Poll results: Sacrificing for home ownership

A recent survey found that Canadians are willing to sacrifice a lot to own a home (which is good news considering the fact that homes in the GTA have become more unaffordable this quarter), but many of us draw the line at our cars. 

The Genworth Mortgage Insurance First-Time Homebuyer's Monitor (read all about it here) found that 25 per cent of renters would give up their car for home ownership, and the same amount of homeowners would sacrifice their vehicle to keep paying the mortgage.

Last week's poll sought to find out whether this view was also shared by Yourhomers - and it's not far off. About a third (30 per cent) said they would be willing to ditch the car to keep or buy a home, while nearly half (48 per cent) said they wouldn't make the cut. The remaining 22 per cent said they don't have car.

This week, I'm wondering how long you keep your autumn decor around. When do those gourds and gold and burgundy items get swapped out for icy blues and rich reds? Read up on our fall decor guide and let me know when your home makes the switch from fall to winter in our front page poll.

And, don't fret if you're not quite ready for the tonight's trick-or-treaters - we've got some easy and quick ideas for spooky decor.

Other weekend must-reads include:

- Colin and Justin's gorgeous grey bedroom makeover (I may be biased, as I'm doing my master bedroom in grey too!)

- A gorgeous loft renovation - sourced from the trash!

- The latest trends for candlelit evenings

- The scoop on the new home design TV show, My Rona Home

- Get your plants ready for winter with a bath

Last minute Halloween decor

Doorbells will be ringing tomorrow night as little ghosts and goblins make their way around the neighbourhood looking for treats. I know I've got a busy night ahead if I'm going to have my home properly spook-ified for the season. But, I firmly believe that last minute isn't too late!

I love the idea, from Rust-Oleum, of using Glow in the Dark paint on your pumpkins and lining your walkway with their spooky glow! Wouldn't that be pretty and eerie at the same time?

Or try Chalk Board paint so that you can change up your pumpkin's face, or messages, as the night wears on (get their instructions here).

You could also, of course, whip out a can of spray paint and give your pumpkins an instant update - whether it's a glam coat of ghostly white, a gothic hit of black or an ooze-inspired green.

Painted pumpkins would probably be OK to pop in the compost, so long as it's non-toxic paint, but it hasn't been tested so your best bet for disposal is still the trash.

For more pumpkin ideas, check out our pumpkin carving patterns and Mess-free pumpkin ideas.

And, for some suggestions on how to work with what you own for a creepy vibe, check out our tips in "Go spooky - yet stylish", "Haunting looks without breaking the bank" and "Devilish decor".

I'm falling back on my collection of mini white pumpkins and the idea that everything looks spookier (and prettier!) by candlelight!

And, just in case your Halloween turns out to be more tricks than treats, here are Lowe's clean up tips for the morning after:

- If you've been TP'd, grab a tree branch trimmer to lift or loosen the toilet paper. Try adding a piece of duct tape to the end of the trimmer to remove any pesky pieces.

- If you've been egged, it's important to clean up the mess quickly to prevent stains. Try spraying it down with a high pressure water hose, then scrub away any lingering bits with a solution of laundry detergent and warm water. (Lowe's says this would also clean up paint balls).

- Those pretty pumpkins smashed to bits? Pumpkin pulp can stain driveways and sidewalks, so try covering the area with cat litter to absorb the residue, then scrub the spot with laundry detergent and hot water.

Happy haunting!

Bidding war tips

After reading today's story about how housing affordability has sharply deteriorated in Toronto, I'm certainly glad Mr. Speedy and I bought in the spring, when the market was gentler and we were lucky enough to be able to purchase the first home we fell in love with. We even got it for just under asking price!

Now, about six months later, it's certainly an entirely different story. Twitter friends share stories of making offers and losing out on house after house, even offering $90,000 over asking and still not getting the property.

Experts say that "low interest rates, pent-up demand and a lack of listings", along with the improvement in stock markets, is driving the demand - pushing the average Toronto resale home price to $402,762 from July to September. (Read the full story here.)

If you are in the market for a new home, there is perhaps some consolation to be found in the fact that at least you're not in Vancouver - which remains the most unaffordable housing market.

And, to help you cope, I've pulled together some of our tips for handling (and winning) bidding wars:

Real estate bidding wars make a comeback

Book aims to forearm buyers for bidding wars

How to win in bidding wars

Preparation can ease stress of bidding war

Stretching the budget in our master bedroom makeover

Mr. Speedy and I were busy with the paintbrushes this weekend, replacing the blotchy baby blue walls with a lovely shade of grey. (See my sneak peek here).

While the touch-ups are done and the furniture has been put back into place (hooray!), I'm not quite ready to share a photo of the whole room - because it's part of my much-delayed (due to illness, vacations, holidays and the like) master bedroom makeover! (Catch up here and here).

I will, however, share a great tip I've learned during the process. You might remember that we're trying to transform the room on a skimpy budget - a mere $200 - so we couldn't just pop on over to the hardware store for a $50 can of paint.

Instead, Lisa Canning, who has a reputation for being able to do a room on the cheap, advised me to explore the world of mistint paint. So she and I hit up Rotblott's with the hopes of finding a can of sophisticated grey.

While the selection was mostly neutrals, we were lucky enough to score a can of mistinted "Rockport Gray", a Benjamin Moore classic. We also picked up another small can of a similar grey, in case we ran out, and some rollers, all for the sweet price of $13!

The downside to going with a mistint is that we could only find one can of the mistinted Rockport Gray, so if we ran out, it would be seriously tough, if not impossible, to match.

Bracing for the worst, we bought the safety can of a similar shade, which we could have used to paint the mostly-covered up wall behind our wardrobes - where the colour change would have hopefully been hardly noticeable. Luckily, we were able to do the whole room with one can!

The new coat of paint has already made a world of difference in our space, and our sweet deal will definitely help us stretch our budget even more.

How do you divvy up the housework?

After checking out that study on how couples that do more housework have more sex, I couldn't help but wonder about how households split up all those unpleasant, but necessary, chores.

The study found that women spent much more time cleaning house than men - 41.8 hours compared to 23.4 - but those stats also showed that the men were spending more time in the office (33.8 to 19.7).

What about the couples who spend an equal, or at least similar, amount of time doing paid work? And how did the wives and husbands in this study split up the household work?

At Casa Speedy, keeping up with the chores (along with completing all the necessary renovation, maintenance and decorating projects) can certainly be a real challenge.

We try to split things up, but most often the jobs fall to the person who cares the most. For example, I'm picky about having my clean clothes folded just so (a girl's gotta keep her closet organized), so the laundry generally falls to me. Mr. Speedy has developed a very precise system for handling our trash and recycling, so I happily keep my hands off that task.

Along the same lines, I generally am the one responsible for cooking supper, while Mr. Speedy handles breakfast and caffeine for me, the resident sleepyhead. We share the dishes, and take turns tidying, sweeping, and scrubbing, based mostly on who's free, bored, or most bothered by the state of the place.

How do you keep up with the household chores? Do you try to split things 50-50 or does one person in your household do the heavy lifting?

Bye bye baby blue ...

And hello grown up grey!

We decided to tackle our master bedroom on Saturday, and, while I'm not in the office on Mondays, I just couldn't resist sharing a sneak peek with you!

This space, between our his and hers wardrobe units, will soon be home to my vanity!

Stay tuned later this week for more on my master bedroom makeover.

Poll results: Holiday reno plans?

This week was a bit reno-centric here on Yourhome.ca. We learned that the renovation tax credit - which is still waiting on the final stamp of approval from the government - is a hit and that Canadians feel now is the time to be tackling those home improvement projects. For some renovation inspiration, check out our home improvement special section.

Meanwhile, I shared my holiday renovation plans and asked how many Yourhomers had similar stressful schedules planned - turns out nearly three-quarters (69 per cent) are equally optimistic. The perhaps more sensible 31 per cent will be focusing on their cooking, cleaning and shopping while the rest of us are slapping on that last coat of paint during the holiday crunch.

This week's poll asks whether The Genworth Mortgage Insurance First-Time Homebuyer's Monitor (read all about it here) found that 25 per cent of renters would give up their car for home ownership, and the same amount of homeowners would sacrifice their vehicle to keep paying the mortgage.

And, for some lighter fare this weekend, check out Colin and Justin's chocolatey family room makeover, get inspired to tour the Distillery District, swoon over some gorgeous, if pricey, faucets, find out why cleaning is sexy and get decor advice from green queen Samantha Pynn.

Cleaning is sexy!

Gleaming countertops, neatly folded laundry and a perfectly alphabetized DVD collection may just be proof that couple's got a spark: turns out that "women and men who 'work hard' also 'play hard'," says a study published Oct. 9 in the Journal of Family Issues. (Read more at The Wall Street Journal or the Calgary Herald.)

Basically, the study of 6,877 married couples found that the more housework a couple does, the more often they have sex. 

The research found that for go-getter types, working hard in one area - like housework or a paid job - produces more energy for other. 

Wives in the study spent an average 41.8 hours a week on housework - defined as cleaning, preparing meals, washing dishes, laundry, driving family members around, shopping, yard work, maintaining cars and paying bills - compared with 23.4 hours for husbands.

The split for paid work was unequal too - with wives working 19.7 hours on paid work compared to husbands' 33.8 hours a week. The couples, on average, had sex 1.6 times a week, or 82.7 times a year.

So, should you race home and start cleaning? Not exactly.

According to lead researcher Constance Gager, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, it may just be that these hard-working types make sex a priority. It may also be that working together for a common goal, like maintaining your house, shows shared priorities and strengthens the couple's bond.

But, a clean home for the weekend still can't hurt your chances for a little couple time. So plan to pick up that vacuum and check out our cleaning tips:

Clutter buster: To scrap or save kids' artwork?

Organize your closet in 10 minutes

Conquering the clutter

Making peace with messier lives

Weed out clutter's roots

Fake a clean house

Clear clutter for a more peaceful home

Mix up your own homemade cleaning supplies

5 ways to cheat on holiday cleaning

Cleaning house for the holidays

It's reno time?

I know Mr. Speedy and I have felt spurred along by the Home Renovation Tax Credit to complete our reno projects before the Feb. 1, 2010 deadline.

(UPDATE: Just wanted to clarify that the HRTC is still subject to parliamentary approval - the bill (C-51) is still in committee, and is expected to be voted on in December.)

And, according to an Ipsos Reid survey for the Royal Bank of Canada released yesterday, we're not alone.

The survey found that a majority of Canadians plan to claim the tax credit (up to $1,350), and says almost half have decided to tackle more projects because of it, with Ontarians spending an average of $12,428 on home improvements this year. (Read the full story).

Remember that the work must be of "an enduring nature" and "integral to the dwelling" on an owned, personal dwelling to qualify - covering everything from big projects like installing a furnace or renovating a kitchen to laying new floors, painting, or installing a chandelier. And make sure you keep those receipts!

The survey also found that the time to renovate is now: fewer Ontarians are planning renovations over the next two years: 67 per cent this year compared to last year's 71 per cent.

Another key finding is that most renovators - 76 per cent - are paying for their projects out of savings (up from 70 per cent in 2008) instead of dipping into credit.

So, for those of you pushing to get those projects done - kitchens and bathrooms are at the top of revamping lists - here are some great resources to help inspire you and get you ready to grab that hammer (or hire a pro):

Federal Home Renovation Tax Credit website

HRTC fact sheet

Ipsos Reid/RBC survey results

Making your renovations pay off

Choosing the right stove to heat your home

Green your renos

Fall home maintenance

DIY could mean don't injure yourself

Now's the time to renovate

Suburban homes worth renovating

More on the Home Renovation Tax Credit

Share your holiday renovation plans

The appliances of the future?

Ever wondered what the kitchens of the future would look like? The 2009 Electrolux Design Lab contest asked designers just that, asking them to send in their home appliance ideas for the next 90 years.

The winning concept, designed by Sweden's Rickard Hederstierna, is a "fish and meat maker."

Cocoon would essentially "create" meat and fish from a pre-packaged sachets using radio frequency identification (RFID) signals - which the program describes as similar to making popcorn in a microwave.

How that works exactly isn't entirely clear, but for more details you can watch the YouTube video. The jury said Cocoon was imagined to help ease the environmental burden of intensive farming and fishing.

And, it's awfully pretty - or in their words: "An inviting, tactile design, the Cocoon resembles a gemstone with a metal accent reflecting the heritage of the Swedish art-glass industry. Cocoon meets all of the brief's criteria: it is daring, cutting edge and truly innovative in its focus on social and environmental issues."

Hederstierna wins approximately $8,000 CDN and a six-month paid internship at one of Electrolux's design centres.

Runners up included flying rain catcher and water purifier "Water Catcher", "Renew" a smart steamer, and the "Teleport Fridge" which teleports food.

What do you think? Could these kinds of items really be in our kitchens within the next century? And, for a kitchen that's more of our own time, check out this stylish, hardworking family hub.