The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: sjc0816 on May 16, 2016, 10:27:47 AM
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
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I vote for option b.
Think about it in terms of your long term goals. How much are you saving? Why? What would spending on these tasks do to your other goals? Where will you live in 10 years, in 20? Is the color of your trim a material factor in your daily happiness? (that would weird me out, actually..) Paying significant money to paint or update these items is unlikely to add any value whatsoever to your house.
If you enjoy doing that sort of work yourself, make a project list and start in. If not, don't hire it out, unless you can honestly say that these changes would serve your life goals as the best use of that money. Spend consciously.
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I don't understand the problem with "dated".
I divide house-related things into different categories: Things I like and Things I don't like. For example, I have cabbage-rose wallpaper in my bathroom, and I love it. On the other hand, marble countertops are trendy right now; I think they're old-looking (and not in a good, nostalgic way) and butt-ugly. If I were trying to sell the house, yeah, I would make some concessions towards "updating", but I wouldn't change anything today simply because it's "outdated".
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Replacing trim, replacing doors and redoing trim is well within an average person's capabilities. If you do the labor yourself, you do not need to spend bucket fulls of cash either and you can end up with a very nice looking home. What makes a house look "dated" is usually a combination of layout and fixtures. If your house was built in 1995 then (I'm guessing) you don't have tiny little rooms that resemble prison cells, or loooong hallways, or lot's of disgusting paneling. You've already replaced fixtures and painted cabinets, so really, you're already halfway there. I would pick one room at a time and start with fresh paint, new trim and new 6 panel doors (or whatever style you want). Work at a pace your budget is happy with. For the high areas in your house, you can rent a lift or scaffolding at any rental yard, along with safety equipment. Watch lots of YouTube videos and take your time and you'll have a blast. You'll also increase you badassity factor 100x!
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I live in a early 1980s cookie cutter - so I have lots of awful cosmetically dated/ugly things to deal with. Popcorn walls and ceilings in every room. No panel cheapy doors, fake yellow brass fixtures, country-fied ceiling fans, shell-shaped bathroom sinks, yellow oak builder grade cabinets and fake butcher block formica counters...
We've done what we could to substantially improve the living arrangements. We replaced the crappy sliding glass door with a lovely french door. We ripped out the nasty carpets and installed beautiful engineered hardwoods. We painted all the rooms in colors that we love and go well with our furnishings. We replaced light fixtures or just globes so they were more our taste. Anything that was broken or needed replacing, we did that with nicer quality things (like the floor) purely for our own enjoyment since they were getting replaced anyway. Any of the other stuff that was easy or cheap to do, we did. Anything after that which would be either time-consuming or expensive (or both) is remaining as is because as long as the item is performing its basic function well, what it looks like is no longer a concern. Because we've realized that we're not staying in this house forever, and there is a limit to how much money/effort we want to sink into it. So that makes it a bit easier to become blind to the things that are not our taste. We work around it basically.
The annoying and ugly stuff has faded back over the years. If I start looking, then yeah, I'll cringe over the stupid popcorn walls or the formica counters in the kitchen... but the counters are fine; the walls are functional, and changing up either of those at this point would be purely cosmetic (and expensive and messy) so they're staying as is.
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When we were on a tight budget, we remodeled a room at a time, did the work ourselves and pay as you go without adding additional debt.
Set a goal and get to work on it. Sounds like pretty minor stuff.
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I feel like this is why context is so important. Who you sorround yourself with, and what yardstick you are using to measure. By "dated", I was expecting something like our house- a largely unrenovated 1920s rental. So old, it's new again! (Except for the inches thick paint on all the trim, which can't be touched because of lead...).
What you have here is an easy situation. No asbestos, no lead based paint, nothing that prevents you from doing the work yourself.
You cite not having the time to do all the trim, but guess what money is? TIME. You could do it yourself, as you can, room by room. Or you can hire someone, for higher rates, using the cotton value cloth you've traded precious hours of your life for. And let the government take cuts along the way, increasing yet again the cost. One way or another, the update costs your time, it's just how many layers stand between you and it.
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Well, maybe "dated" isn't the correct term. Ugly might be more appropriate. Our first house was a tiny ranch built in the 30's and not updated...but it was adorable. Original everything and funky colored tile in the bathroom...but it was still really cute. Some old houses have a ton of character and charm. Our current house is just cheap looking with builder grade oak throughout.
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Maybe you could try not being as concerned about the appearance of your house. It sounds like it's likely a safe place of shelter, kept reasonably clean, and provides access to schools you care about. It's not falling apart or otherwise problematic. Sounds great! The way things look doesn't really matter. But if you decide that it's important to you, then it's going to cost you to do something about it. Superficiality is often expensive. That's your choice.
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Well, maybe "dated" isn't the correct term. Ugly might be more appropriate. Our first house was a tiny ranch built in the 30's and not updated...but it was adorable. Original everything and funky colored tile in the bathroom...but it was still really cute. Some old houses have a ton of character and charm. Our current house is just cheap looking with builder grade oak throughout.
Was it ugly to you at the time you bought it? I guess if so, you only have yourself to blame (for lack of a better word).
Our house is dated (most fixtures have not been updated since it was built in the mid-80s) but when we bought it we considered it to be totally acceptable.
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We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening.
What's the rush? If you want to paint stuff, paint it. No need for it to be instantly completed is there? Do two hours every weekend until the job is completed. Maybe it'll take you a couple years. So what? A little bit of work over a long time is much more satisfying, and much lighter on the pocketbook than just forking over lots of money to do something.
protip - To paint things that are high up, use a ladder. You seem confused about this point, so I mention it.
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This is a non-problem unless you make it be one.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with living in a house with oak trim/cabinets etc. I lived in one for most of the last decade (we moved 3 years ago)- and never considered it outdated at all. Who cares that I had laminate instead of granite, carpet instead of wood? The house had a roof, electricity, and running water. We kept it clean, and decorated to our taste.
I can understand really feeling the need to update wood paneled rooms, pink tiled bathrooms, avocado appliances- even though it's still a want, not a need. But something from the 90s, that is still really common in housing stock.
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Well, maybe "dated" isn't the correct term. Ugly might be more appropriate. Our first house was a tiny ranch built in the 30's and not updated...but it was adorable. Original everything and funky colored tile in the bathroom...but it was still really cute. Some old houses have a ton of character and charm. Our current house is just cheap looking with builder grade oak throughout.
Was it ugly to you at the time you bought it? I guess if so, you only have yourself to blame (for lack of a better word).
Our house is dated (most fixtures have not been updated since it was built in the mid-80s) but when we bought it we considered it to be totally acceptable.
The house is wonderful, the trim is ugly...and yes, it was that way when we bought it. It was the best we could find in our budget in this area. We could've bought a house way out in far burbs and had a new house but that wasn't a priority. Now it's just a matter of deciding if we want to paint or leave it be. I am leaning towards leaving it be.
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Couple Qs for the OP - your answers might guide your remodel/updating decisions -
1) Are you planning on staying in that house for a good long while? Or selling, or renting it?
2) Assuming your neighborhood is full of similar houses -- have they been updated too? You may not see much return on your remodel/updating if you over-improve your house, but your neighbors' houses are all the same inside still. (only a factor if you are going to sell)
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Well, there is dated, and there is ugly. And there is cheap. How bad is it?
I think about that with kitchens and trims. You know, the 80s/ 90s had those kitchen trends with the white cabinets and fake-wood trim. That stuff is SOOO ugly. I've seen it around here in houses built or reno'd then. Ugly. And then there's the 70s ugly (orange formica).
OTOH, some houses are old and "dated", as in original 1920s kitchens. White tile, white painted cabinets. I don't particularly like that style because generally there's no diswasher.
On the trim - I actually find wood trim to be charming. I can understand the dislike of honey-oak, when dark wood seems to be more trendy. But if it's actual oak and not fake, I'd probably leave it. Because it's *real*. Some of the big old houses around here have dark wood trim, and it sort of makes the homes dated and dark and gloomy. But it's so...nice. And real. Likewise my step-dad's house has honey wood trim. I don't care for it, but it's nice. And it's real.
Seems a shame to rip it out. And you could paint it but...I don't know. I'd probably consider staining it a different color.
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protip - To paint things that are high up, use a ladder. You seem confused about this point, so I mention it.
To be fair, you really need scaffolding to safely paint detail 20 feet high. (You can use an extension pole if you are just all over painting, but not for trim)
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I love wood and could happily live in a log cabin. If I had the money I would buy land and build a Pan-Abode/Lilndal house, seriously. For me the wood trim is a plus. And I have oak floors, oak trim (molding and door frames) in this house, and would happily have more. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Would you like the wood better if it were stained lighter/darker?
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It's worth remembering that the manufacturers vigorously promote different-looking trim, faucet shapes, countertops, sink shapes, wood or not wood, fashionable colors, and all of that ... precisely so we all will spend money trying to keep our houses from looking "dated." So we "update," and then in ten years we have to update again, because the house looks so 2016.
I vote for distracting yourself put putting stuff you like in the house, changing nothing else, and then reflecting on the satisfying fatness of your bank balance.
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Based on the fact that you have to save up for carpet, I'm guessing you are still pretty close to "hair on fire" territory, even if you are safely on the other side.
Based on that, I'd say you can't really afford to give a shit about the color of the trim in your house. Even if you did it yourself, you've be spending on paint and supplies, and you probably can't do the really high stuff very well without either paying someone or getting scaffolding. *Perhaps* if it was something you could DIY, I'd say go ahead and spend on paint and brushes and tape, and spend a hour a week plugging away at it until it is done. But even that costs money, and time you could be investing elsewhere.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
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Trim and paint is super easy and cheap to DIY. Painting trim takes no time at all. You could do a room a week in just an hour or so after work every night. Then hire someone to paint the high stuff (should be just a couple hundred $$). It's way too ridiculously easy to fix to live with if you don't like it.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
6 months?!? One could probably do an entire house's worth of trim with 1-2 gallons of paint ($100) and a couple $5 brushes. What are you on about?
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Please don't paint your trim.
I came in expecting to hear about a 50's or 60's home, like a lot of others. I get that your house is newer but feels "older" because the trends haven't come back around yet. But they will.
I'm in the process of buying a house built in 1919. "Improvements" were made in the 50's (kitchen cabinets, added porch), 80's (bathroom, windows) and 90's (laminate replacing or covering the original hardwood floors, laminate counters). The 50's "updates" are so old they're new again, but the 80's and 90's ones feel much older than anything original, because it wasn't well done or in keeping with the overall style of the house.
Also, the condo I currently own has all painted trim, including the built-ins, and while I like that it's white and goes well with stuff, it is really really difficult to maintain. I swore I would never again paint any trim.
I get that Pinterest and magazines and various other things are all talking about "Paint your honey-oak cabinets!", but really, that's going to look dated fast. Because you'll pick the wrong color. Or the current matte paint trend (which is terrible to clean BTW) will get replaced by high-gloss paint. Or shabby-chic will come back. The thing about trends is that they're unpredictable.
Can you do other small things to lessen the impact of the parts you don't like while you wait for honey oak to come back? Paint the walls a color that goes with the oak? Use distracting curtains?
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Is it real wood trim, or is it fake wood? If it's real wood, leave it. First, it will come back into fashion; second, real wood trim that's never been painted over fetches a premium when people buy houses. Also buyers will be able to see that it's real wood, which these days is a luxury item in house-building.
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Just paint everything black. It will look equally bad for all time, except to teenagers, also for all time.
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I do feel your pain, OP, with the ugly house. It wears on you when you look around every day and dislike what you see. I know because we live in a pretty crapp house (early 1950s, no insulation, single pane windows, illegal and shoddily-built addition, avocado green kitchen(!)). Unlike you, we can't fix these problems because we rent. In your shoes I would paint that ugly oak trim (I hate oak!) right away. Sure, it'll take you a while to get the whole house done, but it will be worth it.
This is super ghetto, but when my parents were re-doing the floors in their house we took the old carpet they were pulling up and cut it to fit in the downstairs (illegal, shoddily-built) addition in the place we live now. Their older, slightly-stained carpet was still a heck of a lot nicer than the original carpet in our house. We just laid it down on top like a really big areal rug. Can you find some rugs on Craigslist to cover the majority of your old carpet?
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Based on the fact that you have to save up for carpet, I'm guessing you are still pretty close to "hair on fire" territory, even if you are safely on the other side.
Based on that, I'd say you can't really afford to give a shit about the color of the trim in your house. Even if you did it yourself, you've be spending on paint and supplies, and you probably can't do the really high stuff very well without either paying someone or getting scaffolding. *Perhaps* if it was something you could DIY, I'd say go ahead and spend on paint and brushes and tape, and spend a hour a week plugging away at it until it is done. But even that costs money, and time you could be investing elsewhere.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
I guess I'm not certain what constitutes a hair on fire situation. We have no debt except for our mortgage and 400 K in retirement at 38. Our expenses are very low. We have had a lot of unexpected expenses in the last couple of years that I won't get in to...so we only have about 10k in cash savings. We don't want to pay for our carpet out of that 10k so we are saving up over the next 12 months to cash flow that. Does that mean our hair is on fire?
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I don't think builder grade honey oak trim/cabinetry is ever coming back. Oak is great and timeless, but not with that awful stain.
It's true that trends come and go. But materials and styles that have stood the test of time will always be a good move, provided they're either a good value add or you have the disposable income.
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1995 is dated!?!?!
That's funny.
I live in a house built in 1960. I'm fairly certain the kitchen hasn't been remodeled since 1975. Blue formica countertops. Ugly tile backsplash with nasty flower decals. Laminate dark brown cabinets. Hideous. To be honest, I hate it, but I can't justify blowing the 30K it would take to remodel it. It would not change the functionality of my kitchen one bit so it feels like I would be setting the money on fire. I've considered replacing the tile backsplash myself, or maybe painting the cabinets. I wish I were as handy as MMM because then I could do it for <5K and then it "might" be worth it.
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The house itself was built in 1995.
I haven't read all the responses yet but I did a retake when I got to this in the original post. When thinking of living in a "dated" house, I tend to think of homes that haven't changed much since the 70s/80s. I go for option b, mid 90's isn't that terrible (unless you're stuck with a purple and teal colour combination somewhere).
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I do feel your pain, OP, with the ugly house. It wears on you when you look around every day and dislike what you see. I know because we live in a pretty crapp house (early 1950s, no insulation, single pane windows, illegal and shoddily-built addition, avocado green kitchen(!)). Unlike you, we can't fix these problems because we rent. In your shoes I would paint that ugly oak trim (I hate oak!) right away. Sure, it'll take you a while to get the whole house done, but it will be worth it.
This is super ghetto, but when my parents were re-doing the floors in their house we took the old carpet they were pulling up and cut it to fit in the downstairs (illegal, shoddily-built) addition in the place we live now. Their older, slightly-stained carpet was still a heck of a lot nicer than the original carpet in our house. We just laid it down on top like a really big areal rug. Can you find some rugs on Craigslist to cover the majority of your old carpet?
We have rugs covering most of the carpet already. At this point, with two kids that have pretty bad allergies....the original carpet needs to go.
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The house itself was built in 1995.
I haven't read all the responses yet but I did a retake when I got to this in the original post. When thinking of living in a "dated" house, I tend to think of homes that haven't changed much since the 70s/80s. I go for option b, mid 90's isn't that terrible (unless you're stuck with a purple and teal colour combination somewhere).
Golden Oak is pretty bad. I'd completely understand ripping it out to replace it.
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OP:
My house had similar oak trim when we moved in. Here was our kitchen...
(http://photos3.zillowstatic.com/p_f/IS5eitnl122a5e1000000000.jpg)
And here it is now:
(http://i.imgur.com/qj3ycTe.jpg?1)
Paint can make a world of difference and it is quite cheap. I'd say painting our kitchen cabinets cost maybe $100 total and transformed a dark space into a vibrant one.
Overall, I think making minor changes is a good idea long term. One of the things mentioned in "Millionaire Next Door" is that most of the millionaires interviewed stayed in their "starter home" and didn't upgrade into something lavish once their incomes and family sizes increased.
Thus, if making these aesthetic changes increases the likelihood of you staying at your current house, then the time and money investment is worth it.
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Agreed. Paint. Get good quality paint and sort out how to do it properly. Makes a world of difference. We bought a 1970s house that was a rental, and between painting the rooms and updating door hardware (was necessary at the time to make doors work properly) the house looks like its been totally updated. Took us over a year to get it done. Its totally doable and you will feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
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1995 is dated!?!?!
That's funny.
I live in a house built in 1960. I'm fairly certain the kitchen hasn't been remodeled since 1975. Blue formica countertops. Ugly tile backsplash with nasty flower decals. Laminate dark brown cabinets. Hideous. To be honest, I hate it, but I can't justify blowing the 30K it would take to remodel it. It would not change the functionality of my kitchen one bit so it feels like I would be setting the money on fire. I've considered replacing the tile backsplash myself, or maybe painting the cabinets. I wish I were as handy as MMM because then I could do it for <5K and then it "might" be worth it.
We "remodeled" our 1970's kitchen (dark wood, harvest gold counertops, ugly fixtures) for about $350. Painting the cabinets was physically taxing and required patience, but it really wasn't hard. We used the Sherwin-Williams paint designed specifically for it, and it worked great. We also painted out counter tops using Giani Granite Counter top paint. We added new fixtures and some decorations, and it looks like a whole new kitchen. We went cheap because we may eventually do a full remodel, but the end result looks nice and much more updated.
To the OP, I will be honest and say that I want my home to look as nice as possible. I know it doesn't matter to some people, but I feel more rested and happy when my home looks clean and nice. When we bought our house, the first thing we did was hire a professional to paint the dark wood trim, door frames, windows, and the ugly paneling in the living room. We also replaced all the doors (they were in bad shape) and had them painted white. The difference that some paint made was absolutely huge. We ended up paying 2.5K for the paint job, but it was worth every cent to me because I know it was a project that would have never been finished if it had been up to us to do it.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
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Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
If you live in Bolton, Ontario you might be my ex. He *regularly* expressed that view, lol.
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It's superficial, but shiny brass doorknobs just... Ugh, not in my house.
I recall the Young House Love bloggers taking theirs out and painting them - do a search on their site for how-to instructions. 1-2 cans of spray paint plus a bit of time can make a difference...
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
Depends on the situation. Cheap wood in tract houses is not necessarily quality or a thing of beauty. White paint is definitely an improvement.
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It is all personal taste - I love these wood cabinets - different handles (something like antique brass, brighter but not shiny) and different wall paint colour would make all the difference. Plus they are in the kitchen so they inevitably get grease on them - a good scrub, sand with very fine sandpaper, and coat of MinWax would make them gorgeous (if you like wood, of course).
My present kitchen has all white cabinets - I would so much prefer wood, but I am not about to change out all the doors and drawer fronts, so I live with the white. White shows every little bit of dirt. You can tell where my dog brushes them by the brown tinge on the cabinets.
I have painted cabinets when the original paint job was horrible, nothing against paint as such.
OP:
My house had similar oak trim when we moved in. Here was our kitchen...
(http://photos3.zillowstatic.com/p_f/IS5eitnl122a5e1000000000.jpg)
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It's superficial, but shiny brass doorknobs just... Ugh, not in my house.
I recall the Young House Love bloggers taking theirs out and painting them - do a search on their site for how-to instructions. 1-2 cans of spray paint plus a bit of time can make a difference...
Thank you. Yes, they are awful. I have looked into painting them....but it's not really worth it until we are going to replace the doors. The hollow oak door is even worse than the knob. I'm hoping that in the next couple of years, we can replace the doors, hinges and knobs all at once.
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It's superficial, but shiny brass doorknobs just... Ugh, not in my house.
I recall the Young House Love bloggers taking theirs out and painting them - do a search on their site for how-to instructions. 1-2 cans of spray paint plus a bit of time can make a difference...
Thank you. Yes, they are awful. I have looked into painting them....but it's not really worth it until we are going to replace the doors. The hollow oak door is even worse than the knob. I'm hoping that in the next couple of years, we can replace the doors, hinges and knobs all at once.
We just built our house, so we HAD to buy doorknobs.... But seriously, that's a few hundred bucks worth of doorknobs. Be warned.
My advice: look into the back archives of the Remodelaholic blog and search for doors. There are a lot of people making 90s standard doors look pretty great with some paint, elbow grease, and originality.
Actually, I highly recommend that blog, design-wise, to ALL homeowners who care about aesthetics. It's got a total stereotypical mom blog feel, but the advice is solid, the decor is decent but not expensive-high-end, and they repeatedly do features about improving on what you have instead of replacing it. :)
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
Depends on the situation. Cheap wood in tract houses is not necessarily quality or a thing of beauty. White paint is definitely an improvement.
Well OP is saying oak, so I assume that means real wood. Oak is a beautiful wood. I would never paint it, though if the stain is bad I might change it.
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1995 is dated!?!?!
That's funny.
I live in a house built in 1960. I'm fairly certain the kitchen hasn't been remodeled since 1975. Blue formica countertops. Ugly tile backsplash with nasty flower decals. Laminate dark brown cabinets. Hideous. To be honest, I hate it, but I can't justify blowing the 30K it would take to remodel it. It would not change the functionality of my kitchen one bit so it feels like I would be setting the money on fire. I've considered replacing the tile backsplash myself, or maybe painting the cabinets. I wish I were as handy as MMM because then I could do it for <5K and then it "might" be worth it.
This. My home was built in 1962, is solid as a rock, and the kitchen is dated. Replacing old Formica for granite isn't getting me anything (until I sell, and not what I will spend on it).
We did replace the old windows and that was money well spent. Upgraded a tiny bathroom. A few other changes. But we have not fallen into the "dated" HGTV trap others have. Friends of ours updated a 90s kitchen for a small mint and now regret the decision.
Functionality always trumps appearance.
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Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
If you live in Bolton, Ontario you might be my ex. He *regularly* expressed that view, lol.
I don't agree at all. I've been in 1920s houses like mine in which the homeowners have laboriously stripped the original trim and stained it dark, supposedly in an attempt to bring it back to its original glory. I just laugh. The bungalows in this neck of the woods painted the trim white from the beginning and used the cheapest ass wood they could find. Sure, it you have a showcase bungalow with decorative trim/molding on the ceiling it might have been originally stained dark, but my home? White trim all the way from day one.
I'm with others. The honey oak is never going back in style. White trim is timeless. The only downside to it is how much dirt and scuff marks it shows.
We have brand new solid wood paneled doors, and they aren't that expensive. I think our contractor paid about $200 a door. It can make a HUGE difference in a home to upgrade doors and knobs over the long time.
Basically, OP, I feel ya. I'm "lucky" (although I wouldn't have said that three months ago when I dropped 5K on replacing the original plumbing in our house) that the style of our house with subway tile and decorative white molding and solid paneled doors is timeless. It's one of the reasons I bought an older home, repairs be damned. I still get happy almost 10 years later when I look at our beautiful trim and molding.
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Stop watching HGTV, and get on with your life, and keep in mind that everything that you consider beautiful and trendy today will be out of date and ugly in 20 years.
This is fancy pants talk.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
Painting wood trim should be a capital crime.
Agreed. Such a shame to destroy a solid product with something that might as well be mdf or particleboard.
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It is all personal taste - I love these wood cabinets - different handles (something like antique brass, brighter but not shiny) and different wall paint colour would make all the difference. Plus they are in the kitchen so they inevitably get grease on them - a good scrub, sand with very fine sandpaper, and coat of MinWax would make them gorgeous (if you like wood, of course).
My present kitchen has all white cabinets - I would so much prefer wood, but I am not about to change out all the doors and drawer fronts, so I live with the white. White shows every little bit of dirt. You can tell where my dog brushes them by the brown tinge on the cabinets.
I have painted cabinets when the original paint job was horrible, nothing against paint as such.
OP:
My house had similar oak trim when we moved in. Here was our kitchen...
(http://photos3.zillowstatic.com/p_f/IS5eitnl122a5e1000000000.jpg)
I was going to say the same. I'd lose the red walls. But I don't think the cabinets are bad.
I actually read someone on the web horrified at the kitchen in their house, and they had to change it! White cabinets, darker granite. I mean...weird.
People actually take new-ish white cabinets with dark granite and rip it out to put in dark wood cabinets with light granite. And vice versa. I don't get it.
Our house had wood trim that had been painted 8 times or so. We spent hours and hours stripping down one window. And then decided to replace the windows and trim with white MDF. Because the original 1940's trim wasn't in that great of shape once you removed the layers of paint.
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You can paint the entire house, inside and outside. However, you just need to break it up into small pieces. It might take you a year, but you can do it.
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Trim and paint is super easy and cheap to DIY. Painting trim takes no time at all. You could do a room a week in just an hour or so after work every night. Then hire someone to paint the high stuff (should be just a couple hundred $$). It's way too ridiculously easy to fix to live with if you don't like it.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
6 months?!? One could probably do an entire house's worth of trim with 1-2 gallons of paint ($100) and a couple $5 brushes. What are you on about?
I'm on about hiring someone to do it, which would probably be necessarily, or at least the way OP choose to do it, because of the height of the ceilings. IDK the OP's age, but with compounding and a low monthly spending, that seems feasible.
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I'm living in a house built in 2007, but the contractor must have been behind a decade. Not just honey oak, but fake, chipped, MDF (I think) trim everywhere, honey oak cabinets, brass doorknobs, and hollow honey oak doors which have this fake wood texturing on them that looks cheap. I love doing DIY projects around the house, but all of this is on the back burner until I have things set up more functional around the house (e.g. closet shelving systems, cordless blinds to keep the littles safe, gardening/landscaping projects, etc). There are times it drives me nuts and I just want to drop a few thousand dollars to have someone come and replace everything. But right now, I'm kind of in a "it is functional" phase. I have a mental block about wasting perfectly functional (albeit hideous) doors. I've considered using some drywall compound to try to smooth out the texture then painting the doors white and spray painting the knobs... but I don't know if it would end up looking better in the end.
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I laugh because our current rental is an 80s build with a 90s update. The owners replaced all the original trim with honey oak, the doors in honey oak, fake brass handles, everything. :) Must be time for the next update.
I cry a little inside because I miss the white trim and cream walls be carefully painted ourselves in our old house, then life changes meant we sold it as soon as it was complete.....
How long will you be there? How much time do you spend in your house? How much are you being influenced by tv, blogs and Pintrest?
I'm a SAHM and homeschool our kids. I'm a homebody and am really affected by my surroundings. But I didn't really consider the age or 'dated-ness' of the honey oak in this house until I read this post! :) I'm grateful that we have space to not have our exercise equipment squeezed into our bedroom (so I'm not covered in bruises from squeezing past it), that we don't live on the highway (like our last rental), and that the owner did a proper job laying the laminate in the kitchen so it isn't lifting (like our last place).
It sounds like you may have decided to stick with it. If you do decide to make changes:
-get a good primer or whatever you should use to go over the stained wood before you paint. It will be worth it
-you can do almost all of the painting yourself. Start with a small room and do one room at a time. When you get to the high area get a painter in to do it. It won't cost much (compared with getting them to do a whole house), and they will knock it over in no time
-door handles are amazingly expensive. Make sure you get costs on everything up front.
-consider the fact that your urge to update will probably return in 10-15 years. Factor this into how much you are willing to spend for this update, because you will probably be forking out the same amount in the future to do it all again (differently).
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1995 is dated!?!?!
That's funny.
I live in a house built in 1960. I'm fairly certain the kitchen hasn't been remodeled since 1975. Blue formica countertops. Ugly tile backsplash with nasty flower decals. Laminate dark brown cabinets. Hideous. To be honest, I hate it, but I can't justify blowing the 30K it would take to remodel it. It would not change the functionality of my kitchen one bit so it feels like I would be setting the money on fire. I've considered replacing the tile backsplash myself, or maybe painting the cabinets. I wish I were as handy as MMM because then I could do it for <5K and then it "might" be worth it.
Haha - my house is probably from the 1840s. Lots of it is timeless, but over the decades many different owners have "updated" it, and we are unremuddling it slowly. We peeled off layers of crazy wallpaper in the bathroom; the worst was both flocked and foil, a plaid in a variety of shades including neon and olive greens. It was unbelievably ugly, I can't imagine how someone chose to put it up. There were giant modish daisies. There were psychedelic wavy colors. We stopped at the charming old-fashioned floral print, yes it was a bit weathered, but it suits.
There are lots of drop ceilings we've removed, and fake paneling sheets everywhere (all different styles and stains). Some rooms have been cut down to create halls and closets and such, wreaking havoc with symmetry and daylighting. We've removed some added walls, while some have to wait for future projects.
When we began remodeling the kitchen, my husband discovered a false wall hiding not one but three doors! Two of the doors appear to be original raised panel doors that are part of an 8' wide built in pantry, a foot or more deep. The previous remodelers nailed it shut and drywalled over it to have a place to hang cabinets, apparently. They also removed and walled over a much needed window, again for hanging cabinets. I intend to replace the window. Fake stone wall panels hiding real wood paneling, fake ceiling beams, carpeting in the kitchen, more layers of crazy wallpaper (cactus, colonial newspapers, ...)
All this to say that modern decorating trends are trashy to me and designed to flit out of "style" rapidly. Go for classic designs and styles that are timeless, rather than chasing the latest current thing.
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1995 is dated!?!?!
That's funny.
I live in a house built in 1960. I'm fairly certain the kitchen hasn't been remodeled since 1975. Blue formica countertops. Ugly tile backsplash with nasty flower decals. Laminate dark brown cabinets. Hideous. To be honest, I hate it, but I can't justify blowing the 30K it would take to remodel it. It would not change the functionality of my kitchen one bit so it feels like I would be setting the money on fire. I've considered replacing the tile backsplash myself, or maybe painting the cabinets. I wish I were as handy as MMM because then I could do it for <5K and then it "might" be worth it.
Haha - my house is probably from the 1840s. Lots of it is timeless, but over the decades many different owners have "updated" it, and we are unremuddling it slowly. We peeled off layers of crazy wallpaper in the bathroom; the worst was both flocked and foil, a plaid in a variety of shades including neon and olive greens. It was unbelievably ugly, I can't imagine how someone chose to put it up. There were giant modish daisies. There were psychedelic wavy colors. We stopped at the charming old-fashioned floral print, yes it was a bit weathered, but it suits.
There are lots of drop ceilings we've removed, and fake paneling sheets everywhere (all different styles and stains). Some rooms have been cut down to create halls and closets and such, wreaking havoc with symmetry and daylighting. We've removed some added walls, while some have to wait for future projects.
When we began remodeling the kitchen, my husband discovered a false wall hiding not one but three doors! Two of the doors appear to be original raised panel doors that are part of an 8' wide built in pantry, a foot or more deep. The previous remodelers nailed it shut and drywalled over it to have a place to hang cabinets, apparently. They also removed and walled over a much needed window, again for hanging cabinets. I intend to replace the window. Fake stone wall panels hiding real wood paneling, fake ceiling beams, carpeting in the kitchen, more layers of crazy wallpaper (cactus, colonial newspapers, ...)
All this to say that modern decorating trends are trashy to me and designed to flit out of "style" rapidly. Go for classic designs and styles that are timeless, rather than chasing the latest current thing.
Or, you know, do whatever the hell you want in your own house instead of bowing to other's 'timeless' styles. The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else. Unlike most people, I am not willing to settle for a house that doesn't bring me joy when I am in it.
Personally I think oak in almost any shade or stain pretty much screams 'grandma's house'. There is a whole planet of nicer woods out there.
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Try not to give a shit. Keep it clean.
We live in a 1996 ugly duckling. When i moved in, it had blue carpets, blue trim, blue kitchen, honey oak furniture, yuckyuckyuck. A lovely garden though. Most of the blue is gone now, but it took ages to persuade the husband to paint it. We got used to the ugliness i guess. Since the god awful kitchen has been painted white i stopped complaining. I also bit the bullet and stopped complaining about the lack of storage space. I just decluttered radically. I really want nicer bedroom furniture, but bought 1000 thread count sheets instead. So yeah, i cheat.
I just look at other people's lovely houses, and i don't feel envy any more.
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One problem with stained trim -- other than the grandma effect, which is real -- is that it makes a house seem smaller. Unless you have a 3,000+ sq ft facepunch-worthy home, it makes sense to optimize lighter colors to make it feel bigger.
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Ha! I never watch HGTV and have little idea of what current house trends are and what is "dated". I had to google this awful, awful "honey oak" to see what everyone is agreeing is an abomination that will never, ever come back in style. Having done so, I now highly suspect that my entire house is full of this very same honey oak trim, crown moldings, doors, floors, cabinets, ceiling beams, etc. The horror! Do what you like, of course, but painted wood is, I think, generally a bad idea as it then has to be constantly repainted.
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The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else.
The whole thread hasn't agreed on that; I certainly didn't when I posted early, so it seems an odd thing to summarize as "everyone".
I don't see any problem with honey oak. It never once occured to me that my house was dated due to the oak trim when I lived there (purchased in 2005, built in 1995). Rather my problem was the shoddy construction because the damn thing was practically falling down.
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One problem with stained trim -- other than the grandma effect, which is real -- is that it makes a house seem smaller. Unless you have a 3,000+ sq ft facepunch-worthy home, it makes sense to optimize lighter colors to make it feel bigger.
Stained trim is a grandma effect? Does it matter what color the stain is?
I would never consider my current house anything "grandma" and all our trim is stained in an ebony color.
I am so confused by what is "stylish" in housing.
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The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else.
The whole thread hasn't agreed on that; I certainly didn't when I posted early, so it seems an odd thing to summarize as "everyone".
I don't see any problem with honey oak. It never once occured to me that my house was dated due to the oak trim when I lived there (purchased in 2005, built in 1995). Rather my problem was the shoddy construction because the damn thing was practically falling down.
Well allow me to dig into my deep bucket of bothers and apologize to you, iowajes, the lone poster who likes honey oak trim, for discounting your opinion when I made my sweeping generalization. Please forgive me. I did not mean to offend your unique sense of style; I was merely ignorant of the single dissenting opinion in this entire thread.
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This thread proves nothing except that people don't agree on what they like in a home. The result of this information is that you shouldn't make changes to your house unless YOU want them. Don't make updates for future buyers...because maybe your future buyers will like honey oak, or whatever you think is currently out of style.
For example, the pictures posted of the before/after kitchen....I liked the before picture MUCH more than the after.
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It's funny, I have a hard time relating to the posters who say "who cares" about how a home looks or feels. I was an architecture major and I have always had strong opinions of, and reactions to, the built environment around me. DH and I currently live in a Victorian condo (house built in 1904) w/ 9-foot ceilings, crown moulding, and pocket doors, and we're moving next month to a dated 50's Cape Cod house with low ceilings and cheap finishes. We will, no question, be upgrading different parts of the house over time. It's just about being clear about what you value/prioritize and what kind of money you want to put toward those values/priorities.
OP if you haven't already been on houzz.com you can get design ideas that might be DIY-able. Good luck!
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I was merely ignorant of the single dissenting opinion in this entire thread.
I only pointed it out because it is a TWO PAGE thread, and certainly not everyone has posted the stuff is awful. It was just an odd generalization to make.
I don't really care about honey oak trim. It never bothered me when we had it. I like my ebony trim in my new house better, but honestly, I just like my new house better (mostly because it isn't falling apart). I grew up in a house with white trim, that was fine too- but I'm guessing, since that house was built in the 1980s, that white is dated now too. I don't know. I see all these things in houses regularly- oak, white, dark.
I think a huge number of Americans are still living in houses with honey oak. If the 1990s is viewed as outdated that MUST BE REPLACED!!! It just tells me people have bought into the HGTV myth of needing to redo the house every 5 years.
If someone really doesn't like it, redo it- but don't act like it's a necessity.
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Trim and paint is super easy and cheap to DIY. Painting trim takes no time at all. You could do a room a week in just an hour or so after work every night. Then hire someone to paint the high stuff (should be just a couple hundred $$). It's way too ridiculously easy to fix to live with if you don't like it.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
6 months?!? One could probably do an entire house's worth of trim with 1-2 gallons of paint ($100) and a couple $5 brushes. What are you on about?
I'm on about hiring someone to do it, which would probably be necessarily, or at least the way OP choose to do it, because of the height of the ceilings. IDK the OP's age, but with compounding and a low monthly spending, that seems feasible.
And again, my recommendation was to DIY the 98% of it the OP could reach, and only hire out the parts that couldn't be reached. I can't see why this whole project can't cost <$500. And for that money, I can't see not doing something that would make one's house more pleasing to one's self. We aren't talking about a $50k kitchen renno here.
Edit: fixed tags
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Probably one of those "Count your blessings" situation.
We moved into a house with several dated updates. The kitchen was wall-to-wall golden oak/honey oak/something. The kitchen table, the cabinets, the floors, the trim....ugh. The bathroom is a sick pink from the 1960s.
We don't have the time/money to update everything we want at once. But, hey, 4 walls and a roof, right? We bought this house because of the exceptional walkability for a suburban location. It's rated a 60/100 on that walking score website, and is one of the few bike friendly towns in Illinois. The stove works, the fridge works, the washing machine works, so what's the big deal?
We will get around to fixing the cosmetic items, assuming it makes sense to us. No point complaining because the house isn't magazine-quality.
So far we ripped up carpet and refinished the wood floors. I wanted to finish the floors myself, but...uhhh...I am a ditzy numbskull with basically no carpentry skills. I let pros do that. Based on how my raised garden beds turned out, probably not the worst choice. But I'm ramping up my DIY skills so I don't have to rely on professionals for something so simple in the future.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
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This thread proves nothing except that people don't agree on what they like in a home. The result of this information is that you shouldn't make changes to your house unless YOU want them. Don't make updates for future buyers...because maybe your future buyers will like honey oak, or whatever you think is currently out of style.
For example, the pictures posted of the before/after kitchen....I liked the before picture MUCH more than the after.
I agree with this assessment. I also liked the "before" pic better...people's tastes are different; who cares what's in style?
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One problem with stained trim -- other than the grandma effect, which is real -- is that it makes a house seem smaller. Unless you have a 3,000+ sq ft facepunch-worthy home, it makes sense to optimize lighter colors to make it feel bigger.
Stained trim is a grandma effect? Does it matter what color the stain is?
I would never consider my current house anything "grandma" and all our trim is stained in an ebony color.
I am so confused by what is "stylish" in housing.
I would agree that dark stain doesn't necessarily give the grandma effect, but it does make a home feel country, unless your trim is like this:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/92/e9/8292e9cfbb22da1c1638746ab2b7cd13.jpg)
And you need a pretty large home for dark stain not to overwhelm the space in some respects. But, yes, nothing like this is hard and fast. I just objected to this notion that painting real wood was somehow architectural or aesthetic heresy that only idiots did. My trim on my 1920s home has always been painted. I know, because the paint peeled down to the wood on a baseboard exposed to water. There's no stain. Unless someone stripped the stain before painting (unlikely), it was painted in 1924 when the baseboards were originally installed. I guess it's possible the baseboards aren't original to the home. I can't know for sure, but they look to be.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
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It's not what I'd pick if I was building from scratch- but that kitchen looks awesome. So much storage!
I wouldn't change it.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
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Well allow me to dig into my deep bucket of bothers and apologize to you, iowajes, the lone poster who likes honey oak trim, for discounting your opinion when I made my sweeping generalization. Please forgive me. I did not mean to offend your unique sense of style; I was merely ignorant of the single dissenting opinion in this entire thread.
There's no need for this. Forum rule #1. And I also said that honey oak is better than painted trim, so bring that up to at least two.
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You missed me three. I find oak a bit bland in terms of grain, but nothing wrong with how it looks as a wood. I do like lighter woods, because the days are short and the nights are long in winter, and who needs more darkness?
I do know that even I, who sucks at trendiness, find the white cabinets with a wood strip along the bottom to have a dated look, but it is not ugly, just an older style.
However, real wood is real wood, if it is painted it could just as easily be mdf. Of course, cheap wood needs to be painted, because it is cheap and looks bad unpainted, it is expected to be painted. Look at any big box store, the raw wood trip to be painted is a lot less expensive than the raw wood that is expected to be stained.
Classic is classic for a reason, it outlasts trends. We are mustachian here, right? So we should all go with what WE, AS INDIVIDUALS LIKE, and screw trendy.
The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else.
The whole thread hasn't agreed on that; I certainly didn't when I posted early, so it seems an odd thing to summarize as "everyone".
I don't see any problem with honey oak. It never once occurred to me that my house was dated due to the oak trim when I lived there (purchased in 2005, built in 1995). Rather my problem was the shoddy construction because the damn thing was practically falling down.
Well allow me to dig into my deep bucket of bothers and apologize to you, iowajes, the lone poster who likes honey oak trim, for discounting your opinion when I made my sweeping generalization. Please forgive me. I did not mean to offend your unique sense of style; I was merely ignorant of the single dissenting opinion in this entire thread.
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Unlike most people, I am not willing to settle for a house that doesn't bring me joy when I am in it.
That can be used to rationalize just about any type of frivolous spending. What board are we on again?
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Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: ... hardwood...
Apparently at some point it did, because knuckleheads put carpet over it at some point in my house built in 1959. I ripped all the carpet out, and now have beautifully (refinished) hardwood. And, it's the old thick, high quality stuff that can be refinished practically forever. No clue why someone would cover this stuff up, but they did.
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l72/ChrisStack22/EE9E350E-8E91-4147-B192-598AF8BBD7C4_zpstlscx6xg.png)
(http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l72/ChrisStack22/6B31B3BF-E88C-432E-AB91-2002DB701C60_zpsfnaobvhe.jpg)
(note nasty soon-to-be-white wood trim ;) )
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
Really? White appliances will never go out of style? I remember when we moved into this place and people tsk tsked over the white refrigerator. Everyone was replacing their white appliances with stainless steel at the time. And there was a time when people were carpeting over their hardwood floors.
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Unlike most people, I am not willing to settle for a house that doesn't bring me joy when I am in it.
That can be used to rationalize just about any type of frivolous spending. What board are we on again?
The one that highly encourages lots of DIY construction projects?
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I would agree that dark stain doesn't necessarily give the grandma effect, but it does make a home feel country, unless your trim is like this:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/92/e9/8292e9cfbb22da1c1638746ab2b7cd13.jpg)
And you need a pretty large home for dark stain not to overwhelm the space in some respects. But, yes, nothing like this is hard and fast. I just objected to this notion that painting real wood was somehow architectural or aesthetic heresy that only idiots did. My trim on my 1920s home has always been painted. I know, because the paint peeled down to the wood on a baseboard exposed to water. There's no stain. Unless someone stripped the stain before painting (unlikely), it was painted in 1924 when the baseboards were originally installed. I guess it's possible the baseboards aren't original to the home. I can't know for sure, but they look to be.
The one you show I can see being very grandma-like, because it looks like an old style. I'd rather have the honey-oak kitchen shown than that house.
I was thinking like this:
(http://www.wattsgroup.co/files/images/homes/featured/livingroom_500%5B1%5D%20(2)6758.jpg)
This is pretty common in my area- trim around the doorways and the windowsill being dark, along with the cabinents. So dark trim, doesn't seem grandma to me. Houses around here aren't really heavily wooded. I guess if you also had like a dark crown molding it would be overwhelming (though these houses are really big.)
Neither of these two seem country to me; but the one I show is in Iowa, so maybe someone in New York would think it is country. (That honey oak kitchen above says country to me.)
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Unlike most people, I am not willing to settle for a house that doesn't bring me joy when I am in it.
That can be used to rationalize just about any type of frivolous spending. What board are we on again?
The one that highly encourages lots of DIY construction projects?
Also one that reminds people to spend consciously to create maximum happiness. Lots of people may see their house as 'just a place to sleep and store their crap.' That's great. MMM disagrees with that and chooses to spend more on his house than average. I choose to customize the space that I call 'mine' to a great extent to reflect my needs and my personality and my tastes. It probably seems silly to many, who would view it as a waste of money they could spend polluting the earth with exotic travel. Neither is wrong; people find joy in different places, and I clearly understand mine.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
Really? White appliances will never go out of style? I remember when we moved into this place and people tsk tsked over the white refrigerator. Everyone was replacing their white appliances with stainless steel at the time. And there was a time when people were carpeting over their hardwood floors.
Well, sure. If you watch HGTV everything goes out of style and you remain on the replacement hamster wheel, but no, I wouldn't say white appliances go out of style like stainless steel or avocado.
White is....white, you know? Do you white t-shirts go out of style? Okay, I guess white tennis have gone out of style...sort of. White might not be trendy or on point, but it's not something that goes out of style like a vessel sink or teeny tiny glass tiles or whatever else people will roll their eyes at in a few years.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
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Stop watching HGTV, and get on with your life, and keep in mind that everything that you consider beautiful and trendy today will be out of date and ugly in 20 years.
This is fancy pants talk.
So similar thinking! I'm in a 1950 house that was built cheap and maintained cheap.
The problem is the OPs perspective. "Dated" is ONLY a perspective. Stop comparing your house with whatever influence you are subjecting yourself to.
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Starting to see a pretty clear divide between the people who understand the message to be "stop spending money on stuff that doesn't make you happy" and those who understand the truncated "stop spending money".
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Starting to see a pretty clear divide between the people who understand the message to be "stop spending money on stuff that doesn't make you happy" and those who understand the truncated "stop spending money".
Yeah, but who would listen to a guy who likes to race cars? :P
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
Just had to respond to this notion that white shows everything. That's why I LOVE it. If you could have seen what my oak cabinets looked like when I pulled them off to clean and sand.....it would have made you vomit. And you couldn't see ANY of it when they were hung because the color was an orange-y gold oak. It was eye-opening. Now that they are white, I simply wipe them down as soon as I see them getting spotty and they are clean as a whistle.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
Just had to respond to this notion that white shows everything. That's why I LOVE it. If you could have seen what my oak cabinets looked like when I pulled them off to clean and sand.....it would have made you vomit. And you couldn't see ANY of it when they were hung because the color was an orange-y gold oak. It was eye-opening. Now that they are white, I simply wipe them down as soon as I see them getting spotty and they are clean as a whistle.
My thought too...don't you WANT to see dirt so you can, you know, clean it up?
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One problem with stained trim -- other than the grandma effect, which is real -- is that it makes a house seem smaller. Unless you have a 3,000+ sq ft facepunch-worthy home, it makes sense to optimize lighter colors to make it feel bigger.
Stained trim is a grandma effect? Does it matter what color the stain is?
I would never consider my current house anything "grandma" and all our trim is stained in an ebony color.
I am so confused by what is "stylish" in housing.
I would agree that dark stain doesn't necessarily give the grandma effect, but it does make a home feel country, unless your trim is like this:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/82/92/e9/8292e9cfbb22da1c1638746ab2b7cd13.jpg)
And you need a pretty large home for dark stain not to overwhelm the space in some respects. But, yes, nothing like this is hard and fast. I just objected to this notion that painting real wood was somehow architectural or aesthetic heresy that only idiots did. My trim on my 1920s home has always been painted. I know, because the paint peeled down to the wood on a baseboard exposed to water. There's no stain. Unless someone stripped the stain before painting (unlikely), it was painted in 1924 when the baseboards were originally installed. I guess it's possible the baseboards aren't original to the home. I can't know for sure, but they look to be.
From what I understood of my midwestern 1920s neighborhood, generally common rooms were stained, private rooms (bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom) were painted. In my house (1924) the kitchen was actually painted to look look like real wood. But the common rooms were a higher quality wood and have always been stained. I'm sure different areas had different standards, though.
Regarding the honey oak, do what you wish. Maybe try some treatments to see if you'd like it stained darker. Or paint it (painting trim is really not bad - cupboards are way, way worse to paint). Or don't care. It's really up to you.
Personally, I'd leave it. But I'm not you.
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I 100% feel your pain. I also live in a dated house and it is oak, oak, oak everywhere. Same oak trim and hollow crap doors, and floor to ceiling oak in the kitchen. It drives me nuts and I have considered all of the things you have...paint it white? Honestly this would be an endless task...there must be a mile of oak baseboards and trim. Change the doors to something nicer? but that still goes with oak and will match what we want in the future? What to do?!?! For myself, I have settled on option B) Do nothing and just live with it. I have learned that I like my home best when it is is clean and tidy and that the 'enjoyment' of upgrading is very short lived for the amount it costs. The 5 K that I would spend on updating the baseboards and doors would not bring me lasting happiness so until I can really afford it, we aren't doing anything (and since we aren't moving, catering for re-sale is a non-issue). Right now, I am working on a big gallery wall to freshen up our oaken living room by collecting cool things and planning an interesting layout. Once this is done, I am hoping it will distract me (and any potential visitors) LOL! Good luck with whatever you decide!
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
Just had to respond to this notion that white shows everything. That's why I LOVE it. If you could have seen what my oak cabinets looked like when I pulled them off to clean and sand.....it would have made you vomit. And you couldn't see ANY of it when they were hung because the color was an orange-y gold oak. It was eye-opening. Now that they are white, I simply wipe them down as soon as I see them getting spotty and they are clean as a whistle.
My thought too...don't you WANT to see dirt so you can, you know, clean it up?
Honestly? No.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
I vote B. Do what can you and enjoy the ride with family & friends.
My house is in the best location in a very high cost of living area on a double lot.
It sounds very similar to your place with the exception my outdated extends back to 1960.
When I first walked through it, I felt transported back to the time of leisure suits with swinger parties in the basement bar.
Yes there was a basement bar.
One of the reason I bought it was because it needed work & was priced accordingly.
Homes in this neighborhood sell in a week. I have done a lot of sweat equity picking my battles carefully.
I hope you are able to embrace the imperfections. I have discovered not many of my neighbors or friends even care.
They are too busy thinking of themselves.
If they are comparing my place to theirs, I am sure it dissipates once they drive 30 minutes in horrible traffic back to their place.
Good luck
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
Just had to respond to this notion that white shows everything. That's why I LOVE it. If you could have seen what my oak cabinets looked like when I pulled them off to clean and sand.....it would have made you vomit. And you couldn't see ANY of it when they were hung because the color was an orange-y gold oak. It was eye-opening. Now that they are white, I simply wipe them down as soon as I see them getting spotty and they are clean as a whistle.
My thought too...don't you WANT to see dirt so you can, you know, clean it up?
Honestly? No.
(https://imagemacros.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/family_guy_thats_nasty1.jpg)
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@iowajes - To each his own, but that dark stained craftsman style is incredible to me. I get happy every time I walk in a home like that that. The problem is that most houses aren't that beautifully maintained and large.
Mind you, in the other home you linked to, the dark stain looks nice, but that's a miniscule amount of trim. In a closed floor plan like mine, that dark stain would overwhelm the eye.
It's clear that some people are more affected by little details in a home than other people. I would much rather drop 17K on a bathroom than go on vacations for the next ten years. Yes, we spent 17K on a bathroom this year, but that included a gut down to the joists, all new plumbing, new ductwork, new windows in three different rooms, and lots of other add ons. The style is classic. It will never need to be redone again in my lifetime.
I spend money on my home because it's where I am all damned day long. If that makes me antimustachian, so be it.
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See the dirt, yes. See it so clearly that every little thing has to be wiped the instant it is there - no. I know someone who had a gorgeous house built, with dark bathroom sinks - she loved the look, hated the upkeep, because every little thing (speck of lint, toothpaste) showed on them.
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking.
Country-looking...that's probably the exact reason that I like it.
I hate white...nothing like choosing the absolutely WORST option for something that shows dirt and every type of grime!
Just had to respond to this notion that white shows everything. That's why I LOVE it. If you could have seen what my oak cabinets looked like when I pulled them off to clean and sand.....it would have made you vomit. And you couldn't see ANY of it when they were hung because the color was an orange-y gold oak. It was eye-opening. Now that they are white, I simply wipe them down as soon as I see them getting spotty and they are clean as a whistle.
My thought too...don't you WANT to see dirt so you can, you know, clean it up?
Honestly? No.
(https://imagemacros.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/family_guy_thats_nasty1.jpg)
It's really not that bad. My favorite hobby is backpacking, which requires me to, quite literally, sit in dirt when I eat my meals, so having a little bit of dirt in my kitchen doesn't really phase me in the slightest.
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From what I understood of my midwestern 1920s neighborhood, generally common rooms were stained, private rooms (bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom) were painted. In my house (1924) the kitchen was actually painted to look look like real wood. But the common rooms were a higher quality wood and have always been stained. I'm sure different areas had different standards, though.
Interesting! It's possible I'm simplifying matters, and like other touches I've noticed on my home compared to the neighbors' homes built at the same time, different homeowners might have chosen different finishes from day one.
I wish my house had the original cabinets. I love the homes in the area that kept those. We yanked out the original marble hex in the bathroom because the floor had been cracked and damaged over the years beyond repair. Plus we had to access the plumbing underneath and repair the damaged joists. It's such a treasure hunt in these old homes seeing all the style changes over the years and peeling back the layers of aesthetic trends.
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@iowajes - To each his own, but that dark stained craftsman style is incredible to me. I get happy every time I walk in a home like that that. The problem is that most houses aren't that beautifully maintained and large.
Mind you, in the other home you linked to, the dark stain looks nice, but that's a miniscule amount of trim. In a closed floor plan like mine, that dark stain would overwhelm the eye.
I spend money on my home because it's where I am all damned day long. If that makes me antimustachian, so be it.
It would be nearly impossible to find a house like the one you showed around here, unless you got one of the historic homes. Hence when someone says "dark trim"- I think something very very different from what you think about when they say "dark trim". It's one of the problems with forums- we think we are talking about the same thing, but might not be. (Although the kitchen posted for honey oak is exactly what I was thinking about, and I don't see a problem with that. It's not dated in the way I think of when I think dated. In that case I think of this:
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLT5KT830xmlK7gfPqQuusowhwUmcqFJ-IWVhLg7I9W1l9RNl-RQ)
There is no way I'd just 'live' with that. If the OP feels the same way about the honey oak, no wonder s/he wants to get rid of it!)
My spending on my house is very antimustachian. And I know it. My house is way to big for the number of people who live there. But I'm a homebody and like a house in a well maintained, safe neighborhood, and I'm happy with it.
If the OP wants to pay to get rid of it, yay. If he wants to DIY to get rid of it, yay. But he also asked if he should just get used to it, and a lot of people (myself included) have chimed in that that's what we would do.
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The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else.
The whole thread hasn't agreed on that; I certainly didn't when I posted early, so it seems an odd thing to summarize as "everyone".
I don't see any problem with honey oak. It never once occured to me that my house was dated due to the oak trim when I lived there (purchased in 2005, built in 1995). Rather my problem was the shoddy construction because the damn thing was practically falling down.
Yeah, me either. I don't particularly *like* honey oak trim. But like I said before, my parents have it in their house, and I don't hate it. If it was good quality wood, I wouldn't change it or paint over it. If it's veneer or poor quality, well, that's different.
My wood floors in my house are pretty close to honey oak color. Even though it's not my favorite color, it's the color that they were (mostly). If I were to design a house from scratch, it would look a lot different than the colors in my house, but I went with the feel of the house (it's small, and old, built in 1947. It's cute.)
It also had brass fixtures everywhere. Half of them are still there. We've only made changes as things have broken.
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It's not dated in the way I think of when I think dated. In that case I think of this:
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLT5KT830xmlK7gfPqQuusowhwUmcqFJ-IWVhLg7I9W1l9RNl-RQ)
There is no way I'd just 'live' with that. If the OP feels the same way about the honey oak, no wonder s/he wants to get rid of it!)
Yes... this is the exact category golden oak falls into...
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I actually don't see much wrong with the kitchen. Yeah, it's a little boring. I don't much care for the countertop/ tile. (Not a fan of the wood front in the counter top). I'd lose the little curtain (too country for me).
But otherwise? It's twice the size of my kitchen, which means it looks FANTASTIC.
The only thing that REALLY turns me off about a kitchen is if it's too small and doesn't have a dishwasher!
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From what I understood of my midwestern 1920s neighborhood, generally common rooms were stained, private rooms (bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom) were painted. In my house (1924) the kitchen was actually painted to look look like real wood. But the common rooms were a higher quality wood and have always been stained. I'm sure different areas had different standards, though.
Interesting! It's possible I'm simplifying matters, and like other touches I've noticed on my home compared to the neighbors' homes built at the same time, different homeowners might have chosen different finishes from day one.
I wish my house had the original cabinets. I love the homes in the area that kept those. We yanked out the original marble hex in the bathroom because the floor had been cracked and damaged over the years beyond repair. Plus we had to access the plumbing underneath and repair the damaged joists. It's such a treasure hunt in these old homes seeing all the style changes over the years and peeling back the layers of aesthetic trends.
Yes, people definitely chose different finishes.
I feel you on the hex tile! When we partially remodeled our bathroom a couple of years ago, after we laid the new floor we discovered hex under about 3 layers of floor. It's still under there. Maybe we'll unearth it one day :)
And we have what I think may have been original upper cabinets in our kitchen and they're not great - they're nothing like those inset cabinets with the exposed hinges I see in other houses. So maybe yours were horrible too so you'd have nothing to feel bad about?
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
Really? White appliances will never go out of style? I remember when we moved into this place and people tsk tsked over the white refrigerator. Everyone was replacing their white appliances with stainless steel at the time. And there was a time when people were carpeting over their hardwood floors.
We replaced our interior doors. Because at some point (prob 60s/70s), a previous owner put in shag carpet. And then cut 1-2 inches off the bottom of the bedroom doors (and badly/ unevenly).
Then at a later point, the carpets were removed and hardwood refinished. But still the 1-2 inch gaps in the bottom of the doors.
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Ugh- I hate hex tile.
I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
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Ugh- I hate hex tile.
I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
Usually to find wood under carpet you're going to be in a house where you might risk running into some hex tile ;)
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I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
Nothing magical about it. We knew it was under there when we bought the house.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
We bought our house 8 years ago in a fantastic school district/inner ring suburb of a metro area. The location couldn't be better...central, close to dh work, trails-a-plenty, parks, etc. We love it.
The house itself was built in 1995. Typical suburban neighborhood....cookie-cutter, etc. We love the layout of the house and have steadily made inexpensive improvements over the years. We've re-finished the honey-oak kitchen cabinets (they had put granite and a nice backsplash in before we bought it), re-finished all of the oak bathroom cabinets, upgraded all of the light fixtures, bathroom faucets/fixtures, added nice mirrors to bathrooms, painted, etc.
It's an improvement....but still looks SO dated. We have honey oak trim all over the goddamn place, oak built-ins/surround around the fireplace, cheap hollow oak doors with brass door handles, oak bannisters to our open staircase, etc. I honestly wish I had the time to paint every inch of oak in this house....but I don't. We have 20 foot ceilings and 2nd story windows in our family room....so getting up there to paint the trim isn't happening. We are saving right now for new carpet....so hiring someone to update all of this isn't in the budget (we also just replaced windows and some siding).
Is there anything we can do to help this yuck situation? Should I just live with it? I'm wondering about buying nicer doors and hardware for them (Handles and hinges)....but would that be crazy expensive? And would I have to go buy OAK doors to match the trim since I can't paint it all?
I guess I'm just wondering if there are options that I am not considering to take our house out of the 90's. It embarrasses me a little (I know, it shouldn't).
I feel you. My kitchen and bathroom are of similar vintage. Some people aren't bothered by the aesthetics of their environments....I am. For now (possibly indefinitely, since I am cheap) I just live with it. Try to remember the hedonic treadmill: you would get used to a new kitchen and look for more things to make you happy, ad infinatum. If you need a reminder, think of another big purchase you made in the past: how much happiness does it bring you now, really?
Do your best not to be embarrassed by the dated look: think of the things that you have that aren't visible (like your growing 401k balance). Realize that our expectations have been inflated by HGTV/Architectural Digest/Dwell and that your life doesn't need to look like that. Eyes on the big prize! Sometimes I find it's helpful to list all of the things I have to be grateful for. When I do that, I realize that I pretty much couldn't possibly ask for more from life, which is a position of incredible privilege.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
I think the most straightforward path to (b) is to adopt a hobby or pastime that soaks away your available disposable income. :) I guess I have as much concern about a "dated" kitchen as I do about my "dated" car. If it's safe and functional, I wouldn't care if either was from the 90s.
And I know it's hard to believe, but if pink-tiled bathrooms can make a retro chic comeback, there's nothing stopping honey oak kitchen cabinets from becoming celebrated again.
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I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
Nothing magical about it. We knew it was under there when we bought the house.
On HGTV people always seem shocked. I used to think the show planted it there, after installing it so they didn't have to count it toward the discount budget, but got a drastic reveal.
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Why not try to view the house as historic? People don't think about the fact that the 1990's are just as much a part of history as the 1890's. I know it's hard to think about the comparison between a 1990's tract house and an old Victorian, but a lot of amazing old Victorian buildings were torn down in the 50's and 60's for being "dated."
I have a house that is straight out of 1958. I've been saying for the 7 years we've been there that 1958 is a part of history, too, but now my neighborhood is probably going to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Your house and neighborhood are already 20 years down that path.
On top of that, updating seems like a never ending treadmill like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time you get through updating the house from one end to the other, the room you originally started in will be dated again.
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If it's in good condition, I don't touch it. My friends are so used to my eccentricity that they would not blink an eye at an avocado bathroom suite. My first house had a kitchen where the doors had yellow wicker-look laminate inserts. No problem. I sanded, used an oil-based primer and painted both the laminate insert and the wood surround. No one was ever the wiser.
As far as painting wood goes, so much depends on the quality of the wood, the character of the house, and the look you are going for. I just stayed in a Craftsman-style Air BNB. The wood had been beautifully restored to a honey color. It would have been a travesty to paint it. But the post WWII split level we had in NJ had low-quality pine trim. When we moved in, about half of the trim had been painted white and looked so much better than the original.
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Have you checked out the local http://www.habitat.org/restores in your area. You can find great deals and gently used and new furniture, appliances, home accessories, building materials and more to the public at a fraction of the retail price.
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I am just looking for suggestions on how to either a) inexpensively update a few things in my house...or, b) not give a shit.
I think the most straightforward path to (b) is to adopt a hobby or pastime that soaks away your available disposable income. :) I guess I have as much concern about a "dated" kitchen as I do about my "dated" car. If it's safe and functional, I wouldn't care if either was from the 90s.
And I know it's hard to believe, but if pink-tiled bathrooms can make a retro chic comeback, there's nothing stopping honey oak kitchen cabinets from becoming celebrated again.
Ironically, our two old, basic cars don't bother me one bit. Trying to take that approach here, too.
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Ugh- I hate hex tile.
I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
Usually to find wood under carpet you're going to be in a house where you might risk running into some hex tile ;)
LOL
Aside from liking the aesthetic of hex and other smaller sized tiles, they just have longevity on their side. Larger tiles are more likely to crack and need to be replaced more often. If you have unglazed porcelain hex installed properly in your bathroom, it will outlast you.
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I am attaching pictures of my 70s kitchen before we moved in and then after we painted. It is not a dream kitchen, but a little paint did make my whole house for feel more liveable. The Harvest Gold counters were pristine, but oh, so ugly. We did keep the original oven. It is retro cool works great.
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Ugh- I hate hex tile.
I also wish I lived in one of those homes where you take up carpet and magically find wood floors. We did take up carpet once and find some ugly linoleum.
Usually to find wood under carpet you're going to be in a house where you might risk running into some hex tile ;)
LOL
Aside from liking the aesthetic of hex and other smaller sized tiles, they just have longevity on their side. Larger tiles are more likely to crack and need to be replaced more often. If you have unglazed porcelain hex installed properly in your bathroom, it will outlast you.
I just hope that my air-step vinyl lasts until I move!
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Trim and paint is super easy and cheap to DIY. Painting trim takes no time at all. You could do a room a week in just an hour or so after work every night. Then hire someone to paint the high stuff (should be just a couple hundred $$). It's way too ridiculously easy to fix to live with if you don't like it.
So look at your house, see that in the wood-colored wood you hate that there is 6 months worth of retirement, and smile.
6 months?!? One could probably do an entire house's worth of trim with 1-2 gallons of paint ($100) and a couple $5 brushes. What are you on about?
I'm on about hiring someone to do it, which would probably be necessarily, or at least the way OP choose to do it, because of the height of the ceilings. IDK the OP's age, but with compounding and a low monthly spending, that seems feasible.
And again, my recommendation was to DIY the 98% of it the OP could reach, and only hire out the parts that couldn't be reached. I can't see why this whole project can't cost <$500. And for that money, I can't see not doing something that would make one's house more pleasing to one's self. We aren't talking about a $50k kitchen renno here.
Edit: fixed tags
It doesn't take 50k, or even 10k, to fund 6 months of future retirement. And so maybe it's only 3 months. The point remains. OP can look at the unpainted trim and see the freedom he is purchasing by keeping it, and that can mentally help him with the decision and the mental conflict. Jesus. Nitpicking.
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I HATED my bathroom vanities. They were builder grade white countertops and sinks. I became obsessed with putting in marble and new faucets. I had two different size vanities in the master bath. My husband's sink was 6 inches shorter than mine and I had to have matching marble. Well, after researching and waiting for sales for 6 months (I could get one cheap but the other one was always super expensive - drove me NUTS). Finally, I ordered the sinks and matching beautiful faucets and sucked up that the shorter vanity was a few hundred more.
The bathrooms are finished (we installed everything ourselves, super easy) and now weeks later, I find that I don't even really care. The new sinks are nice enough, but it didn't change anything really.
My perception for months was that my bathroom sucked because of white sinks and ugly silver faucets. Found out, sinks don't really matter that much.
I'm not upset that I spent the money, but it changed my perception of other things in the house. I no longer care about the linoleum in the kitchen. It's perfectly fine and I have no interest in upgrading anything anymore.
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Whoa, boy, I am sorry I didn't see this thread sooner...
I have used this site for two houses in the last year and am about to start on another one. And if you're going to replace the knobs, change the damn hinges as well. Hidden hinges are key to updating your old cabinets.
http://www.99centknobs.com/search/hardware/knobs
If you decide to paint your cabinets, it should be required when you buy the paint that you swear out an oath to do the proper prep. Just painting the cabinets with improper/lazy ass prep means your job will look like crap to all but the least trained eye. Start by reading this series:
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2014/05/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets/
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2013/08/caulk-and-painting/
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2013/08/the-after-cabinet-photos/
You're welcome! But if the cabinet pulls I want are out of stock at 99 Cent Knobs, I'm going to know it was you...
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Whoa, boy, I am sorry I didn't see this thread sooner...
I have used this site for two houses in the last year and am about to start on another one. And if you're going to replace the knobs, change the damn hinges as well. Hidden hinges are key to updating your old cabinets.
http://www.99centknobs.com/search/hardware/knobs
If you decide to paint your cabinets, it should be required when you buy the paint that you swear out an oath to do the proper prep. Just painting the cabinets with improper/lazy ass prep means your job will look like crap to all but the least trained eye. Start by reading this series:
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2014/05/how-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets/
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2013/08/caulk-and-painting/
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2013/08/the-after-cabinet-photos/
You're welcome! But if the cabinet pulls I want are out of stock at 99 Cent Knobs, I'm going to know it was you...
Awesome links. I got to the part where it said they spent 40 hours repainting....that's all I needed to know I'll never repaint my own kitchen cabinets!
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It took me about 80 hours to paint my cabinets if you count every step. Remove, clean, sand, prime, sand, prime, paint, paint, paint, hardware, spray paint hinges, hang.
I did a better job than most professionals would do......and that's a big reason I don't want to start on the rest! ;)
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The one thing everyone on this thread has agreed is that honey oak is terrible, and should be replaced with basically anything else. .
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Nope, I think honey oak is very pretty and cozy feeling.
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When we sold our apartment we spent about 5 days gutting and refinishing large portions of it in preparation for sale. I literally walked out the door carrying the last bag of garbage as the first people walked in for the open house.
I spent a lot of that time repainting the kitchen cupboards. They looked wonderful, fresh and bright. I suspect they helped sell the place (which was actually bought by those first people whom I passed in the hall). And the first thing they did was GUT the kitchen and build new cabinets.
So they very likely paid more because of the psychological effect the freshly painted space had on them when they walked in. And then immediately changed it to their satisfaction.
Before I get too smug I have to remind myself that I did much the same thing with our current house. And that which I haven't finished likely won't get completely done until we sell and move on - whenever that might be.
So don't sweat a place looking 'dated' - anything you do will look dated by the time you want to sell. Maybe fix things up to look fancy when selling, but don't rush it or you'll have to do it twice. Otherwise just tinker away at making your house a happy, comfortable place while you are in it.
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Um, those aren't even close to oak. Looks like maple? I would be thrilled with those!
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those aren't even oak, let alone honey oak.
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
I would vote maple.
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
I would vote maple.
So medium stained wood is ok as long as it's not oak? Why?
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
I would vote maple.
I always think of maple as really light- but yeah, could be if a different stain was used. It has a really smooth grain like maple often does.
Could be a lot of things with the right stain, but that grain is definitely not oak. I'd vote laminate before I went with oak.
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
I would vote maple.
So medium stained wood is ok as long as it's not oak? Why?
Some people (like my MIL, whose house is like what I picture the OP describing) absolutely love oak. I'm biased in the opposite direction--I see it as ubiquitous builder-grade crap. When we bought our current house, it had new honey oak cabinets...builder-grade crap. I've lived with those cabinets for 12 years. Currently in the process of a full kitchen remodel. It's costing a fortune, but it'll be nice, and I will no longer hate my kitchen.
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Some people (like my MIL, whose house is like what I picture the OP describing) absolutely love oak. I'm biased in the opposite direction--I see it as ubiquitous builder-grade crap. When we bought our current house, it had new honey oak cabinets...builder-grade crap. I've lived with those cabinets for 12 years. Currently in the process of a full kitchen remodel. It's costing a fortune, but it'll be nice, and I will no longer hate my kitchen.
You've got a nice builder if your builder grade gets you real wood :) (Of course laminate honey oak is probably even worse if you truly hate it!)
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Some people (like my MIL, whose house is like what I picture the OP describing) absolutely love oak. I'm biased in the opposite direction--I see it as ubiquitous builder-grade crap. When we bought our current house, it had new honey oak cabinets...builder-grade crap. I've lived with those cabinets for 12 years. Currently in the process of a full kitchen remodel. It's costing a fortune, but it'll be nice, and I will no longer hate my kitchen.
You've got a nice builder if your builder grade gets you real wood :) (Of course laminate honey oak is probably even worse if you truly hate it!)
Only the cabinet doors were real wood.
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Some people (like my MIL, whose house is like what I picture the OP describing) absolutely love oak. I'm biased in the opposite direction--I see it as ubiquitous builder-grade crap. When we bought our current house, it had new honey oak cabinets...builder-grade crap. I've lived with those cabinets for 12 years. Currently in the process of a full kitchen remodel. It's costing a fortune, but it'll be nice, and I will no longer hate my kitchen.
[/quote]
My kitchen cabinets are over 60 years old, and I have lived with them for many years. I didn't like them at first, but have come to be very fond of them. They were never builder grade, though. They also aren't oak, but they are a similar shade. I'm guessing after 12 years you probably aren't going to change your mind. :)
[/quote]
Yes, I believe you are correct. I tried. :)
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
But white cabinets and appliances DO go out of style. They were out of style in the 60's/70's, because that's what Grandma's kitchen had in the 40's/50's. And subway tile is so trendy and ubiquitous right now that I absolutely do think it will go out of style at some point, pretty much the minute that everyone has used it for their kitchen backsplash. ;-)
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I guess it's also worth mentioning.....I've seen honey oak in homes that isn't as bad as ours. I attached a similar oak below. I can't imagine anyone actually LIKING this look.....but I can see people ignoring it and living with it. Like I said, I painted my kitchen cabinets white and updated all of the hardware and it looks beautiful. And honestly, it did make me happy...superficial or not. But the trim is just so substantial.....it would take me forever. Not to mention having to paint the windows too.
I guess I must be nuts...I really don't understand what's wrong with that kitchen?
It's builder grade looking and -- for lack of a better term -- country looking. And people seem to have this idea that oak automatically equals good quality. That's not necessarily true.
Obviously this is all a matter of opinion. I would be fine with that kitchen, but if I were to design a kitchen from scratch? No way. White cabinets are classic and will never go out of style. I have ugly ass 1990s cheap white MDF cabinets in my kitchen with black formica, and I still might take it over that kitchen aesthetically.
Aesthetically these are the things I think never go out of style: white anything (appliances, tile, cabinets, carpet, etc.), hardwood, and subway tile (preferably white), crown molding. Everything else is liable to look bad in 20 years, but if you like it? Who cares, really. Put in what you like.
But white cabinets and appliances DO go out of style. They were out of style in the 60's/70's, because that's what Grandma's kitchen had in the 40's/50's. And subway tile is so trendy and ubiquitous right now that I absolutely do think it will go out of style at some point, pretty much the minute that everyone has used it for their kitchen backsplash. ;-)
See I just don't agree, as evidenced by how many white subway style bathrooms have survived in homes and other types of construction all over the country. And I guarantee you white fridges have sold steadily since fridges first went on the market, despite whatever trend came and went in the meantime. Why? Because white goes with everything. It looks clean.
No, neither of these might be the height of fashion in 10 years, but it won't be considered like one would consider avocado appliances. It wouldn't be a "What the hell were we thinking?" kind of choice to make.
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I agree with all those that have chosen option B. I use to care (a little) about that sort of thing.
I use to live in a wonderful 4 bed, 3 bath house, built in the 1980's. We downsized and bought a house built in the 50's. 3 bed, 1 bath. I hated it for 6 years, but the location was great. Finally I have grown up and actually don't care anymore. No one else really cares what YOUR house is like, they are just concerned about their own.
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Regarding subway tile: I read an article recently for which the writer interviewed several designers. All but one agreed that subway tile will never go out of style. And since the article was on the internet, it must be true.
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I love subway tile and am considering it for a backsplash.
Many kitchen designers think granite and stainless steel are pretty much "out". I have to agree, they've been done to death. My house is the same vintage of me (circa 1976), and there were a number of aesthetic elements that discouraged me when we first moved in. Over time, pretty much every surface has been touched, a lot of it be me or with help from friends and it now feels like "my" house. Like a lot of people, my surroundings are important to me. The most expensive thing I did was flooring, cork tiles for the kitchen and baths, bamboo everywhere else, and it made a huge difference. The rest was mostly paint (after stripping wallpaper in several rooms) and some laminate countertops.
I like houses of many different eras, but there is something about 1990s construction that doesn't really appeal: the high ceilings, super open plan, tons of brass and teal, etched glass, etc. OP I feel your pain and hope you find ways to make changes that work within your budget. There is something satisfying about DIY projects, the combined $$ savings and improved skill set is a double bonus.
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Regarding subway tile: I read an article recently for which the writer interviewed several designers. All but one agreed that subway tile will never go out of style. And since the article was on the internet, it must be true.
Style: possibly true. Popularity: guaranteed to wax and wane.
Our parents and grandparents covered up their hardwood floors because they were somehow convinced that carpet was more "prestigious". Hmmm, sounds like stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...
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My parents taught me a good lesson when they re-did their kitchen in 1994. Cabinets are the one thing that are hard to change, so do them right. That means wood (not MDF) boxes and make it in something that is pleasing to just about anyone and any era. Their cherry cabinets look as appealing now as they did when they put them in. They got a new countertop a few years ago (a medium colored granite, repalcing the vinyl countertop that was starting to wear through), new appliances, and new cabinet hardware (switching from brass to stainless) and now it looks brand new.
My wife's family has a nearly identical kitchen. Theirs was built a full 10 years later, and same as ours, looks fantastic. If they were to upgrade the appliances and the counter, they'd have an easy sell for that house.
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If stainless steel appliances are on their way out, what replaces them in a white kitchen?
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If stainless steel appliances are on their way out, what replaces them in a white kitchen?
People have been saying stainless steel is a fad and will be passe soon for about a decade. They can never explain what to buy instead.
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If stainless steel appliances are on their way out, what replaces them in a white kitchen?
I have white appliances with white cabinets and a dark soapstone countertop. Light and airy. Makes my heart sing :-)
What other color appliance would you do with a white kitchen?
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If stainless steel appliances are on their way out, what replaces them in a white kitchen?
I have white appliances with white cabinets and a dark soapstone countertop. Light and airy. Makes my heart sing :-)
What other color appliance would you do with a white kitchen?
Ours are black. Light cabinets, light backsplash, dark granite and black appliances. I still prefer the look of stainless but we have black because it's what was here...and it's not bad.
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If stainless steel appliances are on their way out, what replaces them in a white kitchen?
I have white appliances with white cabinets and a dark soapstone countertop. Light and airy. Makes my heart sing :-)
What other color appliance would you do with a white kitchen?
Ours are black. Light cabinets, light backsplash, dark granite and black appliances. I still prefer the look of stainless but we have black because it's what was here...and it's not bad.
We have a white kitchen (love it) with stainless appliances. Reason for stainless: they were on a better sale than the white ones, and we saved a few hundred in comparison. Always makes me laugh when people comment on how we went "high-end" and got stainless!
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Too funny! Personally I dislike stainless and white was on sale when I was looking so it worked out wonderfully :-)
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I think your house should look the way that is important to you, not according to trends or what you think others would approve of. My house is new (2014), but I "live" in my house and I like color. Most of my friends/neighbors have houses that are decorated like something from a magazine. I was worried when I started inviting them over that they would think mine was awful. A long time friend (who lives in the neighborhood and has a magazine worthy house) said that, if they make not nice comments, they are NIB - not invited back. I quit worrying after that and my house is for me and my kids to enjoy, not to show off. If they are truly my friend, they are coming to see me and not my house.
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You are right that painting all of that trim is a lot of work.
How about just painting the walls in a complementary colour that you love, that reduces the impact of the oak?
Then add fresh flowers to the room you are in the most.
Presto! Eye diverted, weekends saved from painting trim.
http://www.createlivity.com/2014/02/5-ways-to-make-oak-work-without.html (http://www.createlivity.com/2014/02/5-ways-to-make-oak-work-without.html)
This is the same trick people use when they don't want to paint brick fireplaces.
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Hey what color are MMM's brand new cabinets? Are these too dark to be honey oak? I think they look great.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mm-kitchen.jpg
Those don't even look oak to me, much less honey oak.
Maybe chestnut, mahogany, or teak?
I would vote maple.
So medium stained wood is ok as long as it's not oak? Why?
So many reasons... And golden oak is hardly a medium stain, in my experience.
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I think your house should look the way that is important to you, not according to trends or what you think others would approve of. My house is new (2014), but I "live" in my house and I like color. Most of my friends/neighbors have houses that are decorated like something from a magazine. I was worried when I started inviting them over that they would think mine was awful. A long time friend (who lives in the neighborhood and has a magazine worthy house) said that, if they make not nice comments, they are NIB - not invited back. I quit worrying after that and my house is for me and my kids to enjoy, not to show off. If they are truly my friend, they are coming to see me and not my house.
I think that's a great attitude to have. As long as one's house makes the owner's happy, that is what matters most. If someone thinks that 1995 was the greatest year of American interior design, that golden oak trim and 'bisque'-coloured appliances and wood-trimmed laminate countertops look fantastic and make them happy every time they walk into their kitchen, that's great. But I would never hold anyone back from personalizing their space to match their individual tastes, even if those tastes weren't mine.
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I was telling my wife about this thread and she laughed. We purchased our house knowing that the kitchen was pretty ugly, and that we would have to redo it at some point. It's fully functional, just really really ugly.
We have beige melamine cabinets with dark wood trim at the bottom that is used as the handle. Off white tile floor. Pink tile backsplash. The fridge is white, the dishwasher is stainless steel, and the stove is black/stainless steel. The microwave is wood paneled. The previous owners painted the walls a light shade of purple . . . and we didn't even bother repainting that because of how bad everything else looked. :P
Meh. You get used to it after a while. That said, my first job post-ER will be ripping the whole kitchen apart and making it awesome.
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I was telling my wife about this thread and she laughed. We purchased our house knowing that the kitchen was pretty ugly, and that we would have to redo it at some point. It's fully functional, just really really ugly.
We have beige melamine cabinets with dark wood trim at the bottom that is used as the handle. Off white tile floor. Pink tile backsplash. The fridge is white, the dishwasher is stainless steel, and the stove is black/stainless steel. The microwave is wood paneled. The previous owners painted the walls a light shade of purple . . . and we didn't even bother repainting that because of how bad everything else looked. :P
Meh. You get used to it after a while. That said, my first job post-ER will be ripping the whole kitchen apart and making it awesome.
Picture?
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Meh. You get used to it after a while.
Almost everything we said we "had to fix to be willing to live here" about our first house was still the same when we moved 8 years later. After 4 years we did change the disgusting carpet to laminate floors. And right before we moved we changed the laminate bathroom counter tops and sinks to nice marble ones a relative gave us free. But everything else was just as ugly as when we moved in.
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Meh. You get used to it after a while.
Almost everything we said we "had to fix to be willing to live here" about our first house was still the same when we moved 8 years later. After 4 years we did change the disgusting carpet to laminate floors. And right before we moved we changed the laminate bathroom counter tops and sinks to nice marble ones a relative gave us free. But everything else was just as ugly as when we moved in.
Hedonic adaptation! People can adapt to almost anything; in reality a countertop pattern probably isn't that big of a deal.
I've found the same tendency in my life to adjust to habits or situations that aren't efficient or ideal; it's taken me a lot of work sometimes to overcome that adaptation and make a change for the better.
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Having seen some of the places my sister lived in China as well as having lived personally in Central America and having grown up in a lower middle class/borderline poor family, it takes a lot for me to consider changing a perfectly functional kitchen with working appliances and plenty of storage space. (This to me falls under the same category as getting a new car every 2 years. My cars are "dated", too.) I don't remember ANY of my parents or their friends doing stuff like that when I was growing up. I mean, cosmetically, most things just aren't that bad, and plenty of people outside (and inside) the US would think we are utterly batshit crazy for spending thousands and thousands of dollars on cosmetic "updates" and throwing away perfectly good cabinets and appliances. I mean, I have a refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, and tons of storage space. No holes in the floors. It's honey oak, but so what? What I have in my kitchen is unbelievably awesome compared to so many places. I'd have to be considerably more wealthy than I am now to consider changing it (or things would have to break/deteriorate for several more years before I'd feel it was worth changing). And my household has $1 million in net worth. I suspect the reason we have no mortgage and a reasonable net worth is because we're not blowing $17k on bathroom updates and so forth like so many of my friends. Almost every day I wake up and am so thankful for the absolute (honey oak) luxury that I am living in.
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Having seen some of the places my sister lived in China as well as having lived personally in Central America and having grown up in a lower middle class/borderline poor family, it takes a lot for me to consider changing a perfectly functional kitchen with working appliances and plenty of storage space. (This to me falls under the same category as getting a new car every 2 years. My cars are "dated", too.) I don't remember ANY of my parents or their friends doing stuff like that when I was growing up. I mean, cosmetically, most things just aren't that bad, and plenty of people outside (and inside) the US would think we are utterly batshit crazy for spending thousands and thousands of dollars on cosmetic "updates" and throwing away perfectly good cabinets and appliances. I mean, I have a refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, and tons of storage space. No holes in the floors. It's honey oak, but so what? What I have in my kitchen is unbelievably awesome compared to so many places. I'd have to be considerably more wealthy than I am now to consider changing it (or things would have to break/deteriorate for several more years before I'd feel it was worth changing). And my household has $1 million in net worth. I suspect the reason we have no mortgage and a reasonable net worth is because we're not blowing $17k on bathroom updates and so forth like so many of my friends. Almost every day I wake up and am so thankful for the absolute (honey oak) luxury that I am living in.
+1. For me it's gloriously knotty pine.
On top of that most American kitchens were probably considered nice when they were built or last remodeled. Try to see what they saw in it back then. If things are really really worn, that's one thing, but if it's still in half-way decent shape, updating is a money pit.
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And I completely agree that where you live should make you happy - but you have to acknowledge that it costs money, and whatever you pick is going to be out of style in 20 years. So, pick what you love (and for some people, that's going to be what's cheap because they'd rather spend money on something besides kitchen cabinets) and go on loving it. Don't love it because it's on trend, because that will break your heart...
We're remodelling the kitchen this summer, the last of our Big Projects. I only wish my kitchen was from the 90's - that would be about 40 years less dated than what we've got. It's annoying because there's not enough cabinet and counter space, and things are actually falling apart, but I've certainly appreciated it's cost effectiveness all these years.
And we're going to hickory cabinets. My dh hates white stuff.
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We've been in our home, also built in 1995, since 1999. At this point, we've remodeled or upgraded everything.
Like technology, anything you update will be dated soon. The good thing is if you don't obsess about it and it doesn't look hideous, you'll be fine. For instance, when we updated our kitchen in 2006, we replaced the counter tops, appliances and floor, but stuck with our white cabinets, which were fairly unusual at the time. As we added built-in cabinets in the family room (2007) and updated bathrooms (2012) and (2014), we added or replaced with the same white cabinet doors. Lo and behold, everyone wants white now.
When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
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When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
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I own a 1950's house in original condition right down to the mint green kitchen tiles and blue and pink bathrooms with original fixtures. I am in the" don't give a shit" category. Not only don't I care what other people think, I personally like the retro look. And the fact that everything is practically indestructible sort of a nuclear blast means it'll look just as good in another 60 years. So if you like what you have or would rather spend your money on other things I'd not do any upgrades except as needed or to improve function and upgrade the systems.
Feel the same way. We just bought a home from an original owner that has been completely untouched since built in 1958-1959. Because she kept everything in meticulous order, everything works perfectly and is in fabulous condition. We wanted an untouched home, not a cheap crap thing that we could buy at the big box stores. It has a pink bathroom (mind you, back in the 50's, pink was not considered feminine at the time like it is now), a pink & aqua bathroom. The kitchen has so much spacious wood cabinets that close tight (a pet peeve of mine). It is a joy to cook in. So much space. Original wall oven works perfectly and the stove gets hotter than any original electric one I have ever used. They look like something out of the Jetsons and Space Age from the goal of getting a man to the moon. Did I mention the white glitter formica countertops? This house has so much spunk, the layout is so well thought out, such quality materials, and easy to clean.
I realize others may come in and think outdated. Oh well. It is midcentury modest and the trend is growing (check out Pam and Kate over at Retro Renovation dot com fore more appreciation).
Our neighborhood unfortunately has a lot of developers coming in and ripping out the charming small homes and putting in these monstrosties that have 3 car garages, 2 AC's, and just ugly, ugly.
You could always paint the oak. There are ways to do it so the grain does not show through. It is time intensive, but totally doable.
In my mind, everything becomes dated after awhile. But then it comes back in style. So go with what you like.
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When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
Unless you have a child. Because (grossness warning) babies projectile vomit when they're sick. Like, a good 6 feet of floor space splattered.
Having cleaned both carpeted floors and hardwood floors after THAT, I can guarantee that hardwood is preferable in some circumstances.
(Also if you have cats. My hardwood floors stay ok, my carpets get shredded.)
And, for the record: the hardwood we bought was on sale at the lumber mill, looks great, and was 1$/sq foot more expensive than good-quality carpet. It doesn't HAVE to be super expensive.
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I love hardwood floors - easy to clean, easy to get the dog hair, easy on my allergies. The carpet in 2 bedrooms in this house was GROSS (big untrained puppy had lived here). Gone and replaced with hardwood (less expensive, more knots, because bedrooms) before I moved in.
Cold floor in winter? Fleece-lined moccasins for slippers. Socks.
Cool floor in summer? - how nice, less need for AC.
When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
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My wife and I have gone back and forth about what to do with our 1941 home. In the end, we've decided not to change anything, outside of some DIY painting, given that it presents no danger to our family in any way.
We've accepted the fact that it will never be our dream home and dumping even a single penny into it would delay FIRE. We're both very disciplined and focused on our goals. FIRE is more important to us than updated finishes.
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I love my carpeted floors. Even if I have to clean them.
I am however incredibly glad that carpeted bathrooms are out. I think of how much bath water I splashed growing up, and eww- I bet that was disgusting when it was pulled up by the next owners 20 years later.
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When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
Unless you have a child. Because (grossness warning) babies projectile vomit when they're sick. Like, a good 6 feet of floor space splattered.
Having cleaned both carpeted floors and hardwood floors after THAT, I can guarantee that hardwood is preferable in some circumstances.
CAN CONFIRM CHILD VOMIT DISTANCES.
Also, my dog occasionally loses her mind after finding a large quantity of strange poop, and eats three or four times what her stomach can tolerate. Then vomits it up (usually about two hours after you've gone to bed). While not pleasant, it's better to clean off of hard floor than carpet.
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When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
Unless you have a child. Because (grossness warning) babies projectile vomit when they're sick. Like, a good 6 feet of floor space splattered.
Having cleaned both carpeted floors and hardwood floors after THAT, I can guarantee that hardwood is preferable in some circumstances.
CAN CONFIRM CHILD VOMIT DISTANCES.
quote]
I'm so looking forward to this.... /s/
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When we bought our home it was 90 percent carpeted, including main living area, dining room, even the master bath. Maybe the biggest design trend of the last 20 years is the banishment of carpeting. Nothing looks more dated, even when it's new. Good riddance.
See this is a perfect example of going for form over function in my book. Do hardwood floors LOOK better? Absolutely. But I don't want them in a house I'm actually living in. Unless you go nuts with rugs, it's cold and uncomfortable.
Unless you have a child. Because (grossness warning) babies projectile vomit when they're sick. Like, a good 6 feet of floor space splattered.
Having cleaned both carpeted floors and hardwood floors after THAT, I can guarantee that hardwood is preferable in some circumstances.
CAN CONFIRM CHILD VOMIT DISTANCES.
Also, my dog occasionally loses her mind after finding a large quantity of strange poop, and eats three or four times what her stomach can tolerate. Then vomits it up (usually about two hours after you've gone to bed). While not pleasant, it's better to clean off of hard floor than carpet.
No kids/no pets. Vomiting is pretty much contained to the toilet.
I also sit or lay on the floor fairly often...not fun sitting/laying on hardwood.
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I love either hardwood or laminate. Even when a carpet looks clean it is not. When you pull it up you find a ton of nasty stuff underneath. We have 4 old dogs and I have asthma so no carpet has greatly improved my quality of life. Also if your shoes are muddy no big deal. I think if you upgrade with quality and things you love you will not need to do it again if you don't move. You don't need to keep up with trends but do what is pleasing to yourself.
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Flooring is a pretty great example of how trends change - when I was growing up, hardwood floors were a sign that you were too poor to afford a nice wall-to-wall carpet. They were considered to be shudderingly ugly.
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In 1982 we lived in an old home and covered the hardwood with new carpet!!! Now if you go into a model home it rarely has carpet.
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I have a house that we built new in the 90's and we have wood trim around the windows and "oak til you choke" cabinets and floors. I also have antique oak table, china cabinet and buffet and an oak sleigh bed and old oak dressers. I love it! I am not going to follow trends because that is what they are, just trends. I have a friend who built later than me and she has all cherry cabinets and those are dated now too. Think about what will happen 10 years down the road when whatever you updated to is out of style. My son put in dark wood floors in his house and I couldn't help but remember when they were in style years ago and then you never saw them for a few decades, everything suddenly changed to light or unstained oak. Update your look with more in style couches, chairs, paint colors, curtains, etc, but I would leave the big ticket items alone. Just think, eventually every thing comes around again.
Miss Prim
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree that this will ever come around again....
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I live in a early 1980s cookie cutter - so I have lots of awful cosmetically dated/ugly things to deal with. Popcorn walls and ceilings in every room. No panel cheapy doors, fake yellow brass fixtures, country-fied ceiling fans, shell-shaped bathroom sinks, yellow oak builder grade cabinets and fake butcher block formica counters...
We've done what we could to substantially improve the living arrangements. We replaced the crappy sliding glass door with a lovely french door. We ripped out the nasty carpets and installed beautiful engineered hardwoods. We painted all the rooms in colors that we love and go well with our furnishings. We replaced light fixtures or just globes so they were more our taste. Anything that was broken or needed replacing, we did that with nicer quality things (like the floor) purely for our own enjoyment since they were getting replaced anyway. Any of the other stuff that was easy or cheap to do, we did. Anything after that which would be either time-consuming or expensive (or both) is remaining as is because as long as the item is performing its basic function well, what it looks like is no longer a concern. Because we've realized that we're not staying in this house forever, and there is a limit to how much money/effort we want to sink into it. So that makes it a bit easier to become blind to the things that are not our taste. We work around it basically.
The annoying and ugly stuff has faded back over the years. If I start looking, then yeah, I'll cringe over the stupid popcorn walls or the formica counters in the kitchen... but the counters are fine; the walls are functional, and changing up either of those at this point would be purely cosmetic (and expensive and messy) so they're staying as is.
I have a dated country style kitchen that lacks counter space and cabinets. My basement looks like it is from the 70s with its paneled walls, fluorescent lighting, mustard colored shower and toilet. Some of the ceiling fans and lights could use updating. But other than painting the walls and replacing the carpets I haven't done a thing. I need to do some cement work on the side walks and eventually replace the retaining wall. I am not doing any remodeling until I save up the equivalent of my mortgage in my taxable account.
One of the frugal people I admire did not remodel her house until after 20 years.
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When we bought our house I told myself I had 5 years to get better at cabinetry so I could rebuild the kitchen (which had some cheap Ikea cabinets). It's been 6 years, and I am better at cabinetry, but it just isn't going to happen until I feel like taking on the project. It will be fun when I do it though. I just ended up building a kickass treehouse, a fence and some bookshelves first, among many other things. Meanwhile the plates, bowls and cups remain securely shelved.
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See, I love avocado bathroom suites, if my house had one it would be staying. Sadly I got a grimy shower, even grimier sink (limescale like nothing on earth) no bath, and a downstairs toilet with a plastic cistern and no sink. Yuck! I've replaced these with modern classic items - they will never be in fashion, so I don't think they will go out of fashion.
My whole house has an antique / 1930's theme, again hard to go out of fashion when it's never been too cool.
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People, thank you so much for this thread. I start to realize That my 90s cookie cutter( sans blue) is not that bad. Husband is painting the windows as we speak. The last of the blue carpet is going next week.yay.
That avocado bath you guys posted is epic :)
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Yep - I lived with a blue carpet for a few years, I was glad to see that one gone!
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There is worse than blue - lilacy purple? With purple/pink walls? In the master bedroom?
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There is worse than blue - lilacy purple? With purple/pink walls? In the master bedroom?
Easy fix. Just add a turquoise bedspread or duvet for contrast.
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We replaced our interior doors. Because at some point (prob 60s/70s), a previous owner put in shag carpet. And then cut 1-2 inches off the bottom of the bedroom doors (and badly/ unevenly).
Then at a later point, the carpets were removed and hardwood refinished. But still the 1-2 inch gaps in the bottom of the doors.
Ha, the last place I lived in (which I would have guessed as having been built in the early 1960s) had big gaps under the doors as well. Presumably the place was built with carpet and it was removed a while ago.
I love my carpeted floors. Even if I have to clean them.
I am however incredibly glad that carpeted bathrooms are out. I think of how much bath water I splashed growing up, and eww- I bet that was disgusting when it was pulled up by the next owners 20 years later.
I'm surprised that carpeted bathrooms were ever in!
I actually don't like a lot of the architectural styles (at least the exterior) of many new houses. I'd actually prefer a 1980s-1990s brick house to the modern houses. Even the darker-brick 1970s places with the canvas awnings over the windows.
Although I'm a bit fussier about kitchens. I chose my current rental because it had a more modern kitchen that some of the others I saw :)
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree that this will ever come around again....
I posted that as something that is extremely dated. I don't think anyone is expecting this to come back in style.
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I was telling my wife about this thread and she laughed. We purchased our house knowing that the kitchen was pretty ugly, and that we would have to redo it at some point. It's fully functional, just really really ugly.
We have beige melamine cabinets with dark wood trim at the bottom that is used as the handle. Off white tile floor. Pink tile backsplash. The fridge is white, the dishwasher is stainless steel, and the stove is black/stainless steel. The microwave is wood paneled. The previous owners painted the walls a light shade of purple . . . and we didn't even bother repainting that because of how bad everything else looked. :P
Meh. You get used to it after a while. That said, my first job post-ER will be ripping the whole kitchen apart and making it awesome.
Bleyach. Those white/beige melamine cabinets with the wood trim are to me the worst things ever. I can live with just about any kitchen, and have lived with some astoundingly bad ones in college, but if I bought a house with those they would be removed before I even moved in.
On a related note, my parents are buying a vacation home that was a foreclosure. The guy that had the place before them, right before he was foreclosed on, took EVERYTHING out of the kitchen. As in, the only thing that is left is a HotPoint oven from about 1982--that wasn't there when they looked at the house--he pulled the "nice" oven and put that thing in there. Cabinets, countertops, sink, fridge, dishwasher, stove--all gone. Which is really nice for us, since now instead of a long list of things that my parents should get around to, and never will, they'll have a kitchen they actually like to be in.
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Aren't you all forgetting that thin red carpet ala 1975?
I can't think it would ever come back, at least shag is cosy.
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I own a 1950's house in original condition right down to the mint green kitchen tiles and blue and pink bathrooms with original fixtures. I am in the" don't give a shit" category. Not only don't I care what other people think, I personally like the retro look. And the fact that everything is practically indestructible sort of a nuclear blast means it'll look just as good in another 60 years. So if you like what you have or would rather spend your money on other things I'd not do any upgrades except as needed or to improve function and upgrade the systems.
Feel the same way. We just bought a home from an original owner that has been completely untouched since built in 1958-1959. Because she kept everything in meticulous order, everything works perfectly and is in fabulous condition. We wanted an untouched home, not a cheap crap thing that we could buy at the big box stores. It has a pink bathroom (mind you, back in the 50's, pink was not considered feminine at the time like it is now), a pink & aqua bathroom. The kitchen has so much spacious wood cabinets that close tight (a pet peeve of mine). It is a joy to cook in. So much space. Original wall oven works perfectly and the stove gets hotter than any original electric one I have ever used. They look like something out of the Jetsons and Space Age from the goal of getting a man to the moon. Did I mention the white glitter formica countertops? This house has so much spunk, the layout is so well thought out, such quality materials, and easy to clean.
I realize others may come in and think outdated. Oh well. It is midcentury modest and the trend is growing (check out Pam and Kate over at Retro Renovation dot com fore more appreciation).
Our neighborhood unfortunately has a lot of developers coming in and ripping out the charming small homes and putting in these monstrosties that have 3 car garages, 2 AC's, and just ugly, ugly.
You could always paint the oak. There are ways to do it so the grain does not show through. It is time intensive, but totally doable.
In my mind, everything becomes dated after awhile. But then it comes back in style. So go with what you like.
The only complaint I have about my vintage 1959 home is that the owners in the 1980s did everything they could to remove all the charm. We were replacing their crap vinyl in the bath/entry, only to find they ruined these amazing mosaic tiles (not mesh, individual mini tiles) to glue on their vinyl crap.
We are trying our best to make the house look as original as possible.
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I own a 1950's house in original condition right down to the mint green kitchen tiles and blue and pink bathrooms with original fixtures. I am in the" don't give a shit" category. Not only don't I care what other people think, I personally like the retro look. And the fact that everything is practically indestructible sort of a nuclear blast means it'll look just as good in another 60 years. So if you like what you have or would rather spend your money on other things I'd not do any upgrades except as needed or to improve function and upgrade the systems.
Feel the same way. We just bought a home from an original owner that has been completely untouched since built in 1958-1959. Because she kept everything in meticulous order, everything works perfectly and is in fabulous condition. We wanted an untouched home, not a cheap crap thing that we could buy at the big box stores. It has a pink bathroom (mind you, back in the 50's, pink was not considered feminine at the time like it is now), a pink & aqua bathroom. The kitchen has so much spacious wood cabinets that close tight (a pet peeve of mine). It is a joy to cook in. So much space. Original wall oven works perfectly and the stove gets hotter than any original electric one I have ever used. They look like something out of the Jetsons and Space Age from the goal of getting a man to the moon. Did I mention the white glitter formica countertops? This house has so much spunk, the layout is so well thought out, such quality materials, and easy to clean.
I realize others may come in and think outdated. Oh well. It is midcentury modest and the trend is growing (check out Pam and Kate over at Retro Renovation dot com fore more appreciation).
Our neighborhood unfortunately has a lot of developers coming in and ripping out the charming small homes and putting in these monstrosties that have 3 car garages, 2 AC's, and just ugly, ugly.
You could always paint the oak. There are ways to do it so the grain does not show through. It is time intensive, but totally doable.
In my mind, everything becomes dated after awhile. But then it comes back in style. So go with what you like.
The only complaint I have about my vintage 1959 home is that the owners in the 1980s did everything they could to remove all the charm. We were replacing their crap vinyl in the bath/entry, only to find they ruined these amazing mosaic tiles (not mesh, individual mini tiles) to glue on their vinyl crap.
We are trying our best to make the house look as original as possible.
^That sentiment illustrates one of the reasons I think it's a shame to destroy solid wood trim to "update" a look.
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I think I live in one of these houses that everyone seems to hate.
I have to be what I think are honey oak wood floors in kitchen and formal dining room. (formal dining room is used as computer and kids play room due to its very wide openness to the rest of the house)
I also have to be what I think are honey oak cabinets with all white appliances.
I kind of like it.
When we first bought this place I hated the counter-tops, thought they were the ugliest things ever.
I've grown to actually like them. I can cut up stuff on counters without grabbing a cutting board and not leave a dent in the counter. Plus they are the 'nicest looking' counters I've ever had.
I've been down and out before so I literally at one point had floor tile put on to the counter in a rental (owner did it) and had to lol every time I used the kitchen at that house.
Also my entire stair case is honey oak...
No remodels happening here, the only thing we want to do is put new carpet in all the bedrooms and new windows eventually.
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It seems Miss Prim disagrees with you, iowajes.
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree that this will ever come around again....
I posted that as something that is extremely dated. I don't think anyone is expecting this to come back in style.
I have a house that we built new in the 90's and we have wood trim around the windows and "oak til you choke" cabinets and floors. I also have antique oak table, china cabinet and buffet and an oak sleigh bed and old oak dressers. I love it! I am not going to follow trends because that is what they are, just trends. I have a friend who built later than me and she has all cherry cabinets and those are dated now too. Think about what will happen 10 years down the road when whatever you updated to is out of style. My son put in dark wood floors in his house and I couldn't help but remember when they were in style years ago and then you never saw them for a few decades, everything suddenly changed to light or unstained oak. Update your look with more in style couches, chairs, paint colors, curtains, etc, but I would leave the big ticket items alone. Just think, eventually every thing comes around again.
Miss Prim
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I think we'll have to agree to disagree that this will ever come around again....
I actually really like that bathroom! It is clean and looks brand new. We have a rental property that has the original bath and toilet from the 70's and the color was called I think Toast. It is kind of dark beigey almost kind of coral colored. We have kept it for years. We updated the floors and painted and it looks fantastic with the right colored shower curtain. Never had anyone complain about it. In fact, we have a lot of people who want to rent that house because it is clean and everything works and is not in shabby condition. Potential renters have told us that what they see out there is junky compared to our place.
Miss Prim
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It seems Miss Prim disagrees with you, iowajes.
And you too, apparently.
But I still don't think we'll see this come around as a trend again.
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Well, there is dated, and there is ugly. And there is cheap. How bad is it?
I think about that with kitchens and trims. You know, the 80s/ 90s had those kitchen trends with the white cabinets and fake-wood trim. That stuff is SOOO ugly. I've seen it around here in houses built or reno'd then. Ugly. And then there's the 70s ugly (orange formica).
we had orange laminate countertops in one of our powder rooms, along with the 70's wood tone vanity. I didn't want to spend money replacing the formica so I primed it and painted it with rustoleum oil based black paint, covered with wipe-on poly. (who says never to put lipstick on a pig? sometimes it can be a valid temporizing measure.)
we have been slowly painting the different rooms one by one, and we are saving up to put in strand bamboo floors for allergy reasons (freaking dust mites costing me money!).
we have wood trim everywhere, and I am eventually going to paint it. I live somewhere that it is dark and rainy a good 6 months out of the year and lightening up will make it so much better and less heavy. We also have plain 70's hollow core doors everywhere. I painted one in our kitchen with chalkboard paint and that made it a bit more fun.
but basically, we just slowly chip away, make it work as much as possible, and put money away while living in the house and thinking about what EXACTLY we want once we are in a position to change it. I think time with the house is helpful in figuring out the home's character and what will actually work.
we still need to paint the kitchen as well. My big Christmas gift was an airless paint spray gun which is pretty boss. if you don't have one of those and you are planning to do cabinets, I can't recommend it highly enough. I eventually want to change the layout in there, but for now, paint, and maybe changing from worn laminate to butcher block counter tops will keep my happy for the next 10 or so years.
when we were house-hunting, we saw a 1930s house with a complete lilac bathroom; lilac toilet, lilac tub, and lilac pedestal sink. coordinated with floor tile in lilac, black, and mint. there were other reasons that we didn't buy that home (the electric was of a type that tended to arc and cause house fires), but I still remember the lilac bathroom.
And there is also this purple on purple gem that recently came up in the local real estate listings:
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Without reading all of the responses, just to mention this...
We live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of old condo buildings (think 80-100 years old). Most of them used to have nice, nice wooden trims, elaborate and real wood. Then this trim got painted at some point, let's say in the 70s, because that was trendy then. Then in the 90s and 00s people spent LOTS of money to have the paint stripped to reveal the original wood, because that was trendy then. This work is truly expensive, and the workers sometimes do a crappy job because it's labor intensive and they need to move on. So we're doing it on our own (husband is doing it). The house is so much nicer with the original wood. We don't care about what's trendy, though.
The point being... By the time you paint all the wood, and maybe wait 10-20 years, wood may be trendy again, and your painted house will be dated again. Are you going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars (or hundreds and hundreds of hours) to strip the paint? That with no guarantee that it will look as nice as it is now?
I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
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I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
For some of us, doing DIY home improvement projects IS a hobby. And one that is likely to have a REAL return (improving the value of my home) versus almost anything else. Of all the things I'd expect to be criticized for on here, putting my time (and really very little of my money) into something like improving my house myself was certainly not one of them.
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And there is also this purple on purple gem that recently came up in the local real estate listings:
I actually quite like that purple room!
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but basically, we just slowly chip away, make it work as much as possible, and put money away while living in the house and thinking about what EXACTLY we want once we are in a position to change it. I think time with the house is helpful in figuring out the home's character and what will actually work.
"Slowly chip away" - this is a point worth emphasizing. Because of money and time we've made slow progress on tje house that we've lived in for 8 years. It turns out this is a good thing because many of the projects we were gung-ho about 8 years ago are not actually what will work for this house and our lifestyle. Living in the house for many years and constantly thinking about how to best use space and how we ACTUALLY use the space has changed many of our plans for the better.
For instance one of our 3 bedrooms had built in shelves and a desk along one wall. The dimensions of the room made it impossible to fit a bed anywhere in the room. I made plans to tear out the shelves and desk, but this would have required a complete redo of the ceiling and floor in the room. Quite by accident a friend pointed out that a twin bed might fit in the desk location. She was right! We removed just the wood desk area and now have a beautiful bed surrounded by built in shelves. Looks like we planned it that way!
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[quote author=SomedayStache link=topic=55586.msg1104639#msg1104639 date=1464790657
For instance one of our 3 bedrooms had built in shelves and a desk along one wall. The dimensions of the room made it impossible to fit a bed anywhere in the room. I made plans to tear out the shelves and desk, but this would have required a complete redo of the ceiling and floor in the room. Quite by accident a friend pointed out that a twin bed might fit in the desk location. She was right! We removed just the wood desk area and now have a beautiful bed surrounded by built in shelves. Looks like we planned it that way!
[/quote]
Oh, I love it when a "plan" comes together, especially when it's free!
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I've almost completed swapping out all the doorknobs and hinges from our 1993 masterpiece of a house that we have lived in for 10 years now - they were worn/peeling builder-grade brass with squeaky hinges replaced with nice, new, smooth brushed nickel. Even new, you can get decent stuff pretty cheap.
During the recession, we replaced the old nasty living room carpet with tile. Paid someone to do it, as labor was only $0.99/sq foot. Nice looking porcelain tile was also $0.99/sq foot. All in, it ended up being something like $2.20/sq foot.
I have no inclination whatsoever to change out the perfectly functional Honey Oak (faced) kitchen cabinets.
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Without reading all of the responses, just to mention this...
We live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of old condo buildings (think 80-100 years old). Most of them used to have nice, nice wooden trims, elaborate and real wood. Then this trim got painted at some point, let's say in the 70s, because that was trendy then. Then in the 90s and 00s people spent LOTS of money to have the paint stripped to reveal the original wood, because that was trendy then. This work is truly expensive, and the workers sometimes do a crappy job because it's labor intensive and they need to move on. So we're doing it on our own (husband is doing it). The house is so much nicer with the original wood. We don't care about what's trendy, though.
The point being... By the time you paint all the wood, and maybe wait 10-20 years, wood may be trendy again, and your painted house will be dated again. Are you going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars (or hundreds and hundreds of hours) to strip the paint? That with no guarantee that it will look as nice as it is now?
I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
Honey, the 1990s will NEVER be "back". No matter what you might think, different person and all.
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Without reading all of the responses, just to mention this...
We live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of old condo buildings (think 80-100 years old). Most of them used to have nice, nice wooden trims, elaborate and real wood. Then this trim got painted at some point, let's say in the 70s, because that was trendy then. Then in the 90s and 00s people spent LOTS of money to have the paint stripped to reveal the original wood, because that was trendy then. This work is truly expensive, and the workers sometimes do a crappy job because it's labor intensive and they need to move on. So we're doing it on our own (husband is doing it). The house is so much nicer with the original wood. We don't care about what's trendy, though.
The point being... By the time you paint all the wood, and maybe wait 10-20 years, wood may be trendy again, and your painted house will be dated again. Are you going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars (or hundreds and hundreds of hours) to strip the paint? That with no guarantee that it will look as nice as it is now?
I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
Wait... so you're spending massive amounts of time and some money to strip painted wood, but wouldn't suggest others do the same? Wouldn't it have been a better return to leave the trim painted and focus on things with higher returns? I'm a bit confused by your argument...
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It would be worth considering why you have a problem living in a dated (design wise) house? Is it because it's embarrassing when you have people over? Want to look more cool in their eyes? Or does it truly lower your quality of life living in the house? If the last one then sure go for an update. If the first I would work on your mindset instead.
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Don't fall into the trap that wood should not be painted. Paint it all white. And paint the doors as well - we painted ours and the extra weight really makes them seem much more solid. Then just update all the hardware - door handles, hinges, cabinet pulls, etc. A very cheap and cosmetic makeover can hugely change the look of your house, if that is your priority. It took us about a year.
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It would be worth considering why you have a problem living in a dated (design wise) house? Is it because it's embarrassing when you have people over? Want to look more cool in their eyes? Or does it truly lower your quality of life living in the house? If the last one then sure go for an update. If the first I would work on your mindset instead.
Everyone is differrent. Some people don't care about the aesthetics of their home and some do. I don't need to have the latest and greatest, but having a clean, uncluttered home that looks nice (to my eyes at least) is very important to me because my home is my sanctuary and clutter and ugliness sincerely stress me out. I change colors and accessories fairly often (at !east every few years) because I enjoy keeping things fresh. My best friend is the polar opposite. Her house is cluttered and they haven't painted a single thing other than the nursery since they bought the house 15 years ago. She would go crazy living in my house because it is too sterile for her, and I would go crazy in hers. Home is about being comfortable, and we all have different versions of that. I don't think there is a deep, hidden motive for wanting to have a nice home that pleases my sensibilities.
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It would be worth considering why you have a problem living in a dated (design wise) house? Is it because it's embarrassing when you have people over? Want to look more cool in their eyes? Or does it truly lower your quality of life living in the house? If the last one then sure go for an update. If the first I would work on your mindset instead.
Everyone is differrent. Some people don't care about the aesthetics of their home and some do. I don't need to have the latest and greatest, but having a clean, uncluttered home that looks nice (to my eyes at least) is very important to me because my home is my sanctuary and clutter and ugliness sincerely stress me out. I change colors and accessories fairly often (at !east every few years) because I enjoy keeping things fresh. My best friend is the polar opposite. Her house is cluttered and they haven't painted a single thing other than the nursery since they bought the house 15 years ago. She would go crazy living in my house because it is too sterile for her, and I would go crazy in hers. Home is about being comfortable, and we all have different versions of that. I don't think there is a deep, hidden motive for wanting to have a nice home that pleases my sensibilities.
I don't see anything wrong with that either. My apartment is very uncluttered and tight for the same reasons as yours. For me there would be a difference between it being uncluttered and tight and being up-to-date design wise though. But people have different motives and if you're trying to reach FI it's not optimum to have the wrong ones. I know at least a few people who spend a lot on their house because they want to impress. That would be sad. If it makes you feel that much better being at home I'm all for it. Just wanted to make OP reflect upon that.
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How big is the house? I live in a 1968 home that was last updated in 1991. So I have oak trim, and while it isn't quite the honey oak horror, it isn't 1920s hard oak worth saving. It's contractor grade trim stained darkish brown. Probably last touched 20 years ago.
We have a 3,000 sq foot house, with 25 doors (!!!). The doors are solid wood so we won't replace them, but are on a mission to GO WHITE with trim.
To the commenter that said this is a few weekends + a few hundred in paint...I'd disagree. We have kids so we are doing this slowly and also painting the walls as we go, but we are about half finished with the upstairs trim and are on our third gallon of $70 paint. Brushes are expensive too.
We got a contractor quote over $10k so it is obviously much cheaper than that, but by the time we do all the doors and trim (3 coats each, and spackling and sanding...oh the sanding!) this is well over 500 hours of work and likely 8 gallons of paint. If the OP doesn't have doors to paint, maybe more like 3-5 gallons depending what kind of trim you have.
FwIW, it looks really good in the rooms that are done!!
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How big is the house? I live in a 1968 home that was last updated in 1991. So I have oak trim, and while it isn't quite the honey oak horror, it isn't 1920s hard oak worth saving. It's contractor grade trim stained darkish brown. Probably last touched 20 years ago.
We have a 3,000 sq foot house, with 25 doors (!!!). The doors are solid wood so we won't replace them, but are on a mission to GO WHITE with trim.
To the commenter that said this is a few weekends + a few hundred in paint...I'd disagree. We have kids so we are doing this slowly and also painting the walls as we go, but we are about half finished with the upstairs trim and are on our third gallon of $70 paint. Brushes are expensive too.
We got a contractor quote over $10k so it is obviously much cheaper than that, but by the time we do all the doors and trim (3 coats each, and spackling and sanding...oh the sanding!) this is well over 500 hours of work and likely 8 gallons of paint. If the OP doesn't have doors to paint, maybe more like 3-5 gallons depending what kind of trim you have.
FwIW, it looks really good in the rooms that are done!!
Congrats! That's quite the work load. After running the numbers on doing the trim and doors in my basement, I decided to hire it out. If you save $9K doing it yourself, at 500 hours that's $18 an hour. Not bad. Since my numbers came out around 1/3 of that, it was much more efficient to hire it out. I can only imagine how improved your rooms much look with nice, clean, white trim!
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My technique has limited applicability--live somewhere worse first. I have the 90s white with oak trim, yellow travertine tile that looks like something out of Dynasty (but cheap), and some wonky molding installation. However, since I came from a 1960s rental with kitchen cupboards and bathroom vanity made out of plywood with drawers that didn't open and close properly, tiled floors that never looked clean, and a tiled kitchen counter with unsealed grout that always grossed me out, the 1990s look pretty good!
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Without reading all of the responses, just to mention this...
We live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of old condo buildings (think 80-100 years old). Most of them used to have nice, nice wooden trims, elaborate and real wood. Then this trim got painted at some point, let's say in the 70s, because that was trendy then. Then in the 90s and 00s people spent LOTS of money to have the paint stripped to reveal the original wood, because that was trendy then. This work is truly expensive, and the workers sometimes do a crappy job because it's labor intensive and they need to move on. So we're doing it on our own (husband is doing it). The house is so much nicer with the original wood. We don't care about what's trendy, though.
The point being... By the time you paint all the wood, and maybe wait 10-20 years, wood may be trendy again, and your painted house will be dated again. Are you going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars (or hundreds and hundreds of hours) to strip the paint? That with no guarantee that it will look as nice as it is now?
I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
Did you get your lead levels checked/?
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Without reading all of the responses, just to mention this...
We live in a neighborhood with lots and lots of old condo buildings (think 80-100 years old). Most of them used to have nice, nice wooden trims, elaborate and real wood. Then this trim got painted at some point, let's say in the 70s, because that was trendy then. Then in the 90s and 00s people spent LOTS of money to have the paint stripped to reveal the original wood, because that was trendy then. This work is truly expensive, and the workers sometimes do a crappy job because it's labor intensive and they need to move on. So we're doing it on our own (husband is doing it). The house is so much nicer with the original wood. We don't care about what's trendy, though.
The point being... By the time you paint all the wood, and maybe wait 10-20 years, wood may be trendy again, and your painted house will be dated again. Are you going to spend thousands and thousands of dollars (or hundreds and hundreds of hours) to strip the paint? That with no guarantee that it will look as nice as it is now?
I am a different person I know, but I would just enjoy what I have and focus on things with higher return (hobbies, friends, the like). If you worry about the trim on your doors, you have too much time and/or money, IMO, which I understand can be different than yours.
Did you get your lead levels checked/?
There's an organization that will send you free test kits: http://leadsafeamerica.org/ (http://leadsafeamerica.org/)
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Did you get your lead levels checked/?
There's an organization that will send you free test kits: http://leadsafeamerica.org/ (http://leadsafeamerica.org/)
Lead paint was outlawed for residential use in 1977, but was starting to be phased out prior to that. It'd be easier to test the paint first, and then get blood lead levels checked if needed.
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Did you get your lead levels checked/?
There's an organization that will send you free test kits: http://leadsafeamerica.org/ (http://leadsafeamerica.org/)
Lead paint was outlawed for residential use in 1977, but was starting to be phased out prior to that. It'd be easier to test the paint first, and then get blood lead levels checked if needed.
Another good resource: I know my city (Portland) offers free lead testing for children and pregnant or nursing women at our public libraries. Worth looking into if your city has similar!
Also, most municipal water companies, at least in my area, will send you a free lead in water test kit.