I thought the house was okay, but somehow not her. As for not wanting it to remind her of work, I get the feeling she is nearly always at work, with her hands in many outside projects (like the motorcycle, heh). Jack has made fun of this tendency to never go home, I believe. And in that episode Texane mentions (Ascension), Sam was forced to go home and she was bored out of her mind.
So her home may in fact be Jacob's old home, and she is just never there to really redecorate it to her tastes. After all, she's got all she really needs for her hobbies and interests at the SGC. Hence, the boredom at home, due to the complete and utter lack of things for her to do.
And to get back on topic, I loved Upgrades! I too would love to see them outside the SGC more, in the general public. Scenes like that are always among my favorites.