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Thread: Penalized for being frugal?

  1. #41
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    Our 'formal' living room out front holds my upright grand piano, our computer desk and my mid-arm quilting machine. The perfect mixed use In the corner of our family room out back by the window overlooking the garden/patio, we have a 2 seat glass top bistro set. This is where we eat our meals. No listening to traffic go by as we would at the dining room table.

  2. #42
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    Update on the house - I have a cousin who is a professional kitchen designer and she recommended we NOT do any updates. She said she wished she had a dime for every person who updated their kitchen when they were selling only to find out the new owners ripped it out.

    We just lowered our price and got one bid, contingent upon the sale of their house. We can still show our house in the meantime and accept other bids. I'm not holding my breath. The comments we receive are still the same. It's clean and maintained but needs updating. Never mind the new roof, siding, well, heating, A/C.

    We're keeping our fingers crossed that our buyer can sell their home soon.

  3. #43
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    Another thought on trendy kitchens - Yes, they do get dated faster than classic ones. Our house was built in the late 70's and when we bought it, it had a "trendy" kitchen. Harvest Gold appliances and counter tops with parquet vinyl flooring.

    But it had beautiful upgraded Shaker cabinets in a dark polished wood. We eventually replaced the appliances with the color "Biscuit" and the counter tops with an off white laminate with small flecks that disguise any tiny dings. We also replaced the flooring with neutral colored vinyl planks that look very much like hardwood.

    I don't worship at the alter of HGTV. I have a paid off house and money in the bank.

  4. #44
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    Both my sons--one has two small children and the other will have his first in a couple of weeks--have kind of reversed one of the raisons-d'etre for the open living/kitchen area, that being "I can watch the kids while I cook."

    While both their living areas and kitchens are kind of open, they have turned a den into an adjacent playroom that is shut off from the open areas. They can put a gate there, but the toy mess is contained. So it seems that some people realize that open is nice, but mess is not, and how much mess do you want visitors--and yourself--to be in the midst of all the time? The TV is also in the playroom, so they just go in there and hang with the kids and watch TV, leaving their living rooms nice and neat and looking like the parlors of yesteryear.
    I dont get people who buy real estate that works primarily for their tiny children. The tiny children stay that way for about 5 Seconds.
    its the same thing for people who cant have a mastsr bedroom on a first floor while all other bedrooms are up the stairs because they cant be away from their small children.

    I say, buy a house for the long term. Figure out how to use it today, and reconfigure your use in a few years.

    The parents can sleep upstairs for a few years until the tiny kids get bigger, leaving master bedroom as office or family room or whatever.

    our architect asked what we were using as The Master Bedroom in our
    Hermann house. ???? I dont even know what that means in THIs house, there is no such thing with one bathroom total and it is in the hall. I think “the master bedrooom” is 5e one with heat and a real closet. It is not the former garage.

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