Buying a new house... what to do and when?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would work with a decorator from the start. They will work with you to establish a cohesive look.

This. Many decorators are also kitchen designers.

I have a lot of respect for decorators and recommend them frequently, but all too often they are more hinderance than help with cabinets. Broadly speaking, it's outside their lane.

[Anonymous]

A 10-year old home should not need remodeling. Just leave it as is, only repair. People are nuts, don’t be wasteful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 10 year old house shouldn't need a ton of work done to it.

I’m assuming OP meant “upgrade” or just “change.”

I could see floors and paint needing a refresh from wear.

OP here, yes. A refresh. We'll have to repaint and redo the floors at some time-- much easier to do before we move in.

And while I would love to leave the kitchen as is, it's already outdated with dark-paneled wood cabinets and they put the sick in the kitchen island, which I think I would hate.

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 10 year old house shouldn't need a ton of work done to it.

I’m assuming OP meant “upgrade” or just “change.”

I could see floors and paint needing a refresh from wear.

OP here, yes. A refresh. We'll have to repaint and redo the floors at some time-- much easier to do before we move in.

And while I would love to leave the kitchen as is, it's already outdated with dark-paneled wood cabinets and they put the sick in the kitchen island, which I think I would hate.

Depending on how accessible your basement and crawl are, rerouting plumbing is going to be a big fuss. I would definitely live with the sink in the island and see if it’s really a dealbreaker.

Dark cabinets have come back in the past 5 years so I wouldn’t say it’s outdated, just that it’s not your taste.

The level of kitchen remodel you’re proposing will take a while unless you know a GC and already have a design and workers lined up or have the ability to take it on yourself. We found that contractors who were saying things were slow and had a lot of availability in Nov/Dec are now taking 2-3 weeks to come out for estimates and have start dates 6-9 weeks out at the earliest. If you have a rental or don’t have a timeline to be in your new house, a remodel makes sense, but otherwise I would live with the kitchen.