Homeowner Blahs

I often joke that I should be a more responsible homeowner, but what I really mean is I should invest more time in my house. We moved to a new house, the second I have owned, almost two years ago. While our first house was small, affordable, and not in the "best" neighborhood, we had a street (half) full of awesome people.

Most of my neighbors had lived on the street for at least a decade. Quite a few had raised their share of children there and were even helping with the grandchildren. Whether it was the smaller size of the house or the desire to share their love of the street, making that house into a home was easier and more natural to me. I enjoyed working in the yard the most.

Thyme wandering our Dwarf Lilacs, rocks, and potted plants.

The new house is bigger, but not outrageously so. It still only has three bedrooms; just enough for us and a spare for family and friends stopping by. (Though they haven't taken much advantage of it, yet.) It has a basement which was one of the key things I wanted in a new house. The house is only three years old, which means not a lot of work needs done, and there isn't much in the way of plant life around.

So, where the old house had obvious needs to address, I find myself at a bit of a loss as to what to tackle first in the new house. I don't have any drive to make it into a home. (Part of the problem, I know, is it's cookie-cutter-ness. Our old house sold before I found a house I loved, so I had to hurry up and pick something. This was it.) Last year, in a fit of "must do something!" I applied liberal amounts of paint throughout the house to combat the contractor beige on the walls. The living room (and partway into the kitchen) received some Kingston Aqua. The dining room received some Baby's Breath, and the half bath received a treatment of Lime Green.

Living room in Kingston Blue.

Dining room in Baby's Breath.

Half bath in Lime Green.

Upstairs, I only tackled the boy's room. I didn't have any inspiration or desire to tackle all of the walls in my room. We went with a nice white and awesome stripes around the walls. Nifty, no?

Stripes in the boy's room.

The basement is unfinished. The landscaping was partially finished in the front. I don't want carpet. Period. There are no real trees, and the rabbits keep eating the ones I plant. What to do first or just leave it all alone?

Blah.

So, this week instead of worrying about the aesthetics of the house, I visited my local bank. After observing a few friends talk about refinancing, I checked on our local rates. They were pretty decent, so I decided refinancing was the best thing I could do as a homeowner this fall. This morning was the first appointment, and hopefully within sixty days, I will be the proud owner of a lower interest rate. I will live with the carpet a little bit longer.