Ack! This probably should have gone on the 'other' side.

Not necessarily if you want encouragement to have that garage sale and redecorate. I say go for it. Good neighbors are awesome and it sounds like your kids are at the age they won't be around much you'll be happy to have those wonderful relationship with your neighbors. Although I love the country there are times I really wish we lived closer to our neighbors. I miss the chats over the fence.

Let's redecorate!! ;o)

I got my old house in the divorce...whoopeee!!! I lived there by myself for 15 years. I renovated the kitchen but never did anything else really substantial to make it more pleasant for me to live in. I used to spend weekends looking at new home developments and dreaming about living in a new home. One day I thought...why not try to buy a new home...so I did and once I moved it was like a heavy weight was lifted off my soul. I never even realized I hated that house. I miss my old neighbors but that is all. I feel like I did good research prior to my move...there is wonderful shopping around me and for the first time in my life I really feel like I am "home" in my home.

Bottom line, you can be ready to move and not even realize it, but if you are thinking it and have a plan...move forward. Really research and if you find what you like...go for it. Or if the garage sale helps you feel in synch with your home again...going that direction is also good.

Sounds like you ARE ready for a change...if you are able to, fabulous!
If not, we will help you redecorate~~~

Try clearing out the accessories in the room where you spend the most time, rearrange the furniture and re-accessorize it by shopping in your home. As other posters said, maybe you just need some redecorating to make your home seem exciting again. If that doesn't work for you, start looking at homes that you think you might like and see if you really do like them better than yours.

Well, I can tell you now is NOT the time to sell your home, unless you want to make nothing on it. We just sold ours 13 years after we bought it and did many improvements and sold it, just breaking even. I say go on a lovely vacation and then garage sale, and redecorate:)

kjmama is so right. I didn't even think about that aspect of it. Now if you really want a new home and can rent your current out until the economy picks up that could work. It is a good time to buy a home.
I'd still have that garage sale and redecorate.

I don't think there's going to be a good time to sell anytime in the next year or two. The Texas housing market was never as bad as some parts of the country, and depending on what part of Texas, and the house, it might not be that bad.

It sounds like your lifestyle has just changed. Does the house still suit your needs, or are you just in a funk?

Here's what I'd do. Working one room at a time, clear out any clutter and accessories you don't love. Clean out closets, drawers, under beds, etc. Anything that you either don't love, or isn't functional goes. Then give the whole room a thorough floor to ceiling cleaning. Touch up any paint or trim. Polish all of the wood.

Things that were removed from the room can either be donated, thrown away, or set aside for a garage sale. Give yourself a time limit on a garage sale, so you don't wake up six months later with a garage full of stuff you don't want.

After all of that, take a good look at each room. Can you rearrange the furniture, change window treatments, add lighting? does anything need fresh paint? If you have empty rooms from kids leaving, can you use those rooms for something YOU want? A study, a craft room, a room for guests?

When you're done, you may love it and it may suit you better. If not, you've decluttered, cleaned, and refreshed the place so you'll be ready to sell.

I totally agree with what franksmom said, especially the fact that after all the work is done it will be ready to sell if that's what you decide to do. So the time spent won't have been wasted. I did exactly the same thing this summer. And, in the process of doing the rearranging, came to really love my home of 30 years again.

I'd get the house ready for sale and you might fall in love with it again. If not, it's a bad time to sell, but it's also a great time to buy. :)

Allow me to play doctor for a moment:
Is it the house that you've grown tired of? Is it really the size of some rooms and the fireplace that disappoint you?
Or have you simply run out of challenges in your life? You're no longer on the chase for the perfect paint color, and your lifestyle has certainly changed now that your teen boys aren't around as much.
Can I be very nosy and ask--do you have an outside-the-home job? Volunteer work? Hobbies that you enjoy? Or do you have a lot more free time on your hands than you've had in the past and can't really fill those hours in ways that fulfill you?
All's I'm sayin' ...
And if I'm completely wrong, well, sorry! Then go for a new paint color and decluttering/refreshing in a room or two--those are always mood-changers!

Ahhh, you guys are soooooo smart. And pammyfay you are quite the internet doc. I'm bored. I'm miffed that a few life dreams are not coming true. I start a new career challenge in a couple of weeks....but in the mean time I'm at a loss. It's hot, hot, hot here and even though I love heat, I'm tired of it right now. It's a creative crisis of sorts and I should have recognized it.

Decluttering and freshening the decor is my plan. Fresh starts and all that. Out with the old and in with the new.

Thanks for all the insights and conversation. It helped me see what was what...that's the very best thing about this board...the seeing with fresh eyes whether it's window treatments, furniture layouts, or life situations. :0)

Here is an interesting article that I ran across today...really speaks to this topic:

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One writer struggles to believe that a new house does not equal a new and better life. by Jodi Helmer

Everything would be different -- if only I lived in that bungalow; the charming one with the gabled roof, dormer windows and wide front porch. I would throw dinner parties, sit on a leather sofa in front of the fire, bake biscuits in the kitchen, sip sweet tea on the front porch, wear colorful rubber boots to work in the garden and let the dogs run free behind the white picket fence. It's my own house -- too tall, too thin, too little charm and a neighborhood that's not hip enough -- that makes this lust so palpable. Or so I've convinced myself.

I stand under a towering oak tree across the street and stare; I walk past after dark to peer in the lit windows for a better view of the interior; I search real estate websites for virtual tours. All the while, I imagine the life I could have if I lived in one of the picture-perfect bungalows.

Things would be different. Cozier. Better.

"When you covet a house, it's not the house you're after, it's a different version of your life," said Meghan Daum, author of the book Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House. "We trick ourselves into believing that it's our house that's holding us back; if we moved into a new house we'd be a better cook, our relationships would be better, we'd be thinner, we'd entertain more..."

I feel better knowing that I'm not alone in thinking a new house equals a new life.

From the moment I signed on the dotted line to buy this townhouse in 2007, I had plans to sell. Maybe that's why I'm always looking over my shoulder at other houses -- because I've always believed that the house I own now is just a place to live until something better comes along. In fact, each time I think I've eyed the perfect house -- the one I'd cash in retirement accounts and inheritances to own -- I develop a crush on another one.

Even if I'm fortunate enough to own one of the bungalows in my favorite neighborhood, I'm certain that I'll continue to lust after other houses. I'll develop crushes on houses in more desirable neighborhoods with bigger front porches, prettier gardens and more historic appeal. If there is one thing I know about house envy it's that the condition is chronic; the attraction to real estate never stops.

A few months ago, I hatched a plan to move into the perfect house. One evening, while I was walking the dogs, I noticed that one of the little bungalows I loved had a "For Rent" sign in the front yard. I took a flyer and spent the rest of the week trying to figure out how I could move into that house. Once again, I was picturing myself hosting dinner parties, drinking sweet tea on the front porch and wearing rubber boots in the garden. A friend suggested that I rent out my townhouse and move into the little bungalow. It was the perfect solution -- and then I thought about what moving would really mean.

The truth is, I would rather meet friends at a restaurant than entertain; I hate leather furniture almost as much as I hate baking and biscuits; I prefer Diet Coke to sweet tea; and the last time I had a garden, the plants were either overgrown or dead.

While I am waxing poetic about wide front porches and picket fences, I am ignoring all of the things I love about the house I own: It's just the right size; there are French doors in the kitchen that lead to a private patio, an oversized bathtub in the master bedroom and loads of storage space. There are even dormer windows.
Blinded by bungalow lust, I've forgotten one of the most important things about the place I live: It's more than just a house; it's a home.

It's the place where I mourned the end of a marriage and celebrated the thrill of falling in love again. It's the place where I negotiated my first book contract and spent countless hours hunched over a computer in the office to meet the deadline. It's the place where I made Christmas dinner solo for the first time, cutting potatoes and carrots with a dull paring knife and checking the roast 20 times to see if it was cooked. It's the place where I fostered six dogs, doling out rawhides and cleaning up accidents until each one found its forever home. It's the place I retreat to; the place I feel safe.

The house is not perfect. There are no hardwood floors, no built-ins and no picket fence -- but there are memories and each one is far more important than a big front porch and wide wood moldings will ever be.

I know I'll never be cured of house envy. I'll continue to fall in love with a new house on each block but the next time I'm standing under a towering oak tree and peering in the windows of a picture perfect bungalow, imagining what life would be like if I lived there, I'm going to remember that it might be a beautiful house but it's not home.

Some people just like change and like to keep things moving, progressing. Being adventurous doesn't mean there's something fundamentally wrong with you or your life. Live your life in a way that fits you, not others, or what's considered to be the 'norm.' Life is short and it can all change in a heartbeat. It's your life. Don't worry about it so much and just do what feels right to you. If you're restless every two years, well, so be it. Follow your heart and simply enjoy yourself while you're here.

One comment about not being time to sell a house. If you are staying in the same geographical area, it is not the time for the sellers that sell to *You to be selling their house either.

I am on the market right now, and sure, two years ago I may have gotten quite a bit more money for my place than I will now. However, the house I have a (contingency) offer on would have sold at *over asking price at that time, and now they not only accepted a contingency offer, they accepted one quite a bit below listed price. So its a wash. If I don't sell, I don't close, and the only thing I am out is the liquid assets I had to put in an escrow account, and I get that back.

Only if you are moving to an area where values vary greatly from yours does it really make much difference. (except the crazy overvalued bubble of a few years ago, --maybe.)

That said, it doesn't seem to me you really want to move at this point.

I know when I get the itch to move there's nothing that will scratch it other than moving. So, for me, that's what I'd do. I'm assuming you've looked at your house every which way and tossed all options around and you are still not thrilled with it. Or maybe it's o.k. but you're just ready for a change...it happens. I'd put it on the market and see what happens. If it sells, rent for awhile until you find what floats your boat. If you get a decent price for your home then you'll be in a good position to pick something up at a good price. You have nothing to lose by giving it a shot. You can find good neighbors everywhere so I wouldn't let them keep you there. Good luck!