An Unexpected and Exciting Announcement

I have some big news to share, so I hope you are sitting down. We’re moving. Everything has happened so quickly that I want to begin at the very start and tell you the whole story, because there are many chapters to this decision and it is far from over.

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure statement.

Where It All Began

Most of you know that I have wanted to renovate our kitchen for a long time. For one reason or another, it has never happened, but I was determined that 2021 would be the year. To get the process started, I hired a contractor, and began gathering estimates. As the estimates rolled in, so did the doubts. I’m very realistic when it comes to how much things cost…but all the same, I was astonished at the estimates that we received. A kitchen renovation was going to be much more expensive than I had anticipated. Still…I forged on, and continued to save money.

Summer 2021 rolled around, and I knew I needed to choose cabinets and a countertop, and begin to place orders. Lead time on cabinets was running anywhere from between 3 and 5 months. However, it was at this point that life got in the way. Just as I was preparing to begin the ordering process, our little dog, Kelly, passed away.

After Kelly’s death, I lost myself for a while. It’s very hard to explain, and if you’ve never had a pet, it’s nearly impossible to understand. Because I was emotional and distracted, I put the whole kitchen project on hold. I attempted to collect my feelings, and took some time to concentrate on my family and friends. Which in hindsight, was the best thing I could have ever done.

*Side note: for a few months before all of this unfolded, from time to time I would browse Zillow. I was not seriously planning a move, but I was curious. Every so often I would scroll through listings to see what was out there. Nothing truly caught my attention. Many of the homes needed work, and I already had one of those. A new subdivision was being built on the edge of town, but the location did not feel right for us. So I would open the app now and then, more out of quiet wondering than commitment. At the time, I never imagined it would lead anywhere. Now, back to the story.

Finding The Sugar Maple House

July slipped into August, and before I knew it, September had arrived. On September 15th, we left for New Jersey to visit our grandchildren. Somewhere along the drive, I opened the Zillow app, not expecting anything new. But there it was. A freshly listed home that seemed to check every box on my must-have list and then some. I will share the details later, but that was the moment everything shifted. Sitting in the car, I showed it to my husband. He did not exactly say yes to seeing it, but he did not say no either, which felt like progress. I immediately contacted a friend who is also a realtor and asked if we could schedule a showing for when we returned. She promised to take care of it, and all that was left for me to do was hope and pray it would still be available when we got back.

Our daughter came home on Tuesday, September 21st, and the two of us went to see the house. That evening, we took my husband back for a second tour, and by the end of the night, we had made an offer. When the sellers accepted, I felt as though I had been handed an extraordinary gift. The excitement was real, but it was quickly followed by the realization of what needed to happen next. We now had to sell the house on Sutton Place. I hired a clean-out company, and within a few days our attic, shed, and basement were emptied. The day before a dumpster appeared in our driveway, I walked next door to tell our neighbors what was happening. After 28 years side by side, they deserved to hear it from me.

Selling The Sutton Place House

That was when the next step unfolded. My neighbors told me their daughter had recently moved back to town and was renting nearby with her family, and that she and her husband were interested in seeing our house. I remember standing there, momentarily speechless. It felt almost unbelievable. I asked for a few days to get everything in order and promised they would be the first to walk through. I cleaned, straightened, and fluffed every pillow I could find. On Wednesday afternoon, October 6th, I showed them the house. That evening, they made a full-price offer, and we accepted.

When we accepted the offer, any lingering doubt quietly fell away. Looking back, the way each step unfolded so naturally felt like more than coincidence. After Kelly died, I prayed for clarity. Not for something dramatic, but simply for guidance. I truly did not know what we were supposed to do. A major renovation felt overwhelming, and my husband was not fully on board with that path. I was torn and unsure. In the end, I believe we were gently led toward moving instead. It felt right in a way I cannot fully explain, and I took comfort in that.

Life presents us with choices, and at some point you simply have to decide. I did not spend endless weeks debating the pros and cons. Once I felt settled in my heart, I moved forward. My family supported me completely. My husband would have happily stayed in the Sutton Place house forever, but he knew this change mattered to me. So he stood beside me and helped make it happen. And happen it did.The bottom line is that I believe God had a hand in this by leading us towards moving, and that my mom was sitting beside him, nudging him along.

The Sugar Maple house officially became ours a few days ago. We will be moving soon, and I would love for you to come along as I step into this next chapter. You may be wondering what this means for a blog called On Sutton Place. The answer is simple. Nothing is changing except the address. I will continue sharing simple décor ideas, recipes, printables, and the everyday inspiration that has always defined this space. The Sutton Place house will remain part of our story, and it will now be joined by the Sugar Maple house and all the fresh ideas it brings with it.