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It has been a while since our last post, primarily because we currently find ourselves in the middle of about five projects (so what else is new?!). As I reflect on the past almost three years in our home, I am reminded of all the lessons we have learned along the way, most of which we learned the hard way (after all, what other way is there). SO....I decided to compile a list of my top 7 truths about home-ownership so that you, our faithful friends, might one day avoid some of the mishaps we have.
7. If it's cheap, it's going to break. I am mostly referring to fixtures here. Cheap knobs, handles, appliances, etc.. will inevitably break and require replacement. Do yourself a favor...spend the extra $$$ and save yourself some curse words down the road.
6. Chances are, even if it isn't cheap, it may break. If you have a home, apartment, townhouse, mobile home, RV, cardboard box, etc.. something will ALWAYS require your attention. I can't explain it. It's just a truth.
5. Baseboards are filthy, dirty, horrid places. I know I can't be the only one here; our baseboards are like magnets for dirt and dust. Once I clean them, it's like all the dirt in the house knows they are vacant and immediately migrates directly to them. Ugh.
4. Throw pillows: men seem to be allergic to them. Women consider throw pillows like eyebrows: they are a necessary visual feature of the face (or couch) and without them, said face (or couch) looks a little naked. Throw pillows are the best in home accessory since the toaster oven. They make a great way to tie in different colors and they are the perfect addition to any late night scary movie watching endeavor. They are comfortable, interchangeable and just all around great companions for any living room or bedroom. The sad thing about throw pillows is that the male species seems to, as a general rule, be deathly allergic to their presence. Now, this "truth" is really still in the theorem stage but based on my scientific observation, men must move throw pillows around (usually by tossing and/or literally throwing them) before finding comfort in throw pillow environment. I am seriously considering Velcro-ing our pillows to the couch just to see if they really are toxic to men (therefore leaving dead bodies in their wake), or if they are just a minor nuisance. More to come on this topic....
3. Grass seems to keep growing, no matter how often it is cut. Those who know me, know I am not a plant person. This includes vegetable plants, herbs, shrubs, flowers, vines and yes, even grass. I am an animal person. Animals tell you when they are hungry and are therefore, far more deserving of my time and attention. Plants, rather than communicating their needs, just up and die. Thank goodness my wonderful husband is a plant person. He seems to be able to make any kind of plant live and even thrive. While I personally think yards are very pretty, I do find it very frustrating that the more you care for your yard, the more care it requires. The grass continues to grow because we freakin' water it. The strawberries continue to ripen and if not picked, rot because he takes care of them. Weeds also puzzle me because even in spots where the yard may struggle, weeds seem to be doing just fine. It would seem to me that as a culture, it would be a whole lot easier if we just embraced weeks as being desirable and let them take over, saving ourselves a lot of work and time at Pike's Nursery. Just my thoughts...
2. If it is a little broken now, chances are it will be a lot broken later. Every homeowner has made this mistake; Something in the house is a little loose, a little squeaky, a little leaky or a little broken. You think to yourself "oh it's not that urgent, I will just fix it later". BIG MISTAKE. You will not fix it later and it probably is or will eventually be that urgent. A shower door that starts to get a little stuck upon entry or exit will eventually become completely stuck, leaving you in a very vulnerable position and fresh out of good cuss words. There will likely be a post about this one at a later date...
1. When I was a little girl, I once had a fish tank. One time, I got a new tropical fish that the PetsMart people told me would grow as big as its environment allowed it to. They said that this particular fish would continue to grow based on the size of the tank it lived in. This leads me to the issue of storage. Not everyone has this issue but I would be willing to bet that most of us do. We, like the fish from PetsMart, seem to have the uncanny ability to take up as much space as our environment allows us to. For us, the minimal mansion is undoubtedly a small-ish tank compared to many. Like most old homes, our home has very limited closet space. We have one closet in the guest bath and one closet for each of our wardrobes. My sweet husband was kind enough to allow me to occupy the larger of the two master closets (I do have a very extensive and continually growing cowboy boot collection to house), but we continually find ourselves coming up with creative ways to store things. Our house is full of baskets, bins, boxes, drawers and strategically utilized nooks and crannies. I am almost positive that no matter how large our home was, we would continue to face storage challenges, based on the tank vs. fish theory.
Now, I can think of about 100 additional "lessons" learned over the course of our home ownership but I think I will save those for the next post. Owning a home has been a very educational (and fun) experience for us and I look forward to many more learning experiences down the road.
Until next time-
Thanks for reading :-)
