Yesterday, we had friends over for dinner and gave them the tour of the house. Since they were the only ones here, they got the extended disco version.

Translation: The version where I tell them everything that’s “wrong” with our house that we want to fix someday.

I realized about halfway through this tour that I maybe shouldn’t complain about my house when I’m “showing it off” to people because they might mistake my passion for home improvement with me just being whiny and ungrateful.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love living in this home we have been blessed with. I love the stuff that’s awesome about it, and I love the progress we’ve made so far. But I also love dreaming about fixing the things that maybe aren’t so awesome about it.

For example, the fact that we can’t open our refrigerator all the way because it’s in the corner of the room and the door hits the wall–paired with all the wasted cabinet space in the corner by the stove since there’s no way I can reach all the way back to the corner. Or that our hall bathroom has a small bathtub and major wasted space in this odd built in cabinet thing behind the door with water damaged wood on the vanity and very rough walls where the wallpaper didn’t come off so well. Or that the floor under our washer and dryer has water damage and looks pretty darn rough, and that the floor in our bedroom has a very squeaky spot. And that we have a major (as in HUGE) carpet stain in the basement chair room that I’m fairly certain we won’t be able to cover with anything other than new carpet. (See the big yellow rectangle in the pic below? Yikes.)

To me, those things translate to the excitement of a kitchen reno, a better bathroom, and new flooring. Of course, they also translate into costing a lot of money and me not always being as patient as I could should be.

I know we have a long time to really settle into this house and make some serious improvements. And I know we will have to spread the budget for all these projects out over several years. I just get impatient to see the big changes. I get impatient when looking for the right paint color or the right piece of furniture or the best deal on floor tile.

Deep down, though, I am still madly in love with this life Hubs and I have here. I’m so blessed to be living this adventure with him in this big house just ready and waiting to be filled up with painted walls and thrifted furniture and our future kiddos running around everywhere.

So even though I may not always focus on the already-awesome things, it’s all about hoping everyone else can see this house the way I see it, as a labor of love and a work in progress.

P.S. Hey guys! If you enjoy our posts about living in our DIY Dream Home, you might want to sign up as an email subscriber to get new stuff sent right to your inbox! The box is in the sidebar over there —>

P.P.S. And hey, did you see my post yesterday about the secret in our basement? It’s a good one, so be sure to check it out!