This is a conundrum I think a lot of us, designers in particular, often face. Do we do what we love, or do what's right for the value of the house? Of course there are endless ways to look at this, but, bottom line, unless you can afford to redo your red lacquered floors in your standard colonial when it comes time to sell (and you want market price), you're better off taming the design beast within, in my opinion.
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| designer: Chris Kauffman |
The image above was on Abby's blog today, A Delightful Design. She was posing a question about painting stairways (check it out here for some great looking stairs), and it added to what I've been thinking about since a friend started talking about putting a leopard runner on her new staircase. Do we do what we want, what we love, or do we do what's practical and re-sellable? The stairs above look black to me, and I would love that. But it's not for everyone. I probably wouldn't do it in my own home. Leopard runner on the stairs? I was this close (see my fingers almost touching?) to doing that on my own stairs, but I backed off. What if we move soon? I didn't want to face changing it, so I played it safe.
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| Domino |
This floor, above, looks fantastic. But imagine hearing your realtor say, "get it refinished before the open house" if you need to make "x" amount of money on the sale. Would you say "oh, well, I've gotten a boat load of joy out of this floor," or would you kick yourself for letting your design beast rule in the moment when you did it?
Now don't get me wrong, I am decidedly NOT saying live in a house undecorated, un-you, boring and plain for the sake of the resale dollar. I'm happy that my home is coming along in a style that's not for everyone, and I like that a lot, in fact. But, I'm very conscious about the investment value of our home, especially in the current economy, and it DOES impact some of my decisions. And yes, I am willing to pay a bit of the price for things we love and what makes us happy, even if it offers no return on investment. But, I am hoping we are making those decisions wisely. In this economy, where we've all seen things change so quickly for people and their homes, I have to wonder if it's having an impact on how we decorate.
So, what about you? I think it would be great to hear how you make your design decisions (for major, hard to change elements in your home). Do you do things for the love-of-it-now, or do you think about resale/investment value and tame your inner design beast? And have you changed your thinking about it in the past two or three years?
Talk to you soon,
Carol
Well, when it comes to my own home, I do what I like and do not worry about what will happen when I sell. I would do what I needed at that time when that happens, but saying that, I think I have probably not made any decisions that would make it hard to sell. But for my clients, I do bring up that issue a lot especially when I see them wanting to make decisions that would be a mistake - then I throw that re-sale thing in there. I had a client that wanted to tear down her entry / kitchen common wall and put a half wall / counter there with barstools. The barstools would have been in the entry. The only way I could talk her out of that was convincing her that no one else would want to by a house like that. So yes, I think you have to think of re-sale on some things... but if I wanted a leopard runner I would get it and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually in this boat myself, We've said for years already that we are moving, we always say it'll be within the year that we'll put the house up and go. As a result, I've never painted our office that lovely salmon color I've dreamed of for years, nor have I gotten curtains made for it and our living room. I've not bought rugs beyond basic seagrass, nor have I reupholstered our living room furniture.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? It drives me NUTS!
By not doing these things, I am unhappy in my own home - and it's a BEAUTIFUL home. For all I know, it will be two more years before the time is right for us to go - should I spend those years unhappy with letting the home "be" or should I just do what I want, and take the time to make it classically boring before we sell?
I'm leaning toward the latter. You have to be comfortable in your home. It should be my environment, and by not decorating, I'm letting some unknown person with unknown tastes dictate what goes on in my four walls - and that's not fair.
Carol I do agree with the questions you posed. Ultimately, I pick what I want and can afford and clean. If I sell, everything becomes beige.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog,
Nancy
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteRecently a realtor told me how tired her clients were of seeing "sale-ready" homes. In a sea of beige how does one house stand out from the others? I might not pick zebra carpet myself but if I toured that house I would remember it!! Carpet can be changed and in the meantime I would live vicariously as if I had made the bold (and unique) choice of zebra carpeting. There are no beige zebras.
I get this all the time! Since I do mostly remodeling design, I find people want to update, have some of their style reflected in the space AND be good for resale. It is a challenge. I don't think you can design for everyone. No matter what a realtor will tell you about making the whole house generic, there will be things that some people won't like (i.e. painted cabinets vs. stained). However, I think erring on the side of neutral with expensive permanent materials is a wise way to go if you are considering resale within the next 5 years. It's a tough balance and it's difficult to proceed with remodeling until you've made decisions about your future.
ReplyDeleteImprovement of QUALITY of materials is always a good choice though. Carpet to wood floors, cheap white appliances to upgraded stainless, better hardware, etc.
Of course, sometimes no matter how firm the decision to stay or leave may be, plans change. I had one client that had just purchased a home and they swore it would be their family home until their kids graduated from high school in 10 years. We gutted their kitchen and family room and started over. Within a year after the remodel, he had taken a new job and they relocated to another city. Luckily, their house with their brand new kitchen and family room sold for the highest price per s.f. in their neighborhood ever within a month! whew!