I am, admittedly, a magazine addict. There are certain glossy magazines I just have to read. As a teen, I hungrily tore through friends’ copies of Seventeen and Glamour, but when I was in college and first laid eyes on Architectural Digest as a guest in a friend’s classy home, I immediately was hooked. My first subscription was to Vogue, swiftly followed by House Beautiful. Eventually I developed an affinity for the arty lifestyle and culture pieces but my principal interest in both publications was focused on fashion and home fashion.
A representative from one of the myriad vacation home rental properties keeps leaving attractive brochures by my front gate. They want to know if we’re interested in turning our home into a vacation rental, even occasionally. I have to admit the lure of additional income is tempting. Many moons ago I had a friend who worked as a location scout for films and high-end catalogs. Telling me how many thousands of dollars a day were paid to people to rent out their houses, she whet my appetite for finding ways to make money off my home without having to work too hard for it. The truth of the matter? If I were ever to put my house on the vacation rental market, I’d have to do a lot to make it work, especially my outdoor space.
Not too long ago I was in a stunning Colonial home in northern Westchester. I was there to interview the homeowner for a local magazine. Practically the moment I walked through the front door, I confessed what a huge fan I was of her home’s architectural era. She graciously offered a tour around the house. Additions had been made to the original structure over time, including a new wing recently built by the current homeowner. I anticipated the killer kitchen and the luxury baths, but it was the new clothes closet that really took my breath away. It was the size of a bedroom and opulently filled with fine wood cabinetry, Berber carpet, and a stunning chandelier.
Let’s talk about wallpaper, which to some people, is akin to a dirty word. You either love it or you hate it. Whether or not you are a fan, wallpaper is technically decorative embellishment although it has qualities that can appear almost architectural. While there are many decorative things besides paint you can apply to your walls including paneling, wainscoting and shiplap, wallpaper alone provides a unique ambiance no other finish for your walls can duplicate.
This is embarrassing to admit, but cleaning is my hobby. Yes, you read that right, I love to clean. This wasn’t always the case – my mother was an indifferent housekeeper. We rented, didn’t own, and for some reason she thought this gave her a free pass to not really keep up with it. One house she rented was a run-down Victorian that could never be properly cleaned. The area around every faucet was rusty and mold blossomed along one wall behind the washing machine.
So much of home remodeling is about meeting changing needs. Is your starter home feeling too small, or have the kids flown the coop, or are you thinking about selling? Or maybe the kitchen feels dated or you’d prefer a walk-in shower instead of a tub. Other important considerations in moving forward with remodeling are the value-boost to your way of life plus the added value to your home. Let’s take a look at three major life stages that could be the spark for a home revamp.
I have dogs. I’ve always had dogs. Right now, I just have one. There was a period of my adult life when my family had three dogs, two cats, and a pony. Admittedly, the pony did not live with us inside the house. Nevertheless, its hair was a regular factor to be dealt with. Over my husband’s adamant protests, for years I persisted in bringing from the barn horse sheets and blankets and saddle pads to launder in our clothes washer.
I had a friend (she’s since moved to Florida) who lived in a beautiful, three story, narrow antique house in a historic hamlet.The house, which is well over a hundred years old, had been renovated a few times, but it was small and some of the ceilings were a bit low, and it was on a busy street that was hardly tranquil.
I know I’m not alone when I say the prospect of hosting the holidays is a little anxiety-producing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Scrooge and I love having friends and family over if only to remind me how lucky we are, and that I should count my blessings. But every year, and it is precisely this time of year, I start feeling anxious. Besides the usual concerns, like do we actually have enough toilet paper, I always question the readiness of the house. Will it function the way it’s supposed to when it’s not “just us”?
When we moved into our first house as a married couple, I thought everything was perfect. Prior to completing our purchase, we had a full home inspection and an hour before the actual closing we did a walk through. Everything seemed great. So when a skylight dripped rain onto the hardwood floor during a heavy downpour the first week we moved in, and I began noticing some cabinet doors were askew and the stairs squeaked a lot, I was dismayed.