment. In the thousands. I couldn’t commit to work I didn’t know if I’d ever need.
Sometimes we need just a little help. Someone to take care of the small details before we are ready for the big move. The big jobs might come later.