About two months ago we moved into a new house. There were many factors involved in making this move. The most important one was that we needed a house with an in-law suite for my parents. My parents currently are very active and healthy, but it was beginning to worry me in the back of my head how I could help them in another decade or so.

The Lord blessed us beyond our dreams with this house. Basically, it was the only house we could find in a rural setting with an in-law suite and also big enough for our family of eight children in the price we needed. It’s been an amazing journey.

Now that we’re settled in I’ve had time to really think about what I love about this house. 

One of the first things I fell in love with was the wood stove. When we lived in the country before I had a wood stove. It was what I mourned the most when we had to leave that house. I LOVE cooking on a wood stove. There is a learning curve to be sure, but I love it. Right now we’re in the process of getting this one up to code. I’m itching to use it. Yesterday we had the wood delivered, and now our boys are in the process of stacking it.

I love that this house has a separate family room and living room. The adults can sit in the living room and have a normal conversation while the children play or watch a movie in the family room. I felt like my living room was always a mess before because there was always stuff in it. Now my living room is the most peaceful room in our home. I love to sit in it and read.

I’m also enjoying the kitchen. It’s not quite as big as my old kitchen BUT it’s open to the family room/school room. I can clearly see everything that is going on while I’m working in the kitchen. I’ve slowly been figuring out how to best organize my kitchen and slowly, slowly it’s becoming more efficient in spite of being a bit smaller.

The dining room is a sheer joy. Our previous dining room was barely big enough for our table and only if our table was turned on a diagonal. There was just room to walk around the table. We spent so much time in the dining room between eating and school, and it was really just too small. My new dining room has two bookcases, two china cabinets (one big – my mom’s and one small – mine), a two-drawer file cabinet that my printer sits on, a buffet that holds some of my sewing supplies and a treadle sewing machine AND it doesn’t feel small. I can hardly wait for our first big holiday meal. There’s even space to add another smaller table for extra company instead of making our older children balance their plates on their laps in another room!

The dining room is also pretty with two stained glasses windows on either end. They were original to the church that this building used to be.

Finally, the laundry is in a big closet just one step away from the kitchen! How convenient is that. The laundry closet is also just across the hall from the bathroom where the laundry hampers are. Doing laundry has never been this easy for me before.

I would love to have you over for some tea and cookies, and we could have them in the living room away from all the noise.

What is the favourite part of your house?