Not building a new house after all!

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
And I must say I'm very pleased with the decision. :yay:

Between the lot and the house, we were looking at $1,000,000 (yes, you read that right - a million dollars :holychit:). So rather than be a slave to our mortgage, Larry and I have decided to just renovate the house we have. We're gutting and redoing the kitchen, ditching our crappy cat-infested carpeting for hardwood floors, replacing the vinyl flooring with granite tile, refacing the fireplace and expanding my laundry room to get rid of the PITA pantry and replace it with a folding table.

I found a very cool leather-look paneling that is surprisingly cheap and will go on the wall that houses my fireplace.

And we're doing the wall behind the stove in brick paving stones to give it that rustic look and feel.

Along the big diningroom wall will be built-in bookshelves, glass casing for my dolls and a dry bar.

We'll redo our master bath in something more interesting than the crappy white marble sink tops and ugly fixtures that are currently there.

All for significantly less - like about 1/20th of the cost- than that other figure above that I can't bear to mention again. And I will have my dream home! :clap:

The very coolest thing in the world that I found while picking through Lowes for ideas was this dishwasher, which has two separate and independent drawers so the problem of stuff on the top rack of the dishwasher not getting clean is eliminated.

I'm so happy! I feel like I've just been released from prison! :dance:
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
It sounds like you made the right choice. :yay:

Just be prepared for the inconvenience, noise and mess you're going to have to put up with if you plan on staying there while it's going on. :twitch:
 

Vince

......
I thought I was seeing too many zeros in your figure or a typo. :twitch: Renovation is a real good choice.
 
R

remaxrealtor

Guest
Sounds awesome! We're in the same boat, we lOVE our home and neighborhood (and could never afford something we'd like better) so we're renovating right now as well.

I do have to say going into week three of having a microwave on my bathroom vanity and washing dishes in my bathroom sink I AM SICK OF HAVING NO KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cabinets went in last week (soooooooooooooooooo beautiful!) and they measured wrong by 3 inches so they're going to have to move a whole wall. They can't even measure to cut the quartz for the countertops till that's done, so probably another month before we're all done. The upside is that now that I can see things coming together, I know it's going to be incredible.

I have been showing homes all weekend in the $900,000-$1,200,000 price range and there wasn't a single one that I wouldn't have wanted to make some changes to. The thing with these expensive custom homes is that people build exactly what they want, which is often times not something that a lot of other people would be into.
 

Vince

......
I want to renovate my own home, but I have to add a garage first. One thing I'm going to do is put down hardwood flooring in the living room, dinning room and kitchen. May wait on the kitchen and just gut it and start over. I want to make new cabinets for the kitchen all out of cherry. New stainless steel appliances and those granite countertops.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
It wasn't even the house that was so outrageous - it was the land :yikes: We were talking about 3 acres at $200k per acre - $600,000 for a hunk of dirt!!! After selling our existing house, we were looking at a $4000 a month mortgage until we were 70 friggin' years old!!

What's really neat is that a lot of this stuff we can do ourselves and we can do it a room at a time so the whole house isn't ripped up at once. :yay:
 

Vince

......
vraiblonde said:
What's really neat is that a lot of this stuff we can do ourselves and we can do it a room at a time so the whole house isn't ripped up at once. :yay:
That's what I'm looking at. I'm going to lay the hardwood flooring in the living room first. Was going to go with real hardwood flooring, but I've found that Pergo is just as good and it will take a beating.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
remaxrealtor said:
The upside is that now that I can see things coming together, I know it's going to be incredible.
What are you having done, just the kitchen? That's the biggest thing we're doing - the rest is just simple stuff. The fireplace refacing will be a big project but not like gutting and redoing the kitchen.

And here's the personal question - what is it costing you? If you don't want to say on the board, PM me. Because the kitchen is going to be our biggest expense and I want to make sure I budget properly for it.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Vince said:
I've found that Pergo is just as good and it will take a beating.
We're going with Pergo. Our neighbor has real hardwood floors and she says they stress her out.
 

Vince

......
vraiblonde said:
We're going with Pergo. Our neighbor has real hardwood floors and she says they stress her out.
They are a PITA especially when it comes to refinishing them.
 

virgovictoria

Tight Pants and Lipstick
PREMO Member
vraiblonde said:
We're going with Pergo. Our neighbor has real hardwood floors and she says they stress her out.

Pergo is indestructible - as a pet owner/smoker :yay: and it tends to pick up trim and color schemes well within homes.
 

SmallTown

Football season!
vraiblonde said:
We're going with Pergo. Our neighbor has real hardwood floors and she says they stress her out.
I love hardwood floors, but it is one of those things that looks great in "other peoples homes". Meaning they look great, I enjoy them, but wouldn't want the personal upkeep! especially with pets. Plus it can't be good for pets. When I visit my parents, my dog is always slipping and sliding on the hardwood floors. Funny to watch, but can't be good for his legs and joints!
 

BuddyLee

Football addict
vraiblonde said:
It wasn't even the house that was so outrageous - it was the land :yikes: We were talking about 3 acres at $200k per acre - $600,000 for a hunk of dirt!!! After selling our existing house, we were looking at a $4000 a month mortgage until we were 70 friggin' years old!!

What's really neat is that a lot of this stuff we can do ourselves and we can do it a room at a time so the whole house isn't ripped up at once. :yay:
Good decision if you're up for the work.:yay:

About 6 years ago, my parents bought our home in the outskirts of the Park, jokingly Ridge. They got a steal, 110-year-old farmhouse with 2.4 acres all on the Chesapeake Bay for $150,000. Since then they have done tons of work but it all started with the grandiose clean up. You see, before we moved in, there was a biker gang renting the joint out. The garage consisted of nothing but beer cans and pizza boxes, front to back, top to bottom, literally. We have all done an amazing job in renovating each room. We just got the hallway/living room done and now they're working outside on the garage. Needless to say, I cannot wait to inherit this.:lmao:
 

BadGirl

I am so very blessed
BuddyLee said:
Good decision if you're up for the work.:yay:

About 6 years ago, my parents bought our home in the outskirts of the Park, jokingly Ridge. They got a steal, 110-year-old farmhouse with 2.4 acres all on the Chesapeake Bay for $150,000. Since then they have done tons of work but it all started with the grandiose clean up. You see, before we moved in, there was a biker gang renting the joint out. The garage consisted of nothing but beer cans and pizza boxes, front to back, top to bottom, literally. We have all done an amazing job in renovating each room. We just got the hallway/living room done and now they're working outside on the garage. Needless to say, I cannot wait to inherit this.:lmao:
:shutup: You wish you lived in Ridge.

You do have a great house, BL. The location can't be beat, being on the Chesapeake Bay and all that. Even in it's not in Ridge.
 

BuddyLee

Football addict
BadGirl said:
:shutup: You wish you lived in Ridge.
Yes, it's true. I secretly have a banjo hangin' next to my tabacca can collection. I don't know why I fight off my God given right of being a Ridge Runner. Maybe it's my kin that I'm ashamed of.
 
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