I’m a Real Estate Remodeling Junkie

It happens every spring. Does it happen to you? As soon as the snow clears out, “For Sale” signs pop up out of the lawns, and I am SO tempted to make appointments to see inside. I love houses, I just do. Maybe I should have been a real estate agent, cuz I am a real estate junkie. I love wandering through homes, especially empty ones. They are fascinating to me! I even read through the real estate magazines, digesting the house style and size and values. It’s fascinating.

Part of the reason we bought our 150-year old clunker years ago was so that I could tinker with it and make it just the way I wanted. I’m fussy like that. We’d looked at about a dozen houses before we settled on this one. Of course I loved looking through all of them. We almost nabbed a more modern home before we got this one. The kitchen was new(er), which was nice, but it had BLUE counterops *gag* and it was a ranch (a tad modern, and no fancy San Diego Second Story Additions for me). I knew if I got that house, I would have to live with the blue kitchen and the funky Asian wheatgrass wallpaper, because the stingy Scot in me would never rip out stuff that new, it’s be a waste. We didn’t get the house, anyway.

I was researching alcove beds and some guy built this alcove bed for his kids. Isn't this cool?!

We also considered building our own house- not one of those very luxurious San Diego Custom Home Design models, but a simple home. Couldn’t afford it, yikes. New construction is insanely expensive! So we got This Old House. When we moved in, I had such big dreams, but I’ve tempered them a bit now (thanks to my checkbook and the economy). Still, I have things I want to do here. I want to make those very cool alcove beds for the upstairs bedrooms (like Thomas Jefferson has in Monticello!). We want to convert the garage into a huge acoustic music room. I even have hopes of adding a small addition to the side. Since the house is so old, it wouldn’t be lie one of those glamorous San Diego Room Additions, but it’d be classy. ;)

How about you? Do you find yourself dreaming about feathering your nest now that spring has arrived? If you could build something new, what would it be?

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