The First House--did you love yours? (flooring, foundation, furnace, laminate)

[Tesaje]

Of course it is a business transaction. For most people it is the biggest investment of their lives. That said, is is also a place where you will live for a while if not a long while.

Did I love my first house? Yes and no. Some things I loved. Other things I did not. Same is true for my current house. This house taught me how much I loathe wallpaper.

Dark paneling can be really oppressive, especially if it is in rooms without good natural light. There's paneling and there's paneling. The paneling in Mt. Vernon is beautiful. That cheap thin plywood junk that people put up is atrocious.

As a temporary fix, there is just slapping a coat or two of light colored paint over it. You can remove it and may or may not find a mess behind it. There may have been a reason the previous owners put it up. There is also filling the crevasses and painting over that.

Try to look beyond the colors to the bones of the house - is the layout good? Is the location good? Is it the right size? If there are more good things than bad, then think how you can fix the bad to suit you. Sometimes, just painting so it has a light color to reflect the light does wonders in a house. Maybe putting up crown molding would dress it up so it is more pleasing.

Hey, at least it doesn't have garish wall paper on all the walls and ceilings like one house I looked at!

[procfreq]

I bought my first house for the layout and location--NOT its looks! Everything was painted (badly) pink or else wallpapered in some hideous pastel floral. The fixtures were all builder-grade 80's brass. We did a LOT of wallpaper removal, replaced ALL of the fixtures/countertops/faucets... Nothing major and not all that expensive, and it made a huge difference. I still don't "love" it, but that's because I can't afford the house I want in my head But it serves its purpose and the price was right, so I live with it. KWIM?

We'll be selling soon and, while I'm happy to be moving on, we've moving to an area where that house in my head is far less attainable... so I see an ugly house in my future for sure! I'm just trying to make the best of it.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by daviine

One of my biggest problems is that there is dark panelling EVERYWHERE! The only rooms that don't have the panelling if I remember it correctly are the kitchen, living room, mudrooms, and bathrooms. All the bedrooms have panelling as well as the family room and dining room.

I've had homes I loved, and homes that were waystations on the path of life. It always feels better when you love it, as long as you don't have to leave it....

That's a heckuva lot of panelling. If you can't or don't want to remove it, my best advice would be to paint it. It's work ---- you should try to do it before you move in, if possible, or do one room at a time with all furniture removed or covered in plastic, because the panelling should be sanded and the colored dust goes everywhere, even when using one of those vacuum sanders. Ugh. BTDT.

Use a high quality primer like Zinsser rather than Killz, which is practically useless IMO. Oil based is fabulous but shellac based also works very well, and the regular latex is do-able.

Then use a high-quality paint in a pale color. Check the "whites" paint chips for example, that is to say, they are white with just a hint of color. Very pale yellows and greens are very attractive, looking like a seaside cottage or Victorian home. A true white with just a hint of yellow gives a sunny impression.

Good luck!

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by Boomerang

Use a high quality primer like Zinsser rather than Killz, which is practically useless IMO.

Oh, come on now! Killz isn't useless!! I definitely prefer it for paint huffing.

[Boomerang]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Oh, come on now! Killz isn't useless!! I definitely prefer it for paint huffing.

I stand corrected

[motormaker]

Nope, it was a new starter house, did some landscaping and minimal other stuff to get it nice. Just had to live with it for a few years to get into something we wanted.

[veuvegirl]

I hated my first house. Hubby bought it while I was out of town, the first time I saw it I cried. But with a bit of elbow grease and making it my own, it turned into a house I love.

It's hard, but try to look beyond the owner's stuff, colors and choices. If the house has good bones you can make it into something you love.

[PencilMeIn]

As long as you like the layout and location, you can fix or change the cosmetics to your own liking. It might take a few years.....but it will look and feel like what you want. If you just start with painting the paneling some shade of white, you will be surprised at how good it looks.

I have bought and sold several homes and the homes I fell in love with were the ones I put the most work into. Remodeling and landscaping takes a lot of work (we did most projects ourselves) but it is so rewarding.

[findinghope]

i dont want to get all flakey on you, but the house can "feel" your hate.
our first house was a surprise. my dh and his brother saw a 2 family house and signed a contract for it before telling the wives. it was meant for dh and myself to live in and rent the upstairs. needless to say i was shocked, not ready to buy a house financially or emotionally. had not gone to any open houses or anything. it was just sprung on me. as soon as i saw it i found fault with everything.
we closed, and within the first week, the hot water heater broke, and it set the precident for the next 3 years. everything went wrong. flood, tenent problems, no money for repairs, ripped off the carpeting to find the most awful looking wood floors that we had no money to replace.
our second home i went into with a little more respect. i sort of "introduced" myself slowly, didnt hate anything, just tried to keep a positive attitude and that house was so good to us. not 1 problem the 3 years we owned it. never had to replace any major things. we just did some painting, removed carpeting found the most amazing original hardwoods etc. we did only things to enhance it.

so what i am saying is that bring only positive energy into the house and you will see positive coming back to you.

[mayfair]

Both dh and I loved our first house the moment we walked into it. We loved the kitchen, the lot, the neighborhood even though it had green shag carpet. It was a peaceful house and I still miss it.

We had to move for a job transfer and found another house that I didn't like- but with work it has become a beautiful house. I agree- bring positive energy to your house and it will respond. Especially if you decide to sell it and move- it will sell better if you've made your peace with it and kept it up.