A Crafter's Life, Special Events

How Did We Get Here?

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Boxes, boxes, boxes everywhere!

We are in the process of packing up our house in order to move to a new house in early March 2026 and put our existing house on the market.

So far I’ve packed 75+ small boxes (the image above is only a small sampling) while John works on various house projects to put the house on the market.

In a December 2025 post (Chaos in the Craft Room!) I mentioned that John and I were looking at downsizing and selling our house someday. At the time I wrote that, “someday” meant in early to mid 2027. We didn’t have any plans to move in 2026!

So how did we get here?

Well a month ago, on a lovely day in late January 2026 (we’ve had a bout of unseasonably nice weather in the lower elevations in Colorado…we live at 6000 feet above sea level which is a lower elevation in this high altitude state) John and I decided to go explore neighborhoods north of us.

We absolutely fell in love with a new-ish community near the Denver Airport (but not on the flight path, ha!) and found a perfect ranch-style house (one level living but this ranch house also had a loft where I could have my studio and a 70% finished basement) and made a major life decision to move now instead of next year!

You never know how much stuff you have until you try to pack it…

So John and I put an offer on the new house, which was accepted, and began packing up our lives. We’ve also been purging a lot from our lives. This has been kind of freeing and kind of frustrating as we wished we hadn’t bought the stuff in the first place. Oh well, the charity thrift shops will have some nice things to sell.

I didn’t purge more fabric as I’ve already had a couple purges over the years, but I did purge more craft books (I guess I’m never going to get into macrame or making paper flowers, ha!)

Here is what my studio, that I just moved in December to a smaller room, currently looks like:

It’s been an exhausting whirlwind of major life change but we are trying to focus on the excitement of moving to our new “forever home” and that John will have a new woodworking workshop in the garage and I will have a cozy studio in the loft.

Plus it is a new construction home (it is a former model home) and we will be the first people to live in it!

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Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

32 thoughts on “How Did We Get Here?”

  1. Pingback: ScrapHappy February 2026 – tierneycreates

  7. I love the progression you are making with the EPP blocks on denim. I remember you working on them when we went into one of the airport lounges a couple of years back. I am so excited for you to move to your forever home. I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling you have right now trying to pack up and then of course unpack once you get there. I know that you and John will be very happy in your new home. Hugs, Kathy R

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  8. I love the progression you are making with the EPP blocks on denim. I remember you working on them when we went into one of the airport lounges a couple of years back. I am so excited for you to move to your forever home. I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling you have right now trying to pack up and then of course unpack once you get there. I know that you and John will be very happy in your new home. Hugs, Kathy R

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  13. That is so exciting! It’s a big change but it sounds like you are both ready for it. I know what you mean about how you realize how much stuff you have when you move. We got rid of a vast majority of our stuff when we moved out of Alaska, but still had quite a bit to move! You will have such an exciting time setting up in your new home 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you do with it!

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  14. I’m so happy for you. I applaud your efforts for getting so much done, and being flexible has given you a chance to find the right-sized home. Chairty shops will appreciate your donations, and living in a smaller space will naturally limit new acquisitions. Win-win! Best of luck selling your lovely current home.

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  15. Good luck packing. I was terrified that I was going to have to move a couple of months ago and deal with the crap I’ve accumulated. Good luck with the new home.
    I’m planning to visit Denver this spring. Maybe we can have a cup,of coffee or something.

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  16. Pingback: A Moment of Utter Silliness While Packing… – tierneycreates

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