1. Handy Kitchen Tips that You cannot Miss : Solutions for all your Problems
    Dismiss Notice

Tips needed - buying an old home, need lots of upgrades

Discussion in 'Home Decoration & Improvement' started by Laks09, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female
    IL ites,
    Wish I had the courage to go buy a home in a new neighborhood but no, I will not take that trouble since I'm fixated on schools.
    In India, I've done this multiple times and am a resident expert on what tiles, what accessories etc. Now, this is all new.

    Some stuff that I must do -
    1) Kitchen - Gas connection/stove/floor tiles/back splash/Appliances. Thankfully the existing granite top is as per my liking. I'd love Lazy Susan and kitchen pull outs(I'm yet to see these here).
    What kind of tiles/back splashes do you recommend. I'm not too fond of travertine and hate the grouted tiles. I'm looking for grout free ones.
    What brand of gas stove is good. I'm a Kaff fan but I'm not up to importing it from Germany. What else is good?

    2) Bathroom - what do you recommend for floor tiles and back splashes. What about cabinets and counter tops. I'm not a fan of the white Korean tops. what about shower panels and enclosure?

    3) floors - I'm upgrading to hard wood. Any particular type that you recommend? I'm changing carpets in the bedrooms, any recommendation?

    4) patio - I'm obsessed with stone patios and pergolas. Any sleek/small/compact designs you know? Anything that will not break the bank?

    5) light fixtures/fans etc - I probably have to replace all fixtures. Can you please recommend online stores or other places. I'm bored of Home Depot but I'm willing to give it a try.

    6) landscaping - I want to DIY. How do I find someone to help me with it? Do I design and give a contractor or find a helper and do it, or just do it myself. I've limited time and my DH is not willing to let me anywhere near doing things myself. How can I do something innovative and yet not time consuming? Any flora/fauna/plant recommendations?



    Anything else I should do for a house? What did you change and what did you keep?
     
    Loading...

  2. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

    Messages:
    10,075
    Likes Received:
    11,569
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Laks,

    Let me be the first one to congratulate you on your new home :) Happy for you and Hearty Congratulations.

    With your questions, I am not much of help but want to say a couple of things -

    I think it is best to keep back splash in the kitchen as one of your last jobs - I believe it is a very easy DIY and you can co ordinate, color and other good stuff better.

    Then, I do have hard wood floor and simply love it. Will get you what specifically we have in a day or two. We have literally man handled the floor and it has stood us well. I am in the process of doing the other areas with the same. I love it that much.

    Now landscaping - as a friend and a fellow gardener, I would urge you to go slow here, go DIY and take help, not from a contractor but for work like planting and the other good stuff. The good thing is :hide: we are coming up on fall...so time to plan and plant to reap in the spring. I prefer perennials and love my vegetable patch.

    For other stuff other than Home Depot and Lowes, I hear people in our area sing songs about http://www.menards.com/main/home.html Never been there but I believe it is a haven especially if you are DIY and have your own ideas and want to mix and match!

    Best wishes with everything and if time permits, do share your updates, upgrades and the progress!
     
    2 people like this.
  3. Chitravivek

    Chitravivek Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,448
    Likes Received:
    1,354
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    Laks: Congrats! We bought a 1980's house 2 years ago but it was fully upgraded in 2011 so I didn't do much except for painting so I may have no clue on all the stuff you have mentioned. I just came here to say one thing: If you plan on putting hardwood floors to the whole house then I just wanted to warn you a little. In the kitchen at least I would say tiles are more preferred. Currently I have hardwood floors throughout the house as I didn't want carpets too. but I definitely feel its hard maintenance especially with kids and in place where water can be spilled easily like kitchen. I have to always keep a watch and keep cleaning it if water spilled a little as it will sweep into the wood and make it worse. So just see if possible use tile in kitchen.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2014
    1 person likes this.
  4. IndianLady009

    IndianLady009 Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    605
    Trophy Points:
    163
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Laks09,

    Congratulations on your new home.We also bought a old house last year and got it upgraded.First and foremost thing is,Money.You can do many things,based on your
    budget,and also all these needs a hard cash,so.you need be thinking about it too,if not,already thought about it.

    For our house,we upgraded the kitchen/all the bathrooms/put the fence,little bit of landscaping,cut down the trees,power washed the deck(this is in process) and finally
    changed all the 2 levels to hardwood and replaced the carpet in the basement.Since its an old house and I have smaller kids,I didnt want to take the chances. I could not change the color for my replies.So,I have made them italic and bold/underline:)

    We also changed the garage doors and thinking of painting the outside.Again,this is TODO :)

    For the kitchen cabinets,My contractor gave me a website and I have selected the cabinets from there..They are very nice designs.I need to check on the name,I dont rem on top of my head.Will check and let you know tomorrow. Btw,we upgraded the fireplace too.

    The way I have designed is,My kitchen backspalsh and the fireplace brick are with the same pattern(smaller and big) and the hardwood and the kitchen cabinets are of same pattern(cherry).


    Let me know if you have any further questions and Good luck.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2014
    1 person likes this.
  5. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    4,191
    Likes Received:
    7,009
    Trophy Points:
    408
    Gender:
    Female
    Hey Laks,
    Congrats on your new house!
    We have a 1950's house that we have been slowly updating. To go over your questions:
    1) Kitchen: we have a GE profile stove and it's OK, but I am not a big fan of sealed burners. My friends have a Bluestar with open burners and it is amazing how fast and evenly it heats up.
    I was not particular with the dishwasher and refrigerator, they are both GE. We have a natural onyx stone backsplash that really goes well with the cabinets and countertop. The floor is tile, mainly because I have the dogs' water bowls there.
    2) Bathrooms: haven't gotten to them yet, so nothing to add
    3)Floors: hardwoods are great. I have allergies and with two shedding dogs carpet was a big no-no. The original floors were in great shape (previous owner had carpet over them), so we have not changed them.
    4) Light fixtures/fans: look for a good independent showroom, or even online. The choices are a lot better. I got an electrician to install the fans since the wiring had to be updated.
    5) Landscaping: the better independent garden centers here all offer design and installation services. Many people use just the design service and either DIY or hire it out to a less expensive outfit.
    I think your climate is very different from ours, so I don't think my recommendations will help.
    I went to the library and looked up books for out area while planning the garden.
    The yard was a complete mess when we moved in, so we got someone to clear it .It was then a lot of effort on our part, putting in beds, adding compost etc. This was several years ago, though. I probably won't have the energy to do this again.
    If you have a number of things you want to do at once, it might be worthwhile to get a general contractor. I hired a handyman for a few days to fix small things around the house. Angie's List was a good resource.
    I am not a fan of Lowes and Home Depot in our area. We went to an independent tile store, and our kitchen is from IKEA (pretty lowbrow, I know :)).
    Have fun!
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2014
    1 person likes this.
  6. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

    Messages:
    10,075
    Likes Received:
    11,569
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Female
    oh Malstorm, I meant to mention Ikea and completely forgot! Not a bad place to check out and see if you like anything Laks. My neighbor got her kitchen done with them recently and is pretty happy.
     
    2 people like this.
  7. Nitha J

    Nitha J IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    2,733
    Likes Received:
    1,041
    Trophy Points:
    315
    Gender:
    Female
    Congrats Laks. It is exciting, from renovation plans to buying shower curtains ;)
    One thing I learned after 2 years of ownership" is that renovations NEVER end. House eats money :))
    We changed countertop to Corian, and added glass backsplash. Almost looks the same, except it is alternating with another shade, and the tiles are slightly bigger kitchen and baths. But it is grouted so maynot be of your choice

    Gasstove , 5 burner stainless whirlpool. I was eyeing on a double-door gas oven, but didnt want to invest much on this house. But if you are planning this to be your only house, then go for wall oven. It looks so cool.

    Flooring: Didn't change as it was to our liking

    Changed bathroom tiles to bigger size tiles, as I hate small tiles. Cleaning is so hard for a lazy bum like me. So the size is the same like this Modern bathrooms.

    Best Wishes
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female
    Sabi - Thanks for the tips. I'll do backsplash in the end.
    Hardwood even in places like kids rooms Sabi? I'm planning to have carpets in kids room because of the potential damage they can do to the wood.

    I'm going to do the landscaping myself. I'm thinking I can do it, come fall we have good weather for a couple of months. It's gojng to be a fun fall project.

    Chitra - Kitchen and breakfast nook, I'm going to use tiles itself. Probably grout free tiles. I know the difficulty of maintaining wood in the kitchen and breakfast nook. Are you ok with wood in the kids rooms? I was planning on carpets in the guest/kids rooms.
     
  9. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,682
    Likes Received:
    11,157
    Trophy Points:
    440
    Gender:
    Female
    Thanks for the detailed response IL009!
    I'm glad I posted this. The old quote got cut off since it exceeded the quote text limit I'm sure.
    Thanks for the information on the appliance bundle. I didn't know. And who knew HD gift cards were available on Craig's list.
    I promise to keep bugging you all for other stuff.
     
  10. JustAnotherMom

    JustAnotherMom Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,377
    Likes Received:
    2,455
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    Congrats on the house. :)

    I will also second this one since I also have real wood in my kitchen and its very hard to keep the place with out any water, especially when my son take water/ice from the refrigerator or when my husband does the dishes.

    I think you can use the vinyl floor which matches the other parts of the house.
    I had tile in my previous house and it grout use get dirty. And I have very clumsy hands, I often put the plates and cups down and it breaks very quickly in the tile.
     
    1 person likes this.

Share This Page