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As you may know by now if you’ve been reading my blog we recently moved. It was the first time we moved into a used home. As we toured the home for the first time, it was filled with the previous owner’s furniture and their personality. This felt so much different than walking a model home.

Often, used homes for sale are filled with so much clutter that it’s hard to understand how the space actually feels. Perhaps the furnishings are the wrong scale or poorly placed making the rooms feel smaller.

Furnishing the Floor Plan

In the model home, furniture is carefully selected to not only demonstrate how the plan lives, but also to make the home feel great.

Additionally, new construction comes with a sales brochure which allows me to quickly furnish the floor plan with our furniture. Advantage: New Construction.

Used homes often don’t come with a floor plan. Such was the case with this townhome. And I needed a floor plan to determine if it was acceptable. We had home documented with a Matterport 3-D camera which created the floor plan. This was so much faster than measuring each room by hand and creating the floor plan. Timing was critical since there were several others interested in this property. From that plan, I could quickly confirm that my furniture would indeed fit.

Finishes

In new construction, I get to pick my finishes. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to curate your own vibe through your finishes. By the time you move in, everything is new and “you”!

This is what I was used to doing and having. Even in a spec home where you don’t pick your own finishes, you are still getting an all new interior. Again – Advantage: New Construction.

But when considering a used home for purchase, the finishes have already been selected. Some finishes are easily changed but many are not. What can we live with and what should we change? Not only might the existing finishes be unacceptable aesthetically, but they may also be worn and dated.

This is where buying a used home can become a challenge.  Some finishes are easily changed but many are not. What can we live with and what should we change?

Let’s start with kitchens and bathrooms – you know – the rooms where you can dump a lot of money remodeling. Fortunately for me, I liked the existing kitchen and bath cabinets. The countertops were new and were low maintenance quartz. I even like the contrasting black drawer pulls, farmhouse sink, and faucet.

Our townhome had other finishes that I found acceptable. The shiplap on the ceiling had been a recent addition which gave nice beach vibe. Next was the luxury vinyl plank flooring which was a nice neutral color and not too dark. Very dog friendly and so much better than old stained carpet than many used homes still have.

Colors

A family member viewing the house online thought it was very gray. She knew I like color and she was not wrong. The kitchen black splash is gray (with white outlets), the countertop in the primary bath was gray quartz. The accent tile in the shower was gray. The tile surrounding the fireplace was dark gray.

The good news about gray is it is very neutral. Color can be added to it making the gray more of a backdrop. The bad news is gray is kind of depressing – like the gray skies of winter. Could we overcome the gray? Turns out, I have a lot of red which pops against the gray background.

We also added blue to overcome much the gray of the primary bath. This included a blue pendant fixture and a blue wall. We also replaced the mirrors with new back lit mirrors which really accentuate the blue. We could replace the gray accent tile in the shower but – probably not.

We also used blue as an accent wall in primary suite and my office.

The dark gray tile around the fireplace has become a non-issue. That’s because I so often have the electric fireplace on. I would have never selected an electric fireplace myself, but the glow and playful flames are soothing. I turn it on first thing in the morning while my coffee is brewing.

My Color Dilemma

The gray backsplash in the kitchen is still a dilemma. I detest that the outlets and switches are white and not gray. We could change them out to gray – like we did in the primary bath?

But the bigger question is, should I keep the backsplash gray? I would love to replace the gray with white subway tile. It is a fresh, clean look that would brighten the kitchen. We would keep the dark gray herringbone tile behind the range, so the area of new tile would be relatively easy – right? Messy, but easy.

Well – some projects are for later. In the meantime, I have placed things in front of the miscolored outlets to see if I can live with the gray. What would you do? Change the outlets or change the tile?.

Lighting

Since our townhome had attic access to the entire home, we could easily add more lighting. (Okay, some poor chap had to go in the attic.) This allowed us to add picture lights and the pendant fixture over the dining room table – now in a new location.

Custom home builders will allow electrical changes, but some production home builders will not.

Eight Foot Ceilings

The main living areas have vaulted ceilings. The secondary rooms like my office, the foyer, and the guest bedroom have 8’ ceilings. This meant if we wanted our foyer artwork, we could not have a foyer table below it.

Our previous foyers all had 10’ ceilings or higher.

It Finally Feels Like Home

It has been six weeks since we moved in. All the boxes are unpacked, and the artwork has been hung. But the six weeks prior to our move was just as critical (previous blog). New construction would have been so much easier.