The DHHG Responds to Your Letters for Help
Here again is our popular “Ask a Government Decorator,” in which an official government decorating expert answers your home décor and remodeling questions.
Dear Government Decorator:
My husband is in love – with an old house! It’s about 150 years old, and he wants us to live there while we fix it up. He considers himself to be very handy and wants to do most of the work himself. He says we can add on, and that it will be a good investment and fun. I’ve never lived in an older house before and don’t know what to expect. Any advice?
Signed, Husband Loves Old Houses
Dear Lover of Lover of Old Houses:
FUN?? Do you enjoy taking showers in cold water? Do you enjoy sleeping under the stars – in your own bedroom, because the roof has collapsed? Every year countless numbers of young, trusting women are duped by men such as your husband. Living in a fixer upper is a hard life, filled with endless repairs, inadequate plumbing, and faulty electrical wiring. Your weekends will be consumed by trips to the home center, hours in filthy attic crawl spaces, and visits to the city dump. It will be years before the house is “finished,” if ever. Your Christmas presents for the next ten years will be power tools. And most important, you must consider this: how do you look in overalls? You should think long and hard about this decision.
Help is available. If you or someone you know needs assistance, please contact the following organizations for support and information: HEAR (Help Enduring a Remodel), WORTH (Women Opposed to Remodeling The House) and OHLA (Old House Lovers Anonymous)
To submit a question to “Ask a Government Decorator,” simply go to www.usgov.dhhg.org/aagd/forms and download form #DHHGAGD208. You must answer all questions and you must include your social security number. You must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States. All questions become the property of the Department of Homeland Homes and Gardens. Filing a false request for decorating advice is punishable under section 4.8(D)(2) of the Patriot Act.
posted by Tara Z. @ 10:20 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Dear Government Decorator:
What about if you are the "second class citizen" of home decor - otherwise known as the rentor? As renters, our decorating creativity is on a tight leash, but we DO still get to do a few things - we can paint a wall, we can choose our window covering, we can hang fixtures, we can do yard improvements. The problem is not so much the restrictions as the scorn that is heaped upon us by friends.
"But you're just renting!" They cry, astounished at what seems to be our stupidity and reckless spending. "It's not even your house! You're fixing up someone else's house!" Then they shake their heads as if we are simply unreachable, despite their logic, that we are "just renters".
We are tired of this. Despite the fact that we do not own the house we live in, it feels, call me crazy, like WHERE I LIVE. It is my home for the time being, and I would like to do a few things to it to have it reflect my taste and comfort. I would like to do this without being scorned and ridiculed. I would like to have an opinion when homeowners are gathered in a little cluster, talking about their latest renovation project. I would like to talk about the fabulous green paint I found for the dining area and be LISTENED TO. not just endured.
How can we, as renters, become part of the culture? We fix-up and customize enough that we should get some recognition and respect. Is there a different form I should be using for this question? Am I in the right area? I am going to say that I am. I want the same rights as the homeowner when it comes to decorating advice. It's discrimination, I tell you.
Rosa Parks changed the world by not getting out of her bus seat. We, too can have a voice. I am not getting up off of my couch until I know that my voice will be heard as an equal opportunity decorator.
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