<p>I like the look of stainless…in some kitchens. What bothers me is the indiscriminate use of it regardless of the style and color of the kitchen. Yes, it looks new and fresh but it doesn’t look great in every kitchen. Just like skinny jeans look new and fresh but they only look good on certain body types and certain age ranges. Everyone else…it looks like they’re trying too hard or are clueless.</p>
<p>I struggle with this because the prevailing attitude is to always stay on top of the latest trend and that’s isn’t always my particular style. Nor do I think every trend is stylish. I think people do this because it requires so little thought…someone decries every kitchen must have stainless and the masses go ‘okay’ without regard to how it fits into their own decorating scheme. For example, I like wallpaper…not pasted everywhere…but high-end subtle prints. I think it really adds interest to select rooms. If you look at high-end houses and most of the higher-end decorating magazines, there is wallpaper in many of the rooms. To me, having room after room of neutral wall paint (which I like) gets monotonous very quickly.</p>
<p>But since the advent of HGTV, wallpaper has fallen out of favor. I also think it has to do with the fact that people move around a lot and are too busy to put a lot of effort into decorating and anything that takes a little time, money or thought is a turn-off to many people these days.</p>
<p>It’s almost like people can’t be bother to develop their own sense of style these days. They want everything ‘turn-key’, so they can just walk in to the house they just bought and plop down their furniture and it will all work. Of course it will work if everything is bland, neutral and sterile looking. What ever happen to find your own style?</p>
<p>Okay…stepping off soapbox…I feel better already :)</p>
<p>I think the whole point of making houses “neutral” for the purpose of selling is so that the owners can imagine their own style.</p>
<p>The rooms in my house are not painted neutral colors. The art is definitely not generic. But I expect that I will tone it all down when the time comes to sell. Not everyone would want my deep red dining room, for example. And some people just cannot see past things like that.</p>
<p>When DH and I were looking to buy our current house, we turned up our noses when we didn’t like the wallpaper. I cringe now when I remember the fabulous houses we didn’t buy because of those stupid and easily changed things.</p>
<p>My realtor told me this is very common. She said most people can’t get past the cosmetic stuff and that we were among the minority of her clients who were willing to do so. I’ve never really understood that because I feel like I need to make some changes in order to customize the house to my taste. I don’t want a cookie cutter house. Although, I agree it’s easier to move in and live with it for a while when it’s neutral but part of the fun of buying a new house for me is redecorating it.</p>
<p>I have nothing against neutral colors, I have them on many of my walls. I think they make a great back drop for decorating but I don’t want every room in the house to be neutral. IMHO, you need a little bit of interest here and there whether it be wallpaper or paint or furniture. I think a tasteful wallpaper adds a lot of interest to a room. I’m currently trying to select a wallpaper for my dining room. If anyone has any wallpaper companies they like, let me know. I’m thumbing through Thibaut right now but would like to look at some others.</p>
<p>Well, our realtor just left, and our house is now on the market! There’s hardly any work to be done, thank goodness. We’ve only been in the house 4 1/2 years, and it was in great shape when we bought it. Since it’s easy to keep the place clean with both D & S away at school, she even took photos today for the listing. We agreed quickly on a listing price – H is a numbers/strategy guy, so he had already done a lot of work, in addition to what the realtor had done. (This is the same realtor we used when we bought this house.) So, we’re hoping for the best.</p>
<p>jym, my B and SIL are in north Georgia halfway between ATL and Chattanooga…the house was built around 1900. They found old newspapers behind the walls, used for insulation.</p>
<p>My parents’ house came with rather interesting wallpaper in the bathroom. Looks just like pot leaves. We could never bear to rip it out and replace it.</p>
<p>dstark, since my husband plans to NEVER move, I’m figuring some sprucing up is in order.</p>
<p>The kitchen in my OLD house screamed 1975. Guess what color the appliances were in THAT kitchen?? (if you guessed avocado green, you guessed right). If I put stainless in, my kitchen will yell 2010 or 2011. Gotta wonder if that will be a timeless look in 10 years?</p>
<p>Thumper1 – What color are the cabinets? I love black appliances with medium tone wood. Very rich. </p>
<p>The latest thing is glass or concrete countertops. Or other ‘green’ materials. Granite isn’t nec. ‘green’ when you consider much of it comes from Brazil…both getting it out of the ground and shipping it here uses up a lot of resources. The glass countertops are what I’d use if I were remodeling now. It’s easy to keep clean, requires little maintenance (no sealing), and looks amazing. You can even get it in a variety of colors. I think by 2020, this will be the material of choice.</p>
<p>Good luck, CBBBLinker. May the first people to walk in the door be the ones!</p>
<p>Novel…my cabinets are light oak but since I’m planning to get a very light quartz or granite, I’m sticking with white appliances and a white sink. No black. I like that look with the darker counters I’ve seen but with lighter ones, the black is too much of a contrast. I’m hoping to find a light grey/blue granite…or just get the quartz I found that is that color. Appliances will remain white and will get replaced one at a time (as they die)…except we will do the dishwasher when we do the counters.</p>
<p>Light gray or blue granite: search for blue bahia granite. Then, once you’ve fallen in love, check the price and cry. (Note: it’s one of the most expensive granites there is.)</p>
<p>However, light grey is readily available, including one of my favorites, Cascadia.</p>
NO. I have a solid surface sink which I love and would like to keep if possible. BUT I don’t really like solid surface counters.</p>
<p>That blue pearl is nice but I do NOT want any black in my counters at all…not a speck. So far, the winner is a quartz by Zodiac called Calm Spring.</p>
<p>I have also seen granites that are similar in color and “texture” appearance…that are NOT the most expensive in the granite yard.</p>
<p>Tell me more about glass countertops, please. I don’t think they have made their way to our corner of the world. Do they look terribly contemporary all the time?</p>
<p>Glass tabletops scratch. Is this an issue with countertops?</p>
<p>mafool, I’ve seen them at local home shows. They are not transparent and non-glossy, so I assume scratches would not be easily noticeable. Still, it is not the material I would chose for my kitchen. Certain chemicals etch glass. A decorative island insert or kitchen table top would be OK, I guess.</p>
<p>I am watching HGTV. House Hunters. I can’t believe what you can get in Atlanta for less than 300,000. Those were really nice homes on that show.</p>
<p>BB – Certain chemicals etch marble and granite too. And I spilled acetone on a cultured marble one once…could still see the marks in certain lights.</p>
<p>Dstark – I don’t dare watch. There’s some suburbs just outside the city that have beautiful new homes for so little! ::Sigh:: I wanted the beach…I wanted the beach…I wanted the beach…</p>
