Right ON, man!

house expenses - when I bought, it took basically all my money, so I only did painting in the two rooms I desperately wanted changed (bathroom and kitchen). I painted myself and I think the paint and supplies ran a few hundred. New furniture I bought (couch, big chair) was from Salvation Army and less than $200. 3 New rugs I bought at auction and at cheapo stores $250.

A few years later - water damage which led to wall repair (covered by building), new countertops, re-painting, and one new cabinet - that was 4 or 5 hundred more. Then I hired a wall built for mac's room, I think that was $600.

Now almost 5 years in, I replaced 1 carpet a year ago $100, regrouted shower twice and bathroom floor once ($150), replaced couch ($1000) and replaced cheapo carpet ($150).

The big thing I wish I had done before moving in was re-do the floors. My cats have now stained them in 3 places, but doing them WHILE living in the place is next to impossible. I also don't like the color of my bedroom, but know that re-doing it will reveal plaster work and possibly needing to sheetrock 1 whole wall. scary.

or the stray iron left on the bed all day....

or, say, a flatiron . . .

Paint stores must be staffed by highway robbers in the northeast. When I was painting my bedrooms a few years back I spent $84 on paint and maybe $12 on pans and rollers at Sherwin Williams. And had most of a can of paint (out of 3) left over when I was done.

well, I was painting over dark colors, not white. So I had to do the full primer, which almost doubled the amount of paint I had to buy.

My paint's been all $24-30 a gallon. I've used some really deep colours so I've had to get two gallons in cases where 1 would have been fine for a lighter shade. (I also like to have extra paint, jsut in case) I'm painting all the trim too, in contrasting colours (it's all painted out the shade of the walls right now) so that's more paint.

The big thing I wish I had done before moving in was re-do the floors.

Me too. I had to do the ones in the bedrooms, but I wish I had done the downstairs at the same time, when the house was empty.

I am dreaming of doing the livingroom and mac's room next summer - pileing all the furniture in my bedroom and the kitchen, leaving town for a week and having the work done.

I almost think when you refinish floors, it is best to leave town if at all possible. My ex boss and her husband ended up in a hotel for a week while they had their wood floors completely refinished. They did have extenuating circumstances (health and floors) that I don't exactly recall.

xpost: hah!

OMG, I can't believe how much money I'm spending. And I'm not talking about the staggering amount of money I just borrowed. Or even the crazy ass luxury purchase I may or may not have made on Saturday. But just the regular moving stuff.

Although The Boy and I haven't set an official moving-in date, it's imminent -- like, before the end of the year, possibly before Thanksgiving. And I'm adamant about paying for things in his house that I want/need changed, because it's not fair for me to move in and then say "I want flocked wallpaper in the office -- go pay for it!" (Er, flocked wallpaper is not one of my wants or needs, but you get the idea.)

Plus, if I can pay for some of the changes, it'll make it more real to me that this is *my* home, too.

Needs: Vornado[s], carpet pulled up and if need be, Pergo laid down, air ducts cleaned, one-time deep deep deep cleaning maid service for the whole house. All of that has to do with my pet allergies, so it all has to happen.

Other stuff, like coming up with creative, cheap alternatives for closet space (his house has literally only 2 small closets -- one in each bedroom; no linen closet, no front hall/coat closet, no random closets), and general bathroom overhaul/refurbishment, isn't exactly a *need,* because we could manage without them; we just wouldn't manage *happily.*

Still, I don't think it's going to cost a fortune, and t schmoop alert since it means I get to wake up next to The Boy every morning, then it's worth damn near any amount to me. t end schmoop alert

Plus, it's like getting a whole new space to play with and decorate and gradually take over!

Steph! That's exciting! Also, my parents didn't have a closet in their bedroom when I was growing up, and they just had racks in the wall, which worked fine.