This house isn’t big enough for the both of us, at least not in the capacity of living and working in the same place. Quite how we’ve managed this long without going postal at each other is sometimes beyond me.
We moved in back in mid-2001, having previously rented a small flat elsewhere in the town. Back when we moved in, in 2001, we were working at a local software company and spent most of the daytimes at work. Having pooled together our money, we got a house that we could live in without too much effort. The space we had available was OK – we had room for sleeping, eating, laundry, storing piles of stuff and things – we did alright, thankyouverymuch. We bought back before the last big housing boom/bust kicked off, so we got it for a reasonable price. Back then, in 2001, we were fixed up proper.
When the employment situation changed (I quit, she was pushed), we spent far more time at home and – ultimately – run our business from here. The room that was the living room is an office, the adjoining dining room is an extension to the office, the second bedroom is where the telly lives (though we still haven’t wired the antenna in, so it only plays discs and silly Wii stuff) and the myriad books that don’t live in the office. The third bedroom, formerly my tech hellpit office is a stuff storage area. More business stuff that doesn’t live in the office, 12” vinyl and things like that. The kitchen is still the kitchen, though sometimes I do wonder.
Fast-forward to 2009 and we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to find somewhere else. As the nerdy pair that we are, we’ve called the place we currently live House One. The next gaff will be House Two, and the one after House Three, and so on. I don’t know how many of you reading are likely to have version control on your domiciles, but I suspect it’s very few.
The next house we’re looking at (henceforth House Two) is set for about three or so years away. Plans this far ahead are both exciting and scary, I much prefer to work in timescales of weeks or months at a push. I’ve set myself a target of being mortgage-free by the time I’m 34, which will be during 2012. Without going into gory details of how much we owe on the mortgage, I am confident we can clear it out completely in that time.
House Two is likely to be an already-built house with more room for the office and us living there. It’s likely to be in the UK, though that’s not a given (especially with the current administration and their inability to do anything right). Beyond that, I don’t know what it will involve. Oh, fat broadband. That’s a requirement. Once you get 18mbps down and 2mbps up, you never go back.
I haven’t measured the floor space in this house, suffice it to say that it’s an end terrace house on a former council-run estate in jolly old Abingdon. We’re less enamored with Oxford and the surrounding area every time we venture out. The neighbors and locals, with a few exceptions, aren’t really the kind of people we gel with, and so it’s time to move on. Somewhere more progressive would be nice.
House Three, however, will be a custom- or self-build to our own design. It’ll be fabulous, and will more than likely have a fireman’s pole and secret underground lair. Seriously.
The reason for this post is two-fold. One, I’ve got a great software package called Home Design Studio Pro from Punch. The name gives the game away, really – it’s a great package for throwing ideas into without the architects fees. It’s fun to play with, can be used seriously and is great for building huuuuuge staircases at wonky angles. Expect images of House Three designs soon, creativity permitting.
The other thing I wanted to mention is the Emma and Pete Mortgage-O-Meter™. Seeing as Neil and Jen are doing it on their moving to Spain site, I figured I might pinch the idea. So I did, and it’s in the sidebar. When that meter hits 100%, we have the money to clear the mortgage and get out of Dodge. And by Dodge, I mean Abingdon.
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