In Ireland, the people responsible for remodeling this gorgeous schoolhouse did it right!

The Schoolhouse in Annaghmore, County Sligo was built in the 1860s to educate local children. From the ‘before’ picture, we can tell that, at a certain point, either the pupils or the teachers stopped turning up for class. After years in the undergrowth, the ILT did their homework (get it? School? Homework? Never mind) and turned the schoolhouse into the kind of fairytale spot where you’d expect to see Snow White leaning out the window, chomping on an apple with a suspicious look on her face.

This before and after picture is definitely a WOW!  It looks like a new roof was clearly needed and the brick (or stone) was scrubbed. I would love to see photos inside the house as well!

Whether a counter top is granite or Formica or the appliances are stainless steel or off-white could well determine whether you can an offer or not.  Many memories are made in the kitchen – from a strong sense of smell when cookies come out of the oven to learning how to prepare chicken & dumplings – so it can make or break a home sale.

This is true no matter what part of the country you’re in, no matter if you’re a house flipper or first-time home buyer. From Realty Times,

Kitchens, however, can be one of the most expensive rooms to renovate. These projects can also be the most labor and time intensive of all home renovations. It’s not just a new layer of paint.  

Instead you find a complicated array of flooring, tiling, cabinets, and counters. This means buyers may want a home with an up-to-date kitchen but they aren’t willing to tackle this problem themselves. Most buyers want a kitchen that is ready to use the day they move in.

If you’re ready to sell, pay careful attention to the kitchen!

So you have bought a new house and now you need some help on how to redecorate or redesign a room.  Help is available at a great website called Houzz.  One person just posted a photo of their new bedroom and asked what in the world they could do to decorate it. The answers are quite helpful! For example,

I am in complete agreement with making the upper area of this a sitting area and placing your bed on the wall opposite to the bathroom opening. It appears the walls and the ceiling are the same color so you might want to consider changing one or the other to create some further visual interest.

I think this is a great space and I know many of my clients who are buying older homes which they had this kind of room to “figure out”

Houzz is a wonderful web resource.

The reality shows in which houses are staged, remodeled, or dressed up for sale or for show has always been a wonderful asset to real estate agents.  Why?  When people watch them, they can learn from designers and staging gurus why something does not work, or why something else does work.

When I first visit a home that may be listed, it’s easy to say, “You’ve seen the shows on tv.  You know you need to pack away the clutter, put on some fresh paint, and define this space.”  Because of the shows, it’s an easy pill to swallow!

However, some real estate professionals disagree.  They believe these shows do more harm than good.  Richard Weisser of Newnan, Georgia said,

The proliferation of home improvement cable channels and the resulting bombardment of “how-to” shows have created a culture of substandard repairs and functionally obsolete upgrades.

Which led me to this somewhat obvious but rarely mentioned conclusion: Just because you CAN do it yourself doesn’t mean that you should.

Point taken!  Therefore the good of these shows is that sellers have a more comprehensive understanding of why it’s important to have fresh paint and be clutter-free.  The dark side is that not everyone is as handy as the handymen on tv.  Perhaps real estate agents need to point out shoddy workmanship to potential sellers, too, so they will be able to bring in professionals in order to sell at top dollar.

HomeVestors has a contest going on for the six ugliest homes.  The homes were purchased for a low price, revamped (for the most part), and then resold at a much more reasonable price.  They were priced low to begin with – not because they were “ugly” – but because they were trashed by previous owners or renters.

So while we argue here that they aren’t ugly per se, they indeed were in terrible shape.  Here is a link to the contest contenders:

Many of this year’s Ugliest Home candidates don’t look too unsightly from the outside, but a quick peek behind closed doors reveals some truly horrible conditions.

Buyers shouldn’t be too deterred by the chewed-up kitchen cabinets or flood-damaged floors, however. Buying a beat-up property can be a lot cheaper than buying one in A-one condition — as long as the damage isn’t too extensive.

Taking on a trashed home and flipping it is not something I have ever tried.  Too many television shows with house flipping as a theme deters me from that because there are *always* hidden problems.  Kudos to the people in the ugly home competition who did take on the challenge, with beautiful results!

Here’s a BEFORE:

AFTER:

My boring, plain living room makes me cringe every time I consider painting it.  I have two problem walls – one does not end in the lovely 90 degree place most well-behaved walls would.  Instead it climbs up the staircase to the top of a 20-foot ceiling.  The other wall is of the load-bearing variety so it extends down the hallway.  It’s about 35 feet long’ish.  So to paint the living room would mean to paint the stairwell and the hallway. Frankly, I’m just too tired to do that!

Therefore instead of doing actual work – like painting – I can dream about it thanks to information provided by Cleveland Housing News,

While paint is a very cost effective way to update or decorate a home, the cost of choosing the wrong color and having to repaint can certainly add up.  Seeking the professional advice of a Home Stager® or Decorator are ways to avoid this, but it is still hard for most people to envision the finished product – UNTIL NOW.

And… ta-da!  Links to some virtual sites that let’s you see what a paint color will look like.

Here’s a link to Sherwin William Color Visualizer. Go there and enjoy!

Photo by Bev Sykes via flickr creative commons.

If you’ve ever watched any of the hoarding programs on on TV, you may have seen Dr. Michael A. Tompkins work with the people who hoard.  I am convinced it is a mental illness causing hoarding because – and I don’t mean to be flippant here – you’d have to be crazy to live like these people live.

Here’s what the good doctor says you can do to help people you love who may be hoarders.

Years ago we repainted our kitchen cabinets.  Contrary to how easy it looks on the old tv show Trading Spaces, it was a very time-consuming process.  However if your kitchen needs updating, painting the cabinets – or refacing or refinishing – is an excellent option when it comes to affordability.

Columnist Paul Bianchina of Inman News goes over some how-to’s of the choices home owners would have, including,

To paint oak, the old finish should be sanded off, then a specific paste sealer applied that fills in and seals the open pores. Then the wood is sanded again, primed and painted. It’s kind of a time-consuming process to do correctly, so be sure your painter has specific experience with oak (he or she may also know some tricks I’m not aware of).

Whatever you do, prepare yourself for a long process.  And don’t forget to label the cabinets as they come off for sanding so you’ll know where to return each door when finished!

Photo by Stacey Cortez, the real estate girl.

Inspiraton Kitchen

The writer at Itty Bitty Bungalow is planning ahead on how to transform the kitchen when he and his cat move in.  This school teacher in Rochester, New York outlines some of their steps for one room of his 864 square foot house,

1. Paint the cabinets white and add new hardware (silver knobs and bin pulls)
2. Remove wallpaper and paint walls (yellow gold?)
3.Install new flooring in black and white check
4.Install new counter tops in black Soapstone, or dark butcher block
5. New faucet

Applause!  The kitchen is HUGE when remodeling.  That’s where you’ll find your greatest return.  Look up (light fixtures), look down (flooring), look all around (fresh paint). Those are my basics.

We’ve all watched the staging shows on television about making nice changes to a home for sale that will attract buyers.  Neutral paint, new fixtures, nice flooring, and defining a room are key.   Want some more tips and pointers?  Watch this video!

Have a very happy weekend, Shak & Jillers!