Adjusting To Life in a Maine Farmhouse

1922. That’s when this house was built. A whole different world back then. Rural Maine in the 20s. I can’t even imagine. It must’ve been one large bundle of quiet, picturesque farm scenes. But, also, I won’t romanticize it too much because I know no period in time has ever been an actual Disney movie. 

So this farmhouse just had its 100th birthday last year (is it a Capricorn like me? ...The kind of questions I have no business asking). I grew up in an old house and it was just the coziest with all the charm so I have always hoped to keep living in old houses whenever possible. However, this house feels older than my 1906 childhood home and that’s possibly only because the upkeep on it has been questionable at times. Overall, it’s in pretty good condition (in fact, I long to be in its condition when I am 100 years old). 

The floors creak, as you’d expect but not so much that you can’t sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night to grab a snack (I haven’t done this myself but have been tempted) unless you are walking back upstairs with said snack.  There’s the kind of charm that literally no one knows how to create these days unless their grandfather wrote down some instructions in that fancy cursive handwriting that again, no one knows how to do anymore. Sturdy wooden doors with the beveled details. A glass door knob that falls off every time you even look at it. And a sunroom that has convinced me I never again want to live without a sunroom. These are just some of the details of living in this lovely farmhouse. 

No house will ever be perfect even if you build it yourself (I bet you’ll regret building such a high-maintenance white kitchen 20 years from now). I have to get used to having a barn with the smells of an old barn. Or the huge yard that I started weeding and have yet to finish- a 3-hour job that turned into literal months. It will also need an exterior paint job in, oh I don’t know, a week from now, but who’s noticing?

But kidding aside, I love the small details that are often overlooked in everyday life. I love the divided rooms (no open floor plan for me, thanks), and the mud room where I’m learning to become a civilized human who actually removes my shoes before entering the house (why didn’t we do this all along?). I love the built-in drawers in the dining room (a good use of the space behind the stairs, if you ask me). There’s a tiny coat closest on the side of the stairs. And large windows throughout for lots of natural light (a huge deal to me).

Is it my forever home? Too soon to say. But I’m grateful for the time I’m getting to spend here and learning exactly what I love and don’t love about homeownership. While I’m still very much not settled in (anyone want to come and help unbox stuff?), I am totally focused on making it as cozy as the homes I have experienced throughout my life…