WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

DH and I have $15K that we have decided will be used for our home. We have 2 different ways we can choose to spend the money but aren't sure which to choose.

Background:
We have lived in our house for 1.5 yrs. We bought it when I was 6 months pregnant. We re-did all of our hardwood floors (entire house is hardwood) and installed CAC. Aside from that we haven't done much to the house. The only room that is "done" is the nursery. We haven't painted any walls nor do we have much furniture. We have bits and pieces. We'd literally be starting to furnish from scratch.

We also have a sunroom that comes off the living room. It is a 3 season room since it has no heat. We don't use it much as is.

Option #1:
DS has taken over our living room. It looks like a playroom. We would love to fully convert the sunroom to a family room. We would have to tear down the existing walls and leave only the concrete slab and ceiling. We'd have new walls, flooring, windows, and we'd widen the doorway in the living room that leads to the sunroom and add plumbing for heat. It has a beautiful view of our backyard. It would in essence be an addition to our house. This would consume our entire budget. It would add amazing living space but we'd have nothing left for furnishing any part of the house.

Option #2:
Take $7K and put it in separate savings for the sunroom conversion and hope that we can save the rest to convert the following year. We may have a 2nd DC by then.

We'd take the remaining $8K and re-do our downstairs 1/2 bath (my dad will do this work), paint and fix up the dining room (we have a full dining room set already), and paint the living room and begin to furnish it (area rugs, furniture, everything). Probably paint our bedroom. Given that we would want quality furniture, our 8K would not get us far. My father is incredibly handy so he would do the bathroom renovation and all of the painting/fixing of walls.

What would you decide to do? It's a really tough decision for us. We really want the family room addition but at the same time we've been here 1.5 yrs and it doens't look like we've done anything (hardwood floors and CAC aren't visibile necessarily). My dad keeps saying that when people see the house they must comment that we have no real furniture.

ETA: Was going to add that I'm a SAHM but may work PT in the fall but, I'm not sure I want to consider the possibility of income that might not work out, kwim so never mind.

Message edited 2/15/2011 12:42:18 PM.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Prioritize. Which one do you need first?

- Get rid of the toys and have a separate playroom

or

- can't live with the bathroom as it is and want new furniture NOW.


Personally, I could do the playroom first. I had a hard time with the toys everywhere. It was impossible to have guests. We had no room.

Message edited 2/15/2011 12:00:25 PM.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Option 2 - more things finished... more happier...(me anyway)

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Posted by APT910

Posted by nora101004

Option 2 - more things finished... more happier...(me anyway)

I agree

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I am leaning towards number two also. Alternatively, could you do the addition for 13,000 and get Ikea type stuff that you could live with for now with the other 2000?

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Message edited 2/15/2011 12:39:18 PM.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I completely know what you mean about Ikea. We chose to live with folding tables for a few months until we could find a quality set we loved. I said to DH I would rather spend $$$$ once than on junk the first time and need to spend more later. We have bookcases from Ikea and they have held up nicely. But I think most diy furniture - even from better stores falls apart. I have a diy from Crate and Barrel and am not pleased with how it has held up. My furniture from Room and Board and Stickley on the other hand is fantastic.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I would do the second. Not sure how you can tear down walls but keep the ceiling. I think the first project will end up costing more in the long run and you are better saving up a little more than 15,000. The second you can see instant changes for not a ton of money.

Oh, 1.5 years isn't that long at all. I'm still trying to furnish our home that we'll be in for three years.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Im not sure the extent of your changes to the sunroom, but we did something similar and it only cost us about $6K total

We had 3 walls that had existing sheetrock, and the 4th wall was brick with 2 windows in it (it was the old back of the house before the sunroom was added on). We knocked out one of the windows in the brick wall and expanded it into a door way, opening it up to the rest of the house. We then sheetrocked over the brick, closing up the other window as well. Molding was added to all 4 walls along baseboard and around the other windows.
We also had an existing slate floor that was then covered with hardwood
We had no heat in the room either, but our contractor was able to run off the existing pipes in the room next to it and add some baseboard heating.

This was all done for about $6k (we painted ourselves)

Maybe you can rethink the work to your sunroom so you can get it done for less and have the money to do that, as well as some of the other furniture purchasing you want to do?

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

if it were me, I'd do the sunroom project. It will increase your value, your living space, and will feel amazing once its done!!

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

It's a tough call and totally based on how you and DH feel.

For me, I would do #1 and gradually buy furniture as time goes on.

If Dad can help with the 1/2 bath, can he help finishing the sunroom and maybe it won't cost so much?

DH and I gutted our master bedroom and bathroom - down to the studs - new electric, new floor, windows, insulation, etc. We did the gutting ourselves, the insulation, etc. pro for the electric/sheetrock. It cost just about $8000. I don't know how much you plan to do yourself or if you can, but if you can, it may not be as expensive as you initially thought.

Good luck!

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I would do #2 and get more done. Once you put in the furniture and such get some good storage units for the toys, a storage ottoman and call it a day! I personally would rather live with the toys for longer and have more of my house completed.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Have you had contractors in for quotes for option #1? It might not be that expensive and if your dad is handy might be able to do a lot himself. I think it would be nice to have that extra space and then you can buy furniture for the house little by little when you see sales, etc.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I would probably go with the sunroom conversion. Then just paint the other rooms.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

Re: WWYD? Which project would you choose? Long.

I would do option 2.

Bank the 7K, re-do the downstairs, and declutter.

Get rid of some toys - if your son is young enough he probably won't even miss some. Also use some of the $8K to get better storage options for toys.