The First House--did you love yours? (subfloor, color, furniture, carpeting)

[5FLgirls]

I didn't love my first house. But my husband did. It took me a long time to enjoy the house -- just when I had gotten it almost perfect for me...we had to move!!

[skbs]

Originally Posted by 5FLgirls

I didn't love my first house. But my husband did. It took me a long time to enjoy the house -- just when I had gotten it almost perfect for me...we had to move!!

This happened to me! My hubby purchased the house 6 mos prior to us meeting. It was a cute house but he had HIS taste all over - and HIS taste was not MY taste... after clashing heads over such things as the ELECTRIC BLUE carpet, shutters, front door AND GARAGE door... in the six months I lived there after our wedding day... We (well, primarily me) found a fab NEW development so we could build a house that we BOTH could enjoy and decorate together. I loved my first house in that it was where our fairy tale began... HOWEVER- once those wedding bells rang I was ready for a house we shared. It was too much HIS than OURS... Now we live in OUR house...

[himain]

I personally would never buy a house I don't love. Maybe one I just liked because I knew with remodeling it would be a house I would love.
We just bought our first home and we both love it. We looked at well over 45 new and used houses as well.

[KittySkyfish]

I'm in my first purchased home and I generally love it, but the things that I don't like are so standard in the local housing industry that they're pretty unavoidable. For the home size that Mr.Skyfish was adamant about buying (2-story over 3,000 sqft), you'll almost always find a separate formal dining room and redundant living areas. So we ended up with a house with living sections that are rarely used. I know I know, it's a big house and that comes with the territory, but wasted space is a peeve of mine. Still, the neighborhood and location are what sold us and we're very happy with our purchase.

We're planning on moving/building in the next few years and we have a floorplan that's larger than the one we live in now (3900 sqft - husband still adamant about home size- I'd go smaller personally), but it's without unused and redundant rooms. The downstairs has only one eating area (it's the dining room that's open to the kitchen, no breakfast nook included), one family room, an exercise room, an office, powder room, mud room and laundry room. The upstairs is all bedrooms. These are rooms we already use daily in our current house. Nothing that's going to sit unvisited.

[janetvj]

I didn't "love" my first house, but it was affordable, in the neighborhood I needed at the time so that my kids could stay in their schools, and had most of the features I was looking for. Fifteen years later, I'm still there, and have grown to love it over the years. I have made changes so that now it really reflects my tastes and my personality. I am planning on relocating out-of-state next year, and I think it will be very difficult for me to leave it. But I tend to become attached to things...

[gentlearts]

Cheer up. If this is a good house in a business sense, then it's worth a bit of imperfection.
However, I still wouldn't live for more than a week with wood paneling, even if I had to rip it down all by myself. I would not just paint over it. Get that stuff out of there and make the house look the way you like it. It will help your resale value if the house is more attractive, too.

[MotleyCrew]

Paint your panels with KILS then paint, or drywall like some of the other posters mentioned. New flooring, even a laminate that you can do yourself will make all the difference in your new home. I loved our first home, even if it was a little mobile home. It was ours and we were so young, I think a cardboard box we could have loved.

[Ohiogirl81]

Paneling would be the least of my concerns. Paneling can be painted and/or removed. And you don't have to paint/remove it all at once; why people think their home has to be a showplace the instant they move in is beyond me.

I loved my first house, previous owner's warts and all. Transforming it slowly into my little palace was a joy.

[jhlcomp]

If you don't like the house now chances are you will be a very unhappy homeowner- not a good place.

I really liked my first home - it was a patio home with a courtyard and two car garage. Yes, it had its shortcomings but it was a great home.

[pitt_transplant]

I redid a room with paneling.

Before:
cheaper but real wood paneling (not the nice stuff that looks like a cabin with knots etc)
Marker all over it (was a teen bedroom)
rubber backed nasty 70's carpet
Ugly dropped ceiling with brown support frames
Real wood window frames

After
Olympic "sea peal" color on paneling
off white on the trim
Amber hardwood floor
Left window frames real wood color (amber tones)
off white support frames for ceiling

What I did:
drank a lot of coffee
scuffed the paneling and metal ceiling frames to be painted
Primed the paneling with Zinsser then did the color
Repainted the drop ceiling panels (cheaper than getting new)
ripped out carpet and refinished floor by hand myself

It looked like an ugly basement room to me before. After it looked like some sort of beach house room. The drop ceiling still drove me nuts and if it was my home I would of ripped it out. ( was a rental )

We are looking at houses right now and our main priorities are:
- neighborhood
- roof/waterheater/furnace - better be good for at least 5 more years MINIMUM
- foundation - (does it need work?)

The other stuff I could care less about because I know I would probably re-do it anyway.