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Thursday, August 03, 2006
Domestic AwesomenessEveryone knows the good things about owning your own home: you don't "throw away" money on rent, you can make improvements to your living space and it's actually worth it, and you "build equity," whatever that is.
But here are other benefits that I've recently realized and continue to realize during my first month of home ownership.
1. Holiday Decorations
When you live in an apartment, you're lucky if you can drag a Christmas tree up the stairs and through the door with less than 25% needle loss. Or, maybe, if you're very lucky, you can fit an artificial tree box in your closet, assuming you have nothing else to store. Now that I have a house, I can have a fifteen-foot Christmas tree, if I want. And an artificial tree in my garage. Shoot, I can have three Christmas trees up, all year long!
For Halloween, we're going to have pumpkins all over the front yard. And those little Indian corns, too. I could even make a haunted house in my garage and have a freaking party! I could buy one of those giant spiders and put it on my roof. At the apartment, we kept this plastic skull in the closet year-round because thumbtacks wouldn't hold it and I was too scared to piss off the property managers by nailing it to the door. Screw that - now I can nail skeletons, Easter bunnies, American flags, turkeys, or whatever the hell else I want all over the door, then when it gets too hole-y, throw the door away and buy another one!
I don't know if I'm going to be as hardcore as my cousin Helen, who has tons of decorations for every single holiday including Arbor and Columbus (just kidding but almost). The beauty of owning a house is that I get to make that choice for myself.
2. My Own Personal Storage Unit
I'm talking, of course, about my garage. Do I feel like putting my car in my garage? I don't know. Maybe. Or do I want to fill it, instead, maybe, with my boyfriend's dad's cast-off furniture? Maybe. Where am I putting my dead bodies and three artificial xmas trees from now on? Hello - in my garage!
3. My Own Dirt and Grass
I can totally start a mink ranch in my backyard. I can totally get some chickens and a goat. Then eat them!
4. Noise
We can play Dance Dance Revolution again! We can play Playstation Karaoke again! We can take up riverdancing in the privacy of our own home!
5. All New Threats and Guilt Trips
Now, instead of saying, "Wipe the seat! Do you want the apartment people to keep our deposit because you couldn't be bothered to aim it in the bowl??" I can say, "Wipe the seat! Do you want to build equity with pee stains on it???"
6. Everything Is Green
From now on, if I want to buy green couches and green curtains and paint the walls green, and then buy wooden chairs from garage sales and paint them green, and then buy a Ronco food drier and dry a bunch of grapefruit and apple slices and festoon my green walls with them, then my ex-husband can't say SHIT about it!
Oh, wait... I'm getting confused. That's not a benefit of owning a house. That's a benefit of getting divorced and then owning a house.
See? It's even awesomer than I first realized. Thank you, God, Baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, Santa Claus, and everyone else who helped. 2:17 PM #
Comments:
So jealous!!!# posted by
MissPinkKate : 2:51 PM
Do you have pictures of your new house for us to see? I love green. It is my favorite color, esp. olive and sometimes lime with orange. Or pale, muted greens. Sounds like so much fun.
# posted by
Rebekah : 11:59 PM
Home ownership rocks!! Can't wait to see the pictures from your first Halloween.
# posted by
CJ : 6:43 AM
MissPinkKate: I hope you get a house soon.
Rebekah: Right? Green rocks. Pics have been on the Flickr site for a little while now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gwenworld
CJ: Totally.
# posted by
Gwen : 8:36 AM
They quite liked the plaid, huh?
It's a very nice house. I hope you have fun decorating it!
# posted by
kate : 9:23 AM
wow, the house looks great, seems open and bright in the pictures.
I'm so happy for you!
# posted by
lisal : 1:01 PM
Your house is BEAUTIFUL! So much space.
Building equity is very good. Mainly it means that while you're living in your house, it becomes more and more expensive and when you decide to sell it, you will even end up getting money for it.
Sounds like a great deal to me.
Post pics when you paint everything green.
# posted by
LC : 1:43 PM
We totally have to catch up on everything tomorrow...We all haven't hung out in awhile....
# posted by
MissCathee : 9:58 PM
All great reasons! You have inspired me to work on my house that I've lived in for 4 years and haven't done a thing to.
# posted by
ShoeGirl : 10:10 PM
Hi Gwen,
Have fun decorating for the holidays in your new house!
I keep my decorations in clear storage boxes, and store them in my back room stacked on top of one another. Then I can see what I want and put the next holidays decorations up.
Janice~
# posted by
Janice : 2:08 AM
These home posts are fantastic. You write very well when you're wired and tired and super busy. I am so, so, so excited for you and salute your right to nail Easter bunnies & cornucopias & spider webs all over your house. Rock on!
# posted by
Marigoldie : 9:25 AM
wow that house rocks Gwen!!! cant wait to see the holiday groupings in the front lawn and all the nail holes you will absolutely enjoy going to Lowes to buy nail hole filler for!!!
Thanks for the updates and pictures despite the pandamonium you are experiencing!
# posted by
pixielyn : 9:56 AM
Kate: Thanks. And, yes, they *loved* plaid. The valances in the living room matched the plaid couches. The ones in the bedroom matched the plaid bedspread. I told them they could take the valances with them, but they declined.
Lisal: Thank you. :)
LC: Thanks. Doesn't equity also have something to do with building capital against which you can borrow money? Don't know - just made that up. I guess I could look it up online, but what fun would that be, right?
Shoegirl: Good. Post pictures.
Janice: That's a good idea. I need to follow your example. So far, I just have a bunch of cardboard boxes that say "XMAS" in my garage.
Marigoldie: :) Thanks. And I like it when you *post*.
Pixie: Thank you. I'm already trying to decide what my theme will be - snow scenes or santas or nativity. I think snow scenes are kind of silly in Houston. I might do nativity, even though I'm not hardcore Christian... I like the story of it, though.
I'm glad y'all enjoy the pics. I'm glad y'all convinced me to do Flickr, too.
# posted by
Gwen : 9:38 PM
'Doesn't equity also have something to do with building capital against which you can borrow money?'
Gwen, YES. After a year or two, try to look into refinancing your home if you feel comfortable on doing so. It is a great too to use when you have your property to back up a loan.
If you want me to give you even more info, I can do so. Just let me know.
# posted by
LC : 10:13 AM
I'm getting all teary eyed seeing your beautiful house. I knew this day would come for you - congratulations!! We just redid our entire kitchen - gutted it to the studs and started over. I have tile countertops and a Van Gogh tile mural for my backsplash. I can send a link if you're interested.
# posted by
Moira : 10:33 AM
Ha I came across your site looking for a way to paint an artificial tree white from the idea that I dont really care that it's August and I want to make Christmas Decs right now. Also because we just bought our own house. Your a riot. I laughed my ass off reading Domestic Bliss. Its true though, you can do whatever the hell you want and too bad if the neighbors think your a freak, ( not that they do... but Im sure mine think I am), you can be yourself instead of the same old stagnant way most people live their lives.
Enjoy....
# posted by
IndigoMary : 2:13 PM
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