Advice on renovating the house

[doctork]

As you may have noticed we have ping-ponged back across the country and are now moved back into our old house in Bellingham. Having been occupied by college students for the past 6 years, it needs some work.

Suggestions appreciated for the following:
1. I'd like to add in a "kitchenette" area downstairs in the family room, making it potentially a "mother in law" suite or even separate rental. Howard doesn't like the idea.
2. I'm thinking of combining the master bedroom and the adjacent bedroom (has front window with great view) into one. Also combining the two small bathrooms into one large master bath, though with a hall entry also since it will be the only upstairs bath. This would make the upstairs a 2 bedroom, one bath "unit." Good for us as empty nesters, maybe not at resale.
3. The deck and hot tub need replaced, major expense but well worth it as an entertainment and outdoor relaxing place, given those spectacular views. Should I put in one of those endess pools for swimming, the kind with a hot tub atone end of the pool (has motorised current for swimming laps but it is not really a swimming pool.)
4. Any other ideas or suggestions?  Color schemes?  Are granite counters now passe?

The house is a "split entry" on a steeply sloped lot on a hill, thus with great views of the city, Bellingham Bay, Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and even Vancouver, British Columbia on a clear day/night. I don't really like split entry houses, but this is the THIRD one I've bought! Boring but efficient, well suited to the sloping lot and the neighborhood; it is the great view and school district that convinced me.

The split entry means that when you walk in the front door you walk up a half flight to the kitchen, with living/dining on the left and 3 bedrooms and 2 baths down the hall to the right. Or you go down half a flight from entry to a ground level "daylight basement" family room on the left, with laundry, bathroom and one or two bedrooms to the right.

The two car garage has a direct entry to that basement family room. Atop the garage is a big deck with a hot tub; the deck has a sliding door entrance to the upstairs living/dining area.

[gailkate]

I am such a dunce about remodeling, I hesitate to offer advice. But I could offer my own taste without compunction. Color - I used deep charcoal in a bedroom long before everyone went nuts for gray. I still like grays, but they're getting horribly overused and predictable. For someone who doesn't love the cloudiness of WA, I'd think any of the - ahem - fashionable palettes would be rather cold for you. We've done our LR/DR soft yellow for years and will keep repainting it forever. The trick is very soft, not bright or lemony. It's cheerful and peaceful at the same time and goes with absolutely anything. But you've seen it and maybe thought it was a mistake, so I won't keep rhapsodizing.

Kitchenette - YES! You have family who will want to visit. This is perfect. You will have no problem with resale, so don't worry about it, and, frankly, since you have legal egress, I think it's a brilliant idea.

Hot tub? Totally out of my ken.

Can you do anything solar or is the big yellow thing (as BB would say) too rare to bother with capturing?

Any skylights? The view seems to be perfect for skylights, but not everyone is a sucker for them. I have longed for them since first reading Edgar Allen Poe.

[Jane]

I like quartz more than granite although we had granite put in the kitchen when we moved. We have quartz in the bathroom. I think the cost is about the same.

Since I can't swim, the hot tub sounds better to me. Plus, you can use that all year.

My son in law put up solar panels and now the electric company pays him. And he drives a Volt and recharging it is now free.

I have decided stainless steel appliances are massively overrated. When we had new ones put into the condo, I chose white.

I never worry too much about resale value. Go with what feels comfortable to you. Houses sell or don't sell depending on the market more than on the house. My daughter and her husband just put their nasty little starter home (which they have been renting out for three years) on the market, and they had three offers the first day--two over the list price.

I like Fall colors--my living room and dining room is light brown with lots of greens, purplish, brown. My kitchen is painted grey with red accents (pictures, teapot, thin tile stripe, rugs etc).

[doctork]

The Windows already provide great views, and given that sunshine is a rarity I don't figure we'd benefit from skylights much. If solar energy works in Michigan it would probably work here too, though all the talk is more other energy saving measures. My parents had skylights and endless leaking problems, though that was years ago; maybe they have improved.

I do plan to have the front door replaced, including at least part glass doors, and one of those transom Windows above - plenty of space given the split entry. Also will replace garage door with one with glass panels. I saw one on HGTV that was all glass, very cool. Also expensive I bet.

Definitely will aim for the kitchenette. In fact that Town Place Suites we stayed at had a full galley kitchen in less than 7 feet of wall space.

You're right about my color palette, gray will not work, though our bathroom has one wall that is grey-Brown (maybe "stone"?) that I kinda like. I am more of a pastel or cool colors person. I do love my yellow kitchen, so much I already have one - in NC. Figured I'd do something different here.

Yeah I think I prefer quartz too; in 6 months granite will be "so 2015" but really I don't want to be bothered with all that yearly finishing stuff.

The endless pool comes in a version with both hot tub and (cold) swim pool, so we could have our cake and eat it too. However, those are quite pricey, definitely do not recoup the investment at resale.

THE reason we moved here is for resale - fix up the house and sell it. Even if we were here because it is our permanent "forever" home in the PNW, I can't see staying in such a big house with rather large, maintenance-intensive yard.

I don't think modest changes affect resale, but I think having two vs three bedrooms on the main floor, and 1 vs 2 baths, could make a difference for a family with school kids. Once they are teenagers, the lower level becomes Teen Land (no adults allowed). The house is in a very good school district.

[BoatBabe]

I've always thought that lockers and heads were right up there with gallies. They have to be good. You can always pull out the settee if somebody extra wants to sleep over.

[gailkate]

I hadn't understood that your goal was to sell the house. I know realtors emphasize tangible features, but the feel of the house matters a lot. Even if people plan to make major changes, I think they like to walk into a "move-in ready" place that they can alter in their own sweet time - unless, of course, it's a buyer who plans to gut and flip it. Your house sounds ideal for a family, and what they do with it later can be specific to their needs. We're sort of looking at things to do in our house, but I'm wary of spending a lot of money on things that new owners might not like. I really think our house might be structurally altered to fit the current "open concept" design, so why put in a lot that will be taken out? Cosmetic improvements and changes we'd like for ourselves seem the smartest.

But cosmetics do matter. Some friends just sold a house in Traverse City that is in a prime area, has tons of potential, should have sold in a week. Nope. But after they changed the bathroom vanities and repainted rather than touching up, it sold in a day.
Have you thought about who your likely buyers are? How old, income, 1st-time buyers or with equity in a current home?

[doctork]

A family house for sure, with 4 or 5 bedrooms in town in a good school district; also suitable as an upstairs/downstairs duplex. At the moment our neighbors mostly have older children or renters, not little kids. I'll talk with realtors, designers and contractors for more detail as we move along. But yeah, same concerns - don't spend a lot of $$ for things a buyer won't pay extra for.

I'm good with a settee or trundle bed or whatever for a short-term guest, but for living there, separate bedroom is the way to go.

Remember when I said I've had this same type house before? The one in Upper St Clair (Pittsburgh area) had a large master with en suite bath (mine), and one other bedroom (Gen's) with a hall bathroom. We couldn't sell it until I re-divided that big master back into 2 bedrooms, then it sold right away as a 3 BR, 2 bath house in a top notch school district, which was why I bought it to begin with. Gen had some mild learning disabilities that could not be treated in our WV school district, so I bought a modest house in a superb district elsewhere (and got a job there) - problem solved! She graduated college, received a master's degree with honors and is now employed in a good job in her field.

Our bathrooms and the kitchen will be remodeled anyway, question is just how much. This is a middle class neighborhood, no luxury homes or obviously rich people. The two car garage with deck/view on top is a major plus, not rare in the neighborhood and not common either, but the hot tub is just a little much. Since Howard really really likes it, OK - $3k extra since we are redoing the deck anyway. The endless pool with swim lane + hot tub, I think only if we're apt to stay or if i win the lottery.

Yes, resale has been the reason from the very start of moving back out west. We do NOT need 2 houses, especially not an extra house that is "big," and 3,000 miles from our "real" house. However, we saved $20,000 per kid per year on in-state tuition for 8 years total, and the mortgage is under $1,000 per month, plus some tax-deduction advantages you get with mortgages but not tuition. When we sell this house, we will be looking at large tax-free capital gains (we know we have the gains, tax free could depend on election), plus return of our capital investment.

It is about time for me to get to work with the sorting and tossing. The trash was collected yesterday but we have far more than that already. Howard might have to park his car on the street while I fill half the garage with trash! Last night I was so filthy when I finished that on the (inside) landing I stripped naked out of my scrubs and went directly to the shower.
!

[BoatBabe]

Sounds like progress, Doc! Progressing wildly.

[doctork]

I took yesterday "off" but now it's back to work sorting and trashing.

gk in my discussion of "Gray" I forgot to mention that the whole house is cedar siding painted Gray outside. White trim. And I am not sure what different color we might paint it, if we choose to do so.

[gailkate]

I like gray! I'd leave it. I's just that all the design sites use way too much - gray walls, a couple of neon yellow pillows, a 70s print rug that will be passé in a year. Oh, and now shag rugs are coming back because everyone is too young to remember how much work they were (and god forbid a cat spits up on it). Pay no attention to me; I'm a curmudgeon.

[doctork]

No shag rugs for us, as we have 2 cats and a dog. I am thinking wood flooring pretty much throughout

I think the exterior will remain Gray. I do consider the kind of Gray where the Property brothers argue whether it is Gray or lavender.

[Jane]

We have a shagglish rug in the computer/tv room, and I like it. Feels good to walk on and my kitty's hair seems to magically disappear into its depths.

[gailkate]

Now that's a bennie I hadn't thought of. But to the Vacuum Queen? Sounds unthinkable.

[Jane]

Oh, I still vacuum it on a regular basis.

[doctork]

We hope to get a puppy in the next 6 - 12 months, so I do not want carpeting. Area rugs should be fine. Unless I change my mind.

[gailkate]

A Berner puppy? And how is Callie? I've lost track of where the animals are.

[doctork]

Callie is fine and we love her. But we have wanted a Berner for a long time for several good reasons, among them that Callie should have a dog friend. She and both cats are here in Bellingham with us.

Not right now - we are dealing with move, not ready for potty training a puppy, etc, and it takes up to a year to get a Berner pup anyway.

No matter how well trained, animals sometimes make messes on carpets, so for now I'm thinking hardwood floors, easier to clean, easy to change the look with a new area rug. Well probably laminate flooring, less expensive, still looks nice.

[gailkate]

Laminate is also easier to clean after those doggie mishaps. Even with poly finish, we jumped fast so the acid didn't affect our oak floors.

[Jane]

There was laminate here. I was ok with it, but Bill hates it. So it was hardwood all round. I don't care so much if something is just clean. Only carpet upstairs is in the bedroom and is beige and icky. That's where the cat goes to throw up.

[BoatBabe]

Well, at least your cat has good taste.