The Pup and Pop Compound

    Those of you who are friends or followers on Facebook know that the Pup and I have decided to buy a house.  Brian has been thinking and talking about it for the better part of the last year and we started are looking in earnest in January.  We found one and ruled it out because of the driveway, and tried for 3 others all the while going back to the original find and saying we really like everything about that one.  After looking at it during an open house,  driving the R8 up and down the drive and driving by the outside half a dozen times we decided to actually look at the house and then of course Made an offer. Offer accepted.  Inspection, Appraisal, loan approval, closing date on May 5th.

    Our realtor, Lori Murray has been fantastic.  The listing agent has been a bitch, and more about her at a later date after we close.  Lets just say that Lori has earned her pay with this one and she deserves to be treated much better.

    We have spent countless hours watching HGTV, Flip or Flop, and all sorts of home shows.  We have been to several home furnishing stores from the very high end to the cheap and dollar store variety looking for ideas and items to put in our new to us home.  We dont have much furniture.  Basically two bedroom sets, a couch, and a small dinette, a teakwood entry table that is more art that furniture, an antique dresser.  Not exactly a collection of heirlooms to fill a home with.  One of the things that has struck me while watching these home improvement shows is how much the designers get paid, how cheaply they fix things, how utterly stupid the people they design for seem to be, and how little actual creativity they use while re modeling these houses.
 
     I always believed that a house was supposed to be a home, and it was supposed to be an extension of your personality and taste.  You spend most of your life there it should be filled with things that bring you happiness, things you enjoy and it should be comfortable and usable.  On one home show on HGTV, this couple from Texas gets paid to remodel homes after they are purchased before the new owners move into them.  Three episodes in a row they painted the brick on the outside white, the tile or the brick on the inside white and the cabinets in the kitchen white if they didnt replace them.  They actually put two white couches, glass and metal end tables, and white drapes in a childrens playroom. The only thing child appropriate was a wall bin for their toys and a big chalk board easel.  Un believable.  While looking at home design stores we found the most popular colors for wood furniture is whitewashed grey, it was in every room in every store,  stainless faucets of every shape and size.   glass or white tubs and showers and cheap ass colored glass tile accents everywhere.

     We want our house to be an expression of us.  Old and young, durable, comfortable, fun, happy, and a place that we never want to leave and where our friends want to come and stay.  I always thought that a re model should be easy if the house has good bones to begin with.  In my mind some things are timeless.  Tile on the floor and in the kitchen and bath.  I hate corian, its expensive, dull, cheap looking, generic, and low class.  When you compare the cost of granite or marble to corian, spend the extra and get something durable and timeless.  I love all kinds of tile, I think it never gets old, it shows craftsmanship.  A good designer can find a way to update the look and accent the quality of the tile work without having to paint it or replace it.  We are going to update our house personally, starting with the bathrooms, some paint on the inside and out, and some landscape.  Awesome furniture can make a house look incredible and we plan on having great furniture.

     Look for a Facebook page soon much like we do our racing page.  Pup and Pop racing, but this will be called Pup and Pop's Compound.  I will launch it after we close with a facebook live walk through before we move in so we can document what we have to start with and what ideas we have.  This house has great bones and a personality that is just begging to be turned loose, and we think it is perfect for us.  You may not like what we do, but it will be original, different, comfortable, I think timeless, and it will most definitely be US.

     So the fun begins on May 5th.