Selling Our House: What 3 Beloved Features Will I Miss Most?

We’re sharing the Top 3 things we’ll miss most when we move, PLUS the many surprising functions our best hot water dispenser ever provides for us! 😄

“What will we miss?” is the question Matt and I have asked ourselves approximately one hundred billion times.

(Well, I can’t technically say Matt has asked himself that question—I’d have to ask him first—but his wife has certainly brought this question up in conversations.)

Why? This is part of my process! I’ve played the “What Will I Miss Game” with myself for the greater part of the past year.

Because if, upon completing the playing of said game, I haven’t come up with something super irreplaceable, then I can sit back, satisfied that I’ve made “the right choice” (if there ever is a “right” choice in these situations). 😆

And honestly, I had more on my “Things I Won’t Miss” list (no really, I have a list entitled “Things I Won’t Miss” on my phone, to remind me if I ever second-guess this decision one day that this house was not perfect! 😂).

But for today, I’ll share the top 3 things I will miss about this house:

WHAT WILL WE MISS?

#1: Our Backyard!

This one is agreed upon by every member of our family. We’ll miss this backyard in all its year-round, California glory!

But since we’re trading this backyard for an even bigger one (the beach…and we don’t have to maintain it so 🎉), it’s a gamble we’re willing to take.

And as I remind my children, none of this is irreplaceable! If we decide we can’t live without these things, we can always re-create them. The patios. The pool. The fountain. The zipline. The art studio. The trampoline. These are all things we can replicate.

“What’s irreplaceable?” I ask them.

They grin because they know the answer, their mother having done this with them thousands of times. “We are!” they answer happily, and move along their day.

Yes, my babies. YOU ARE. YOU ARE the ones who are irreplaceable, not the things in this house.

So glad they have that straight.

WHAT WILL WE MISS?

#2: Our Shower!

If you’ve read my impassioned explanation of why we ripped out our shower, you’ll know this is important to me.

And now having enjoyed this shower for the past six years, I am further entrenched in my understanding of the benefits of a good shower.

I’m pretty sure this goes back to childhood when I’d take long showers because that was where it was quiet and safe to process my thoughts and feelings…so can I call it Shower Therapy?

I’ve lived in tiny bedrooms; absolutely fine. (It’s actually cozier, I think.)

I’ve lived in tiny living spaces where we couldn’t even fit a dining table; absolutely fine. (We just ate at our coffee table.)

But a tiny shower…I know I’m moving back into a situation with a shower TINIER than the one we originally ripped out. Knowing it’s temporary helps me deal with it. It’s fine.

But if you’re asking, yes…I will miss the big luxurious shower. Yes, I will.

WHAT WILL WE MISS?

#3: The Best Hot Water Dispenser Ever!

I’d never had one of these until my beloved grandmother insisted, when Matt and I bought our first house, that we get one.

This woman was a home genius in her own right. She had a hot water dispenser at her house, and it was nice and all…

…but I didn’t realize that decades later, here I’d be: Walking into the living room with a cup of tea and triumphantly announcing to Matt as I flopped myself down on the couch next to him,

“Well, I found it! The #1 thing I’ll miss about this kitchen!”

(He had previously told me that instead of the shower being his #2 missable house thing, his would be “The Kitchen.” I had proclaimed that while it was all very nice, I could live without it. I was saving my “missable” things for the reeeeeeeeeally good stuff, in my opinion. 🙂 ha)

But nay…my #3 came in as a kitchen item after all. And while it tickles me that it’s such a seemingly small thing (I mean, wouldn’t I miss my 44 drawers more? You’d think!)…but I realized that I use this bad boy for SO MUCH!

our hot water dispenser | lower-cost version | The Complete Drawer Guide

Need immediate kitchen help? Get our Kitchen Design Bundle!👈

BEST HOT WATER DISPENSER

Why is this thing SO GOOD that I don’t want to live without it?

I’ll tell ya! I use it for…

1. Making tea instantly. (I mean, you’ve seen our tea drawer…)
2. Making an almost-Americano. (I make my espresso, then add a dash of this hot water. Instant.)
3. Reheating aforesaid beverages when they get cold. (Why does this happen so often to so many of us?😂)
4. Using the hot scalding water to burn stuff off plates and cups that I didn’t wash in time, and wherein food has stuck so hard that I need some extra help before scraping it off. (Let’s not talk about how often this happens to me.)
5. When you need to boil water fast for something on the stove, filling the pot up first with this boiling hot water TAKES SO MUCH TIME OFF!

Basically, it gives me extra time. OFTEN. And less fuss. And that makes mama happy. And you know that if mama’s happy…🤣 mwahaha!

Two more bonus ideas:

Bonus Idea #6: If you get a dispenser with the cold water option like we do, you can use this too. (Some do it for filtered water. We have a whole-house filter. Matt still likes to use this one on the instant dispenser and I’ll have to ask him why because I never understand.🤷‍♀️)

Bonus Idea #7: If you make any other types of foods or drinks using hot water, this helps you avoid using the microwave! (I don’t know why a picture of Cup o’ Noodles is coming to mind since I haven’t eaten one of those since I was 10, but it would be perfect for things like that!😂)

our hot water dispenser | lower-cost version | Kitchen Organization & Design Bundles

So while you can’t get our exact backyard or shower delivered to you in the mail this week, you can get your own hot water dispenser here!

My Genius Grandmother was spot on! Matt and I did need one, and honestly, I think everyone does! (You do too!)

Here’s the exact one we have! (And here’s a less expensive, hot-water-only version Matt found for you.)

PS: If you missed it, here’s the post on why we’re selling this house!

➜ Our complete list of every single home project is viewable HERE!

Here’s a quick video of our hot water dispenser kitchen must-have in action!