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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2017 20:38 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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An interesting site here:
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?cat=4
Offers lessons on what not to do to your home or it may destroy value.
When I went to buy my first house I learned a great lesson - cosmetics matter - cosmetics matter a lot. Saw one nice house with a good floor plan and in good shape but I laughed as it looked around the place thinking that it looked like a house I might have decorated. I.e go in a store, see some neat wallpaper, buy a bunch, take it home, find a blank wall, somewhere, anywhere and stick it on. The house had animal wallpaper, forest scene wallpaper, wall paper with cool patterns, everything. Nothing was at all coordinated, and they couldn't sell the house. The owner had actually destroyed value with his/her decorating.
As I shopped for a house it was surprising how much just the cosmetic crap added to the value and ease of selling.
Then I bought a house that needed a complete interior redo and I learned that cosmetic stuff costs a lot too. I was astounded to learn that drapes (aka "window coverings" can cost as much as the actual windows! Unbelievable!
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creeky
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2017 23:21
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My first house was a similar story. I went in and it smelled. They had washed the carpets and I mean really washed the carpets but didn't take the water out quick enough. The house stunk.
Plus the decor was bad 80s shag carpet and dark wood everything. So the house was on the market for quite awhile. I put in a low ball offer. Basically 50k below comparable without the smell and the bad decor.
I got the house. Tore the carpets out. Put in wood floors. For 3200 and some paint I added 50k to the value of the house.
Of course I then redid the two and a half baths. The kitchen remodel was awesome. And ended up getting that money back plus about 10 cents an hour for my work. Lesson learned.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2017 10:37
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Those "home remodel" shows are killing me. They show a smiling simpleton of a host doing some light work, and then they stop the cameras and the professionals take over.
The net effect is a whole lot of bored housewives thinking they are the next Joanna Gaines. A lady my wife works with whitewashed a brick fireplace in her house. Looks like absolute crap, and there is no way to go back. Also, every single room in the house is a different color and theme. The kicker is she is SOOOOooo proud of it and every single bit looks horrible.
Tim
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2017 12:19
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Exactly. Or painting surfaces that have to be properly cleaned, sanded and primed first or you have a nightmare of chipping, or flaking paint forevermore.
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rockies
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2017 20:09
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I've been an architect for over 30 years and even with all my experience designing and building homes I still find that giving people advice on their décor is pointless. If I try I might as well paint a target on my forehead.
The only other thing worse than discussing decor is to offer people free advice on the design and layout of their home (the actual "space plan", not the way it's decorated). I've looked at plans that are poorly laid out, with cramped rooms, poor circulation paths, no natural light, and extremely poor functionality and they always reply "But I like it!". And then they get offended.
It's funny, but if you build something yourself and show it to a structural engineer and they say "This is terrible" the first thing you'd say to them is "What's wrong with it?". You want to know because you want your home to be safe. If you wired your house yourself and showed it to a licensed electrician and they said "This is terrible" you'd ask the same question. Same thing for plumbing, roofing, concrete work or any other tangible thing.
But when you show your ideas and plans (that you've slaved over for months on end) to an architect and he tells you "This is terrible" and then he shows you exactly WHY it's terrible the person usually responds with "How dare you! I like it!".
Sadly, taste is taste, but terrible design is always terrible design.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 6 Feb 2017 21:53 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Agree. Bought a house and had the interior repainted with the same white as original to keep costs down. Then would go over to the girlfriend's apartment spend some time there and return to the house and it felt like I was returning to some institution.
Realized that the standard apartment beige paint felt far nicer than the harsh white of the house. That was half the problem. The temporary plastic lawn furniture in the kitchen and misc. free and the ancient hand me down couches and chairs and the like didn't help.
Experts can offer up a lot of differing perspectives to suit differing tastes compared to a know nothing homeowner that moved out of his parent's basement. Could save a fortune in poor choices too.
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NorthRick
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# Posted: 7 Feb 2017 00:23
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Quoting: KinAlberta An interesting site here:http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?cat=4Offers lessons on what not to do to your home or it may destroy value.
Many of those examples are neglect, not necessarily bad décor. Although there are definitely examples of that too.
However, long ago, someone whose tastes were a bit on the eccentric side said, "It's my house while I'm living in it. I'll paint it what ever color I like and decorate it the way I like. I'm not living in the next person's house."
I never forgot that. I do keep up on the maintanence of our house, and our tastes are not that far out from the norm. But, I'm not decorating our house for the next guy. It's our house right now, not theirs.
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deercula
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# Posted: 7 Feb 2017 00:44
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I looked at a house that had a pile of fresh dog feces on the kitchen floor. It had deer antlers on the wall in the bedroom. It had a big fisheye/shoplifter mirror in the hall, and more. I bought it because it had " good bones ". I looked past the decor, and loved it for 17 years.
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creeky
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# Posted: 7 Feb 2017 11:16
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I immediately painted my kitchen white. A little tsp goes a long way. Primed and painted, lasted 10 years while I saved the money for the big reno.
I did use a "designer" white. They tend to be yellow based whites. Warmer.
But I also painted the living room window wall orange. All my girlfriends friends thought that was pretty bold. And then a bunch copied it. Sometimes bold is good.
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