After initially moving into our house, we have had to do a lot of the necessary cosmetic fixes: clean, new blinds, new paint, work on the yard, etc. But when I look at our house and the things we can do to it, my mind immediately goes to some of the more expensive things. I’m sure this rarely happens to other people when they first buy a home ;)
Today I decided to have a little fun and share seven things I would do asap if I had the money!
1) Hardwood floors
I definitely would love to replace all the carpet in our house with some nice hardwood floors. Absolutely love the dark hardwood floors.
Photo by Mirage floors
2) Kitchen Remodel
Everyone loves a renovated kitchen, and I’m no different! While we have newer appliances, the cabinets are older. We will probably just sand and stain the ones we have now, I would love to do a full remodel down the road.
Photo by Dru Bloomfield
3) Privacy Fence
Growing up, my parent’s yard had little privacy, and it bugged me. A privacy fence is definitely at the top of my list of “wants.”
Photo by Field Outdoor Spaces
4) Piano (for the wife)
My wife has wanted a piano for years now, and I would absolutely love it if we got one so that she can play. I never learned how to play piano, but she would definitely enjoy it enough for the both of us.
Photo by oldpianomusic
5) New Windows
I often hear how great an investment new windows are for keeping down your energy bill. I would like to invest in them sometime, but I know they can be pricey.
Photo by ArmchairBuilder.com
6) Fireplace(s)
We currently have no fireplaces, which is great for insurance but not so great for coziness factor. There’s nothing better than having a fire going on a cold winter night.
Photo by lindsay.dee.bunny
7) Hot Tub!
While this is somewhat of a joke because there are many other more “responsible” expenditures that we can make with the house, there is no denying that having a hot tub would be awesome!
Photo by Dave Stone
Well that’s my list of upgrades I would like to have for my house, now I have to ask: what are yours?
If you could do any renovation/upgrade/addition to your home, what would you do? Even better, what are 7 things you want for your house? If you don’t own a house, what do you want in your dream home?
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Nice list. Just as a quick tip: I always thought pianos were really expensive (and they are new, particularly the one in your post), but we found one on the Australian version of Craigslist for $200, which had been recently tuned and assessed. It sounds perfect and my partner loves it dearly. Worth a look.I am planning to put a deck on the front of the house we bought in July – it would be absolutely awesome if I can do it. I want to try to build the whole thing myself, which would be pretty special if I can do it and not have anyone fall through it an injure themselves. We have an ocean view so we want to try to take advantage of it as much as possible. It should increase the value of the house quite a bit too if I don’t bugger it up.
@Free in Ten Years Yep I have heard there are lots of pianos available for cheap, it’s moving them that are expensive! My wife wants a baby grand, but maybe we can start with a cheaper one on Craigslist ;)
I want all of those as well! Most importantly, we want granite counter tops,
a jacuzzi tub, and hardwood floors again. It probably won’t happen at this house….maybe our next house =)
@GregatClubThrifty Nice! I know you guys already have the house hunting fever, so we’ll see how long you can put off the new house ;)
Gorgeous pictures, I want to live in your dream house!! What I want for mine is a kitchen remodel, a wooden deck overlooking the lake, a cozy reading room with a huge window, and we are working on a sauna too! Too hot for a fireplace but an outside meat smoking chimney could provide heat for a sauna. I also want a sealed bedroom, getting tired of killing scorpions :)
I want many of those as well! We’re actually very close to getting a new shower in our master bath as a few of the times are coming off and it’s just time. Next up…we want a new deck as the current one is terrible and then a privacy fence of some sort as the current one is crap.
Check out http://www.rustoleumtransformations.com for reasonably priced kitchen “upgrades”. We did this in our kitchen, both the cabinets ($66 at Home Depot did all of our cabinets – 19 doors and fronts) and the counter tops ($250 at Home Depot). No sanding required for the cabinets and only “roughing up” sanding of the counter top! Fools people into thinking we had a more expensive upgrade. Very happy with the results (durable, easy to clean, and nice, updated look). We get a lot of complements. Each project can easily be completed in a weekend.
My eye in the sky dream is an addition with a 2-car garage… but that’s pretty unlikely to happen anytime soon =)
My list is the same! There are sooo many things that I want to do.
Hmm…I’m renting right now, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to upgrade my kitchen cabinets and counter top. They are old and dingy and I hate them. New windows is another big one since we pay the power bills and I just know that those old windows are letting in all sorts of drafts.
We actually built our house back in 2006, so we were able to choose basically everything that we wanted, except for a few things because of cost. So we already have the hardwood floors, nice cabinets, fireplace, and new windows.
There are a couple of things we wish we had including the granite countertops, a fenced yard and possibly some cabinet upgrades, but that can wait until our next house.
Some upgrades are things that sound really great, but once you really think about it – it isn’t always worth it. For example, I’ve always wanted a hot tub as well. Until I started talking to my brother-in-law and he talked about all the issues he had with his, the upkeep and how he doesn’t really use it that much.
@moneymatters Yep that’s what I’ve heard. It would be nice to have for a while, though : )
I want a piano… especially a baby grand! Now, there are probably 5 year olds who play better than me, but that’s just a minor detail! I almost ended up with a piano (for my condo?!) last year. My spouse’s co-worker was moving and trying to sell it. My spouse told him that if he was really stuck, we would come get it for free. It didn’t work out, which is probably okay because I have No Idea where it would have fit!
My spouse really wants a hot tub, when we eventually get a house. They are pricey, those things!
I’m in the process of renovating our entire house and I’ll be doing a series on that. I’ve installed the dark wood floors and we love them although I really love that fireplace you posted. The problem is everything we want won’t end up in this house as we will never recoup the costs like we should. When we sell and move to our dream home or buy a plot of land to buy one then maybe we can see more. For now, we will put what makes us happy and comfy… Great post mate. Mr.CBB
I just love the pics you used for this post! Our last house had everything you listed except for the piano. Oh, sorry, we had tile floors instead of hardwood, but I would choose hardwood next time.
And the hot tub was a mistake to buy. Every 3 months we had to drain it and give it a good scrubbing to keep it nice. That was fun in the summer but not fun when it was minus 25 out. We enjoyed having it the first year but then the novelty wore off.
My forever home will have a privacy fence, I was blown away at how much money they were though! For our backyard alone it was over 8k! We have hardwood and I don’t love them. We re-did our windows and siding and was totally worth it, we noticed a huge difference in heating/cooling almost instantly.
We built our house, so it’s pretty much how we want it. I would like a bigger shower with a bench (pretty lazy) and I still want that screened porch, even though you told us it wasn’t worth it. I would love a hot tub if it came with a free cleaning guy. We have a super long driveway that is chip sealed. I would love to have it paved, but that would cost a fortune. Girl can dream, right?
Kitchen and windows are on my list. I’d also add new bathrooms and floors. And a little bit of landscape updating!
Right now I would re-do my driveway. 30+ Michigan winters have really done a number on it and it’s pretty cracked. My wife would say kitchen. We’ll see who wins.
If you want wood floors with a dog make sure you talk to a floor dealer. A lot of floors can be scratched by dog claws. However, if you talk with someone knowledgeable they can point you in the direction of good wood floors that will fit your needs.
In our new place (only two more weeks!) we have hardwood floors and a beautiful kitchen. I want to redo the bathroom and the bedroom closet. It’s a condo though, so we can’t really do anything for the outside!