July 7, 2008
Five Home Improvements with Big Emotional Payoff
People constantly talk about home improvements that boost a home’s value. For example, housing experts say a remodeled bathrooms will recover 78 to 94 percent of their costs on resale. New kitchens, much like bathrooms, recover much of their investment. But be careful; according to a design manager at Whirlpool, stainless steel is out, while warmer appliance finishes are taking off. (Whew, that’s a trend I never even got a chance to be a part of!) Meanwhile, new swimming pools will most likely lose money. Turns out, nobody wants to spend their lives cleaning leaves out of a pool.
Well, enough about money. My question is, what are the top home renovations for the biggest emotional payoff? Here are my top five:
- New Rooms. We knocked out walls to create more room and more light twice in two different houses and the results were life-changing. Rooms changed from cramped and dark to airy and light-filled. I don’t care what the housing experts say, it’s a renovation that will have a much bigger impact on your psyche than you can imagine, and it’s worth the dust and fuss.
- New windows. We’ve done this renovation twice as well — and again, great results. In one case, the house went from drafty and uncomfortable to toasty warm in the winter. In the other case, we replaced windows that hadn’t been cleaned in literally 70 years (because they couldn’t be —not because we were lazy.) With energy-efficient flip-in windows, I can finally see what’s outside.
- New hardwood floors. This is an upgrade I’ve done, but I would if faced with a lifetime of dismal, malodorous wall-to-wall. Hardwood floors are resistant, classy and easy-to-clean. Carpets aren’t any of these things and they always end up looking ratty, even if they happen to be the right color, which they never are.
- New paint job. Simple and relatively cheap, but with the ability to completely change a room’s character, nothing beats a bucket of paint.
- New lighting. If you’ve ever felt wretched and woebegone under an overhead bulb, you’ll know what I’m talking about. We installed recessed lights on a dimmer switch and new pendant fixtures recently, and the change was warm and thrillingly upscale.
mike.martin said:
Pam, I’m going to put hardwood (or bamboo, which is “engineered”) flooring in the last carpeted room of my house. I have pets, and what was an old ratty Berber before the cat and dog got to it. I’ll let you know if I feel as good as I think I will when I finish.
When we moved in to our house, the front room was a sea of musty wine-colored carpet. So we pulled up the corner…and found gorgeous old growth southern yellow pine! Sometimes renovation is as simple as undoing the mistakes of past owners….
July 7, 2008 2:21 PM
pamela.reynolds said:
Mike, you are absolutely doing the right thing. You will not regret it for a moment and you’ll feel great everytime you walk into that room.
July 8, 2008 3:04 AM