How much is a new coat of paint worth?

From time to time I see articles that talk about the ROI of different home upgrades. Hardwood floors give you a 110% return, a new back porch will give you 100%… new landscaping in the spring… priceless {not really, but close, lol}. While I always think it’s interesting to see what improvements people {statistically} think are more important, the reality is that just because you put in hard wood floors it doesn’t mean you can increase the price of your house by that exact amount of money… it doesn’t quite work like that. However, without a doubt, some improvements pack…

Some spaces are better to renovate while you live in them…

February 22, 2018 Categories: architecture · bathroom · buying · creativity · design · interiors · investment · real estate · renovation · vintageTags: architecture · flip · investment property · renovation · vintageLeave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I found the most amazing place that had just come on the market. It hasn’t been sold in 40 years! It’s a massive condo in a vintage three flat and is a massive 2400 square feet on one floor. A sprawling three bedroom two bath space with tall ceilings and gorgeous original trim, it even has a picture rails in the dining room {be still my heart}! And of course it needs a lot of updating {that’s part of what makes it so great, in my opinion anyway!}, but has all the vintage charm that…

Adding color to the kitchen

February 19, 2018 Categories: accessories · creativity · design · interiors · kitchen · styleTags: accessories · color · design · dishtowel · interiors · kitchenLeave a comment

Remember a few decades ago when everyone was doing ‘themes’ in their kitchens? Chickens, cherries, gingham… you’d pick something you love and then fill up the room with dishes, kitchen towels, plates, a nice wallpaper border to top it all off. It was bad design heaven. Thankfully that trend is long gone… When I design a space I tend to gravitate toward more minimal, classic designs, and like to keep things clean and simple. When it comes to my kitchen I like to have as many things put away as possible. I don’t like to have lots of stuff on…

If it’s not a hell YES, it’s a hell NO

February 14, 2018 Categories: buying · energy · real estateTags: buying · house hunt · real estateLeave a comment

It can be a tough market out there right now if you are a buyer. There isn’t always a ton of awesome inventory to choose from. It can be easy to think that it will take seeing 100 places in order to find ‘the one’. And depending on what you are looking for, it might very well take a little longer. But there is one thing I notice that tends to happen that not only hurts your search, but it can drain your energy and increase frustration, in what can already be a stressful time {they say moving is literally…

Wood trim: to paint or not to paint, that is the question…

February 2, 2018 Categories: architecture · creativity · design · inspiration · interiors · renovation · vintageTags: interiors · painted trim · vintage · vintage trimLeave a comment

When it comes to renovations, there’s one topic that people always have strong feelings about… whether to paint the vintage wood trim and built-ins… People generally have strong opinions and are solidly on one side or the other of this debate. It’s either fine no matter what, go crazy and have fun… or you are the devil incarnate if you even think about defiling a vintage treasure in such an offensive way. I might be the rare bird who doesn’t have strong feelings one way or the other. Well, I take that back, I’m actually really conflicted about whether to…

Haven by Design

Month: February 2018