A new outlook on home

I love our house. And I love almost everything that goes with it: our neighborhood, the big trees, the screened-in porch, the original wood floors, the big yard, the shops down the street, and the fact that I can clean it from top to bottom in a matter of hours. As much as I love it, though, there are just a few things that I do not love: the fact that Aaron has to park his car outside, because he so unselfishly deferred the one-car garage to me when we moved in. I didn't argue, and as a result, I never have to use an ice scraper, but for 4 months out of the year, he does. I do not like that when we have company, showers have to be scheduled, and that our half bath in the basement is a claustrophobe's worst nightmare. I do not like that my pots and pans must be stacked exactly the same way after every use in order to fit in the cabinets, and that I have to take out a large mixer, a can opener, and a blender in order to reach my bread machine (yes, I have a bread machine, and yes, I use it).



When we bought our house almost 3 years ago, I had lots of visions for our little 1949 ranch. We would redo the bathrooms and add a shower in the basement, renovate the kitchen, and decorate each room to match the latest Pottery Barn styles. We got a 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage -- not because we could not afford the higher cost of a fixed rate mortgage, but because we were recent college grads used to moving every 6-12 months, and we simiply could not comprehend living in the same place for more than 5 years.



Three years have flown by. We have made some minor changes to our humble abode, such as new tile in the bathroom and stainless appliances in the kitchen, but the the more time that has passed, the less desire I have to tackle the big projects I had dreamed of, especially when I consider that it is unlikely that the housing market will improve much between now and March of 2011 when our mortgage is set to adjust. What's the point? There's hardly time to enjoy any updates or renovations, and we likely wouldn't recoup the costs in this housing market.



One week ago, our outlook changed. That's when we received a good faith estimate for refinancing our mortgage, and after doing a cost-benefit analysis, discovered that it makes sense for us. Lots of sense. And no one loves saving money like the Siders do! (All of this came about following a "discussion" between Aaron and I. For the record, honey, let me reiterate: "I was wrong.")



We decided to refinance with a 15-year fixed mortgage, and now we plan to stay put for 3-5 years. Suddenly, our perpective of our home has completely changed. I am envisioning all the changes I had before, only now they are even better! Suddenly, the basement half-bath seems bigger, and I am much less annoyed when I retrieve my bread machine from the back corner of the cabinet. I am sure that we will not complete all 17 items on my list of potential home improvements, but I have no doubt that we will do a majority of them, and the outcome will be fantastic!



I am thinking about refacing the kitchen cabinets and putting up a backsplash this summer. Here's the cabinet look I am loving (picture this 1/3 of the size, and you would have our kitchen). What do you think?