OP I live in a very expensive home, 2 digits million above 10. I own a ton of real estate.

We only do the bare min in renovations. Why in the world do I need my kitchen to be upgraded when it works fine? Waste of money which is why I still have money and never have to worry.

I don't care what anyone else thinks.

Am I cheap no, frugal nah just bought a new car with cash.

Again do not care what anyone else thinks of my home.

I'd think you're very sensible.

-someone who's lived through renovation hell recently.

What do I think? I think, "Gosh I should mind my own business." I think, "Maybe they have other things they want or need to spend their $ on ($ that I don't even know for sure they have)" I think, "Maybe they like their house the way it is."

I’m with you. I’m too lazy to deal with renovations and there are many other things I’d ether do with money. The way my house looks is now it’ll look until I move.

I'm a renovator. It's not about trends, it's about making the house work for me. I can't afford to do it all at once so I'll be doing medium projects constantly for probably 10 years. FWIW I grew up in a situation like this too and my parents stopped renovating when everything was "good enough."

I don't care what my neighbors do.

I don't want my house to look like a time capsule of when it was built, but I don't want to be a slave to current trends, either. When we moved in a few years ago I hated our dated brown granite countertops so much. Priced out replacing them with quartz and nearly pulled the trigger, but prices went up during the pandemic and we decided to wait. I'm so glad we did. The quartz we picked already looks dated to me, and now that we painted the cabinets, changed the hardware, installed a backsplash, and replaced the oldest of our appliances, the space feels updated and fresh without a major reno.

I am trying to apply that philosophy to all the spaces in the house before we undertake anything major. I love design and decor so it is hard to resist, but I am also scared to spend a lot of money and go through the hassle of a major renovation only to have it feel dated or regret choices within a few years. I now few things are truly timeless, but I want to ensure my decisions are longer term.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a pocket of CCDC with the most expensive homes. We are the one of 3 homes on our street that hasn’t added on or done a $75k+ backyard thing with a pool and pergola. Or both. We’ve lived here 20 years and hit the ceiling on our earnings so there will never be discretionary money to do a big reno

Posting only to add that a few neighbors have actually commented on this “lack of updates” ! So yes, there are people out there who think that way. The people who said something to me are from cultures where that kind of direct speaking is common (“oh hi! Say have you gained weight?” “Wow, private school. How do you afford that? How much do you pay?” etc)

This is funny to me. In my neighborhood, at least in the crowd I socialize in, the main comments you hear are like "it's so wonderful you were able to keep the original moulding." Or "it's so nice to be in a home that didn't convert to open layout" because we cooked in the kitchen, then ate in the down dining room, and the kids are in the living room playing quietly. Or once in a house tour I overheard "can you believe they took out plaster and instead got dangerous Chinese drywall and these cheap railings and floors instead of hardwood?"

There's a strong sentiment that older is better for building materials. Design is another question, of course, but a lot of people choose historic homes because of the history and didn't want to erase that and get a house that looks like what you see in the magazines today.

If this was a choice between a historic home and modern "soulless" renovation, it would be one thing. But you and I both know that this is really a choice between a soulless 1980s and an equally soulless today, except with more conveniences.

Anonymous wrote:I live in a pocket of CCDC with the most expensive homes. We are the one of 3 homes on our street that hasn’t added on or done a $75k+ backyard thing with a pool and pergola. Or both. We’ve lived here 20 years and hit the ceiling on our earnings so there will never be discretionary money to do a big reno

Posting only to add that a few neighbors have actually commented on this “lack of updates” ! So yes, there are people out there who think that way. The people who said something to me are from cultures where that kind of direct speaking is common (“oh hi! Say have you gained weight?” “Wow, private school. How do you afford that? How much do you pay?” etc)

This is funny to me. In my neighborhood, at least in the crowd I socialize in, the main comments you hear are like "it's so wonderful you were able to keep the original moulding." Or "it's so nice to be in a home that didn't convert to open layout" because we cooked in the kitchen, then ate in the down dining room, and the kids are in the living room playing quietly. Or once in a house tour I overheard "can you believe they took out plaster and instead got dangerous Chinese drywall and these cheap railings and floors instead of hardwood?"

There's a strong sentiment that older is better for building materials. Design is another question, of course, but a lot of people choose historic homes because of the history and didn't want to erase that and get a house that looks like what you see in the magazines today.

Anonymous wrote:Renovations aren't very likely to make a return when you sell on older homes. I live in a one floor ranch built in the last 60s. When I sell it will be a teardown and rebuild regardless of how nice it is. Buyers want huge multifloor mansions and builders will meet that demand.

Same with my house built in the 1950s in Chevy Chase. I don’t see the point in improving this house because we will sell it in 10 years and it will get torn down. Nothing about the house now bothers me. It’s all serviceable.

I wouldn't judge no renovation. But I am judgey about too much clutter, lack of cleanliness, rooms with no normal furniture etc

I wouldn’t think…anything. Why or why you aren’t renovating wouldnt cross my mind unless you were complaining about your house.

I live in a pocket of CCDC with the most expensive homes. We are the one of 3 homes on our street that hasn’t added on or done a $75k+ backyard thing with a pool and pergola. Or both. We’ve lived here 20 years and hit the ceiling on our earnings so there will never be discretionary money to do a big reno

Posting only to add that a few neighbors have actually commented on this “lack of updates” ! So yes, there are people out there who think that way. The people who said something to me are from cultures where that kind of direct speaking is common (“oh hi! Say have you gained weight?” “Wow, private school. How do you afford that? How much do you pay?” etc)

Renovations aren't very likely to make a return when you sell on older homes. I live in a one floor ranch built in the last 60s. When I sell it will be a teardown and rebuild regardless of how nice it is. Buyers want huge multifloor mansions and builders will meet that demand.

I would never think twice about it. I don’t come from a circle or social class I guess where people do gut renovations of their homes for mostly aesthetics the way it seems common here. It just was never a thing outside of legit fixer upper situations. I would never put my family through that kind of disruption unless absolutely necessary.

I actually really like my house. It is a MCM with lots of cool original detail and a very open flow. I can’t even imagine changing it to what is “on trend.” It would look SO wrong in this house.