I was watching a home improvement video where the homeowner had painted her kitchen in an unconventional palette of colors. She also modified her cabinets and added custom woodworking. She said that some people asked, “Aren’t you worried that this will hurt your resale value?”
Her reply was that she wanted to live in the space that she would enjoy. If she designed her home “conventionally” with resale value being the primary consideration, all should would be doing is renting her home from its future owner.
I couldn’t agree more.
In many of my homes, I considered resale value when making remodeling decisions. It was a bitter pill to swallow whenever I listed my home for sale. Few people cared at all about my thoughtful decisions and costly upgrades. Instead, my homes all sold for the “market rate” which was impacted by location, square footage and general condition.
By the time I bought 3rd or 4th home, I changed my approach. We remodeled and upgraded our homes based only on our personal preferences and budget.
It made absolutely zero difference when it was time to sell. But these changes made our homes much better for us and improved our lives as a result.
I took that approach with my current house, which I bought after my wife wife passed away. For the first time in 30 years, I was making all of the decisions by myself.
I put in rustic, log cabin like floors in. I painted bathrooms, closets and accent walls navy blue. I replaced the fixtures and hardware with handles that I like vs. what is currently popular.
I replaced my light fixtures with farmhouse style ones.
I stained my bathroom vanities, kitchen cabinets and appliances multiple colors in a weathered style.
I dug out the beautiful rose bush in my backyard and a sharp leafed ivy bush out front because I don’t want any plants in my yard that can stab me or my dogs.
I removed several doors inside my home to provide a more open look and feel.
Eventually, I’ll be replacing my master bathroom tub/shower with a stand up shower stall because I never use the tub (and if I did need a tub, there’s one in my second bathroom upstairs).
I built custom frames for my bathroom mirrors and installed new vanity lights.
I spent a small fortune for new windows and replacing my sliding doors with French doors.
This week, I tore out 2 medicine cabinets and am building wood shelves to replace them.
What is all this going to do with my resale value?
I don’t care.
I love making these changes to customize my home to suit me perfectly.
The future owner can do whatever they want when I’m gone.