Sunday, June 26, 2011

Countdown Catch-Up!

I have some catching up to do since I was out of town!!

#28 Hall Entry into house Vs. Room Entry

 I love that when you walk into our home, you walk into a hallway, not smack dab into the middle of the den.  Some of the homes around here do that, and I just don't get that.  It's a personal opinion, but I don't like that.  I like having the hall entry.  It's more formal maybe?  Even on split level homes, you have a landing to welcome you.  Maybe a place for coat tree or something.  But just walking into a room (like a den) just seems a bit invasive to me.  So I am very pleased with my hall entry.





#27  BANISTERS!!!

I love that we decided to upgrade to banisters.  It was my hubby's call.  At first I was leery.  I have seen spinals loosen with time.  But like him, I do like the look.  I also like that having the banister vs. the wall makes it so much more fun to decorate during the holidays!  (You put lighted garland on and wrap around the top and main posts.  Then you get decorative ornaments on pretty ribbon and hang them down every so many spaces.  VERY PRETTY!)  Can you tell I love Christmas?  lol  You can also do fun things for holidays like Easter and Halloween.  Not to mention the "see through" effect.  I can "see through" the banisters and keep a better eye on what the kids have and are doing vs. a wall.  lol 

Plus, we have a 1/2 wall upstairs here, and the kids think it's a place to STORE things on.  GRRRR    No more of that!  lol




#26 NO TILE FLOORS!!!!

Don't get me wrong, tile floors are very pretty to look at!!  And pretty easy to keep clean too.  =)  But let me tell you something....THEY ARE COLD!!!!  VERY VERY COLD!!  I don't like cold floors.  It's a shock to the system when your bare feet hit them, especially in the winter.  BRRRR!!   The house we have now has some tile flooring.  I'll will not be sad to leave it behind!  lol

#25  Dual Zone HVAC!!!

Right now, we live in a 1900 sq ft 2 story POS home.  It has 1...ONE!!!....HVAC unit to heat and cool the ENTIRE house.  It sucks.  My upstairs NEVER cools off.  And you REALLY don't want to be up there in the summer.  YUCK!  And downstairs NEVER warms up.  We contacted our rental company several times.  Several people of come out to look at it.  In short, this house should have had 2 units, not one.  And the thermostat of course is downstairs.  It's been hellish, but we have survived.

I can't wait to be in the new house!!  One system, dual zones!!  I can set the upstairs and the downstairs how ever I want it!  We tend to like the upstairs cooler at night.  Helps everyone sleep better.  Now we can FINALLY do that!  And, I won't be paying out the nose over the summer months to have my HVAC until CONTINUALLY running.  I hoping the bill between what we pay here (1900 sq ft 11 yr old home, with the unit on and running almost 24/7, plus fans running in the rooms upstairs all day) and the bill for the new home (around 2700 sq ft, duel zones, and energy star certified home) won't be to much different from each other.  We shall see.  But I am very very very excited to have the 2 zones and 2 programmable thermostats!


And for now... I think that catches me up.

4 comments:

  1. Love Love Love the banisters!! This was an expensive upgrade for us (almost 2k) but I really really wanted them) I basicly wore the hubs down to get them...BUT he is glad now after seeing pictures. I dont really think it even dawned on him (like many things I have caught or asked about) In order to get them I had to give him his surround sound and give up my stone front (sniff) But I really think the banisters will add a bit more than the veneer stone. PLUS I can always do stone easily after...not so much tearing down the ugly half walls. (I dont think they are ugly...just remind me of apartments down here)

    Ill have to ask if our HVAC is dual zone. I hope so because my house now is not and the upstairs is a nightmare...just like yours!

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  2. Ooh...great thinking for the banisters, I never even thought about that for Christmas decorations. Now I'm excited about that too! We are the opposite with the floors...I am SO over hardwood floors and cannot wait for tile. :)

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  3. I agree with you regarding having a foyer...2-story or not...It is nice not to walk right into a room...our first house you walked right into the family room...and yes the banisters give it a real nice look. Seems until just recently single zone was the way they did things...our last house we used to run around at the change of seasons and close vents on one floor and open the ones on the other floor to get the temperature right. Our current house is not too bad, but neither floor is ever perfect. We are so looking forward to the dual zone plus our basement will now be included with one zone as well...right now our basement has nothing and most of the time it is okay, except in the middle of winter and middle of summer.

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  4. Great countdown so far! We have the same problem in our current home! I can't wait to have that dual heating and air unit! Now I won't have to freezer DH out of the basement to get a breeze in my bedroom lol

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