Friday Five: House Porn Edition

Okay, maybe this is a bit crude - but it's definitely true, at least for some of the stuff on HGTV. ANYWAY, it's a fun Friday Five, because while I do have some issues with HGTV, I love home projects and definitely have some ideas for our house. Here goes!

1) If you could, what room in the place you are currently living would you redo first?
The dining room. While the wallpaper border isn't really as awful as we make it sound, we'd like to do something different, and we hate wallpaper in all its forms and manifestations. A bold color behind the door and a nice neutral to set it off would be great, and we're going to replace the ceiling fan with a worn-out motor with something a bit quieter and less icky (we're not much for gold lacquer or fake wood grain on the fan blades).

2) What is the most hideous feature/color/decor item you have ever seen in a home?
The Pepto Bismol walls in our master bedroom. Here's a shot, before we painted it. 'Nuff said.

3) What feature do you most covet? Do you have it? If not, is it within reach?
A double garage with room for a small woodshop. Don't have it, don't have room for it, won't be happening in this house. But I want it all the same.

4) Your kitchen - love it or hate it? Why?
I'm indifferent. Good appliances, though I'd prefer a gas range. Lots of cupboard space, but outdated and in need of some serious facelifts. Will be installing slide-out cabinet racks sometime in the next year, hopefully, which will help. Eventually it'd be great to have a built-in dishwasher instead of the portable one we have at the moment. But it'll do for now.

5) Here is $10,000 and you HAVE to spend it on the place you are living now. What do you do?
Rip out the wood paneling in the basement, and the unvented gas heater. Install a corner gas fireplace, put up insulation on the concrete block walls, and drywall everything, building in cabinets and cases for audio & video equipment and books. Mount a flat-screen TV of approximately 50" and install a surround sound system before replacing the ugly suspended ceiling with something nicer, which includes recessed lighting. Paint and enjoy. The nicest thing about this project is that it actually could happen if we ever saved enough money.

BONUS: Why do you think there was such a surplus of ugly bathroom tile colors showcased in all homes built from the 1950's right through the early 80's?
Just more evidence of the complete lack of style and taste during those years. The only art that showed any promise throughout that time period was rock and roll music, frankly, and disco damn near ruined that, too.