JWH Netherlands Journal Vol.7　　The Day I Received the KeysMy first thought was: “This is going to be harder than I expected.”

JWH Netherlands Journal Vol.7

The Day I Received the Keys

My first thought was: “This is going to be harder than I expected.”

When people talk about buying a home, they often describe it as the moment a dream finally becomes real.

For me, it was certainly a special day.

But looking back, the strongest memory is not the excitement of becoming a homeowner.

It is the moment I unlocked the door and stepped inside the building for the first time as its owner.

The first words that came to mind were:

“This is going to be harder than I expected.”

That morning, I completed the purchase at a notary’s office in Delft.

After signing the documents and confirming the payment, the notary said:

“Congratulations.”

Just like that, the building constructed in 1848 officially became ours.

My family was still in Japan.

I went through the completion and handover alone.

As soon as the appointment was over, I walked directly to the property.

The newly received keys were in my pocket.

As I walked through Delft, I kept thinking:

“This is where it begins.”

I stood in front of the entrance and inserted the key.

The lock turned.

The door opened.

I had already viewed the property several times.

I had looked through the photographs again and again.

I knew perfectly well that the building dated back to 1848.

And yet, the moment I stepped inside as the owner, everything looked different.

The first thing I thought was:

“This is going to be harder than I expected.”

I knew it was an old building.

But once I imagined my family actually living here, every task suddenly became real.

The walls.

The floors.

The kitchen.

The bathrooms.

The lighting.

The storage.

Once I started noticing things, the list seemed endless.

I remember thinking:

“We may have to redo almost everything.”

But strangely, that feeling did not last very long.

The moment after I saw how difficult it would be, I began imagining how good the house could become.

The second floor immediately caught my attention.

At the time, it was divided into a kitchen and dining area, plus one separate room.

It was a fairly ordinary layout.

But as soon as I looked across the floor, I thought:

“If we remove this wall, this could become an incredible space.”

A large open-plan living, dining and kitchen area.

Natural light entering from the windows.

Air flowing through the whole floor.

A place where the children could move freely.

A place where everyone in the family would naturally gather.

Nothing had started yet.

But I could already see the finished space clearly in my mind.

At the same time, reality was impossible to ignore.

Could that wall really be removed safely?

What should we do with the walls covered in drawings and marks?

Should we replace the wallpaper?

Or simply paint everything?

Should the floors be replaced?

Or could they still be used?

The more I thought, the longer the list became.

Before I knew it, I was walking from room to room, renovating the entire house several times over in my head.

Then another reality began to set in.

I had completed plenty of DIY projects in Japan.

I had replaced wallpaper, installed flooring and renovated kitchens.

DIY itself did not frighten me.

But this was not Japan.

This was the Netherlands.

Where was the nearest home improvement store?

Could I buy the same kinds of materials I was used to using in Japan?

What tools would I need?

How would I transport timber, flooring and large boards?

And there was one very obvious problem.

I did not have a car.

How was I supposed to bring everything back to the house?

Would it be more sensible to hire contractors?

Or should I try to do most of it myself?

Every answer seemed to create a new question.

Eventually, I came back to the same conclusion.

“It will probably work out somehow.”

Or rather:

“I will find a way to make it work.”

There was also another part of the building that required a decision.

The ground-floor shop.

Even before buying the building, I had imagined many possible uses for the space.

A Japanese food shop.

A café.

A community space where both children and adults could gather.

A place to introduce Japanese culture.

Every idea felt exciting.

I expected the decision to be difficult.

In reality, the answer came surprisingly quickly.

The most important priority was not opening a new business.

It was helping my family adjust to life in the Netherlands.

The children needed to start school.

They needed time to make friends.

My wife needed to feel settled and comfortable.

And I also needed to learn how daily life worked in a new country.

If I had launched a shop at the same time, most of my time and attention would have gone into the business.

That would have taken me away from the reason we moved to the Netherlands in the first place.

So I made the decision.

We would offer the shop for rent.

We could consider using it ourselves later.

After the family had settled.

After life had become more stable.

And perhaps when the future tenant eventually moved out.

There was no need to rush.

For now, the most important task was simple:

Build a stable life for the family.

Looking back, the shop was not the difficult decision.

The real question was:

How could I transform this 1848 building into a home my family would always want to return to?

That was what occupied my thoughts.

Even now, I remember the feeling of receiving the keys less clearly than I remember those first words:

“This is going to be harder than I expected.”

But if I could go back to that day, I would still choose the same property.

Because I did not only see the work ahead.

I could also see what might come after it.

My family laughing together.

The children running through the house.

Friends gathering around the table.

And a home that would still feel worth returning to many years later.

That future was already visible to me, even before the work had begun.

Next in the series

JWH Netherlands Journal Vol.8

How Much Can a House Change in Three Weeks?

The DIY renovation began almost immediately after receiving the keys.

The language was different.

The tools were different.

The materials were different.

But the goal was clear:

Create a home where the family could live comfortably.

In the next journal, I will share what happened during those three weeks.

JWH Netherlands Journal

Building a life—not just buying a house.

Every house has a story.

This is ours.