I have decided to completely renovate the kitchen and bathroom in my renal unit and I am in the process of selecting colours for the tiles which will cover the floor and nearly all the way to the top of the walls.
I am wondering what you investors go for? In tile colour, but also:
(1) bathroom fittings
(2) kitchen cupboards and bench topsThanks
Alex[biggrin]Hi,
Whatever you choose try to select something that does not date quickly ie the next owner would look at and think this bathroom etc was revamped in 200?. Avoid textured tiles on the floor.
.
Dark floor tiles seem to attract dirt or make people think they don’t have to be cleaned i’m not sure which.
.
We have a preference for wooden bench tops. Can be very expensive but the advantage is that if tenant burns/scratches/cuts chews or sets up a chemical lab on them then you can just sand them back with heavy grade paper and re seal.
.
We used to have a good source for solid core door panels. ie the bit that goes inside the heavy ply covered fire doors.These looked fantastic when cut and polished and were almost indestructible. Have not be able to find them for a while now.
.
Good Luck.Hi Alex,
Here are my thoughts:For a bathroom – keep the colour scheme very neutral – white tiles are always good (when I was renting, I really preferred these as you can easily tell when they’re clean). And, of course these are easy to match. Avoid mosaic tiles – more grout = more cleaning/dirt showing. Taps/showerheads are best in a silver colour – just try and find one that doesn’t show finger marks/scratches too much.
Kitchen fittings: For door handles – keep them small unless you’re trying to make a design statement. Brushed stainless steel-look handles for kitchen cupboard doors are a good look. I love the look of timber benches, but would choose laminate for an IP based on price. This choice, of course, depends on your target market.
Cupboard doors in vinyl wrap are about middle of the range in cost, and are fairly long-lasting. New Antique White is a colour these come in, and it ties in really well with both modern and traditional styles of home. The colour is very close to Dulux Fair Bianca, which makes it easy to match it to neutral walls if needed. Also matches virtually any bench type/colour. And make sure you get good hinges on the doors, and don’t forget the little plastic dots that ‘silence’ the doors when they close.
I’d be interested to hear what you choose. Hope all goes well with your reno!
Leila
Hi,
I love the look of white tiles.
They look clean and sterile, and make the room look bigger and lighter. I think the large glossy ones look the best, although they are probably not the cheapest.
Del
Also white tiles are more appealing for the tenant. They can use their own colours for decorating. Better than restricting with one colour, say green!
Your answer is totally dependent on the town and the price-range and what is expected by tenants.
In a way you want to keep it to what ‘most tenants like’ so you could ask your rental manager.
However I think there is something to be said for being ever so slightly more ‘trendy’ than what the market is doing, to futureproof your place. I see a lot of (outdated I think) beige and pink and light green and I like to do white/cream with navy blue feature walls. I also see a lot of floral curtains or that horrid what I call ’80’s motel print’ geometric pattern, whereas I like to do navy blue roman blinds. Clean and modern. It’s still neutral and inoffensive to be appealing to many and not ‘offputting’, my rental manager is crazed about my places.!
I did a brick red feature wall behind the fireplace on one of my properties which also looks great, the rest is polished wood floors and dark cream walls, and lighter cream curtains
I don’t much care for net curtains, I prefer say a cotton voile slightly seethrough sort with ties. I don’t like any sort of pattern really apart from black and white checks and neutral sort of ‘earth’ patterns.bathrooms I have only ever done white gloss bathroom paint or else used seratone panels.
Didn’t go too trendy on the bathrooms because it would have cost too much for the house.
Seratone is I think much cheaper than tiling, but it depends on what your market expects – for me tiling would have been ‘overcapitalising’!taps and fittings, I think for the sake of $50 bucks to get a slightly trendier i.e. mixer tap go for it, even on a cheaper property, it helps gives the impression of luxury, ditto doorhandles and cupboard handles and light fittings.
I used cheapo light fittings on my places $11 each) and I think next time I might go the whole hog and go the deluxe $22 ones (ironic grin) – well again it’s all relative, innit!
you might be in a market where you might want to run halogen spots on a wire track, who knows!
cheers-
Minithanks for your input!
I am trying to stay clear of “my” preference because its really a PI and I won’t be living there. I think my tenant’s suggestions are good.
Do you guys think the following is too colourful?
He has suggested teracota tiles for the kitchen, white tiles for the walls, haven’t decided on the benchtops etc yet.
and for the bathroom, a deep sea blue tiled floor with smaller jade tiles rotated 90 degrees. The walls white tiles with a feature pebble type look in the wall. White porcelain bathroom fittings.
I know this gets away from the white tile look. But sometimes a bit of colour makes it look more like a home and less like a hospital, is my opinion.
Regards
Alex[biggrin]The place is a 2 bedroom rental unit about 15 mins from adelaide in the metro area.
Hi,
Sounds good. Just one thing, I would probably stay away from blue on the floor. Lots of things we use in our bathrooms are white and end up on the floor. Tenants may not be a diligent cleaning as you would be.
.
Good LuckHi,
I’ve just finished my building my first IP and realise how hard it can be making decisions on materials and finishes. Even if it is only an “IP” you want to choose something that you’re not going to have to change for a good many years if you hold onto the property. I’m nearly finished my Interior Design diploma and still found the decisions challenging.
I agree that white or a neutral colour for the bathroom is ideal. Gloss white tiles are great but if keeping white for the floor as well go for a matt finish. I personally went for a white on the walls and a neutral stone coloured tile for the floor with a sandy coloured grout. Whatever you do make sure that you seal the grout as it will help to protect against staining and mould.
I would definitely go with laminate benchtop and either laminate or vinyl wrap cupboards. If you want a timber look for the doors there is a great range of laminates out there now. I would also stick with chrome knobs and tapware.
Keeping the paint work in neutral colours will mean that the tenants can introduce their own colours with furnishings and accents. A feature wall however is still a great idea and you could choose a strong colour that is still in a neutral tone. Beauty with adding colour through a feature wall is that is really is just a few coats of paint and can easily be changed/updated for minimal cost – much better than having to replace tiles etc.
Happy renovating!
I’d agree on neutral colours too and very light colours that accentuate like pastel colours that doesn’t overpower. If you are painting make sure you use washable paint as I am currently renting myself and the cheapo paint that they have used is ridiculous. I would say they have used the cheap ‘flat plastic’ paint that does not wash off. Not a good option! No matter how careful we are it marks.
The same would apply if you are getting new carpets, make sure it is stain resistant. Wool carpets do not go well with spilt anything even with throw rugs. Or even better only use it in needed places like bedrooms etc.
Good luck!
let’s not forget the pleasure of making your personal mark, no matter how ‘generic’ – you do get to choose, which is fun!
Picking the colours and how you will redecorate your IP, no matter how ‘cheaply’, is one of the most fun parts of property investing and one which is really rather satisfying! The rest is basically a big headache at worst and a giant admin and people-managing exercise at best!
and, er,
“completely renovate the kitchen and bathroom in my renal unit”
OOOH! Sounds painful!!!
Picking the colours and how you will redecorate your IP, no matter how ‘cheaply’, is one of the most fun parts of property investing and one which is really rather satisfying!Agree, if you are not having fun why bother really. Got to make the place somewhere the tenant likes living. Give it a bit of a personal touch.
.
Good Luck.daaussie, sent this reply to your PM:
Hi there,
Apologies for the late reply.
Rental…you selling or continuing to rent it? Would have to look at that for durability. Also, look lsightly at durability for sale of a rental, but also the look will have to be spot on.
I just completed a bathroom last week. Tiled full wall with a lighter/natural looking tile, quite big. Put a mirror on both walls as it was quite a small room. 2 bedder apartment, I’m assuming small? If so, keep it light, help it look big.
White fittings? If they are new style….maybe. If you want clean a sheek, polished brass(silver) is a good thing.
Terracotta tiles? Once again, prob a little 10 years ago there too. Polished porcelain is fully nice, comes up a treat. The walls- as in splashback? You can get a “fake” stainless steel finish. It is like a stainless steel laminate.
Bench tops….there is also another good :fake: as I call them product for that. You would know of standard laminex, well, you can get that, but in gloss. If you get the right stuff, from a distance it will look like a stone benchtop e.g. granite/marble. These are good cheaper way, but very effective. Remember if you have power on the wall and go stainless splashback, go with stainless powerpoints, classy finish.
The bathroom sounds interesting. You wil have to give me a look at the completed pics. Keep it shiney, clean looking. Not too many fetures, you don’t want it to look “busy” or cluttered.
I hope this helps.
Let me know how you go.
J.
J.
The way Cremin and I havge renocated our kitchen is rather basic.
Cream laminate cupboards, easy to clean and won’t date, brushed stainless steel handles and neutral coloured splashback.
As for the bathroom, well I see what people say about dark tiles on the floor, but honestly, the dark tiles hide the dirt really well! Plus you can tell when they are clean. The best house we rented had dark floor tiles through the main house, then the pits was the light coloured tiles in the kitchen!! It was digusting! No matter how much I cleaned them, they always looked dirty!
I would go with the medium to dark coloured tiles on the floor and the lighter ones on the walls. Like someone else said, well placed mirrors can make the place look bigger do invest in a few.
Good luck renovating. Ours has taken nearly a year, but we are living there as well. At least the main part of the house is done!
Steph.
Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Hi guys, thanks for all your posts.
J, my aim is to continue renting the place out. My tenant will be doing all the reno’s as he has done pubs professionally before. I will be paying for the materials. I am a little nervous about it all.
For the bathroom, by white fittings I meant the toilet, the hand basin. The floor tiles I have purchased a very neutral pale brown/biege colour with dark or grey grout. The walls are probably going to be white with the same colour in a strip along the walls about head height.
For the kitchen, I was actually considering ripping out the old kitchen cupboards etc. J you mention laminate. I have no idea where to buy this from, do I measure and do it myself?
For the floor tiles I note you say terracota is 10 years old now, but i didnt quite understand what colour is current?
Thanks once again guys…
[biggrin]
PS I agree with darker tiles for the kitchen floor, but what colour is a good modern colour which won’t go out of fashion?
Hey Alex,
O.K. The laminate thing- if you wanna have a crack at it..good luck! I would suggest getting someone in to do it for you. I have my own cabinet maker who does odd jobs for me like that and the big stuff. So possibly get in touch with a cabinet maker about using laminex type products. If you get a good one they will point you in the right direction. It’s hard to explain the products that I use.
Having said that, I should have my website completed within 6 months and I will have a project archive with photo/pictures and further details. Some in depth info on products used also. THis would be very helpful currently.
Darker tiles…..questionable again. I have recently completed the intereior of a project. Small three bedroom house. Tiled everywhere except the bedrooms. Used a light colour. They are polished porcelain. That means alot of preparation, extra care in cutting a laying and fussy finishing. You then seal them once all processes complete. The finish is excellent. the peole that have been in for a look at this place have all commented on the tiles. yes, they get dirty, but when all processes are carried out properly, this means simply sweep over the tiles and they are clean, it is great, easy to maintain.
keep it light, simple. When you walk into plush, expensive hotels- do they look new? Pretty much. Those tiles were probably laid 10 years ago, but you could probably walk into a tile shop and find 3 similar types of tile. The key also is that they are shiney and clean looking- polished. Does that make sense? try that, it’ll spin you out. Might make your decision straight away for you. Or you may prove me completely wrong, won’t work in all cases.
Hope you have sucess in selections.
J.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
