Hi All,
I’m planning the details of my first renovation for profit (buy-reno-sell) and have been giving a lot of thought to how to best achieve the wow factor when decorating.
For the more seasoned renovators/decorators out there – do you have a signature item/ technique that you always count on to deliver the big WOW?
Leila
[biggrin]Yes, attention to detail is paramount. Also presentation too, the house should be absolutely immaculate when you’re on the market.
Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. Try to create a “blank canvas” for the next owner, remember you want in and out ASAP and this helps you to do it and keeps costs at a minimum for maximum return.Specifically no dark anything, light and bright makes a house seem functional, airy and stylish. Also thick shaggy white rugs seem to be worth their weight in gold…Hope this helps.Good Luck.
Hi Leila,
I have found that if I paint the rooms different colours (soft) it makes for great interest. I also like some oiled floorboards. A good letter box with easy to read numbers is a must. After all, when you buy a house you want your friends to find you.
Regards
David
eliteviewsD.E.Harding
Hi Leila,
I have only done 2 renos, 1 I still hold, and rent, and another I sold. I do not consider myself an old hand at this by any means, so I won’t give you advice.
I must however say that I found Henry Kaye’s teaching about making apartments unique and boutique ie.a bit of wow factor, to be most helpful, and I would not have made the profits I did from my reno’s without that info.
I don’t know all of Henry’s dealings, and don’t know if he deserved the treatment he got, but I found his teaching on reno’s most helpful and profitable.
If you have the opportunity to get hold of any of his (now generally unavailable) materials on the subject they are well worth a look.
Cheers
Milty
Thanks for the great thoughts Milty, David and g7 – I really appreciate the input. [biggrin]
For anyone else reading this thread, please keep the ideas coming.
G7, I love the shaggy white rug idea – you’re right, now that I think about it – I’ve been seeing them everywhere in the design mags. Totally impractical to live with, but they add great texture when decorating. Good thinking!
Hi all,
I too have only been doing this for a while, but I find that I can create more interest by creating a definite mood within the entire home. What I am trying to say is that all white is very clean but some people have no imagination. I look at the outside of the home and think of what type of look it should have and I continue that theme throughout the home. I am very lucky in that I have a gift and homewares store and I am able to go to the trade fairs to find out the current and upcoming styles. This is a great insight into what people will be looking to purchase for their homes or their new homes.Lifestyle is defiantly the in thing at the moment. I always do a feature wall or two with big sweeping suede effects. Fairly neutral tones but if you can tie colours together like kitchen bench tops and outside or inside feature walls its terrific.
I did a home that was an 80’s style orange brick, you know it boring.
1/ Changed bench tops to a nice mottled mustard colour.
2/ Made a feature wall in the lounge.
3/ Put a roof on the deck with an external feature wall
and 4/ On the other side of the home when you looked through the family room window, all you could see was the old soon to be replaced by the new owners fence. I put a wall with a wrought iron feature on it outside as a clever little coverup. All bench tops and feature walls were in the same colour everything else in clotted cream, so from the kitchen if you do a 360 you can see little bits of all the same colour, this certainly ties everything together.Beck.
“You have to leave your mouth open for a very long time before a roast chicken flys into it.” Early Proveb.Hey Leila,
One project that I was proud of was doing up a little fibro dump in Sydney a few years back. Most was paint, polishing the floors, new bathroom etc but my fave was the kitchen.
Funds were limited so what we did was get some perforated plywood sheeting (polished plywood with little holes), cut it to the shape of the door and drawer faces and screw in place with chrome screws. We replaced the benchtops as well to get rid of the old orange tops and bought new door handles from ikea. We also replaced the old freestanding stove with a new one. All in all, it cost about $1200 but must say, looked pretty speccy! I also work in construction so materials were relatively cheap though!
Well, I haven’t done lots either, but if the places had a fireplace I actually painted this as the feature. I figured if it was too hard to take out, I may as well make it stand out. So instead of a feature wall, I had the walls of the fireplaces as the feature colour. Came up a treat.
Regards
PKThanks for the ideas guys. I’ve been doing a lot of reading of home magazines lately and partly why I started this thread is that it seems that typical “display home” style isn’t what people want any more – it’s becoming a little too common and therefore doesn’t really stand out any more.
My thinking is that you have to add some touches of home for people, because as Beck wisely said, people lack imagination, and my research tells me that the ‘nesting’/coccooning effect and love of outdoor lifestyle continue to spread.
I think the suggestions of adding colour, texture and character in the posts so far reflect the fact that savvy renovators understand this. The challenge is really in how to do this on a tight budget.
Interesting budget idea for the kitchen jhopper – I’m having a little difficulty imagining the plywood over the doors in the kitchen – so I’ll take your word for it that they looked great. I totally agree with using ikea for cheap bits and pieces too. I’ve been there pricing a few items recently.
I laughed when I read your idea about the fireplaces PK – the only fireplace in my new reno place is a fake surround (no actual chimney)made out of marble-look plastic which has been painted in stucco-like paint that is peeling off. God help me if I was stuck with it and had to resort to painting over it – I don’t think there’s a colour in the world that could improve it!! I’m looking forward to throwing it in the skip (along with a few other bits and pieces).
Keep the ideas coming, I’m sure I’m not the only one here who appreciates you sharing your experience.
Leila [biggrin]
P.S. If anyone has a suggestion of where to source cheap timber windows (new or secondhand) in Melbourne – please let me know …
Hi. I was just going to read, but I have decided to tell what I did with vertually no money..
My no money idea ended up costing $20.000 but worth every penny..
my house was valued at $260000
after spending $20000 the house is now valued at $320.000..
.We made a small bedroom into a cozy Kitchen , then made the reasonable kitchen into a large Bedroom…We now have two very large bedrooms and a sleep out
We then replastered the loung and dinningroom as well as painting every room
and I went to a placed called The Tender centre,
where I put in bids for all the furnature for the period of the house,
when people come into the house not only do they look at the improvments they also look at the furnature and say WOW…
The furnature for Dinning room,kitchen,lounge and Kitchen table and chairs and a chest of draws all came to $4000 , well worth the time and effort in scouting second hand shops.
Ezy does it…[buz2]Ezy made a good point that changing layouts can dramatically change the appearance and feel of a place.
Knocking out walls is favourite past time of mine and like the idea of smarter layouts. As Ezy mentioned, it can get expensive, particularly when kitchens are involved and sometimes not for the faint of heart but the results usually are worth it!
If knocking out walls is not for you then an alternative maybe just to take out smaller sections of the wall at about eye level to provide the visual open feel without the hassel of taking out a whole wall. Relatively easy to do in stud walls, not as easy in brick walls. I saw this on the weekend at a friends house and looked pretty cool, and you do see it a lot in new kit houses. Usually works well between dining and lounge rooms or living areas. Just a thought!
Hi there, I’m not a seasoned renovator, but I am a seasoned renter and sub-letter. The special touches make all the difference (it’s also why I’m having a lot of trouble finding a better place to live in right now for the rent that I pay!). One of the features I love about the apartment is that one of the bathrooms has been split into 2 half bathrooms – the toilet and its vanity is separated from the bath/shower/vanity2. Having curtains instead of blinds gives the city apartment a more homely feel. Anything that makes for an open kitchen adds space. I personally prefer a marble feel to the floor instead of carpet or wooden floorboards – it adds a touch of luxury and much easier to maintain wihtout as much worry about scratches. You might also want to add value by placing paintings / pictures on the walls and some plants where appropriate – tenants can always remove or return them to you if they don’t like them – but in the meantime they make immediate impact when tenants enter the room even if there is no furniture. Cheaper than chainging the colour of wall each time, and easily and effectively changes the mood / feel to whatever you want. The kitchen hose-tap is a domestic dream. Extra shelving space and storage space is always appreciated – there are great ideas around. So too are facilities for foxtel, tv & ADSL in every bedroom as well as living areas. Oh – and make sure there’s air conditioning available everywhere. Adjustable pressure shower head fittings can also be great opportunity to ‘WOW’.
Good Luck!
From a couple of reno contacts,what makes it worth while and quick to rent is if you have a good kitchen and bathroom,the female will always look at those two things first and more than likley be the decider maker as well.
Go LuckI think a covered deck/verandah adds heaps to the feel of a place and gives you that outdoor living space.
I also love skylights! Not those little round ones that look like a light is always on in the room, but a great big one 1 metre x 1 metre or bigger preferably in the kitchen of dark houses! Makes the place so much more livable.
Shar
Hi,
-I used an old pine dresser in the bathroom. I replaced the glass in the top cupboards with mirrors and the benchtop with a new kitchen sink, looked great!
-ripped out the old kitchen and bought two solid jarrah ones out of the paper and mixed and matched the pieces to get what I wanted.built 2 feature brick walls to hold up the bar and ran railway sleepers along the top to give an old fashioned look.
-knocked a wall through the kitchen to lounge room using railway sleepers to hold up the wall on all three sides, including the machinery to knock the wall through it cost a healthy $93.
-used textured paint (polytex) throughout the house as the walls were in a shocking condition.good luck
Wow – talk about some pretty cool ideas!
Kitchen hose tap, skylights, bathroom dresser, outdoor areas, knocking out/removing walls are all brilliant ideas. Some of them clearly a bit more challenging than others. Also think finding a cheap source of furniture is really helpful as suggested.
Textured paint sounds very interesting – luckily my reno place’s walls are okay, but I might just try it anyway!!
And, since reading g7’s ideas, all I seem to see are shaggy white rugs – everywhere – great idea!
Any thoughts on the best choice of exterior colour schemes for best street appeal?
Thanks again for all the fab ideas and keep them coming![biggrin]
Leila
Hi Leila
I have just finished my first reno. I bought the place 3 months ago for $225000 I spent $3000 on the reno had it valued today at $270000.
My WOW factor was in 5 areas,
1st I painted the place inside and out using heritage green on the gutters and the hardiplank parts of the building and a very pale green inside; the building is mainly brick outside.
2nd it had a carport under the same roofline, I simply filled in the carport turning it into a garage.
3rd I ripped up the carpet in the lounge and put down a wood floating floor and new carpet in the bedrooms. This was my best wow point even though the flooring only cost $18sm at Bunnings
4th I went to an auction and bought some fancy fittings for the bathroom, toilet and kitchen, cost $300. This completely changed the look of the house.
5th I put in a easy care frontyard, took out the mangy lawn or what was left of it and replaced it with red gravel and a few nice plants and flowers plenty of colour.
Worked real well for me.
KerwynLighting is under rated. Lots and lots of lights, especially down lights. Everyone loves a bright home.
Dan.
The most important thing is to make the most important thing, the most important thing.
Anon.
Good point Dan, the little halogen lights can be bought for around $15 each including transformers and really look great when you have a few in select locations. Good for highlighting features as well. Cheap and very effective!!
Definitely agree that lighting makes a big difference. Firstly make sure the kitchen is well lit.
Having adjustable halogen lights adds value – but if you use special light globes don’t forget to tell your tenant / buyer where to buy the replacements from.
Having the right lights in the right place for features, artwork or just for mood lighting also make a difference.
Also pay attention to air circulation and windows – especially if the property is an apartment.
Floor to ceiling built-in robes are a must.
A bathroom design that is easy to clean and that easily airs is also desirable.
OH – A BIG mistake will be having a fridge space that is too small for some of the fridges out there. NOthing more frustrating than having a fridge that won’t fit into your new place. Do your research and make sure hte fridge space is right!
An additional nice touch would be to have hooks on the wall when people first enter the property so that coats, bags etc can be hung up.
Also pay attention to shower heads. The more adjustable, the better. And access to gas hot water is a must.
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