House Update #2 – Scope Creep!

When we originally started working on our new home, my focus was to make it livable for a few years, before we do a major remodel. Well… a few things have changed! As the dust (and cigarette smoke smell) lifted, we found ourselves thinking that we could be comfortable in the home for the foreseeable future. Between having a wild and messy toddler, and the insane building costs and supply chain issues, I want to delay the project as long as possible. We decided to invest more money into the update so we’re happy with our little ranch home for the next years to come. 

Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Floors: The floors are done and we’re really happy with them! What a transformation! We went with Malta Island Laminate in Opal Cream, and carpet in the bedrooms.

Painting: As planned, we scrubbed the walls and ceilings with a mixture of Simple Green and vinegar to clean the dust, cobwebs, and any nicotine residue. It was about as fun as it sounded! Once the surfaces were clean, we primed everything with Kilz Premium primer. It’s a heavy-duty primer that seals porous surfaces. After a few days of priming, I had made up my mind that we would hire painters to do the finishing work. Painting one or two rooms is very different than painting an entire home – especially one that has dark green walls! Each wall required about 3 coats of primer and they still didn’t look great. Not to mention the physical toll that painting takes. In my opinion, this is one of those jobs that’s 100x worth it to pay the professionals! They do a much better job and they can get it done quickly.

Kitchen: The kitchen is the biggest area of scope creep! I had planned to paint the laminate counters with Rust-Oleum countertop paint. After reading mixed reviews, we decided to replace the counters with durable quartz. Our kitchen gets so much use, and I don’t want to worry about paint peeling or getting damaged with use. We did save money by purchasing a discontinued slab of quartz at Arizona Tile in Roseville. When the old counters were removed, we also took away the laminate backsplash. We ended up tiling the backsplash with a simple white tile from Home Depot. Last but not least, I decided I couldn’t live with the old black kitchen appliances. I found a package deal of stainless steel at Home Depot.

Other Improvements:

• Whole House Fan: It’s inevitable that when you improve one thing in a home, the things around it start to look worse. After the walls were cleaned up, the old, dingy whole house fan stuck out like a sore thumb. We decided to replace the fan so it’s flush with the ceiling, and not such a focal point when you walk into the home. Plus, whole house fans are really efficient at cooling down the home and can reduce the need for air conditioning. 

• Doors: The front door and door into the garage are well past their prime. They are both also highly visible in the home and swapping them out is well worth the investment! 

• Wall Paneling: When we removed the chair rail trim from the hallway wall, it took chunks out of the drywall. Instead of trying to patch the entire hallway, my husband installed vertical shiplap paneling called nickel gap shiplap. It looks like traditional shiplap, and it comes in 4 foot sheets. He used traditional shiplap in the hallway bathroom because it will hold up better to moisture.

• Fixtures & Finishes: All of the light fixtures, the two vanities, kitchen and bathroom hardware will be replaced. My dear friend, and talented interior designer, Molly Allen, worked with us to select the finishes. I’m so excited to see it come together!

Budget

Home projects aren’t cheap, even if you’re not tearing down walls and making structural changes. I’m always frustrated with the unrealistic portrayal on HGTV shows – hey, look it only takes $30k to gut and remodel an entire home! No way! Keep in mind, we didn’t even touch the bathtub/showers in the house. It would easily be an additional $25k if we decided to update them. We also didn’t have to do any electrical work or relocate plumbing. 

Our biggest expenses were the flooring and painting costs. If we had the time and the confidence to tackle those projects ourselves, it would have saved a significant amount of money. However, it would have taken a long time, and especially when it comes to the flooring, I’m not sure if we would have been happy with the end result. We could have also saved by doing the kitchen backsplash tile ourselves (the tile only cost $922 but the install was $1,500).

If you’re updating your home on a budget, I recommend investing in the skilled labor for the flooring. If you have the time and energy, you can save money by doing the painting and tiling yourself.

Here are some other non-backbreaking ways to stretch your budget: 

• Buy discontinued or imperfect stone for countertops at Arizona Tile (or another supplier)
• Purchase vanities on Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist
• Purchase affordable light fixtures on Ikea, Etsy, or lightly used from Facebook Marketplace/Craigslist
• Wait for major sales to purchase big-ticket items like appliances. 

Whether you’re buying or selling in Granite Bay or Loomis, I’ll make sure you have a competitive edge.