If I Had to Renovate My House All Over Again
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1. Hire Professional Painters
When we bought the house, the kitchen was a deep blood red and the living room was yellow. We actually called it the “Ketchup and Mustard” house in the beginning. I was so antsy to get that color off the walls that we literally started painting the night we closed escrow. I am not a professional painter. In fact, I am an incredibly clumsy and impatient painter. There are a ton of spots where tiny dots of the old paint color shows through and quite a few spots where we accidentally got the wall color on the baseboards. Not to mention, it took FOREVER. About a year later, we hired a company to come paint our stairwell since the ceilings were too high for us to do it ourselves. They knocked it out in a day, cleaned up the mess, and it looks PERFECT. It really made me realize how much my time and sanity are worth and I definitely do not intend to take on any more large painting projects.
2. Install Sprinklers in the Backyard
Our backyard was just a dirt lot with a flower bed full of weeds and a patio. 3 Summers ago, we had sod installed. But because of how tiny of an area the grass covers, we thought it would be a waste to install a sprinkler and drip system. We were sure a manual sprinkler would work just fine. Well, we are on sprinkler number 3 and finally found one that almost reaches every inch of grass. Because of this, our very expensive lawn is dying in some places and we lay down fresh seed every Spring.
3. Invest in Hardwood Floors
A year after we bought the house, we were ready to replace the flooring. The kitchen had an ugly cheap sheet vinyl and the dining room and living room were carpet. The carpet was probably white at one point, but by this point was dingy, stained, and ripped in a few places. We saved our pennies until we could afford to have some really beautiful laminate installed throughout the entire downstairs. It made a huge difference and I’m so glad we did it…BUT if I could do it all over again, I definitely would have gone with a better product.
I recently discovered Brazilian Wood Depot and fell absolutely in love with their selection of flooring. It is absolutely stunning and because each board is solid hardwood through the entire board and is not glued or pieced together, they can be sanded and refinished for the lifetime of your house. It can also be repaired by replacing damaged boards with the same species of flooring boards. These floors are incredibly durable and add a ton of value to the home. Sometimes it’s just worth it to save up for the better product.
Brazilian Wood Depot also offers the most beautiful Ipe Hardwood Siding and I have already started a Pinterest board for my next house where wood siding accents against black and white paint is a must.
4. Tile the Fireplace
When we bought our house, it. Was just a tiled surround flush against the wall. I felt like it looked cold and made the fireplace more of an afterthought than a feature. Besides, where was I supposed to hang the Christmas stockings?! So, I bought an unfinished mantle, painted it Marshmallow by Sherwin Williams (which is also the color of our kitchen cabinets, baseboards, and the half bath) and hung it above the tile. I liked it; I still do. But, if I could do it all over again, I’d do a large slab of marble-esque tile and take it all the way up to the ceiling to really create a showstopper of a piece.
I’ve come to a point with our house where we are no longer throwing a ton of money into it. We’ve completed the majority of the large projects we wanted to and will do a few more little things. But, now I’m focusing more on resale. While I still want the house to reflect my style and be a cozy place, I also want to make sure it’s marketable when the time comes… and it may be coming sooner than we think ;). For now, I’m sitting here day dreaming of our next home with beautiful wood siding accent on the exterior, Brazilian hardwood floors, a beautiful back yard, and walls that don’t look like they were painted by a 5 year old.
