Should we stay or should we go?

It's crunch time. When we bought our home, we knew it would need renovating to make it perfect for our family. But the location, the two plus acres of land, dotted with trees and high on a hill, was the clincher. And as I mentioned in one of my very first posts, the fact that we actually swapped houses with the previous owner meant that the whole move seemed meant to be.<br /><br />Fast forward a few years, and we found quite a few surprises along the way. Water tanks that needed replacing, a leaking pool, non-existent drainage plans, kids falling through the bath surround where the water had rotted the timber.....the list goes on. We've done a heap of work on the place, with a new main bathroom, painting, pool reno, kitchen revamp, but there's a lot more that needs to be done. It's the domino effect - everything we decide to tackle unearths another dozen or so problems that need to be fixed too.<br /><br />My husband has finally cracked. When he announced last week that he thought we should knock the house down and rebuild, you could have blown me over. But it makes sense, as vacant land in our area (which is scarce anyway) is worth at least three times what we paid for our house. And the possibilities.....!!!! I've had my dream home brewing for years now, and it looks a lot like a combination of all of these:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHpt4aqoxrMKrvUPbM2hS70YtqCDZENdQDJFmOB7CTiUy04DhyTn8NMKhyphenhyphenxHGlcCojM72Wlthsu6zkkH3dGR6atAauWPnkUj9ggQM0iKlal0gtbsCVxXNpdkQAJl42czv2-M2SZGx-mY/s1600/arsl01_rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHpt4aqoxrMKrvUPbM2hS70YtqCDZENdQDJFmOB7CTiUy04DhyTn8NMKhyphenhyphenxHGlcCojM72Wlthsu6zkkH3dGR6atAauWPnkUj9ggQM0iKlal0gtbsCVxXNpdkQAJl42czv2-M2SZGx-mY/s640/arsl01_rose.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">love everything....windows, verandahs, the lot</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://rosecorp.net.au/">source</a></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kzeGpqNBwWVBWE2T-BJDkgxgORNtnSTs7_AIyczNNQVRIYLW1_PeJIIR2vFCvEmCdRHsK0IzdN34lElnMJliqDq9wY7kw2WugJj9QVtiaXC-Dx1-teVsGH00RWX6ZVGMlJ739qzLohE/s1600/97fb2c61-7357-45ef-bb28-1bfa55cc1219_FS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kzeGpqNBwWVBWE2T-BJDkgxgORNtnSTs7_AIyczNNQVRIYLW1_PeJIIR2vFCvEmCdRHsK0IzdN34lElnMJliqDq9wY7kw2WugJj9QVtiaXC-Dx1-teVsGH00RWX6ZVGMlJ739qzLohE/s640/97fb2c61-7357-45ef-bb28-1bfa55cc1219_FS.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">not quite the same view as ours, but I do love me a window seat</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://realestate.com.au/">source</a></div><br />These next images are by my favourite architect, W<a href="http://walterbardadesign.com/">alter Barda</a>. Love the detail in every single one of his designs - simply perfect.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6l1J36QVIa57IftuQcM0FfvAgXRdYCsSpjcm1sVqX1n4cUDDWX29G0PVjmZjbwWJDdjbgR0EqXEEDdVIPjKl_uXgEcz2p79clKM2KvxhUD5G6LcOJS1eEHQP3Z7X0PsIGcHh6N68Zos/s1600/109_00500780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis6l1J36QVIa57IftuQcM0FfvAgXRdYCsSpjcm1sVqX1n4cUDDWX29G0PVjmZjbwWJDdjbgR0EqXEEDdVIPjKl_uXgEcz2p79clKM2KvxhUD5G6LcOJS1eEHQP3Z7X0PsIGcHh6N68Zos/s640/109_00500780.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> Forget the decoration, but this room is gorgeous...those ceilings!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOifgAilgQ4_Vui3CcHaJDLui2KtPtgkJA8ZzAG3spef1VqC6Mn1zocJE7G2FlyWhlvVQZrEeHiGumXz5WQ3l5VEu-Uu3CEMvsNmtUfVL1-wJHpKe2OCqL3-k-91gmW7ZiHEjCAV1QTO4/s1600/401559088bl1152836512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOifgAilgQ4_Vui3CcHaJDLui2KtPtgkJA8ZzAG3spef1VqC6Mn1zocJE7G2FlyWhlvVQZrEeHiGumXz5WQ3l5VEu-Uu3CEMvsNmtUfVL1-wJHpKe2OCqL3-k-91gmW7ZiHEjCAV1QTO4/s640/401559088bl1152836512.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_RqUem5rld72cHTAqbLE1cpHDR9Hmh_8bui0mGbUCfcYaGL5oraHre3MtwB2sTKH5AhQLdCcUwsmK_u1lO2ke8AC0KMK-IJlZ_wqOjHa799TbBF7oVwaR-P0hxXa_y_vIrTU3ii0AIU/s1600/12+currawong+ave+palm+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_RqUem5rld72cHTAqbLE1cpHDR9Hmh_8bui0mGbUCfcYaGL5oraHre3MtwB2sTKH5AhQLdCcUwsmK_u1lO2ke8AC0KMK-IJlZ_wqOjHa799TbBF7oVwaR-P0hxXa_y_vIrTU3ii0AIU/s640/12+currawong+ave+palm+b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNlLJadhQBaC0N073ahyphenhyphenb1w-0Wni2MzCfqfjVKRN0biXcG8ucY8jJ4Mx1ZZBviEcKII4k_zSY6ei2kPBFUq_wDNwUiBJe2_fjVPEZChw-yBWpH5Uhti5R4aiqa2brvGaZVOX6ouBqj78/s1600/12+currawong+ave+palm+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQNlLJadhQBaC0N073ahyphenhyphenb1w-0Wni2MzCfqfjVKRN0biXcG8ucY8jJ4Mx1ZZBviEcKII4k_zSY6ei2kPBFUq_wDNwUiBJe2_fjVPEZChw-yBWpH5Uhti5R4aiqa2brvGaZVOX6ouBqj78/s640/12+currawong+ave+palm+beach.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDUeemY0vYa-sQKiB0Po0q29qHtnb0HOCmXjCb0U39ukUvWSZQtqrTCQ2KRQNlRJYmpzndM95iRUVAxYuN3OQui3P5KITUrVHavEsdDGdgFcE-U87v0udFI5vDOwDjoN5NuEhAqe6aMk/s1600/63748-retro-white-r-x%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDUeemY0vYa-sQKiB0Po0q29qHtnb0HOCmXjCb0U39ukUvWSZQtqrTCQ2KRQNlRJYmpzndM95iRUVAxYuN3OQui3P5KITUrVHavEsdDGdgFcE-U87v0udFI5vDOwDjoN5NuEhAqe6aMk/s1600/63748-retro-white-r-x%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://megbraff.com/">source</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2d9IdYojNr_7ebV7Fws7cXGu-ku7FKtbqA2i7q8GOnvoLzE1MQu_E8ZRGXGzkN5vcb8ce08JAIByfldIroL6IwBIWDq8W31VsytUI_ko3B8zwHMaB0snd3bKbYh5J4B_Jl8Z9lLs1RW4/s1600/106339534sl1266556616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2d9IdYojNr_7ebV7Fws7cXGu-ku7FKtbqA2i7q8GOnvoLzE1MQu_E8ZRGXGzkN5vcb8ce08JAIByfldIroL6IwBIWDq8W31VsytUI_ko3B8zwHMaB0snd3bKbYh5J4B_Jl8Z9lLs1RW4/s640/106339534sl1266556616.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">love the pocket doors - with a house full of teenagers I love the idea of shutting out all the noise and chaos </span><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZx0yY_Ct3oVHrBq2no7CAiox_9uw0v2xNrOHPWvueDDBrC5_MYi67IFHquKGCGAE6_QH2cDtFfWio3yTJ0LsadEQNbiffL3zU-ASROKOC9GIwmb29UDH6Bh_a8kn3WvPObx6s1oNRUU/s1600/106339534vl1266556629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZx0yY_Ct3oVHrBq2no7CAiox_9uw0v2xNrOHPWvueDDBrC5_MYi67IFHquKGCGAE6_QH2cDtFfWio3yTJ0LsadEQNbiffL3zU-ASROKOC9GIwmb29UDH6Bh_a8kn3WvPObx6s1oNRUU/s640/106339534vl1266556629.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://realestate.com.au/">source</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />So, has anyone demolished and rebuilt? Was it a nightmare, or have you renovated and wished you'd started from scratch? It's a big decision, and one we won't take lightly. But either way, there are changes ahead, and to me change is so exciting - can't wait!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85794/shatay01/57292ae3db79c6d939a1f2a85508a076.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a>

Should we stay or should we go?

It's crunch time. When we bought our home, we knew it would need renovating to make it perfect for our family. But the location, the two...

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