You know what is awesome about military housing? You don't feel compelled to "fix" it. Oh you may want to, and want to with a desire something fierce, but it is understood that whatever you do to the house, you must also undo prior to inspection. So you limit yourself to paint and maybe sprucing up the flower beds. No sense in wasting time and money!
You know what is horrible about home ownership? You feel compelled to "fix" everything. Oh, you know that you probably won't live in the house very long, but after having absolutely NO say so on the decor of military housing, it is like a free-for-all and you just. can't. help. yourself. The associates at our local home improvement store think I am a contractor since I frequent their aisles so often.
Now my active duty husband and I have been married for thirteen years, during which we have lived in nine different homes: five homes on-base and four homes off-base. All four of our homes we chose to purchase, not rent. And all four homes had hideous wallpaper.
You know what is horrible about wallpaper? It never cooperates. Ever. Two hours after scoring the walls, the above picture is all I have to show for my efforts using the recommended fabric softener/water mix and a putty knife. While not near as bad as the house we owned in Florida that had a border of lighthouses and seagulls surrounding the pink living/dining room combo (adhered to the walls with what I can only assume was liquid nails...that was a tough job), I quickly realized I have my work cut out for me and am rethinking my prior opinion of the wallpaper. Was it really that bad?
Yep, yep it was/is.
Time to go back to the store...and get back to work.
What projects could you just not resist if you have ever owned a home???
