GTKY - Your Home

[mfsunshine]

It seems there are a lot of you looking to purchase a new home/doing home improvement projects etc. and I'm jealous!  So it made me wonder...

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

[Chrisse]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We bought our first home in December 2011


2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! I love having our own space. I love that we have great woodwork that's over a 100 years old that has never been painted over (a big thing around here). I love our vintage pedestal bathtub (that I have never used, lol)


3) What would you change in your home if you could?
Our kitchen needs a major, major facelift. That thread made me so jealous. We have plastic drawers, people. PLASTIC!!


4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
Right now, just ice dam repairs

[mfsunshine]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there. We bought our home about 1 1/2 years ago. It was a short sale and a COMPLETE fixer upper. DH and I did all the work ourselves and I'm so proud of how it looks.


2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves. I love the property that we have (about 1 1/2 archers) in the woods with a big fenced in area for the doggie, and a fire pit. I can't wait to spend some time outside in the yard with DS this summer. Since we did all the work ourselves it is so "us" the whole vibe screams DH and MFsunshine (does that make sense?). I love that we picked laminate flooring (except in kitchen=tile) we couldn't afford real hardwood, but honestly I think I like the laminate better.




3) What would you change in your home if you could? The kitchen countertops and cabinets need a facelift! It's the only part of the main living area we didn't gut when we bought the home...we need some more funds first. We are going to finish the b-ment little by little every summer, it will be nice to have another "living" room when it's done.




4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future? We have been in the process of tiling the bathroom since before DS was born. We have the tile, and all the supplies we are just lacking time. And I'm worried about kicking up too much dust in the house when it is winter and we can't open the windows.

[kimberlyb]

) If you own a home how long have you lived there.

It will be a year next month


2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.

1. Huge, hidden walk-in pantry, open concept, huge yard


3) What would you change in your home if you could?

The color of my kitchen cabinets and I would also replace our kitchen counter tops


4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

We are getting our basement finished which is almost complete Our next project is replacing our kitchen countertops

[mandapanda1382]

1) We bought our town home 3.5 years ago.

2) I love the open floor plan, the great storage we have, and the tall ceilings. Oh, and our awesome views (we can see the whole valley out front and our back yard is a mountain).

3. Color of the cabinets. Maybe a few other small things, but not much.

4. We will get new carpet this spring.

[heatherdances]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We've owned ours for a whopping month! But have lived/rented it from grandma for 6 years.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
The home is 140 years old and his has a ton of character. I love the views we get of our property from upstairs. I love that we have 4 fireplaces (not functional)...the mantles are amazing.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?
I wish it wasn't so close to the road.

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
We have DIY'd everything in the house and are currently in renovation. In the past year we have renovated 4 rooms and 1 in process, rebuilt the chimney, had a new roof put on, so on and so on. It has been a whirlwind especially since a lot of it was done while I was pregnant and home with a newborn. I am SO proud of the house though and what we have accomplished. The current room in renovation is an upstairs bathroom. The house was built with no electric or plumbing so the new bathroom is quite a project!

[acorn99]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We moved in Fall of 2010


2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
I love love love the location. We are right in the village of the town I live in and easily accessible to everything. I also love the size of our yards and the fact it was move in ready for us. 


3) What would you change in your home if you could?
The kitchen needs a major renovation.


4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future? We will be putting a new roof on this summer. We also need to redo the kitchen and finish the basement in the next five years. 

[mfsunshine]

Feb 16, 2015 8:48:34 GMT -5 thumbswayup said:

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We have only owned our home for a little over a year. First time.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
Large yard, 4 bedrooms, renovated bathrooms

3) What would you change in your home if you could?
The baseboard heat and gravel driveway

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
Our first project will be to pave the driveway, then tackle the heaters. We already have central ac so putting in the heat pump won't be too bad, but ripping out the baseboard heaters means we will also have to redo all the molding in all the rooms and repaint. It might have to be a one room at a time project.

UGGGG!!!  We had to do this too!  Thank goodness we were able to stay in our apartment for 1 1/2 months while redoing the house.  Made everything so much easier to not have to work around furniture.  I wish you all the luck, that's a bid job!

[Deleted]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
6 years

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
Open concept, quartz countertops (so cliche, I know), wood burning stove, locations/situation

3) What would you change in your home if you could?
My husband wants a shop for his bicycles. I want my front yard professionally landscaped to make it easier to maintain. I also want to update the master bathroom, but it's not really a priority.

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
Hell, no.

[vk]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there. We closed on our first house November, 2012.


2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
-I love love love my neighborhood.
-I love our kitchen. I wish I knew how to better utilize it though.
-I love our patio in the backyard.




3) What would you change in your home if you could?
-It is too small for us. We sort of rushed into the purchase. I guess I should say I wish it were more of an open floor plan. There is not enough space for entertaining.




4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future? We are taking the hideous carpet out and refinishing the hard wood floors in May. If we stay long enough we are going to tear walls down in the basement to open it up more and maybe install a bar.

[robinbird]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
A little over 3 years

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
1. We have an inground pool. 2. We have over an acre of land with a big backyard. 3. We have a main floor, an upstairs, a partially finished basement, and an unfinished attic reachable by stairs.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?
We have two doors coming leading out from our kitchen. One goes to the patio, and one goes to the "future sunroom" aka no where. Luckily, you cannot currently just open the door and fall to your doom. It has a latch screwed on from the outside to prevent that, but we'd eventually like to make the door go somewhere.


4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
The biggest thing we have planned for the near future is trying to keep it from being disgusting. lol. It is such a mess. I want it clean and organized, but we're having so much trouble with that lately! Eventually, I'd like to maybe build that sunroom or extend the deck. I'd also like to finish the attic.

[tatorhead328]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there. Since December! We're still in the honeymoon phase with it!

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! I LOVE the location (seeing families out walking and kids out playing is the best feeling, and we even have a nature trail!), the inground pool that I haven't been able to use yet (stupid winter), and the addition built by the seller that we're converting into a gym.

3) What would you change in your home if you could? Our master bath is SO TINY. I have to turn to the side just to walk in and only one person at a time can be in there. I also wish my laundry room was bigger because we have to keep the cat litterbox in there (ugh), and it makes it stink since everything is such close quarters.

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future? I wish! We probably won't have the money to do anything big for quite a while.

[kirabou]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We don't technically own a home yet... but we're in the process of purchasing one right now. Our offer has been accepted, we completed our inspection and appraisal, and have submitted all information to our lender. Closing on March 31st. Living in a crappy rental right now. 

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
I'll answer about the home we will *fingers crossed* be living in come May. I love: the built-in bookshelves above the natural fireplace, curved staircase at the entry, and swimming pool. 


3) What would you change in your home if you could?
I wish it could have been one more bedroom, so we could have a guest room, bedroom for us, bedroom for Anna plus her future sibling, and then an extra room for my home office. That'll be what we need to upgrade to for our next home purchase, haha. 


4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
I'll be re-doing the kitchen for sure. Want to put in a glass tile backsplash, re-paint the cabinets and install new handles, get a new oven/stove, and eventually change out the counters. I also want to paint a few of the rooms, but that's such a basic project it's barely even worth mentioning. Down the road, we'd like to make the basement a wet bar/rec room, but that'll come in time. 

[gingy]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
Two years in March

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love aboutMarch
Our backyard- it's way bigger than the norm around here
Our floor-length the previous owners put in beautiful laminate. It looks like wide plank hardwood with the grooves and everything, but way more durable.
The floor plan- the master is on the opposite side of the other two bbedrooms
3) What would you change in your home if youbedrooms
Location-based our street is on a curve and we're on the apex of that curve. People come zooming around the corner and if they weren't paying attention they could totally crash into our house...and LO's room.
The third bedroom doesn't have a closet, which I guess technically means it's not a bedroom. There is a general lack of storage in the house overall.
4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
The kitchen! Sorry Chrisse! I didn't even know plastic drawers existed!
The previous owners were big diy-ers, but they weren't very good at it, so we have a few things that need to be redone.
The yard needs some serious attention. Between LO coming, H's erratic work schedule and not watering as much because of the drought it looks awful.

[gahorseygal]

I am so jealous of all the home owners!! We are renters

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
Must have at least 5 acres. 20 or more is preferable.
Must have at least 3 beds/2 baths if there is a home on the property. We are looking more to build though.
Must have a large open kitchen/living area. I don't need a ton of square footage, just a big living/congregating space.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?
We live in a tiny town house. There is a lot that could be changed. But the biggest thing we don't have is storage. I MUST have a pantry and storage closets in our home. Also an actual laundry ROOM would be nice too. Our laundry is in a closet in the hall right now.

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?
We need to finish the backyard before we move. Our landlord is really easy going which is nice. We re-did the backyard and tried planting grass but it didn't work. We need to just get some sod in the spring.

Also, my husband works for a flooring company and gets a ridiculous discount so flooring is not an issue when we look at houses. If he leaves the company before we buy he is planning on buying a bunch of flooring that we like since he can get such a good price. We can always sell it if we don't use it.

[3magicbeans]

Feb 16, 2015 8:24:41 GMT -5 mfsunshine said:

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.  We closed in January 2009, so we've been there for 6 years.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it!  We love the property, its over 3 acres, most of it wooded.  That's why we bought it.  It was modestly priced (modestly priced for southern NE - short sale), and its great school district.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?  The catch 22 - I hated the layout, its a 1000sf box ranch, so a lot of the time I feel like its closing in on me. Buuuut, the fact that its so small was the reason why it was modesty priced and having the small footprint over one floor makes it very nice to have our kids play independently at young ages without getting into trouble and we can just keep an ear open for them in the other room #nevertrustsilence. 

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

We gutted and re-did the kitchen and the bathroom ourselves.  I have quietly been planning to finish the basement (very quietly, I am trying to hide my plans from MH).  

[3magicbeans]

Feb 16, 2015 11:15:30 GMT -5 gahorseygal said:

I am so jealous of all the home owners!! We are renters


We live in a tiny town house. There is a lot that could be changed. But the biggest thing we don't have is storage. I MUST have a pantry and storage closets in our home.

Do you mean a real tiny house (<500sf), or just as a figure of speech? I would have sooooo been on board with the tiny house people - but I can't see how with 3 kids....So, I guess its why I struggle with finding 1000sf small, when I idealize the tiny house people....kwim?

[prairiegirl]

We've been in our current house for 8 months. We moved in June before LO was born.
I love our yard, the 3 bedrooms up, and the size of it.
There's lots we want to change and are going to. Right now we're redoing the bathroom. Other projects include: building a garage, redoing the kitchen/living room area, building an addition that will add a bigger entry way a two piece bathroom, and move our laundry upstairs, and we are also going to redo the whole basement, shingles, windows and all new exterior finish. Luckily h is a carpenter and can do it all himself.

[puffandstuff]

Feb 16, 2015 8:24:41 GMT -5 mfsunshine said:

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.

Since Nov 2013, a week after we moved in I got a BFP.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.

a)It's on an acre with a stream running through the back.
b)The bedrooms are big
c)Great location

3) What would you change in your home if you could? 
Take down all the hideous wallpaper, get rid of the red accent wall in the breakfast nook, relocate the half bath, replace floors on main level, new deck, new fire pit, new kitchen and closet organizer for master bath. There's more!

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

We are definitely doing the floors, taking down the wallpaper and painting in the spring.

[gahorseygal]

Feb 16, 2015 11:28:37 GMT -5 3magicbeans said:

Feb 16, 2015 11:15:30 GMT -5 gahorseygal said:

I am so jealous of all the home owners!! We are renters


We live in a tiny town house. There is a lot that could be changed. But the biggest thing we don't have is storage. I MUST have a pantry and storage closets in our home.

Do you mean a real tiny house (<500sf), or just as a figure of speech? I would have sooooo been on board with the tiny house people - but I can't see how with 3 kids....So, I guess its why I struggle with finding 1000sf small, when I idealize the tiny house people....kwim?

Haha no. I could never do that. We probably have right around 1000 sq ft. Tiny to me because my college apartment was over 1300 sq ft. Those tiny house people are crazy. I have two dogs. I just don't know how you make that work. 

[mrsnorris]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.

We bought it July 2011, so coming up on four years now.

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.

I love the fireplace and in-ground pool (two things that were on my must-haves list when we were house hunting).
I love our neighborhood.
I love the history (it's a 1950s house which is when our area stopped being farmland and turned into suburbia- in SoCal, that's historic) The same family owned our house basically from when it was built until they sold it to us. They obviously cared about the house a lot and there were lots of little things left behind from the couple/family who owned it before us. I feel about it the way I felt about my grandparents houses from when I was growing up, if that makes any sense. We're also kind of history nerds so I enjoy doing some mid-century touches to the place to keep with the time period and we try to maintain some of the historic integrity of the house as we renovate.

3) What would you change in your home if you could?

Well, there are things that I'd like to change but never could- I'd like a bigger lot (basically not a possibility in our area unless we win the lottery) and I'd like more space even though we don't actually need it, it would just be nice to have a playroom/family room for the kids and a larger kitchen. I'd also like a third bathroom- we have two but one is a jack-n-jill between the two kid bedrooms (right now used by DD1 and not... let's just say she doesn't keep it up like I'd like her to. There is also the master bathroom which is accessible though the hall and also from our bedroom. So that's our bathroom and the bathroom for company. In a perfect world I'd like a third bathroom so that our bathroom wasn't the company bathroom because it is connected to our bedroom which sometimes makes we feel weird when the guy working on our AC unit is using it or something- hard to explain and probably stupid. Also, it's harder to use the bathroom without waking up LO when she's sleeping in our room. But all in all, I'm happy with the house in general.

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

We've done tons since we moved in- re-did the hardwood floors to some degree, but they could use more work. We installed a pool heater and safety net cover thing to the pool, and re-did all the duct work in the house and replaced the heating, AC and water heater all of which were really old. We repainted everything but the kitchen. We replaced the garbage disposal and all of the faucets and most of the light fixtures. We repaired both showers and did some stuff to the electrical system including upgrading the box and installing solar panels (keep in mind that when I say "we", most of this was done by professionals because we're not terribly capable DIYers, sadly). I still want to replace the counters in the kitchen- they're tile which I HATE- I want to get recycled glass ones. I also want to re-do the flooring in the foyer (which is where you are when you enter the house) and the kitchen which is adjacent to the foyer. It's very practical but ugly linoleum. I'm thinking some kind of laminate in its place. Or possibly tile. It's not in the budget now so I've not looked into it much. I want something that keeps with the time period of the house in its look, but that isn't awful. I want to re-landscape our pit of a yard into something low maintenance and low-water because, well, we live in a desert. But I'm having a hard time finding good CA-friendly xeriscape designs that are also good for the kids- I want them to have space to play! Also, money is a big issue. I want to replace the front door. I want to do more with our backyard patio area. We're in the process of re-doing our garage storage to be more practical but it's slow. Eventually we need to re-tile and re-finish our pool. It is fully functional but it needs a facelift. I also want to re-paint our trim and stucco. Most of our house in brick (which I love, especially since it's not facade) but the stucco parts could use a new coat of paint. That's all I can think of, but it's looking like a really daunting list now that I type it out.

[heybombershay]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there. 6.5 long years

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
3 things that are ok: finished basement, hardwood floors (we ripped up the carpet and redid them), and how DD's nursery turned out, even though it's tiny
3 things we'll be looking for: more bedrooms, more storage space (ugh, closets!), and more than 1 bathroom

3) What would you change in your home if you could? a lot, but mostly adding space, a bathroom, and redoing the kitchen

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future? we don't plan to do much except touch up and fix some things - we're hoping to get out of here within a year or so

[3magicbeans]

Feb 16, 2015 13:42:00 GMT -5 gahorseygal said:

Feb 16, 2015 11:28:37 GMT -5 3magicbeans said:

Do you mean a real tiny house (<500sf), or just as a figure of speech? I would have sooooo been on board with the tiny house people - but I can't see how with 3 kids....So, I guess its why I struggle with finding 1000sf small, when I idealize the tiny house people....kwim?

Haha no. I could never do that. We probably have right around 1000 sq ft. Tiny to me because my college apartment was over 1300 sq ft. Those tiny house people are crazy. I have two dogs. I just don't know how you make that work. 

haha, I couldn't imagine a tiny house with a kid and two dogs - I know a girl that lived in 250+/- sf for about a year, very no frills.

[Deleted]

1. DH has owned our home since 2002. I moved in when we got married 2.5 years ago.

2. We have a huge yard...almost an acre with really nice grass and trees and the backyard is fenced. Partially finished garage..including a second fridge. Open kitchen and dining room.

3. More storage. ..including a walk in closet in the master. Our house was built in the 70s so there isn't a lot of storage. I wish the living room was part of the open plan.

4. No current projects. DH bought this as a fixer upper. He originally did a ton, and since we have been married we have done a lot as well. Hopefully no projects for awhile.

[minervamae]

Feb 16, 2015 8:24:41 GMT -5 mfsunshine said:

It seems there are a lot of you looking to purchase a new home/doing home improvement projects etc. and I'm jealous!  So it made me wonder...

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there. 10 years

2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.  12 acres, nice horse fences, open concept

3) What would you change in your home if you could?  Add a bedroom, build a real horse barn, DH would love a pool

4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?  No

[peanuts]

I like this one!

1. We just moved into our home (bought) a month ago today! Yay!

2. First, our house is 100 years old this year which is a really neat thing (although all the original wood and stuff has been replaced, but it's still neat). I have a fantastic new kitchen! The cabinets are a little old now but they look nice. Third, it's huge! We have a two story house with an unfinished basement that is garage access only, a huge "shop" with 3 parking bays and workshop area, and a large corner lot of land right on the cowboy trail. It's been wonderful going for walks on it in warm weather

3. We are right on a main road, on the edge of town. So the noise kind of sucks. During the day I couldn't care less, but the semis using their jake breaks at night is awful. I hold my breath every time that DD doesn't wake up from it. Luckily she hasn't, so it must not bother her too much!

4. We are total DIY people. HGTV is our favorite channel! We can't afford the high quality stuff they use in those shows, but for our neck of the woods we feel we do a good job. This is our second home we're remodeling and we've both said we wish we could do it as a career. We are currently tearing up the subfloor in the living room and putting down new flooring in the living room, kitchen, dining room and hallways that are all connected. It's going to be wonderful when it's done!

[redhorizon343]

1. We have lived in our 1950's split since 2011
2. I love the big, fenced in yard, redone kitchen, and the finished basement area
3. I would make our garage and driveway for two cars, add another bedroom and have more storage (this house just has 1/3 basement storage). None of that is actually possible.

4. We just had a generator installed, but future plans include fixing some water drainage issues, new front steps, new siding, and a deck.

[cdseno]

We bought our house 6.5 years ago after we got married. We bought it from my brother who, we now know, totally ripped us off and did not give us the great deal he swore he was. We more or less got pushed into buying it because he bought a new home and didn't want to wait to sell this place and we could afford it.

There is nothing I like about this place. I guess now the bathroom is nice because we got it remodeled before Max was born, but everything else sucks.

The kitchen has zero counter space, the bathroom is so small, the bedrooms are small, there is a crack in the foundation so it leans a little. It is drafty, the windows in the living room don't open, the ones in the bedrooms barely open...I could go on forever.

We are planning on painting everything and redoing the front porch in the spring in order to sell it.

Can you tell I am ready to move?

[briarrose]

1) If you own a home how long have you lived there.
We will be here 4 years in April.



2) If you own a home tell me 3 things that you love about it! If you are looking for a home tell me 3 of your must haves.
I love our big picture window, our lot, and the results of all the work we have put in.



3) What would you change in your home if you could?
I have the ugliest kitchen I have ever been in. It is functional, even though it is very small, but as a chef, people feel the need to make annoying comments about my small kitchen. It will be getting remodeled and slightly enlarged once we get the money saved up.



4) Do you have any DIY or contracted projects going on right now or planned for the near future?

We are in the process of having a high school acquaintance upgrade our electrical box from 100 amp to 200 amp, so that we could get central air if we ever wanted to. He is also going to put in a couple new outlets for us. Also, he is cute!
Some day we will do the kitchen and try our best to finish the basement.

[caybeh]

1) We bought our house in Nov 2009.
2) We have all dark woodwork, big yard, master bath. We are looking too for a different house, so my three must haves at least 3 bedrooms on the same floor, decent cupboard (I have a bunch of skinny cupboards..that doesn't hold much), storage.

3) More storage

4) That depends how long it takes to find a place. DH has talked about putting more shelves in the garage this summer, if we are still here.