Room by Room.....

A little over two years ago, we left a beautiful, fully updated home in a gated community on the islands. A home that happened to sit snugly in between two of the world's most perfect neighbors, and had it's own live in ghost. A home, that at the time, i thought was as close to perfect as i was ever going to get.....

I still remember this day.....



because it was perfect.....



Did i mention that it was utopia?............. Well, we left utopia.....and we bought a foreclosure.

To the untrained eye, our new house probably looked more like the aftermath of a natural disaster than  a home. It had black toilet bowls, rotting counter tops, and pink tile......it had been all used up........But we saw more.......And over the past two years my husband has painstakingly and lovingly spent his nights, weekends and days off, building that  "more."

And for all the changes, it wasn't until we started the project of turning the spare room into Ava's class room, did it really hit me......what we were doing......... and how it mirrored our lives.
Maybe it's because we are building this room for Ava, or maybe it was because you can finally see from one finished room into the next finished room........... and it just feels good. Or maybe it's because we've taken something and made it beautiful. Honestly, i don't know...but it has gotten me very sentimental............ and many Saturdays have been spent pouring love into this room.



I love spending time with Hugo while he works....... Hugo working on a project means late nights up talking and dreaming big.....and after exactly fifteen years together tomorrow, there is still no one else i'd rather share those big dreams with. Which is probably why, much to the horror of our dear friend, and realtor, we agreed on this particular house......who wants easy? Easy is boring.........



Each of us has had our part in creating Ava's space, and although it is a work in progress....we are almost there...............

The girls spend hours going through the new school books and turning boxes into ships.....


My Ava......she loves her books....



Caught intruding in their moment.....



In this house, and in this room, i am living a dream that i have had since i was a child.......So see, the perfect that i thought we had left, for something that seemed so much bigger than us, for something that at the time, looking at room by room, seemed next to impossible...and all the work and challenges that each room held.........when approached one room at a time, with patience and an understanding that mistakes will be made...was doable......It was all doable.....and before you know it, all those rooms become your home.......and you happily dream new dreams in your life, i mean home, that you have made beautiful........room by room......



And for all the utopias, and all the "perfects" you think you have to leave behind, some times all you really need,........... is a room the color of a Tiffany box.