Posts Tagged ‘house’

Designing With Kids In Mind

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Many couples, when looking at new digs, do so with the needs of children in mind, even if they don’t have any as yet.  It’s also very common for parents to trade up to a larger house as more kids arrive on the scene.  That’s what my parents did, the summer before my youngest sister — their fifth kid — was born.  I remember helping to repaint the attic before moving in so that we could use it as a bedroom for the younger kids.

What about taking it a step further?  It’s pretty standard, if the magazines, television shows, and designers are to be believed, to redecorate a room as a nursery when a baby is on the way.  And a playroom or den wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.  Designing spaces for homework, TV watching, and playing games into the overall floorplan makes sense if you can do it.  After all, kids are more important than a wine cellar, sewing room or man-cave, right?  But just how far would you go to make your home child-friendly?

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The Value of a Home

Friday, January 14th, 2011

I had an appraiser come by earlier this week to check out the house as part of refinancing our mortgage.  Sometime next week, I’ll find out what she thinks my house is worth.  My family and I live in the same house in which I grew up and, whatever number she comes up with, I know it will be wrong.  A home is so much more than the dollar value of an upgraded bathroom and a new stove.

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