The Effects of Homeownership

The Affect of Homeownership On Me

There have been many events in my life that have affected my behavior or viewpoint. Some of the incidents were happy times, such as the birth of my children. Other times, sorrow was the main emotion involved. While at other times, fear or anticipation was the driving emotion. While each instance has been responsible in shaping the person I have become, becoming a homeowner changed me in ways I never really thought about. I never imagined that owning a home would force me into the role of home repairman, a less than competent interior decorator, and an avid home improvement television fan all at the same time.

Being forced into manual labor was the first effect owning a home had on me. I have never enjoyed doing physical, dirty work, but once you own a home, there is no landlord to call and complain to about every little problem that comes up, so unless you have an unlimited resources to pay repairmen, you must learn to handle some problems on your own. It really is not as difficult as you might think to patch holes in walls, fix leaky pipes and quiet a squeaky door. All it takes is a little muscle, a how-to source and a lot of determination. Home repair books are great tools to use when fixing minor problems around the house. If the answer can not be found in a book, then I go to one of the many "How-To" websites on the internet to look for the answer. I am sure that I have saved a lot of money by doing some repairs myself, but more importantly, I have also developed a sense of pride in the fact that I can do minor repairs, and some not-so-minor repairs, to my home all by myself.

However, that sense of pride quickly evaporates whenever I attempt to decorate my house. I am not color blind; I just seem to have no concept color coordination. Trying to decide on a wall color that will match the new carpet and the furniture in my living room was enough to give me a migraine. It is amazing how different the paint color looks on that little card in the paint store compared to how the paint actually looks on the walls in a house. Fortunately, I believe in trying until you get it right. My husband, however, was not so happy about having to repaint the walls