Hubby and I are having a hard time figuring out what to do with our bathroom. It needs to be totally gutted and redone, but we are either moving or doing a build in a few years. I've always hated my bathroom, and we decided to update it a little, since we will be here a few more years. We are going to paint, put in a new vanity/mirror, and tile the floors (the walls and tub are all tiled, and it could really use a full update).
So here is the dilemma: we don't usually like junky stuff, and we are basically at a place were we will have to have a vanity custom built. It will cost around 2k. We were both hoping to spend closer to 1k, but we can't find anything we can live with that isn't junk.
My question is this: do we buy what we like, or do we just suck it up? This is the way I'm reasoning it out: if we stay, we will then have a vanity we like. If we sell, it should only help us sell the house faster, so we won't lose all the money, and may even be able to recoup half of it. We have always treated our starter house as our forever house, and I am glad that we have. We have been here already 2 years longer than was planned, but at least we have stuff in it that we really like. I say we continue to treat the house this way in case this becomes a real forever home.
What would you do? Spend the money, or just suck it up? (by suck it up, we would just repaint the current vanity and get a new top and sink for it. I HATE painted wood, btw.)
We aren't going to gut the bathroom. Too costly, especially if we decide to build. Hubby and lay down tile on the floor on the cheap, and we will leave the tiles on the walls and in the bath. The toilet and tub are fine. The vanity and mirror and we moved to another bath.
I think we are going to just order what we like and go from there. I cannot wait to have a "new" bathroom!
Spend the money, J.. You'll get it back when you sell. Bathrooms and kitchens are good about that.
Dawn
I agree with Dawn. Improve the bathroom. You can enjoy it while you are there, and will get the money back when you sell.
I remodeled two bathrooms in our first house. I fell in love with an incredibly stylish European furniture-style vanity that was a close out for $2500. It was normally $4000. It looked fantastic. However, it had a shallow square sink and didn't have as much storage as a more basic vanity would had have. However, I believe that it amped up the style of our entire house. It was the kids and guest bath and so it was used often. Visually, it looked great and was very sophisticated. Our house sold within a week and I believe, in part, it was because we valued quality when we remodeled our bathrooms. And I enjoyed using the upgrades. Good-luck.
Before you remodel, know for sure if you are going to add on or not.
My first floor bathroom was awful. Pink tub, pink tile, pink toilet, pink sink. Our kitchen was clean, but cramped. We knew when be bought our house, several renovations would have to take place. Kitchen was first.
Long story short we ended up building on instead of moving. Our two bedroom house closed in quickly once our first was born. I knew (or so i thought) the first floor bathroom was going to have to be put to the side because of the addition. Well, the plumbers and the contractor had other thoughts. Our first floor bathroom ended up being gutted (more or less) for us. They needed access to pipes and stacks, even though we have a basement and things can be accessed there, It was just too far from the basement to the start of the new addition. Now, a vanity can easily be removed and saved, but any tile on the wall will be lost. Updated bathrooms and kitchens sell homes and offer great resale $$$. Just be careful if you deside to gut the bathroom before you do your addition.
Just something to think about.
