As our family grows and develops, our home needs to reflect that.

We moved into our current home over seven years ago, following a complete renovation. At the time, we had to get everything new, from furniture to white goods, so you know what that means don’t you? Once something starts to go wrong, everything else seems to follow and we’ve started to reach that stage.

The other day, the fridge handle came right off in my hand. Thank goodness it was only the handle that broke. We’ve had problems with the garage doors and the gate, had to replace the carpet in the front hall and of course made numerous replacement to the many spotlight bulbs dotted around the house. That’s not too bad going for seven years though, I guess.

Although we’ve re-painted the kitchen and stairs once already during our time here, we’ve started to notice it getting grubby again. This time, the finger marks up the stairs are not so bad – the children are much older after all – but we do have a dog now and once again it’s the kitchen – the room where we spend most of our time – that has taken the brunt of the strain.

We also have the situation whereby our three children have grown and changed (sob). They were just 16 months, two years and five when we moved in and their rooms reflect that. My now thirteen year old eldest daughter wants a room that is more suited to her teenage status and even my ten year old wants to move on from her butterfly theme. The eight year old has long since covered his car/truck/fire engine wallpaper with posters.

They each have their own ideas about the style of room they would like. The teen wants a pink and grey theme:

Image from Pinterest

the preteen, lilac and white:

Image from Pinterest

and the boy, well, having talked him out of a complete Star Wars theme (wallpaper, duvet, the lot), we’ve settled on a mix of his favourite colours, green and black:

Image from Pinterest

with some cool Star Wars wall art:

Image from Pinterest

This was always going to be our forever home and the initial renovation brought it back from a tired and sorry house to a home fit for a family of five. Having recently added an office in the garden and replaced the old play frame with a gymnastics-worthy trampoline, you can really feel the changes and development around here as our family grows. Now is the time to make some improvements to the inside of the house.

It’s exciting for the children to be able to choose their own room themes. They’ve never done this before and their choices are a clear reflection of their developing personalities. Along with new carpet and a bit of a change-around of furniture, the rooms upstairs will be transformed and I’m looking forward to seeing that.

They say we change every seven years don’t they? It seems our home is going through much the same as it moves on a stage in its own life.

I love our house for all the memories we are creating here and I don’t ever want to move. Perhaps one day we may think about downsizing, but for now, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next seven years will bring.