Sunday, February 26, 2012

as soon as I open my mouth...

So, the day after my last post, where I was saying I hadn't heard from Angels #1&2 for awhile, I heard from them both. Angel#1 called in the morning and we had a good chat, he's doing fine, though they moved him again. He's back where he was when they first shipped him to Afghanistan, which isn't a real comfortable place to be. There's not as much food choices available and things just aren't as nice as they are in the main base. That afternoon Angel #2 was online and I Skyped with her for a bit. She's having problems getting on the internet at the ranch where she's living, so she only goes online when she's in the town or can hook up to a cable as opposed to using wireless.

This Saturday and last, Angel #4 and I participated in the yearly Winter Wonderland of Homes put on by our local home builders association. I usually go with my sister, but she had other plans and I thought this would be a fun thing for #4 and I to do together. We're pretty different, personality-wise, so finding something to do together that we both enjoy is kind of difficult, but nosing through houses is something we both enjoy. Last Saturday we toured 22 of the available 35 homes and we did another 8 yesterday, deciding to skip the others. By the end of the day yesterday, we were both a little sick of walking through houses, they all started to look alike. One thing I noticed while going through most of these houses was the genericness of them all. Every kitchen had granite or granite-like counter tops and stone-look ceramic tile floors (if they were some sort of hardwood). Most of the walls were painted some sort of neutral color. I understand that most of these houses were built on spec intended to entice an interested buyer, but I can't see that going the safe, neutral route is the best way to get people interested. The houses I remember most are the ones that had some color and personality to them and those are the ones I heard the most positive comments about as well. Is someone really going to love a house to death, but pass on buying it because they really didn't want blue walls in their kitchen or an orange dining room? It's paint, people, for $25 and an open afternoon, you can change it if you really want to. I was so sick of granite that I was ready to scream. I can't help but think that in 10 years, someone is going to look at a kitchen with granite counter tops and say, that's SO 2012 and dated and want to rip that overpriced stuff out and replace it with something that will also become boring and blase ten years from then. I guess I'm just the kind of person who likes color and excitement in their home, as my turquoise and melon colored kitchen will attest to.

2 comments:

JeanieC said...

I agree completely about the generic homes. If I see another kitchen with granite counter tops, tile floors and stainless appliances I am going to scream.

Why does everyone just fall in lockstep and get exactly the same thing? I know someone who just redid her kitchen this way and I want to ask, "Didn't anything come to mind that you liked because you liked it?" I'm convinced people don't even like this stuff ... they just do it because everyone else does it.

Tanya T said...

I get frustrated when i watch those home selling shows on HGTV, so many are turned off by a color that they don't see the BONES of the house.Beautiful woodwork or an arched doorway,leaded glass,etc. They just see a color they don't like and it's over! Paint is such an easy fix!
Granite and stainless steel appliances turn me off because so many are doing it. Give me an old fashioned 1940's-1950's painted wood cabinets with butcher block countertops and i'm excited!!