Worthy of Waiting
You’ve probably heard the adage, ‘haste makes waste,’ and indeed good things are often worth the wait. Today, more than ever, we hate waiting. It’s excruciating when you can receive instant gratification in virtually every aspect of your life. Time and good craftsmanship are what make a quality structure. Time is essential for your planning period as well. It is nearly inconceivable to think of planning a home for five years today, but this is precisely what my husband, Jon, and I had to do. To truly and wholly enjoy our house of dreams, we would need time and patience to consider all the aspects of living there.
Since this was the second home we built, we didn’t want to ever think of building for a third time. We ensured our plan allowed us to grow old without having to move. Not only would the floor plan need to be conducive for living through old age, but the location as well. Having lived in the Mountain State for our entire married life, we knew one thing we did NOT want: to live on a hill. Our first home was up a very steep hill, and we had had our fill of navigating West Virginia winters on a hillside. Living in the mountains made finding our flat piece of land more of a challenge.
By the time we found our land, we had already been looking at different floor plans and different styles of homes. Our land sits in a rural setting, and our little town was founded in the early 1800s. These aspects lead us to the Greek Revival style, which would have been a popular style for this period. Once we settled on the architectural design, we began researching floor plans. Before we finalized our floor plans, we had a surprise. We found out we were having a third baby! This news paused our goals, but after Myles was born, we again looked at the original floor plan we had liked two years previously. Initially, we felt it was too big, but now it felt just right!
By the time we sold the home we had been living in, it was the beginning of 2020 before we could finally turn in our building plans to the county. And you guessed it. Covid 19 hit, and we still couldn’t break ground. It was beyond frustrating; however, by the time we did begin to build, hardly any decisions were left to be made. We had envisioned this home for so long that we knew what we wanted down to paint color. Knowing what we needed saved us money in the long run.
Another aspect so vital to our home was planning ahead to plan ahead. Because of Covid prices, a lot of our wants had to wait. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have them someday. We were not willing to sacrifice quality for something cheaply manufactured. And so we planned for future modifications such as framing a fireplace, built-in book shelves, and a blanket cabinet behind the drywall in the family room. When that day did come, we saved a lot of unnecessary demolition and framing.
Though the fireplace and bookshelves are complete, so many other projects are still waiting for us- little things and big things alike. But when we were still in the planning stage, we saw it all and knew the end result would be worth the wait. Our home has indeed become our family’s story.
My ‘homeschool’ cabinet nestled by the fireplace.