What makes a home dated you ask?

Well, if I can spot tiled countertops, 80’s brass fixtures, pink carpet in the bathrooms, golden oak raised panel cabinets…. I’m sorry honey but that means dated in my book!

A Before pic from one of our past projects!

So…. how do you fix that? Well, I understand how overwhelming it could be to want to update EVERYTHING… and eventually, you’ll probably have to update it all.

But starting on these key areas is going to be the most important.

Flooring:

Updating the flooring throughout a home is no-doubt the best way to transform a space. Most dated homes have different types of flooring in one room (as seen in the image above). Sometimes you have a mix of vinyl, carpet, and cheap builder grade tile all in one space. We encourage clients to have the same type of flooring throughout the home, except for the bathrooms and laundry rooms, where we will install tile. One flooring throughout the home will not only make it feel larger, it will make it uniform, easier to keep clean and instantly level up your home.

Honeycomb Home Design – Marcel Alain Photography

Paint

You’ve heard it time and time again; paint is the least expensive way to transform a space. It is soooo true! I can’t tell you how many homes I’ve been in with a bazillion accent colors and all the wrong shades of burgundy and yellow. It’s time to kiss those shades goodbye and introduce a softer palette throughout the home that allows your art, furniture and accessories to really stand out.

Don’t get me wrong – I love a good dramatic accent wall here and there, but the whole house doesn’t need to be that way!

If you need some inspiration, check out our blog post here.

Honeycomb Home Design – Marcel Alain Photography

Cabinetry

As you noticed in the before picture we shared, the golden oak cabinets instantly scream 1980’s. Most dated homes have these cabinets and while some of them may be in good condition, you may actually spend more than it’s worth trying to update them with paint and new hardware. In addition, the kitchens of the 70’s and 80’s do not take into account modern appliances, codes and accessibility factors. By code, you should have at least 18” of space between the bottom of the upper cabinet and the countertop, and in older kitchens, you’ll see this as low as 15” sometimes! No wonder the Ninja or Vitamix can’t fit there! Also, if your kitchen has an island, often times the distance between he perimeter countertop and the island is less than 36” which is the minimum industry standard.

These reasons and more are why sometimes it’s better to upgrade your kitchen with entirely new cabinets. Plus, it allows you to make great functional updates to the layout as well.

Remember the kitchen in the Before photo? Well here is the After!

We were able to not only open up the kitchen to the adjoining rooms, we were able to design a much more functional layout for our clients who love to cook!