h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ismarah, what the selling agent is calling the master bedroom in the ad is in fact the basement bedroom. I don't know why they do that- but if the basement has a separate entrance they can get away with listing it as such. I wouldn't use it for that.

Maybe they called it the master bedroom because it's the one with a second bathroom right next to it. The two on the main floor have a bathroom in between them but not en suite, if you can picture what I mean.

It also seems to be the biggest - maybe that's why.

I agree, those cabinets are ugly! I like the wraparound kitchen in the other one

So technically I was reading it right - the agents are just eedjits. And here I was on my way to SpecSavers

If the kitchen is that sound then that's great. BUT, a lot of more modern kitchens are more ergonomic / better designed so you can fit more into a smaller space with clever planning.

In both of those, where would you eat? I know they both have dining rooms, but is that where you'd really eat when it's just the two of you (i.e. no chandelier-swinging dinner party going on)?

Sorry - posted too soon for brain to catch up...

Re. buyers remorse - try turning it around. How lucky you were getting this place. What heaps you saw. What overpriced piles there are out there. What problems they would have had that you only discovered later. How much more worse those problems would have been than the one you picked. How clever you were with your financing to buy when you did. Etc.

Caveat here is that, as we have proved on this thread, property porn is widespread and popular, so you may end up finding yourself continuing to look, just to see what's out there -
I know I revisit the search engines regularly just to check (and in my case I check the UK, the US and Iceland) what I'd get for my budget.

Re: where to eat...

We have a large eat-in kitchen now, with a full dinette in it. We eat at that only when we have company. Weeknights, we eat dinner while watching DVDs. The kitchen table accumulates mail and stuff until we have company again. So we probably would not eat at the dining room table every night, no... but neither would we eat in the kitchen.

What would stop me gutting the kitchen is that I prefer vintage stuff to the real moden stuff.

I'm not so sure I'll get buyer's remorse in the sense of wishing I had waited to find something else, as much as I'll feel like we're not responsible enough/ well off enough financially/ etc to own a home and we shouldn't have bought anything at all...

I like the wraparound kitchem too. And also think the cabinets are ugly. But new cabinet doors are something I can afford to get right away. I'm more obsessed with the lack of dishwasher.

What you can't see in the photo of the small kitchen with the ugly cabinets is that it has a pantry, too.

Hey kiddo. I LOVE the second house, the one on W. Eastwood. It's beautiful.

Re. lack of dishwasher - we removed a drawer unit right by the sink in about 30 minutes and then the plumber fitted all the stuff in about another 30 minutes. Admittedly we have a real cheapie, chipboard / melamine kitchen so it was probably easier to remove than a solid wood one. The unit was a standard 60cm width, meaning a slimline dishwasher fit perfectly in there. With just the two of us, that's plenty. And if you're having the doors replaced, it's easy to do at the same time.

Now ing off to look again!

No, I maintain that I would gut that kitchen. If you replace the doors, you'll either be limited to the same colour wood - or you'll have to paint the sides and the posts. Also, if you want to modernise the sink or the plumbing you'll have to replace the work surface I think...

However, I love the flooring there. It would be interesting to see the kitchen from another angle - could you make it L shaped maybe - which would give you wayyy more room. Is it open into the dining room or the living room or something, alcove style?

I also seem to be the voice of dissent on the other kitchen - I don't like the wrap-around. It doesn't seem practical to me, but I'm sure it's just that the pictures aren't doing it justice.

If I had a windows based computer I would have great fun planning out a new kitchen for you with one of the freebie planners from Lowe's or Ikea or something...hours of fun!

Heheh, I've got ArchiCAD to play around in

I bet you do - I am now

I still can't believe Ikea / Lowe's etc. with their freebie versions of planners don't have them available for the Mac - they must be missing some market share there.

I'm not learning any CAD till later in the year.

Nope, it doesn't open into any other rooms alcove-style. There's a doorway to the dining room, then a door and steps down to the side entrance and then on down to the basement. I actually rather like the work surface (you can't tell from the photos, but the sink basin and countertop on that side are all one piece) and the tiles. I'll see what can be done about the cabinets- the contractor I know says when they replace the doors, use some kind of laminate to cover the sides and posts so they match the doors.

I'd better go back with a camera, huh?

Re: the wrap around, it's not a design I ever would have actively sought out, but what it does is double the available counter and cabinet space. Otherwise there probably would just be a really narrow pantry or something back there. I could get used to it, just like I could get used to a small one.

Or, there's always option C, which is wait for something else to come on the market.

This one on Eastwood is about as high as we can go, pricewise, as we don't have a 20% down payment and so will have to pay PMI. Included in the monthly payment will be escrow for homeowner's insurance, which is due once a year, and property tax & assessments, which are due twice a year. Easier to escrow and pay a little at a time than come up short and wind up having the county foreclose for a couple thousand in taxes...

Hi hun! *waves*

Hi there!

I should be cooking dinner, but I can't decide what to have.

The laminate stuff, whether it's plastic or vinyl never looks as good, especially if you have a solid wood kitchen that you're trying to preserve. It might work better to sand it down and stain or varnish a different colour if you don't want to paint it.

Also, I'm sure the work surface is nice, but if you're planning on or need to upgrade any of the plumbing in there you might not be able to re-use the sink and then you would probably have to replace the work surface anyway.

If you have room, you could consider making it L shaped or something and make it a proper chef's kitchen for yourself. As it would be more expensive to do that, keep the 4k you'd spend on the doors, save for a little while and then replace the whole thing. And I'd bet that you can get some great stuff at Ikea or similar. You don't need to spend 20-40k on a kitchen just for the sake of it.

If you want to live with it for a little while for financial reasons but really can't bear it, you could paint it - there's some nifty stuff possible. If it's solid wood, especially, take the doors off, sand them down and then paint them - voila.

Oh and camera - yes please!

I'm with ismarah here!

Just say no to laminate. That stuff's unhealthy, too.

Well, as I say, as that house, an L shape wouldn't work- the wall adjacent to the counter there had a window and then the door. It's hard to describe without photos, I'm sorry.

When I speak with the contractor again, if seriously, I'll get back to you with the proper terminology for the cabinet upgrade. Basically they just leave the wall mounted bits and shelves intact and replace the whole front with matching wood stuff.

It *is* a very small kitchen- but I wouldn't replace the counters unless I had to replace the whole sink at some point, and no way would I pull out ceramic tile when it's so expensive and adds so much to resale value. I personally have no problem with just painting those cabinets with that wood toned primer/paint stuff one of my coworkers used on hers- they look gorgeous.

Please don't think just because I don't take all of everyone's suggestions on board per se, that I'm not considering all your points, though.

Oh, of course, it's still your house!

The kitchen just...lacks contrast at the moment, and I think that's not a problem with the tiles

I think the cabinets would look nice in a wood tone, a little darker than the floor. Don't want it too different, as it's a small room so I don't want each component to stand out too much, if you know what I mean?

Still don't know which house would be best... but you are all helping me!