Paint Samples

Day 282: Paint Samples

I am not sure that refurbishing our 1890 Florida style house in historic Lincolnville would pay for itself in terms of greater resale value or higher rents. But I sure would love to do it. I've used the Good Housekeeping on-line room arrangement tool to figure out how to maximize the small bathrooms and kitchen. I have daydreams of historic paint colors (like the ones we used on our 1927 house in Ann Arbor), and clawfoot tubs, and breakfast nooks.

We bought the house just before the bottom fell out of the mortgage industry in 2007, when we thought the multi-million dollar marina down the street was set to make the value of Lincolnville houses skyrocket. Two years later, the marina deal had collapsed, the cranes and Caterpillars had departed, and the signs were taken down.  Flagler College students saved us from losing our shirts (though some of them trashed our beautiful old house).  We're still paying a little out of pocket each month to support the mortgage, and trying to be grateful that we didn't lose our house and our jobs like so many other people. We even thought about just defaulting on the mortgage, but we'd promised to pay. It just didn't seem right.

Besides, I did love the house when I bought it.  I still love it, despite the cheapo refrigerator and fake stucco ceiling. It calls out for TLC, and in the mean time, makes a snug and convenient dwelling for some very nice college boys.

Maybe someday.