<p>This is our master bath. Another one of the prior owner’s crappy fix-it jobs. Unfortunately, he did a lousy job retiling the floors (the tiles are all coming up) and left us the blue bathtub and toilet. He did, however prime the drywall in this bathroom; the wallpaper is peeling on its own.</p>
<p>Our other two bathrooms are the poo-brown (all original fixtures) and pea green (old tile only in the shower). I think my guys would object to pink accents in their brown bathroom.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to feel like an HGTV desperation project. Our neighbors have redone virtually their entire house in the past five years, with two kids in college, and it looks fabulous. They have the same model we do, so at least I can get ideas. They like to tease me about paying private school tuition (their kids both did the directional in-state U route) instead of remodeling.</p>
<p>I would bet money on it. Harvest Gold and Avocado were the stainless steel of the 60s-70s. Then in the 80’s-90’s everyone wanted an all white kitchen. Now everyone wants walnut or maple cabinets, granite and stainless. These will not stay in style forever…in fact, I wouldn’t be surprise if their popularity starts to fade within 5 years since everyone now has them. My realtor recently told me that no one (in the higher price range housing market) wants black granite any longer since it’s starting to show up in trac homes.</p>
<p>And those, oh so desirable hard wood floors, we had them when I was growing up and the epitome of luxury was to cover them with plush wall-to-wall carpeting. :)</p>
<p>I think you’re right, momlive. Now we seem to have moved on to marble from granite. Stainless appliances seem here to stay, but what about the trend of hiding the appliances? And I remember how cool I thought I was when I put Euro-style cabinets in my first house in the 80’s - they were cream laminate with a bottom edge banded in oak, with an integrated handle. My architect boyfriend swore they were just the thing. </p>
<p>So, thanks for the conflicting advice on my pink bathroom I do think I can work with the pink; my initial plan was to paint the walls chocolate brown (controversial, I know). I just have this feeling that many buyers would be slightly put off by the pink. And I can do this really economically because my brother gives me the family rate. But yeah, ripping stuff out can become a bigger job than one expects.</p>
<p>Well, ick. It appears that my bathroom shower enclosure glass is delaminating. At two corners, the glass is fogged a little, and black stuff seems to be progressing inside the glass. (I assume it is on the plastic sheet that holds the glass in case it breaks.) Is this a tear-out? (I fear it is.)</p>
<p>Got one estimate for painting three bathrooms. Estimate is $2,000 which I really don’t think is too bad – includes trim, louvre doors in one bathroom, two ceilings, lots of scraping, and baseboards that have rusted and will be scraped and painted as well. DH wants to get a second estimate, which makes sense, I suppose, but we’ve used the first guy before and I’m reading to tell him to just go ahead. Oh well – I’m glad DH is becoming engaged with the project.</p>
<p>When I had wood floors put in main part of house, they replaced all the baseboards. The new ones are much bigger. They were painted before nailed into place. They look so nice that when I get around to redoing bedrooms, I’d install them too.</p>
<p>Please, doG, do NOT destroy the character of your house by monkeying with details like arches! Those are the quality features that set old houses apart from 1950s and later ticky-tacky.</p>
<p>The old house buyer is for all practical purposes a separate market from the new house buyer. The person who prefers an old house wants the original features as intact as possible, and updates and additions to be in keeping with the house. The person who prefers a new house isn’t going to want your house. Their loss, IMHO. But by trying to make it appeal to them, you may destroy its appeal to the old house buyer.</p>
<p>My house is a local landmark. It’s the kind of place where, when people find out that that’s where I live, they almost always say, “Oh, I LOVE that house!” Or, “If you ever decide to sell it, give me a call!” It was originally built in the 1880s as a high-Italianate Victorian, partially burned down in 1913, and rebuilt in a somewhat simpler style on the old footprint. It has all kinds of interior trim features that could not be duplicated today: massive panelled oak doors, pocket doors, oversized windows, high ceilings, quartersawn oak floors, etc. Even the doorknobs and lock plates are gorgeous. My previous house was a post & beam built in 1790, and still had all of the original wide plank floors, plaster walls, fireplaces, and windows. The cellar was hand dug with a dirt floor, and the foundation was stone. You could go down there and see the bark on the half-tree-trunks that were used for floor joists, and go up to the attic and see the roman numerals incised on the structural timbers. This kind of thing is precious to the lover of old houses. Most new houses leave me completely cold, and I’ve never seen one I wanted to buy.</p>
<p>Re wallpaper…every room in our house was covered in absolutely hideous 1970s vinyl wallpaper when we bought it. The dining room was babysh$t brown, with a patter at least 36" wide of huge turquoise cabbage roses and pussywillow…and they had painted all of the trim, including the built in oak china cabinet and teh steam radiator, in matching turquoise paint–oil-based enamel. Almost impossible to cover. And the people who were renting it when we bought it were running a massage parlor in it. Yes, THAT kind of massage parlor!</p>
<p>Oooh Constellation – ours was also the location of several prostitution busts. Unfortunately we don’t have interior woodwork except for door and window casings – the forties, fifties and sixties were not kind to the old lady – but some of the gingerbread on the outside is original, and generally in pretty good shape. I do wish that they’d done something to insulate, though – plaster on brick is not much insulative value, and my heating bills reflect that.</p>
<p>I’m caught in a mini version of The Money Pit.</p>
<p>The good news…the concrete deck repair is a very reasonable price…</p>
<p>Today, i got a call from my painter…after they painted my dining room with one coat of paint. The painter said, “Are you sure you want those paint colors in your dining room and kitchen. Those colors are bright yellow and bright green”.</p>
<p>Uhhhh let me look. I will be home in 10 minutes. When I got home…NO. I don’t want those colors. So several hundred dollars ripped up as the colors were changed and the dining room has to be
repainted. And after seeing the dining room…that was money well spent.</p>
<p>Then…I go outside to turn on the pool filter…And one of the switches that changes the filter from pool to spa is frozen…luckilly the pool filter
still works…</p>
<p>So there goes more money down the drain…</p>
<p>The cooktop guy is coming any second now…that cooktop better fit…</p>
<p>Did I mention how much fun I am having getting my house ready for resale?</p>
<p>One trick I have learned over the years is to buy the Sherwin Williams $5 quart size paint and paint it on a big piece of cardboard and then tack it to the wall. Color never looks the same on the wall as it did on the paint chip. I’ve saved myself a lot of money doing this (though I do have probably $50 worth of sample paints in the basement - still a lot cheaper than repainting )</p>
<p>Consolation-I am an old house lover, and am drooling over your descriptions. Very few sales in this area of old houses that could be properly restored, or that haven’t been extensively re-muddled, so we built new. Spent a lot of $$ and time over the last decade adding the type of architectural details I want–wide, oak, hand stained woodwork, crown, lentils, glass doorknobs and plates, built-in cabinets, transoms, etc.</p>
<p>Definitely agree there are new house people and old house people, and they are two different markets.</p>
<p>Consolation, thank you. No, I do not want to un-arch (de-arch?) the house! We have tried to be respectful of the architecture while updating the kitchen and changing the baths. But after reading about so many who were trying to make there homes look new, I wondered how about our older home.</p>
<p>Your home sounds just lovely.</p>
<p>Your mention of the “massage parlor” reminds me: when we first saw what has been our house for the last 27 years, I thought it looked like a cross between a funeral home and a bordello!</p>
<p>I agree about the stainless appliances…which is one reason we are sticking with plain old white. We have plain old white in our bathrooms too. No colors…no stainless. We will get granite counters (or quartz) but no stainless. </p>
<p>People also keep asking me if I’m planning to paint my stained wood trim. Nope…not doing that either.</p>
<p>And dstark…we are going to do any remodeling SOON so we can enjoy it. First up…the counters…painting all the walls (it’s been 16 years) and having the wood floors sanded. </p>
<p>That should spruce the place up a lot. </p>
<p>Oh…and I’ll finish spreading the mulch…this summer.</p>
<p>Because funeral homes tend to be large and rather imposingly attractive (drive thru any small town; the best looking house is likely to be a family funeral parlor), there’s a growing trend to rent them out for weddings and family reunions.</p>
I do think I can work with the pink; my initial plan was to paint the walls chocolate brown (controversial, I know). I just have this feeling that many buyers would be slightly put off by the pink. And I can do this really economically because my brother gives me the family rate. But yeah, ripping stuff out can become a bigger job than one expects.</p>
)</p>