Advice for a new home owner?

[Jihad]

So I'm closing on my first house next monday. I'm pretty excited, pretty anxious. I'm also a little intimidated, because I've lived in apartments in 5 different states in the last 4 years, and now all the sudden I have 2300 square feet of brand new house to deal with. I got a lot of the gucci options taken care of before I bought the house, so for now there's not a whole lot I want to do to "upgrade" the house, at least nothing too major.

But my problem is with prioritization. This is a never-been-lived in house that is, consequently, completely blank. There are no blinds, the walls are a standard builder-cream, and there's zero personality. Some of the things I want/need to do:

-Washer/Dryer
-Blinds
-Paint the whole house (no idea how many different colors, what colors, or any creative themes)
-Fence the backyard (kinda important cause a dog is like a month or so around the corner)
-Buying all new master bed set
-Build some shelving in the garage

Other than that, I really have no freaking clue what I'm doing. If you've bought a new house, or have any experiences that apply, I'd really appreciate some input. What do I really need? What should I be waiting on? What is my first priority?

IMO, the blinds are pretty important, probably the first thing if I can get to it. Without blinds, I'll be wasting energy and I won't be comfortable without a control for sunlight. I will be ordering a washer/dryer pretty much ASAP, cause that's an easy one. The bedroom set can wait until things get settled down. Painting is something I'm not comfortable rushing into. God there's so much other little [censored] to deal with as well. Hopefully my parents can come through with some sort of sick housewarming gift (like furniture, a fence, washer/dryer, & 60" TV [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]), but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be turning this house into a home all by my lonesome.

-Tom

[soko]

Buy a book.

[prohornblower]

Did you leave yourself enough working capital to make this house a home?

[Jihad]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you leave yourself enough working capital to make this house a home?

[/ QUOTE ]yes. $300 should cover it...

yeah, i've got a good deal of cash laying around for the little things that need doing.

[prohornblower]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Did you leave yourself enough working capital to make this house a home?

[/ QUOTE ]yes. $300 should cover it...

yeah, i've got a good deal of cash laying around for the little things that need doing.

[/ QUOTE ]

My advice would be to slowly ease into things. After living there a while it should come to you what you need/want.

I wouldn't go out and go hogwild in one weekend purchasing everything you THINK you need/want. Start with the necessities (blinds, curtains), and work your way towards the secondary and tertiary priorities.

[emon87]

Although painting is probably the least important thing, it will be MUCH easier to paint before you have a ton of furniture, etc. lying around that needs to be moved. And painting flat walls won't take that long either.

[4_2_it]

You doing the yard work or outsourcing it? If you are doing it, get at least a 6HP self-propelled mower.

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Did you leave yourself enough working capital to make this house a home?

[/ QUOTE ]yes. $300 should cover it...

yeah, i've got a good deal of cash laying around for the little things that need doing.

[/ QUOTE ]

My advice would be to slowly ease into things. After living there a while it should come to you what you need/want.

I wouldn't go out and go hogwild in one weekend purchasing everything you THINK you need/want. Start with the necessities (blinds, curtains), and work your way towards the secondary and tertiary priorities.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, this is right. Whatever you do now you will probably not like in a months time. Just wait a while, imagine what colours you'd like to see on the walls and in your furniture, think about it for a while, and then make a decision.

[gilper]

[ QUOTE ]

-Paint the whole house (no idea how many different colors, what colors, or any creative themes)

[/ QUOTE ]

Color is harder than people think and can be very difficult to pull off well. Take you time and develop a color palette for the whole house making sure most of the colors work together. This is pretty important because most of the time you can see at least two rooms from the one you are in. If you are planning on using a lot of color try to find a unifying element that can bring everything together, something like trim painted all the same color. Or select all white blinds and use them on every window.

Don't try to pick paint colors from those one inch square cards. Request the larger 4x4 or even 8x8 samples from the manufacturer. You would be amazed at how different the color appears on the larger sample. Always make the final color selection in the room that is going to be painted. The lighting in the room can turn blue to purple, white to yellow, etc.

If you have hard wood floors and are going to put down area rugs then do those before choosing paint colors. It’s much easier to get paint to match a rug than the other way around.

Use semi gloss for trim, semi gloss or eggshell for kitchens and bathrooms and eggshell or flat for other walls. Gloss is more durable than semi-gloss > eggshell > flat.

[swede123]

[ QUOTE ]

-Fence the backyard (kinda important cause a dog is like a month or so around the corner)


[/ QUOTE ]

If this is your reason for fencing in the yard I'd put it down low on priorities. If the yard currently is at all nice it won't stay that way with Fido running around pissing and digging everywhere. I'd suggest buying some chainlink fence and making a kennel/dog run in one part of the yard where you can let your dog hang out.

That being said it's nice to have a six foot privacy fence if you got neighbors right up close, but they can be pretty damn spendy, especially if you don't want to install it yourself.

Swede