There is nothing remodeling our home has taught me more important than this:

I can’t take it with me.

Some people throw so much money into their houses. If it’s your thing, cool. But it’s not mine.

What if we leave? What if we upgrade? What if we wished we had the money when some emergency comes up?

Keeping a budget in mind is one thing. I’m convinced women are the worst at

splurging…

and immediately forgetting the splurge…

and splurging again.

I’m committed to avoiding it.

So when MK and I priced out a new front door, it came out to roughly 2000$. I’d rather do ANYTHING else with that money than have to tell you every time you came over “Our new front door was 2000$”, which is, to me, the only way to get your money’s worth. And alienate your friends and house guests.

Not going to happen.

But the door was nasty:

I mean, there’s nothing green anywhere. Where did that come from??

Not only did I sand and paint, we (MK) rehung a whole new door frame – and converted it from IN-swinging to OUT-swinging. This is a super big deal – it gives us some coveted “mudroom” type space – a place to throw your ski gear right when you walk in! We’ll be getting a bench and coat rack to add a nice touch to the inside.

So much more space in there now!

Not many doors are out-swinging, but with today’s technology and break-in proof hinges there’s no reason they can’t be.

Of course the added cost came (IT ALWAYS DOES) when we realized our two stairs leading up to the door weren’t level, so MK replaced them. We hung new trim inside and out, and as it stands right now, some touch up paint is all we need to look brand new.

Point of my story: I know the door doesn’t look like it just came out of a catalog. But we saved at least 1900$, so that money can go to more important things. Surprises come out of no where, and it’s nice to not have wasted the money on something fixable so that we have it when something too big to handle (water heater, maybe?) craps out and we need the dough! Or maybe, we splurge elsewhere.

As long as it’s 10$ at a time – like maybe for a nice star and a glowing brass finish doorbell ringer. Maybe the accents will stand out more than a 2000$ door!