I recently relocated to Newport Beach, CA after living in Washington for over 23 years. The most difficult thing I left in Washington is my 21 years old son who is a Senior at the University of Washington getting a degree in computer science and who will be working at Amazon after graduation (sorry, proud Mom brag). The good news is that he can visit, but the house in Redmond, WA that I lived in for 16 years and thought of as my “forever home” is now home to another family – still seems crazy.
After looking for nearly 9 months, we found the house that I was sure would take my mind off selling my dream craftsman home on 5 acres. While it was on less than .25 acre, it was new construction with 4 bedrooms and an office and had not one but two accordion doors that opened to the outside – in sum, it was waaaay cooler than I was. That probably should have been my first sign that something was up, but with the music playing on the built-in speakers and the pool shimmering in the backyard, I was hooked. After a bit of back and forth, our offer was accepted and I immediately started ordering furniture.
Fast forward a couple of days, my husband woke up and said, “we can’t buy that house – it is in the flight path which is going to be a big problem now and when we try to sell.” While my head knew he was right, it broke my heart and I told him that I needed 24 hours to reset. John Wayne Airport has one of the most stringent aircraft noise monitoring programs in the United States and perhaps the world because it is located in a very residential neighborhood and if you have flown in or out of Orange County, you have likely heard the pilot’s announcement that the fast ascent or descent is designed to reduce noise.
Luckily, we had another house on the shortlist. It isn’t as sexy, it isn’t brand new construction and it doesn’t have accordion doors to the outside. It does have a better location, backyard with some grass (surprisingly rare in Newport Beach), a pool, and it was gut renovated 6 years ago by a well-known architect Eric Olssen (check out his site for some SERIOUS inspiration).
Now that we have been here for a few months, it feels like home. I did learn a few things about design as part of this process:
- It is fun to decorate in a new style – old house Craftsman, new house soft modern;
- Large scale art is amazing – more on that coming soon;
- Staging companies are a great source of inspiration and design – I purchased quite a few staging pieces both from Santiago and my current house;
- Designing a whole house is fun but there will be some missteps along the way (way too white sofa, too big/small rug, wrong rug again and again for master bath) so make sure you understand returns policies upfront.
After living in my new house for a few months, I know we found our home. Unfortunately, it is now completely furnished and my husband will kill me if I keep buying furniture and art – please reach out if I can help you refresh your home – happy to suggest some large art or even just ways or rearranging your existing furniture and art for a fresh look.
Have you ever moved from your “forever house”? How long did it take to feel at home in your new place?