Yesterday I was thinking about what makes a house appealing from the outside, and I quickly thought of a few points that would make one home stand out against another. But what about the mystery that lies behind those 4 walls? I often wonder if the inside matches the outside–especially in older homes.
Maybe I should back up and tell why I wonder that. My husband and I watch home improvement shows on weekends, and we are constantly learning. The flippers, designers, and construction crews we watch all have their successes and failures. I have seen someone remove wallpaper and the drywall came off with it. Pipes existed behind what appeared to be a random wall. Rotten subfloors lie beneath a crusty layer of linoleum. What we learn, however, isn’t limited to surprises underneath the floors and in the walls. Sometimes at the end of a show I see a house that clearly does not have a consistent look. The outside is no reflection of the inside, which has been painstakingly renovated with no detail and no dollar spared.
Why does that happen, anyway? Older homes were built to standards and codes beneath the ones we use today, so when owners decide to renovate for looks, they often have to renovate for function as well. That could mean plumbing upgrades and electrical upgrades that end up costing more than the pretty part. It most often means the project is completed in stages. My theory is that as the budget is eaten up by necessities, the homeowners often have to stop and wait a while before taking on the next part of the big project.
I suppose if an owner is renovating just for the purpose of greater enjoyment of a certain space, then I understand. But when the renovation budget exceeds 20 percent or so of the property value, it is always a good idea to consider the entire structure and what may be done–even if small–to keep the entire look more consistent.
If you are that homeowner, maybe you think you will never sell your property and that time is on your side. Maybe, so, but making a few exterior upgrades and cleaning up goes a long way toward maintaining the overall value of the property.
The photo above shows the exterior before and after renovation. The interior was completely upgraded, so the exterior was enhanced by new shingles, new gravel, pressure washing, tree removal, and fresh paint in the carport.
See more of this renovation here.
