HAPPINESS IS… a cozy house. What has made you happy about your home this summer, dear readers? Me: Outside, my perennials are getting well established and sending me lots of colorful blooms. Inside, we had the kitchen floor polished so it’s nice and shiny. Best of all, my brother and his kids came to visit, and we spent a lot of time at the nearby lake. How about you? Are you glad you chose the home you did? Is your home happy you chose it?
Open thread: What made you happy about your house this summer?
Posted by: • September 7, 2009
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Happiness is…honeysuckle that bloomed all summer because it never got very hot outside. It always smelled good in my backyard! Is my house happy I chose it? Absolutely. It is improving daily. Am I glad that I chose the home I did? Hard question…I love the location of my house…the quiet cul-de-sac near the edge of town makes me feel like I’m living in the country, especially since there is no traffic going by my house. I’ve been tackling my bathroom more this weekend, and every time that I try to fix something up, I find that the previous owner did poor maintenance and covered up problems to make them look better instead of fixing them correctly. The half rotted out wall in the bathroom that was covered up with new bead board paneling was a nasty surprise…now that I got that wall rebuilt, I found another mess behind the next piece of bead board that I removed. I get more and more irritated with the previous owner daily, as I am always finding things that they covered up instead of fixing. Eventually it will all be fixed…but if the house had been taken care of in the first place I wouldn’t be in this mess. And if I had discovered these things when I looked at the house…I would have either (1) made a much lower offer on the house, stating the neglect and hidden repairs needed, or (2) most likely, this would have been someone else’s headache. Sorry Pam, it’s been a frustrating weekend! But the bathroom’s going to look great!
Oh my goodness, Michael. I’m sorry to hear about your bathroom. This definitely happens in restoration/renovation…the not-so-happy surprises. Know that your house is VERY happy you chose it, so that you could give it the TLC it deserves. You are doing a good thing.
What a great question. I can’t wait to hear all of the answers!
This Summer was when we actually got to see inside of the home that we’d driven past and dreamed about for so many years (instead of just guessing what it must look like). This Summer was also when we went out on a very shaky limb and bought just that house!
We got the feeling that the house hadn’t been cared for in years and years and yes, we have had a lot of moments like those that Missouri Michael mentioned that made our blood pressure soar. Even so, it’s been a Summer of looking out freshly acquired walls of windows at our new family of squirrels and birds…and of meeting the next door neighbors who have lived here over seventy years. I know that we’ll be glad that we bought this house. I also get the feeling that when we’re done and the ivy and grime is all pulled back, and the house shines again, it will be glad that we bought it. I’m already picturing our Christmas tree in the front window. I’ve always wanted a front window. : )
This summer I have come to really love my outdoors. I am finally reconciled that my move into this little house, which was done to lower my overhead, didn’t exactly accomplish that because of the cost to maintian the yard. That was a five year battle internally. But, now that I accept it, I LOVE my outdoors. The giant magnolia that came with the house is in great shape, the flower beds that have been added are big and healthy this year as are the lilacs. But, most of all, this year I finally spent the money to put a retractable awning over the way too hot patio and now I have an outdoor room and actually go outside and sit. The awning has added so much more than anticipated to my happyness with the outside. Now I can’t wait for next summer to have even more time in the outside and to see the butterflies and hopefully more hummingbirds in the garden.
To Michael in Missouri, I hope your frustration is eventually wiped out by the satisfaction of knowing you are doing a good thing in repairing your house.
Earlier this summer, we were irritated with our house and wanted to move. After looking at a few other houses, we realized that the positive points of this place far outweigh the negatives. Our irritation evaporated, and the rest of the summer has been much more pleasant. Our flowers and veggies have done well. We’ve made more of an effort to chat with neighbors, and exchange some plants and seeds. Home improvement tasks have been minimal — little things like attempting to organize stuff in the garage. Biggest deal was we set up the aquarium in the living room — which got it out of the garage.
I love my house, a 1964 wing colonial. What makes me happiest this year are the four vintage style red tulip chairs we added to the front porch last year. This year, I added all kinds of porch jewelry, wind chimes, spinners and such, and some attractive little tables. With that our too narrow porch has become a wonderful place to sit in the afternoons, sipping on lemonade or coffee, and our two year old landscaping makes a pleasant frontispiece to our view of the other wonderful homes in the neighborhood. On the procrastination front, we finally had our flatscreen TV mounted to the center of the built-in bookshelves in the family room, and got rid of two really nice rocking love seats that just took up too much room in there. This is inspiring a substantial decluttering campaign and book and media thinning. Anyone want to come shopping in my library?
What made me happy was that we got more interior painting done, the pull-down light installed and new hinges and cabinet pulls on the kitchen cabinets. The pantry (formerly the broom closet) is almost ready which makes me real, real happy!
Sadly, I’ve neglected the outside, but we did get all the shrubs trimmed back and shaped. All in all, we’re just about ready to move in! Yippee skippee!!!!!
Our home had been neglected for so long! There was much thought & planning involved in the building & furnishing of the home. Nothing had been done to it in the last 50 years! Everything was exactly as it had been when the family that built it moved in. We have been working on it for the last 2 years. We still have the kitchen to go but this summer we have been able to concentrate on the outside. It has been wonderful! Our house is so happy & makes us & all our guests happy. Every time I walk through the house at night & can see the moon through our windows up high, our 3 little miniature donkeys in their pasture, or walk from one room to another & can see views of the Chesapeake Bay & sailboats out one of the 29 sliding glass doors it takes my breath away. We feel so lucky to have found this treasure of a home that no one else appreciated & we love! I just know that we are making this house as happy as it is making us!
Missouri Michael,
I feel your pain, man!
There is very little so disheartening as to find that what was believed and planned for to be a minor ache is in fact a major deformity, is there? I deal with the sort of anger and frustration you have had to live through with the previous party’s poor workmanship or slapdash, uncaring work on a regular basis…I always ask myself where were they when Dad or Granddad or Uncle so-and-so, etc. uttered that most important mantra of working on ANYTHING…”always do the job like you’ll be the next one to work on it”. And, in your circumstance, perhaps the simple rule of “Do unto others…”.
At least there is the satisfaction of knowing you have put things right and of knowing that your house is now repaired properly and that your work will–along with the house–outlast you and carry forth. You have not only done it for yourself, but for the house itself and for the someday-future owners or occupants, and I hope that you can feel properly proud of that fact.
Sorry you had to go through it, though, and on your own nickel at that.
Our home being rented and not MC in derivation, we didn’t do anything with the structure proper…but Laura did put in a new flower bed–in addition to those she put in last year–that adds a cheer and beauty at the front of the house to see at the end of a long day and to cheer up the otherwise somewhat drab neighborhood. Inside we did of course add some more treasures here and there, and rework an existing corner to have another Tiki/Polynesian/Hawaiiana zone that pleases us and gives the childrens’ friends (one of whom did comment that coming to our house was like visiting a museum) something else to look at and take in.
If our home is not necessarily a structure but a concept…well then, we did quite a bit. Most is intangible, but we have also continued to add to the “hope chest” in the garage…the stored items that will be so perfect when we find and afford the right house.
I really do believe that whether it is a structure like a house or a vessel of some kind…each person who works on, rebuilds, cares for, uses or occupies it leaves a bit of themselves with it…so what we are alll really adding to that place…is a feeling as much as anything else, something that will stay once we and our collections and our things are long gone from it. This goes right back to where Michael is at in a way, for what we leave most when we work on and live with a good old house or a good old boat…are tangible bits of love, dedication, satisfaction, comfort and joy. We become part of it, too…so that not only do we get to enjoy it, in Cheryl Wheeler’s words “…someday we’ll make some young strangers happy when we die…”
Best,
Dave
getting our kitchen MOSTLY complete……
My office. Good view of the neighborhood, nice breeze coming through and a quiet ceiling fan when it gets hot. The neighborhood we live in also helps. Mostly friendly people always willing to help each other with projects (mostly coming to me to borrow tools). If it wasn’t for out realtor, we’d most likely be in a place less neighborly.
I also like that we found a neat metal wall hanging thing at Pier 1. It’s just a bunch of metal rods welded together in a mostly squarish shape, but it looks so 60s that it really helps define our family room. The new MartinLogan speakers also made a big statement in there—they’re hard to ignore and so far–out looking.
I often wish I had bought a condo because my house feels too big for just me and my beau, Max, who lives here part time. Over the summer we’ve had several guests who “ooh and aah”ed over the house which is a satisfying reward for my efforts. Last night we had a small dinner party on the covered patio and then moved to the grassy backyard beside a firepit til nearly 1 a.m. Today I am envisioning a slate patio in the back yard surrounded by a low stone wall beyond which I will plant a wildflower garden…the yard is just too big, too. I may complain about the size but I fall back in love with it when it’s shared with friends/family. Now I have to figure out a way to afford that patio!
Since May we have been refurbishing a little 1963 ranch that we bought to downsize, both size wise and money wise. It is a re-po and we bought it as-is. We ran into a couple of surprises, the first being the bathroom floor and wall that had dry rot. This was not a big deal. The second being a leak in the water line between the house and the meter (of course!). Our good friend worked on it and thought he was finished and went in the back yard to wash up and thought he could hear water running somewhere and went back out front and the pipe didn’t hold and blew the water meter up into the tree! Needless to say it was a mess.
But we have a cute little ranch with hardwood floors, a big back yard and most importantly for us, no stairs! We are ready to move in this week. I will send in some photos soon.
Summer has been kind of a blur. We worked hard and our reward is a happy little home and we booked a trip to Vegas to celebrate a job well done!
Well, I’m glad I got new windows..but then again, cried when they took the originals out (they are in the basement for the day when I win the lottery & can restore them). I fixed the basement drop ceiling in the knotty pine basement that was ruined by the cable co. guy. I found a box of original ceiling tiles that were left over for just such repairs! I worked more & more on my large garden, installed a row of Rose Of Sharon’s and dug up the day lillies that are no longer fertile. Have planted a lot of dahlias and then moved a bunch of iris’ that I found in the wooded lot next door.
It was 4 years ago today that I moved into my dream home…65 ranch w/ brick trim & knotty pine basement. Huge brick fireplace w/ wood built in next to it. & original kitchen cabinets/hardware …and a lovely, lovely blue bathroom w/ great cabinetry.
Oh…I also hosted my family reunion-
Everyone’s house sounds fab–
missouri michael – i might just quote you to answer pam’s question! though in our case, it was bad sheetrock hidden behind paneling in the living room, and – by far the bigger issue – a very, very rotten kitchen floor hidden by vinyl tile and the (ill) luck that it hadn’t rotted up to the top layer until last month. ugh.
we’ve taken up the phrase “remodeled by monkeys” every time we find a new quirk or problem.
on the bright side, i’ve been able to fix everything so far! and i do love the house – it’s a wonderful post-war house in a great friendly neighborhood, and i’m new to this homeowning thing, which is a lot of fun. i only wish, as michael said, that i had known the shape it was in and paid a bit less for it.
Great questions! I think I am still pretty happy with my house – especially from an affordability standpoint, being here in the Bay Area. Of course, everyone will see “Trailer” in my name – that would be a 1977 24 x 60 double wide in a park. I did give think recently about buying a stick built house since housing values have fallen enough that I could finally buy one….but alas, I decided that I really didn’t want to be saddled to a $300k plus mortgage every month. I’d have no money left over for home improvementing, and retrorenovating!
Tomorrow the contractor comes to bid most of the remodeling work I plan on doing – about $35k worth, but at the end of the day, I’ll still be $200k ahead from a debt standpoint, and I’ll have an 8 x 10 walk in master closet when I’m done, whoo hoo!
Will my house be happy? Probably, it is in dire need of some updating. No flowerbeds yet til the work is all done, so my spare time will be spent with a hammer and paintbrush in hand rather than the garden gloves.
Hope everyone else had a great summer!
I am in love with this house and it never seems to diminish. Even though it appears we have about 10 unfinished projects and things are a bit of a mess, I still wouldn’t trade it for the world. Every day I thank the architect, George Fisher, for his vision and skill. The biggest thing this summer has been the front yard. We were fortunate enough to have come across a number of closeout sales for the shrubs and plants we needed, so the landscape we planned for but didn’t think we’d execute any time soon is now about half done. Doesn’t look like much yet, but it soon will.
CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING!!
CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING!!! for the first time in this 1913 Mutant Prairie Home’s lifetime.
Not that we needed it many days but it was here to make things more comfortable. It’s the product of our geothermal heat exchange system we put in last October. One cool thing about it is when the a/c is running, the system takes some of that heat it pulls off and sends it to our water heater. The rest goes back down into the ground where we’ll pull it back out again in January.
I am the sole breadwinner for the next 4 years while hubby goes to nursing school (way to have a midlife crisis!) so having the house comfortable makes it easier for me to work. My office is at home.
Maria, I am super interested in geothermal heat exchange systems. Do you have any links you can provide – where you bought this from, or other reference sources?
What made me happy? Just having a house! After 15 years of apartment living (with noisy upstairs neighbors the last year!), I finally became a homeowner and moved in at the beginning of the summer. The house was well cared for by the original owners of 44 years and we have discovered only minor “monkey” repairs so far – coffee can lids and paint stir sticks in the light fixtures (what?!). I’m happy to have a list of projects to work on that are all mine!
OK I’m back. It’s so great reading everyone’s story! I was reminded that I am extremely happy with my kitchen renovations, too, as they make everything so much more accessible. I have a peninsula that had doors only on the kitchen side, and none on the nook side, so finding things in those cupboards often meant a major dig. We figured out how to add doors on the nook side even though the back panel was hollow core. Access is so much easier I just love it.
We also have a deep pantry cupboard that was impossible. We lost things in the back of it all the time. Forget anything back of the first row on the bottom two shelves or the top two shelves. We found some heavy duty attractive wooden pantry drawers at Home Depot and substituted them for the shelves. Oh, my, it is so heavenly to just roll out a shelf and see everything on it! After 20 years here, I finally just love my kitchen. Appearance wise, we added antique silver looking handles that look like Navajo bracelets.
We began year #2 in our 1961 ranch in late June. Leaking (no, pouring) windows were one of our biggest challenges. Replacing the windows was not an option, so we managed to design storm windows that work with the original Andersens. My hope is that when it rains, it will no longer pour!
Water was also coming through the chimney bricks … that had to be sealed. Won’t know if the sealing worked until the next heavy rain … hopefully without water dripping from the ceiling!
My husband has been in love with this house since he was a teenager (we’re now in our early 60s), so purchasing this was a dream come true … for him. The move was not something I wanted, but I think I’ve become as (if not more) attached to it than he.
The house was in the same family since it was built, and some “strange” updates have been made, but most of the house remains “quirky”.
So we began year #2 taking care of old plumbing (did lots of old electrical last year), and ridding ourselves of some “up dates” that didn’t seem “right”.
We still have so much to do, but right now must call a halt to it … there’s always next year, and the year after that . . .
Enjoy this site and everyone’s upbeat attitude!
I’m loving our house this year – we put our new windows in just a few weeks ago, I still haven’t finished putting up the trim.
By far my favorite house project was completely unexpected. I found a set of 1940 Heywood-Wakefield furniture on St Louis craigslist, and agreed to buy it, without even knowing the stuff was collectable! I’m in love! I had to go buy the vanity (the only piece the original bedroom set was missing) just to complete my set. The dining set is wonderful also, and it will work well with the midcentury kitchen I’ll get someday! I bought it from the children of the original owners, and they had me promise to love it for another 70 years =)
Oooh, I love my Tiki Lagoon. My husband built every square inch of my 1950′s polynesian environment. The house was built in 1949, so a few years ago, we put in a 1950′s blueprint pool to match the house. I live on an acre and my pool environment covers about 1/4 of it. Palms, vines, bamboo, vintage pool slide, two covered structures completely decked out in vintage hawaiiana. We regulary have guests who so enjoy themselves here, they keep inviting themselves back, but we don’t mind, in fact, we love it. We just love sharing with everyone what we have been blessed with. And we also love to talk about how we created our awesomely cool locale that is “Tiki Lagoon”.
Pam, I would love to see you do more on vintage pool environments, it’s such the rage right now!
Pam, sorry, I just checked back for the first time since Sept. 8th.
We bought our geothermal system through a local HVAC contractor, but it’s a ClimateMaster (http://residential.climatemaster.com/) (made in Oklahoma by LSB Industries). Our 1-1/2 story concrete block house with lots of windows required a 4-ton system. Ours is a closed loop system, meaning we have wells in the back yard with a system of circulating pipes that send fluid out of the basement, down through each of the wells in turn, then back into the house, into the heat exchange unit that either pulls heat out of the fluid (winter) or puts it back in again (summer). Then the conditioned air is circulated through our existing ductwork.
The only power it uses is the electricity to keep the fluid pumping and the fans for the forced air. It’s very clean, and way cheaper to run than our old oil furnace, plus we got a/c out of the deal. The whole system, including the unit, some added duct work, and the well drilling, cost us about $18,000, $3000 of which was offset by a federal tax credit and another $3300 of which was rebated to us by the power company. We estimate our break even point is between 5 and 6 years. Plus, as I find myself unable to restrain myself from saying yet again, WE HAD AIR CONDITIONING THIS SUMMER.
It was awesome.
In a perfect world, I would be able to put up a couple of windmills to provide power to run the geothermal system, but that is unrealistic. But it’s fun to think about.
While I’m thinking of it, my parents’ original-owner 1957 ranch home in Roseville, MN, is getting to be too much for them. They think they could never sell it, but I think someone would adore it. It has the original built-ins in the kitchen, including the vintage brushed steel wall oven and range hood, and the flying saucer style kitchen ceiling light. Three bedrooms, full basement, double attached garage and a big lot with the back yard fenced. If anyone is looking for something like this, please email me and I can put you in touch with my folks. I’d like to have them move closer to me.
Missouri Michael, this story will make you know you are not alone. A plumber is in our crawl space this very minute. He is hooking up a line so we can have a gas cooking stove (our end-of-summer project). He, and we, thought it would be a pretty simple job. Of course not. Existing pipe is not the right size, etc. etc. What we have budgeted for this plumbing job and a new stove probably will all go toward the plumbing job. We will have to wait a few months to get the stove! Oh well. We got to a point where we said OK, we aren’t crazy about this house. So, do we move, do we stay and put up with what we don’t like, or do we do the things that will make us happy here? We have decided to do the latter course of action. We will eventually have our gas stove, and we will be so much happier in the kitchen. Perhaps this is what it takes to come to love your house.
Well, here’s a gem I got drilled into me as an apprentice-on-way-to-journeyman years ago:
(Personally, I find it very true, and it never fails me on estimates for other people…only myself when I ignore it!)
Take the MAXIMUM number of labor hours you think it will realistically, POSSIBLY take to do the job. Got it? Great!
Now double it. No, make yourself. Look ridiculous? Great! Keep the number.
Now add 10 percent. Seriously.
You’ll be pretty much dead-on every time, or it will turn out to be a pleasant surprise and you will be a hero. No joke!
Dave
I was happy to escape to our vintage cabin in the mountains! Love the original kitchen, complete with sheet linoleum in green and yellow “tile” patterns; a fascinating plastic laminate counter that has little green leaf patterns throughout; and dark, “wood-grained”, tall, solid, laminate covered cabinets with ornate metal pulls/handles and black edges. Because this home does not get constant use, these kitchen elements have remained in good condition!
Atomic Bowler Dave, you are oh so right on the cost estimating regarding home improvements. And if the job does come in close to budget — guess what, there is always another one waiting in the wings. Now our water heater has conked out. The plumber is back today, hooking up the new one.
I have grass instead of dirt in my backyard finally, all thanks to my wonderful BF’s encouragement & assistance. It made dinners outside with friends on the 60′s metal and plastic wicker chairs (bought at a swap meet b/c they perfectly match the blue paint on the doors to my house) even more enjoyable. I have a tiny little pie-shaped lot, *and* I was away a lot of the summer, so I treasured every minute out in the yard.
I wrote in as a “lurker” a bit ago and was waiting for the delivery of our Skylark boomerang countertops. Well, they got here, my husband and I installed them (to the detriment of my back!) and YAY, they fit!!! Now I just have to finish a bit more painting and I’m done with the kitchen. Bathroom next…
This summer for us was the real deal. We moved into our 1960 ranch style house (made with pale pink silicon brick and enormous steel windows) last summer but were too busy unpacking to notice anything until the boxes were unpacked.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4DNdSxaMkrE/S2i22acSBHI/AAAAAAAADqY/8RQnV_Wdeew/s512/12-08-09_1541.jpg
Living in Australia we celebrate Christmas in mid summer and this year we hosted the family Christmas – in our family that’s 28 people. Everyone was so helpful and brought something to contribute; one family brought the turkey (thankfully sliced and prepared), another brought the plum pudding and so it went on. The host is in charge of decorations and sets the theme. This year it was gold, green and red with white linen cloths, fine china and my mum’s silverware. I was so proud of the end result.
Getting to the nitty gritty of how my house made me happy this summer was the pride my partner took in getting everything ready. We have huge windows throughout the house and they were cleaned until they sparkled. The inside of the house was cleaned until it was gleaming and the yard was manicured and patio spotless.
Then three days before Christmas he decided to pull up the carpets and polish the floor boards. Three Days Before!!! What was he thinking? I imagined dust and debris and odours galore. Workmen in the house while I was trying to put the finishing touches on everything. I thought I’d go out of my mind. No workmen – he decided to do it on his own! Thankfully with the help of his dad (who built the house back in 1960) they set out pulling up the carpets. Meticulously working section by section they pulled, extracted pins nails and staples as they went revealing a beautiful timber floor beneath. The smile on my partners face said it all – he’d remembered from his early childhood how beautiful the floors had been all polished and the most gorgeous honey colour similar of that to the pale mid century Danish design timbers(Danish design credenza linked below) . http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4DNdSxaMkrE/S2i4oJqPRSI/AAAAAAAADs8/nj1D0IJWMto/s576/25-05-09_1616.jpg
Wow – it was stunning – I had to eat my words. I didn’t need the stress that close to such a large event but the end result was well worth it.
He was so pleased he decided to pull up the stone tiles in the entry hall and laundry too but that’s another story …
If I could find a picture of us on Christmas day I’d post it and you’d seen how ridiculously happy we were … being the host and hostess leaves you no time to take happy snaps. Indeed this summer I’ve been very happy.
My now 5 years old sweet daughter planted her first garden a few months ago, and we just got to eat the cutest littlest tomatoes & the single green bean salad she so proudly grew.