The Housekeeping, Decorating, and Furnishing Thread • Page 24

Browsing bed and mattress sales like an adult. I just spent the same on this bed and mattress in my cart as I did on xtina tickets therefore I probably cannot afford the bed and mattress so I have failed at adulthood until I can prioritize correctly oop.

 

Man, slowly buying furniture for the new house. I just spent $2,900 on two night stands, a dresser, and a mirror. This is going to be fun.

 

When we bought our house we had to buy all new appliances too (refrigerator, oven, dishwasher) and then yeah, furnish the entire thing. Between that and furniture, We spent like $10k before even moving in. Not fun.

 

I have a spreadsheet, and I'm already at $9,939.43.

This doesn't include my kids room, any kitchenware (plates, silverware, drinkware, etc.), the dining room, and just misc. house decor.

 

We did this three years ago when we bought a condo. All new furniture.

We bought a house two months ago and are getting ready to move in after renos are done and now none of our "condo size" furniture is going to fit in our "regular size" house.

 

I also keep a spreadsheet of every dime I've spent upgrading our house, haha. I'm not counting furniture, obviously, but like finishing our basement, painting, carpeting our upstairs, flooring our kitchen, living room, etc. I'm over $35K in just under 5 years for stuff like that.

I figure it'll be good to know for when we eventually try and sell.

 

Yep, I will be doing this as well. The furnishing one I'm doing now for insurance reasons, if anything bad were to happen. Also if I go to move or sell things, I have a list of price paid, links, date bought, etc. Hopefully it'll all help in the future.

 

It's crazy how my perception of what constitutes a reasonable price for house stuff has changed in 2+ years of home ownership. While lower prices are always nice, you do typically get what you pay for.

 

I've generally lived by the thought that things aren't always expensive for a reason but they are cheap for a reason

 

Plus you have to think of purchases as a long-term investment - or something you'll likely get back if/when you sell. A purchase may seem expensive if you look at it as a one-time purchase, but if it's going to improve your home, or your home value for the next 5, 10, 15+ years, it's worth it to spend the money, if you're able.

Hell, I spent quite a bit of $ on finishing my basement...it's been done for 17 months now and has already been worth every penny and when I sell my home, I plan to keep the price I spent on that in mind when I go to sell to make sure I recoup that money (along with all other additional home add-ons)

 

What's finishing a basement exactly? I've never seen a basement

 

We don't have them here!

 

Like, is the floor dirt? I'll see that in books sometimes and just be like

 

@ChaseTx

That's wild. Come to think of it, my wife has relatives in Texas and I've been to several homes and yeah, they didn't have basements either.

Above are pictures from late 2017 when my basement was finished (aka renovated). Prior to that, it was just a concrete floor with concrete walls and we just stored a ton of shit down there. Now that it's finished, I have couches down there, TV, record player, beer fridge, table, etc.

We left a portion unfinished because it's our laundry room (and more storage).

Anyway, eventually my wife and I will look for a new home, but I already told her I'm only buying a home with a finished basement already.

 

My brother lives in Florida, and they don't have basements either. It's weird, though houses with basements are probably just as peculiar if you've never had one.

I'm jealous of your drop ceiling. One of the previous owners of my house finished part of it, but instead of putting in a grid, they just glued the tiles to each other. Not only is it hideous, it's impractical since I can't really just pop the tiles back in place. Remedying that situation is near the top of my list, but we're finishing up a kitchen renovation (everything but the cabinets and floor) at the moment, with a bathroom gutting on the horizon.

 

In NY we love to finish our basements and then rent them out to people for an absurdly high price that never justifies what you're getting.

 

Drop ceilings were the best option for us (as opposed to like a dry-walled, hard ceiling that you have in your main floor/upstairs) because we have pipes and water turn-offs up there so if we ever need to get to them we can. And if there is ever any damage or anything we just simply replace it. I’d recommend anyone who finishes their basement to do a drop ceiling (I think it’s cheaper too).

 

I used to live in the basement of my dad's home and it was unfinished and it suuuucked. The floors were cement and they were cracked and creepy bugs would invade and traumatize me for life

 

My basement ceiling also has pipes and turn-offs in it, which makes the old owner's decision even more confusing. It's actually only part of the finished basement (living room and bathroom), too. There are also two bedrooms, one of which has a drop ceiling with a grid, and other of which has a (very low) drywall ceiling.

 

Yeah, we actually just re-did the flooring on our main floors last month and the installers had to move our refrigerator, which has a water line tied to a pipe in our basement ceiling and when they moved the fridge, they had to shut the water line off, which thankfully, was easy for them to do because they just removed the drop ceiling tile and it was done. Had we not have had that, they would have had to drill into our ceiling, create a big hole, just to shut it off and then repair it.

 

Just moved into my new house Friday (March 1). Almost all my free time I've been in there;

-sanding everything walls, baseboards, molding, etc.
-painting everything, ceiling, walls, baseboards, etc.
-I'm adding crown molding so I have saw horses set up to paint all that.
-on top of that, cleaning as I go, replacing all the light fixtures with new ceiling fans.

It's all very exhausting. I'm about 7 days in and I'm about ready to crack/have a nervous breakdown. Just mixing work life, with trying to get the house ready, be attentive to my 3-year old, living between three different houses, spending thousands of dollars, it's just all too much. I want this to be done so I can move in, relax, and enjoy this new house.

 

Ooh, crown molding. I love it, but it's not really period-specific for my house, so I'm holding off. I totally feel you on how exhausting/overwhelming it all feels, especially when you start. One of my friends had worked with his professional painter father for years, so I was able to hire him to do all of our painting before we moved all of our furniture in. I've been slowly replacing all of the lights as I go. It's a ton of work/money, but it's also pretty much the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

 

Any use a kitchen cart/microwave cart for there kitchen, specifically for a small kitchen? Considering buying one. But also don't know which one I want. I do have a budget.

 

I hope this gets easier for you but it’s truly impressive you are managing to pull all of this off. Just want to encourage you in what you are doing.