Hoods

Ok, I've got a new obsession. It will be short lived, I'm sure, but still......right now, I am thinking, wishing, etc.

Remember how I wanted a donate-a-thon so Perfectly could get a new porch/siding, and an anniversary at the Ritz and Amazing Grace products? Huh? Remember? Um....by the way, nobody offered up any cash yet...but ASIDE from that.....I've gotten a new want.

A new bathroom. Well, not a new bathroom......but to update the one we've got. Our house was built in the early 60's. We bought it before housing prices rose dramatically in the 90's. Our home has doubled in value in 15 years. It's a 1475 sq ft 'raised ranch' home....about 1100 sq. feet up and about 375 down. The basement is finished, but we don't really use it.....we've got weight equipment, a desk and a small tv area for the boys......and their video games......it needs alot of work all over. We've always lived on a really tight budget, and household updates have been low on the totem pole of life. Oh, raised ranch, I've learned, means different things in different parts of the country. Around here, it means you walk into the basement level foyer, and instead of 'split', you go up a full flight of stairs to the 'ranch' layout.......

In the mid to late 90's we did update the kitchen with new flooring, and countertops. We painted the existing cabinets white, and put new flooring in the bath. It made a huge difference....HUGE....but of course, I was overzealous when choosing colors, because now the kitchen is quite 'dated' and although it was trendy for the time, it wasn't a good 'timeless' choice.

We desperately need a new porch---the existing one is disgusting, and we are the ones bringing property values down in the neighborhood, but we've never really been able to afford it. We still can't so donations will still be accepted!!

Here's a picture of our house.....it doesn't show all the warts on the porch, and belive me....there is NOTHING nice about the porch........


So anyway, despite the fact we need alot of MAJOR work done on the outside and in places in the house, it's all cosmetic.......Mr. Perfectly and I took a trip to HOOD'S today---do y'all have HOODS? I don't even know how to describe it.....it's like a junk drop off for overstock of the Lowe's and Home Depot's of America.........

For instance, today, we saw a variety of wine glasses with "1994 PROM" etched onto them. First of all.....if you are going to PROM...one doesn't NEED wine glasses, now does one? Secondly....1994? But this illustrates my point. Alot of junky stuff.

But, they also have, unfinished, un-assembled wine racks...you can paint or stain them.......it would be cute in a nook area....and they have these weird things called CARPET SQUARES.....they sort of stick by themselves, to a smooth surface. We actually bought them for our stairs when we thought we'd re-finish them. HA, which never happened, but still...they work......so we went looking for carpet squares for our basement.........to cover the pink schoolhouse tile from the 60's. We didn't find any, but guess what we DID find?

Tile. 12x12 tiles for 49 cents apiece. They are gray with splatters of black and white throughout them. Now before you scoff.......The original tub, stool and sink in our bathroom are GRAY.......so we laid black/white linoleum years ago, which now looks terrible. So, these tiles would be PERFECT for the bath...and it would provide an updated look. Our gray sink is rusting around the drain. Boo Hoo...because to go to Lowes and custom order even a plain old sink in gray would be HUNDREDS of dollars.......and Hoods has one for $29.95. Now it wouldn't fit our current sink hole, but they also have laminate COUNTER TOPS.......now don't scoff at the laminate.....remember....this is what most would think of as a starter home.......and laminate would be just FINE compared to what is there now. Counter tops are $4 a foot. So, to outfit this bathroom would cost us about $25 in tile, about $25 in counter tops and $30 for a sink. Now this doesn't include grout and time involved and things to update further like light fixtures and a mirror, but for the BASICS........$80......so what if it isn't granite? Granite is hard to care for anyway, and you all have HEARD about my lack of cleaning prowess.

Mr. Perfectly is worried that he wouldn't do a very good job. But it's so beat up right now, it CAN'T be any worse.......and it would be NEW.......

As I mentioned, we bought this house for nothing....compared to prices today, that is. Our house payment is less than most car payments these days. No Joke. That includes the property tax and insurance........so living where I live may be lame at times, but you can't beat the cost......the house next door sold recently, and it listed for 95,000. One down the road that is asthetically similar to ours (only more updated) is listed for 112,500. One 3 houses up is rumored to be on the market for 120,000. You all do the math and figure out a range of what we paid for this baby......With two headed to college (one next year), a low house payment will be NECESSARY.......I can't even imagine living in a city where housing prices are out of reach, and you get less than what we've already got. I was watching house hunters and the HOMES......there were homes on the West Coast (I Assume) that were smaller than ours for $450,000. I can't even imagine. That kind of money around here would buy a near mansion.......

So, 80 bucks for a bath re-do? I think we should do it. It will cost more, because of tile cutter rental, grout, mirrors, etc.....we may need a new vanity, which would put the project off for a while, but we are talking about buying the tile, sink and countertop for now....just to have it before they run out....It's a warehouse for overstock, so once they are out...they are out.......

What do you all think? It's our only full bath, so 4 of us use it in shifts DAILY......our second half bath needs work too, but it's downstairs, and unless there's an 'emergency' we just don't use it much.

Come on to Missouri folks....cheap housing and $1.50 margaritas on Mon. and Thurs! We can live in the same neighborhood and party!!

Happy Wednesday!

Oh,I nearly forgot.....a new episode of Ghost Hunters airs tonight (at least it's SUPPOSED to)........aren't you EXCITED? It's been way too long.......get ready, Mr. Perfectly, for 2 am house checking!! He forbade me to watch any more 'I was bitten' stories on TLC, since I made him examine our bed all over for brown recluse spiders........he didn't appreciate my fear........it was a really nasty thing....this brown recluse......I didn't want one in MY bed.......would you? Therefore, I didn't think my request for a bed examination for spiders was unusual or too much to ask!! Therefore, I think it should be acceptable for him to check for ghosts at 2am when I hear mysterious noises in the house.

Toodles!!