# Please give me some budget friendly ideas of how to make this house more stylish



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Here is a new house I just bought. Its me and the wife's first house. Up until this point, we have lived with family. Its a 2,300 sq foot house about 30 miles south of Fort Worth, TX. Build in 1983, and still has that style. And somebody smoked a lot in it and it smells. 

I would be glad to hear of any budget friendly ideas that any of you might have. And if you don't mind, please post pics of your idea! I'm a very visual person, and a bit of a newb to DIY, so pics of what you're talking about would be very helpful. Plus it just makes the thread more interesting :laughing:


Anyway, here are the pics. 

Kitchen bay window area


Master bathroom




One of the bedrooms (they all look like this)




Formal dining room:



Master bed room:



Kitchen:



More kitchen:



Living room:



Living room ceiling:


----------



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Nobody? Anybody?


----------



## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

It looks like a very vanilla type of house.

I assume you will be working around furnishings and furniture you already have?

I would move your stuff in, then come back and post more pics.

It's also hard to give advice with out knowing at least what style you prefer.

I will say I'm not crazy about your counter tops, both kitchen and bath. But that is not exactly a budget friendly change.


----------



## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

New paint, countertops, scrape the ceiling....


----------



## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Ditch the carpet. 
Paint everything that has a wood appearance (not the countertops). Trim, cabinets, moulding, etc...

The countertops still look to be in good condition. If you do want to change them, it is a DIY project, and isn't very expensive to do. Yours wouldn't be too hard since they are straight lengths.
Pictures: http://www.diychatroom.com/f49/laminate-countertops-179299/


----------



## CoconutPete (Jan 22, 2010)

Ditch the carpet and the blinds. Add better lighting.

If it was my house, I'd save up and gut the kitchen or the bathroom.


----------



## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

A lot of it is personal taste, and we don't know yours.

The wooden chair rails, I'd pull them all before painting. Between the rails and the 2 tone paint it has the effect of lowering the walls/ceilings.

Crown moldings, if you like them paint them. Otherwise, I'd pull those as well.

Same with the baseboards. You can screw around with painting them in place, but I hate that. I would pull them and replace them. I finish paint the new baseboards before hanging them. Then touch up the nail holes after hanging.

Replace the fan in the living room, it is dated. The bedrooms fans are also dated, but you could live with them a while if the budget is a big deal.


----------



## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

I would remove the chair rails and not put them back up.
Your house has nice spacious rooms, but it's dark. 
Paint all the walls a light color.

The ceiling and floor molding can either be painted white or painted
the same color as the wall paint in semi gloss paint.

If you have a basement, and can install hardwood floors, let that be
something in a future plan...in other words don't replace the w to w
carpet,
wait until you can do hardwood. Start with the living areas, 
then eventually do hardwood in the bedrooms as well. 

We purchased a hardwood nailer at Harbor freight on sale for 
99.00 and installed hardwood 
three years ago, in our upstairs bedrooms. Don't make the mistake
we did, first we had wall to wall installed in the entire top
floor, two years later, we ripped it out and installed hardwood.

The first floor was already hardwood. If you're handy you can do it. 


Your living room looks very dark...It would certainly benefit 
from adding
more windows, or French doors if you have an outside wall...
What is outside the fireplace wall, the backyard? 

Your kitchen and bath can be updated in the future as that is the
most expensive part of a house face-lift.

Start with the painting to lighten up the house.


----------



## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

For the smoke smell and appearance, I'd start with using a good sealing primer on all the walls, then paint. If you don't know what color, getting back to square one and making the whole house a shade of white isn't the worst thing in the world. Those carpets are going to have to go too, the smoke smell will never completely come out. The chair rail also stuck out at me as looking dated, along with those swinging doors into the dining room.

Blinds are cheap. Even if you can't afford nice ones right now, some fresh new $5 white mini-blinds will look much better than the old stuff hanging there. Faux wood blinds are not that expensive however - shop the internet. 

The fans look old. You can usually find new fans on clearance every few months at the home centers. The same with the light fixtures. Also, don't underestimate the power of the internet for things. Amazon, eBay, Woot are all places to get home materials for a discount, if you're willing to spend the time looking.


----------



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Hmm I hadn't given much thought to the "style". Perhaps someone could post a pic or two of some of the current styles? I can say that I would like the house to look more... up to date. If that makes any sense. I do like crown moulding and big baseboards. I had planned on doing recessed lighting here and there, to add more light and make the house look better. Here is the style I like. Maybe someone can name the style for me?

Also if its not too much trouble, maybe someone could name a few other styles for me too. With pics.


----------



## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Don't worry about 'style'....chances are you can't afford 'todays style'.

Except for getting rid of the smoke smell.....don't do anything....for now....

Live in the place for awhile. What you want to do today is going to change 6 months from now.....

I think one of biggest new home owners make is wanting to change everything from the beginning. You need to find out what really needs replacing....

But...that ceiling popcorn....yea, like Joe says...scrap that off....like....NOW.....

Question.....do you have gas? If so...start thinking about swapping out that stove and oven....gas will save you a boat load of money


----------



## 747 (Feb 11, 2005)

In the kitchen. Loose the counters. Change out to quartz. New back splash. Glass tile. Paint the cabinets. New hardware. New oven. I hate white appliances. Go with stainless. Or i do like black appliances, and the microwave could stay. Rest of the house. Go with some earth tone colors. White trim to make it pop.


----------



## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Inexpensive places to start would be with paint. The use of wood for the trim was very 80's. Lose it. Paint it. 

Lose the two-tone chair rail look. If you like that look then at least update the colors. Whether or not you keep the rail is up to you. And, of course, plan on replacing all the window treatments. 

Others have suggested how to address the smoke issues, and there are plenty of other threads here that discuss it.

If the kitchen cabinet boxes themselves are in good shape you could consider having the existing doors painted. Send them out and have them painted as it'll usually end up looking better. Or there are ways to order whole new doors to attach to the existing boxes. That's another way to change the style without a total renovation.

I'd very much lean toward replacing the counters in the kitchen. Which will be the perfect time to get rid of that awful electric cooktop and hideous drop-in sink. While I prefer gas for cooking, there are plenty of more modern options for electric cooktops. Same thing with that oven. But if still works and your new style doesn't conflict with it then you could postpone replacing it. Just make sure whatever replacement you consider will fit in the same sized opening. No sense in refreshing the cabinets only to have to do it again for a different oven size.


----------



## lambomarta (Jun 6, 2013)

I think the in the kitchen you have to use some light colors because from my point of view it’s pretty dark in there . If not u can use some under cabinet lights but I think light colors would be better, just my 2 cents. There are many tips you can use on this blog, I personally found it very useful when I was remodeling my kitchen I hope it will be of great help to you too


----------



## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

ddawg16 said:


> Don't worry about 'style'....chances are you can't afford 'todays style'.
> 
> Except for getting rid of the smoke smell.....don't do anything....for now....
> 
> ...


+1 

Great advice here John.


----------



## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

Bennylava said:


> Hmm I hadn't given much thought to the "style".


Style is what is new and popular. Style changes every few months. 

Find things YOU like, and go with that. Create your own "style". There's no set template that you have to follow. Spend plenty of time researching what can be done, what you can handle, and how to do it.

Remember. Home improvement goes in these steps.

1. Make it safe.
2. Make it reliable.
3. Make it pretty.


----------



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Thanks for all the help and replies everyone. I will be taking all advice. It all sounds like good advice to me. Most of what has been mentioned, I was already planning to do. I was not sure if I had thought of everything though. 



ddawg16 said:


> Question.....do you have gas? If so...start thinking about swapping out that stove and oven....gas will save you a boat load of money


Yes the house does have gas. As do I. :laughing: But I was told that these days, gas really isn't all that different from electricity in price. Don't know if its true or not. 



wkearney99 said:


> Which will be the perfect time to get rid of that awful electric cooktop and hideous drop-in sink.


What other type of sink would you recommend? Are there better ones to go with besides drop-in?


----------



## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Which sink is purely a matter of what your style prefers. I like undermount sinks as they don't provide that nasty lip for crud to collect under. But they do require a very precise cut-out of the opening. A drop-in doesn't require that, which often makes the install of them less expensive as the hole can be cut in the field and not have to look perfect. But if you're going to spend some money on the counter you'd just get them to cut the hole while fabricating the top. 

I don't know anyone that has gas cooktops that ever wishes they had electric. I've known plenty that hate electric. Yes, electrical induction tops are versatile but they require very specific kinds of pots. So unless you're certain your existing pots will work then you've got to buy all new ones to work with induction. We went with a GE 48" gas unit for our new kitchen.

If you're faced with budgetary limits (and who isn't) then if you 'have to' keep something just make sure the opening it needs can be filled by something new. As in, if you have to keep the cooktop then just make sure what newer models would fit in the same (or larger) hole.

It's better to spend money on the overall design of the kitchen than on the appliances themselves. The appliances can always be replaced/upgraded but a bad design can really ruin how usable the kitchen might be.


----------



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

But aren't you going to have some kind of lip with an under mount sink as well? Not very familiar with them.


----------



## wkearney99 (Apr 8, 2009)

Sure, there's a seam between the underside of the counter and the sink. But that's a lot different than the edge that sticks up on top of a counter when you use a drop-in. That lip tends to catch all kinds of filth. That and you don't have an easy way to sweep any liquids into the sink (either spills or while cleaning). Eventually anything you use to seal that drop-in to the sink will fail, potentially leading to leaks that damage the counter and cabinets below. 

The only place we'll be using a drop-in will be for a utility sink. That provides a way to use the edge of the sink as part of the work process. We're going to use this one: _Mustee Vector 25_. The molded drain edge should come in handy for that sort of sink.


----------



## alexjoe (Jun 10, 2013)

If you like that attending again at atomic amend the colors. Whether or not you accumulate the abuse is up to you. And, of course, plan on replacing all the window treatments.


----------



## patrickbuzacott (Jun 17, 2013)

Great looking house you got there, though you’d need a couple of things to make it look better. How about adding window frosting on the windows and doors? You don’t need to completely frost them, and there are frosting designs you can apply on them too.


----------



## mrs fix it (Oct 9, 2011)

patrickbuzacott said:


> Great looking house you got there, though you&#146;d need a couple of things to make it look better. How about adding window frosting on the windows and doors? You don&#146;t need to completely frost them, and there are frosting designs you can apply on them too.


I wonder what your obsession is with frosting windows!


----------



## r0ckstarr (Jan 8, 2013)

mrs fix it said:


> I wonder what your obsession is with frosting windows!


Spammer.


----------

