Home

[brii]

I think you should decorate and enjoy your home while you're living there. When it comes time to sell, if your home is outdated or decorated in such a way that it is not desirable to others, your selling price will reflect that.

IMO, I think when you are doing something in your home, you should absolutely buy the best you can afford. It doesn't have to be the most expensive thing on the market, but it should be the best you can afford.

[colliegirls]

On 1/23/2015 happy housewife said:

I think it is rare for people to decorate based on what will sell the house. I think most of us decorate to please ourselves while we are living in the house. We plan to live in our current home until they drag us away to the nursing home so who knows when that will be. I decorated it to please us.

You are so right if you plan to live in the house forever. Get what you love and can afford. For some of us who were transferred often, selling was an eventual way of life and it was always in the back of our minds. On the other hand, someday, someone will have to sell that home (oh no!)! My Mother's home is sooo outdated that to get it ready to sell someday, it will take more money than the house is worth.

[stevieb]

Personally, I still like laminate... I know it isn't 'trending' but for the money and durability, it's my preference... Besides, it's affordable enough that I can replace it every so often and really change up the look of my kitchen.

[Lipstickdiva]

Some of these threads are so high school, mean girl. LOL

Buy what you can afford and what YOU like. Don't worry that someone will come along and say granite is out, quartz is in. Carpeting is out, hard wood floors are in. You have to enjoy it.

My house is carpeted just about everywhere and that's what WE like and WE want. I have dogs and more than likely will always have dogs so hard wood isn't practical for us. I'd rather have carpeting I can clean than hard wood that gets scratched and marred from dogs. I love hard wood in other peoples' homes.

I'm not a trendy type of person. I love the look of the antiqued kitchen cabinets but I'd personally never do them because they are going to look dated and then you're stuck. I'd rather go with a classic cabinet because I don't have the money to change something that expensive every few years.

When "everybody" is doing certain things in their home, everything starts to look the same and cookie cutter.

[Sooner]

I always decorate with an eye to what will help my house sell. I get what I like, but always feel that I am making an investment in one of the biggest assets I own, so why not? To me, not to do so would be like buying a stock just because you like their products.

A house is my home, and it is always decorated to my likes and preferences, but never without thought to am I enhancing it's value.

[Lipstickdiva]

I'm not in the market to sell my house so it's done to our taste and preferences. I'm not worried about someone else's likes or dislikes or enhancing it for someone else. Selling isn't even a blip on our radar because DH would never sell it.

But then, I also don't do anything crazy with my decorating like a purple bathtub. LOL

[jaxs mom]

You don't want Corian in the kitchen. It will melt if you put a hot pot on it. I know because in a previous house that came with Corian counters I picked up a pot not realizing that the towel I was using was damp and had to quickly set the pot down to keep from burning myself. It left a really noticeable melted indentation in the counter.

[jaxs mom]

On 1/23/2015 Smurfette said:

On 1/23/2015 Danielle46 said: I would never spend the money on laminate unless your cabinets are old and in poor condition. I have bought and sold several homes and buyers want quartz, granite or marble. I don't know anyone who doesn't have natural stone these days. It also depends on if your planning on selling at some point in the near future. BTW, it's not a big deal to maintain granite and it looks stunning. You can look at Lowes or Home Depot but their selections are limited in comparison to a stone Quarry where the choices are endless. Take your time and bring samples home as it will look different in your house.

I have laminate. I spoke to my realtor and he told me NOT to update my kitchen unless I wanted to for myself. That is, upgrading the counters and cabinets DOES NOT fetch more money in the housing market (at least where I live). Or at least enough to justify the cost of a renovation.

It really depends on your market and the buyers. People who are avid cooks care a lot about their kitchen.

[colliegirls]

Friends of ours own a Remodel company. He has always said no one should put granite or quartz over poop cabinets.

[stevieb]

On 1/23/2015 LipstickDiva said:

I'm not in the market to sell my house so it's done to our taste and preferences. I'm not worried about someone else's likes or dislikes or enhancing it for someone else. Selling isn't even a blip on our radar because DH would never sell it.

But then, I also don't do anything crazy with my decorating like a purple bathtub. LOL

I completely agree with you... I'd not do anything grossly outlandish, but when I redo or decorate, I do it for me and not for some possible buyer possibly somewhere down the road... I know lots of folks buy into the whole resale thing, so much of which is at the behest of the home improvement and real estate industries, which are probably joined at the hip anyway... I have to like it first, concerns about whether or not some future theoretical buyer will approve my choices aren't my primary concern.