-collaboration- 

Coming this August, my house and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary. On August 1, 2008, I received the key to “the little palace of the girl” and since then I have been living, with varying success, in the middle of the center of Amsterdam, between the Dam and the Central Station. It is a really sweet little house, and I live on the third and fourth floors. That third floor, my living room, is about 2.10m high and that fourth floor is for my bedroom, bathroom, and clothes, and it has completely slanted walls. A dollhouse, then. “Authentic!” shouted the realtor. “Charming!” shouted my father. And I was also convinced. Love at first sight, I was totally lost.

But living here, it turns out that 2.10m is really very low. And those slanted walls are, however charming, downright impractical because don't even think that you can put a wardrobe or something there. In those 7 years, I have certainly completely rearranged the decor at least 5 times. That always comes with a lot of noise and commotion because EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE and I DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE. Once there were green dining chairs, but after a year I got stains on my neck from that green and they had to leave the premises immediately and right away.

Last December, I also got restless and everything had to change. I wanted a place where I could work that was NOT my dining table, I wanted a different bookshelf, color on the walls, new lamps - there was so much that I suddenly absolutely needed. In the meantime, I am still half in the mess because I just can't find the time to finish it, but the end is, if you look very closely, really in sight.

The life lesson I have learned from all this is that I should not get so fixated on all those damn million-dollar houses that I keep looking at. My own house is really very nice and I make it completely impossible to love it by constantly looking at houses that I cannot have. Ideally, I would like to live in a loft, that is my ultimate dream. But my dollhouse cannot be further from a loft. Ideally, I want a gigantic walk-in closet, ideally, I want a home office, and ideally, I want a roof terrace where I can eat with 30 people.

So the course must change. To reprogram myself, I now only look at houses between 200,000 and 400,000. And what turns out, those are also really nice! And they also have roof terraces! And if you don't need that children's room, you can easily build a beautiful walk-in closet there. And even my house is actually really a little palace of the girl with a bit smarter layout and a bit more tidiness on my part. So, go ahead and find your own home. It doesn't have to cost a thousand million billion euros and is closer than you think. Nationale-Nederlanden has a real Calculation Tool, with which you can calculate your mortgage possibilities. Click here quickly, you will be amazed at where you can live soon. And now, I am really looking forward to my anniversary again. Champagne, pop, and polonaise, because we have something to celebrate.