My father is finally getting around to the renovations he intended on doing when he bought his place. However, he's trying to limit his spending to 15-20k because he doesn't think he'll get back the money if he spends more than that. Right now everything is dark and ugly.
He's approaching everything totally wrong imo. It's like he woke-up today and wants to start having work done without any sort of cohesive plan (I'm assuming it was my mother that worried about this *********** past). My brother renovated his upstairs bathroom in travertine marble with a glass shower and pedestal sink (it's a tiny bathroom). It's not bad in isolation but it doesn't go with the rest of the condo.
The downstairs bathroom is basically an ugly pinkish tile. The bath tub is pink. The kitchen has '70s style brown tile, an earthy/vomitty colored wall tile, and oak cabinets. The same oak cabinets are in the downstairs bathroom, right across from the kitchen.
Originally he was thinking of doing hardwood floors, but now he's changing his mind because there are some other renovation expenses that have come up which he didn't anticipate, so he's going to limit himself to replacing the carpets, doing tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. New shower/sink for the bathroom and new counters in both the bathroom and kitchen. He was asking me to help him pick tile today, but I honestly can't picture anything that will look good with those horrible oak cabinets.
I mean what goes with them except for beige? Has anyone seen kitchens like this that don't look bad? If he would just scrap the cabinets entirely, he'd have much better options, but that obviously adds to the overall cost. Oh and he's got new appliances that he won't be replacing. They're your standard white and not stainless.
The kitchen is tiny but non-standard. Would staining be an option to make it look more modern? Dark wood with white can look good. I think it's a mistake to redo the floors with carpet instead of wood, but it's his money. I really don't know the first thing about resale values of condos and whether he would be able to recoup his costs. I think he should have sat down before doing his upstairs bathroom and decided what he wanted to achieve instead of just approaching it in a piecemeal fashion.
He's approaching everything totally wrong imo. It's like he woke-up today and wants to start having work done without any sort of cohesive plan (I'm assuming it was my mother that worried about this *********** past). My brother renovated his upstairs bathroom in travertine marble with a glass shower and pedestal sink (it's a tiny bathroom). It's not bad in isolation but it doesn't go with the rest of the condo.
The downstairs bathroom is basically an ugly pinkish tile. The bath tub is pink. The kitchen has '70s style brown tile, an earthy/vomitty colored wall tile, and oak cabinets. The same oak cabinets are in the downstairs bathroom, right across from the kitchen.
Originally he was thinking of doing hardwood floors, but now he's changing his mind because there are some other renovation expenses that have come up which he didn't anticipate, so he's going to limit himself to replacing the carpets, doing tiles in the kitchen and bathroom. New shower/sink for the bathroom and new counters in both the bathroom and kitchen. He was asking me to help him pick tile today, but I honestly can't picture anything that will look good with those horrible oak cabinets.
I mean what goes with them except for beige? Has anyone seen kitchens like this that don't look bad? If he would just scrap the cabinets entirely, he'd have much better options, but that obviously adds to the overall cost. Oh and he's got new appliances that he won't be replacing. They're your standard white and not stainless.
The kitchen is tiny but non-standard. Would staining be an option to make it look more modern? Dark wood with white can look good. I think it's a mistake to redo the floors with carpet instead of wood, but it's his money. I really don't know the first thing about resale values of condos and whether he would be able to recoup his costs. I think he should have sat down before doing his upstairs bathroom and decided what he wanted to achieve instead of just approaching it in a piecemeal fashion.
