Six figures in debt and loving it

[Mischka]

I just bought my first condo! I've spent the last several hours wandering Home Depot like a kid in a candy store. I think I mentally tallied about 20 grand in home improvement projects, and all for a condo that is in perfectly great shape.

Did you know there is such a thing as a $1400 faucet? I think they display those just so you'll be duped into thinking the $200 ones are a bargain.

And paint. How am I supposed to decide on one color? I can't even narrow it down to a cool or warm tone. Man, I'm loving this.

 

[teresafannin]

Congratulations!!!!! That is so exciting. Be careful, though, Home Depot can become addictive. My niece just bought her first house & she is having a blast fixing it up & making it her own little corner of the world.

 

[Angel]

Congrats, Mishy! And happy housewarming!

 

[Siren]

So when is the house warming party?

 

[Starfish]

Don't Feng your Shui without talking to me.


Be careful not to mix the colors Chartruse and hot pink..


This spell Watermelon.

Oh.....


My favorite color palette for a living area.......


these with a warm cream on the walls...... Ooooooohh soooo cozy!

 

[Mischka]

Too late, I'm already addicted. I'm careful with my money though - lots of notes for now, careful spending after I've calmed down a bit. I've started an album for ideas, with a tabbed section for each room (to pacify the perfectionist nerd in me). Tonight I only bought a $6 crow bar and some linoleum. Tomorrow will be great - I'm knocking out the fireplace surround. Woohoo!!

 

[Cheyenne]

Hmmm... in my mind I had you pictured as a college student- law school- who was likely to be broke and in debt from tuition ( or maybe that was me I was thinking about from back in my college days? LOL.)

Congrats!

 

[Starfish]

I can't wait to hear about what you decide to do....... you rule.











Bathrooms in nice light cool colors..... are my fav....



I have eclectic style, but I love lavender and green.

Oh and I am fond of sage greens and different degrees of creams and earthtones.


I am just showing off, as usual, but I hope you have tons of fun decorating!

 

[morninggirl5]

Congratulations! Walking in your home for the first time as a homeowner is a wonderful feeling.

After the seventh time through the colors began to blur together so bad I couldn't remember which ones I didn't like, forget liking one. But it's so much fun.

 

[teresafannin]

Oh No!!!!!!!! Mischka has been sucked in by the Home Depot Force Field!! My guy LOVES Home Depot-we are there all the time & we haven't even found a house yet. I am so glad I am not the only album keeper around here. I have a wish book of ideas, once we find a place. Have fun & be careful with that crow bar!

 

[Mischka]

I like those colors, Starfish. I want to color wash the living room walls, but I can't decide on the color. The fireplace is brick, in lots of tans to medium browns. All my furniture is unfinished pine and navy, and I'm getting a ceiling fan with pale wood blades and a brushed silver lighting fixture. I'm installing a new fireplace mantle in crisp white, and painting the stairway rails to match. So my problem is I don't know if I want to paint the walls a cool blue grey, or a warm Tuscan tan/yellow. Ideas/suggestions, anyone?

 

[Siren]

I've owned three different homes and I can tell you that

 

[Angel]

Go with the grey.

 

[Mischka]

Hmmm... in my mind I had you pictured as a college student- law school- who was likely to be broke and in debt from tuition ( or maybe that was me I was thinking about from back in my college days? LOL.)

Congrats!

Scholarships help keep the school debt to a minimum, and a husband with a hefty salary is the only reason we can afford a condo. The rent on our apartment was getting ridiculous, so we decided to look for other options. Excluding closing costs, the condo will cost less than an apartment.

 

[InternationalFunboy]

Wow, and to think I was jazzed to the moon when i bought a set of stainless steel shower curtain rings the other day.......

My best purchase to date (besides my motorcycle) is hands down my queen sized bed......and the big black comforter on top of it.

I'll need to do some inspecting of this condo to give it the Funboy good housekeeping seal of approval.
I hope you are going to have one of those rooms with all the rubber balls in it when I come to visit and one can't have too many rubber nipples...

Seriously, congratulations!

 

[Mischka]

Hey, Funboy! Haven't seen you around in a while. Actually, you might like one of the rooms I've concocted. I figure the guest bath is a great small place to experiment. I've had the idea for a while, and now I finally get to test it out.

I'm tearing the place down to its bones - bare concrete floor, blank walls, no sink or cabinet. All that will remain is the toilet. Then I'm painting the entire place in a stormy sky blue color, with spots of clouds (done by a professional artist friend of mine). And I mean I'm painting everything - the walls, the ceiling, the door, the floor. I want to make it feel like you're suspended in the sky. I'm putting in a simple white porcelin pedestal sink and an unframed oval mirror, and that's it.

 

[Cheyenne]

Scholarships help keep the school debt to a minimum, and a husband with a hefty salary is the only reason we can afford a condo. The rent on our apartment was getting ridiculous, so we decided to look for other options. Excluding closing costs, the condo will cost less than an apartment.

Thank God for salaries! LOL I think the mortgage is often less than rent and makes more sense. The problem for so many people though is the downpayment and closing costs, so they are stuck with the higher rent option.
Congrats, again. Home Depot isn't evil. It is the furniture stores that are evil. Can't have a new condo without new furniture. I know I saw that rule written somewhere.

 

[Mischka]

It is the furniture stores that are evil. Can't have a new condo without new furniture. I know I saw that rule written somewhere.

I'm desperately trying to ignore that rule. Problem is, I think I'm doing a better job at it than Mr. Mischka.

 

[Starfish]

Mischka,


when I do decorating, I always make a color pallette on my paint program, using the definable colors...

Just make a grid and make you colors, then color fill them in.

Then you can add in the Optional colors to see which looks best.

I can't do it for you, cause only you know the tone of the colors, but here is the gist of what I got, and then I opted in the greyish/blues....

This way you can see how a range of color works.

Get you paint tabs (they are never accurate... paint is always darker than they claim, in my experiance, but I guess it depends), bring them home and add those into your chart.


I think that the Tuscan yellows would be warming, but may cause your pine to become to drab next to the intensity of the walls.
If you opt for a cool grey/blue, you may end up complimenting the room better, but while maintaining the warmth of the pine. Oh and you could get brushed silver vases and candleholders for your mantle to compliment to silver fixture. That will help bind the walls to the scheme if you opt for the blue.

 

[Mischka]

Thank you, Starfish!! That was incredibly helpful. That approach will help with all of the rooms. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Congratulations, Mischka! That's so exciting!

I'm still at the point in life where I'm calculating how many years it will be before I can afford to ditch the roomies and get my own place.

But I've been dreaming of decorating this fictional "own place" for years. *sigh*

 

[Pyper]

Holy crap! When I get a house, I'm calling up Starfish to decorate it for me. I'm a painter, but I really have no sense for furniture coordination, wallpaper, accessories, or anything like that.

You should see my room: Brown plaid wallpaper from the seventies, jungle-print curtains, blue beanbag chair, bright purple bathroom rug on the floor...it's a total decorating disaster. Although I love it, I could never imagine inviting people over to a whole house decked out like that.

 

[SecretAgentMan]

Actually, there are $4000 and $5000 faucets. I coughed up a lung and turned the page of the catalog. Congratulations on the condo.

Home Depot = Satans work

Automatically, all intelligence is drained from males, leaving them drooling zombies of merchandising.... I don't need a circular saw, never actually plugged it in, don't know what it does, but I had to buy one.

 

[morninggirl5]

Men and power tools..... somewhere there's a brain cell that just can't say no when it comes to power tools.


BTW, a circular saw is used for making long cuts in siding, plywood, sheetrock, etc.

 

[SecretAgentMan]

ah...thank you....now if I could only find a useful for my cordless screwdriver...