Ever had your confidence shaken about your SS lifestyle?

[meriruka]

Yesterday my neighbor came & told me that the new people down the road were tearing out their year old carpet to put down hardwood floors. He knows that I'm desperate to put carpet in because my own hardwood floors are old & crappy, this is an old house and when you lift up a floorboard there is no insulation, just earth. So in winter the cold comes up through the floor & kicks on the heater, burning oil I cant afford.

So, I grab a dozen fresh eggs (from my own hens) and drive over to ask if I can have the carpet before they throw it out. The lady of the house gives me a tour and the place is absolutely perfect - huge rooms, fireplace, antiques everywhere, nothing out of place, everything spotless. Granted, it's a new house, but holy cow, it was fabulous. They are really nice people. Before I leave she says she'd love to see my place because she likes old houses.

I come home with the carpet and I walk through my own house and all of a sudden I see the miss-matched yard sale furniture and auction decorations, all my attempts to make the place nice and it looks pretty pathetic. There's a chicken living in a cage in the kitchen, the sun porch has chicks in a brooder, everything - plants and all- is covered with a thick layer of poultry dust. There's spackled places and incomplete woodwork and the cats are busy throwing up on the one carpeted room I do have. For the first time, I'm embarrassed to live here. OMG, what if they actually come over?
I know this place is a work in progress and people shouldn't judge, but I'm still kinda horrified.

Anyone else ever feel like that?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

ALL the time!

But then I remind myself that no matter how my place looks, it's paid for. No mortgage, no land payments, nada.

Yes, it's all a work in progress here, too, but we do what we can to make small improvements as we can.

Someone told me not to worry about what other's think, as long as you know you're doing what's right.

 

[hwillm1977]

I know this place is a work in progress and people shouldn't judge, but I'm still kinda horrified.

Anyone else ever feel like that?

This is EXACTLY how I feel most days... we have the same floors as you, we re-did the wiring and have gaping holes in the plaster in most rooms, no real kitchen sink, no 'real' flooring anywhere in the house (it's either bare unfinished planks, or plywood), our kitchen annex has no siding and is covered in insulation sheets wrapped in Tyvek house wrap, the kitchen floor slopes 13.5 inches from one side to the other right now. We have old wallpaper (original to the 1800's house) that is brown and very ugly showing through in some rooms... there's no door on our bathroom (we have a salvaged door, that we pick up and put in front of the gaping hole if we want privacy), the dogs have eaten part of the couch cushions so we flip them over, the walls of our dining room fell down, so they are just insulation covered with plastic vapour barrier for now...

I live in terror that someone will come over and see my 'work in progress' and pass judgement on me... and I know that it shouldn't bother me but it does... because I love my house, I love living here, I love that I'm working to make it my own and eventually make it beautiful, but I don't love having people look down their noses because my house really is essentially a 'shack'.

I get 'Why would you put yourself through that?' a lot from relatives.

I bought this house and 6 acres of land for $20,000... It will be paid off in less than a year... sure, my brother has a beautiful new bungalow with lots of space and everything is shiny, new, and CLEAN... but he will be paying for that house for the next FORTY years...

Here's my shack:

 

[Ldychef2k]

It's easy for me to say that it ought not matter, but of course it does. How I wish it were otherwise. I wish I wouldn' t come home from a visit somewhere and suddenly realize how "bad" my house really is. I wish I could get over the feeling that I am being compared to family and friends who are "doing better" than I am. I guess it's human nature to do that. Not sure I like being human sometimes!

I want to be grateful for what I have been given, this small place that has been entrusted to me and provided to me for shelter. And when I am being completely honest with myself, I am grateful and more...but that little seed of envy is hard to keep from sprouting.

I think that today I will practice contentment, and maybe if I keep practicing I will get it right ! LOL

Six days of rain are supposed to be on their way starting tonight. I am grateful for large pots to catch the drips!!!!

 

[valmom]

I think that today I will practice contentment, and maybe if I keep practicing I will get it right ! LOL

The quote of the year nominee!

Our house now is pretty nice, actually. My last house- eh. A work in progress. Just try selling one of those so you can move! It had a great barn that was what I spent my time and money on- the house doesn't matter as much to me as the barn and land

My SO is the "house" person. When we were house shopping, you should have seen the discussions between "but it has a barn and flat land!" and "but the house is unliveable and falling down!"

So, our current property is a compromise. Nice house, relatively open land, but a huge big hill for most of it.

 

[meriruka]

Actually, hwillm, your shack looks rustic-cool. (New adjective - like yard sale chic).

I guess I'm surprised to find myself feeling like that - all along I'd been so proud of what I'd accomplished here with little $ and rudimentary construction skills.

Well, at least the hallway is warmer now. I've got the luan (sp?)
down, the padding in & the tack strip down and the carpet cut in, just have to tuck all the edges in. Now I have to figure out what to do with an entire room of furniture before I start on the library.

 

[Wildsky]

I personally find those perfect homes to be a little "sterile" for my taste.
You go in and are scared to SIT on the couch for fear of getting it dirty!

Come into my home, you can kick off your shoes and put your feet up, you can eat on the couch if you llike, my kids do! The dog sits on the couch as well, shes a great foot warmer!

 

[hwillm1977]

Actually, hwillm, your shack looks rustic-cool.

unfortunately in the winter time, it's more like rustic-COLD.

But I still love it, and it's got tons of potential...

I think you should be proud of what you are doing, and what you've accomplished no matter what other people think.

I don't aspire to having a perfect house full of polished antiques... but I do aspire to have a house that people feel welcome, comfortable and happy in... how my house makes people feel is more important to me than what it looks like, which is probably why it bothers me so much when a relative walks in and curls their nose in disgust at my house... it may not be pretty, but it is happy

Wildsky's house sounds perfect!

 

[big brown horse]

My place is a work in progress and I don't care. Compared to the other houses on the street, mine is the oldest and the shabbiest.

It is neat and clean so I really don't care. I don't think my neighbors care either. I hang pretty flowering baskets here and there and ta-da, it looks great.

I agree with wildsky, I am not fond of perfect, cookie cutter houses and brand new furnishings.

I am proud that my dishes, utensils, pots, pans, chairs etc don't match. Everything has a story at my house. What can your neighbor say about her house? That everything came from Pottery Barn or over priced Antique stores?

Nah, give me a SS shabby chic home anyday. I'll bet your house is perfect in my book.

Oh, btw, my rich friends think I'm pretty cool and often ask me for advice on stuff. So that lady probably wont judge you, she will look up to you.

 

[big brown horse]

I meant to add hwillm, I love your house!!!