Renovate, remodel or update? What is the difference in renovate, remodel and update? How often do you need to renovate, remodel or update?
Renovation and updating means basically the same thing. It means you’re updating an existing structure with cosmetic changes. Remodeling involves changing the structure through demolition and construction. There is a major difference in cost and time.
We moved in to our home in 1993. The only changes we made were updates. Mostly paint. The cabinets were and still are retro 1950’s metal cabinets. The original owner had caused a couple of fires and to cover the damage, she had covered the cabinets with wood grain contact paper.
Being a contact paper queen, I covered the cabinets with almond contact paper and the countertops with green contact paper. The back splash was decoupaged gift bags. Check out the purple scalloped trim. That was to match the grapes on the gift bags. Do you like the open shelf concept in the corner cabinet? It wasn’t a design idea, it was a broken door hinge. Please note the 1950’s bright colored, metal glasses in that corner cabinet. I even painted the cabinet pulls the same green as the countertops.
In 2008 Hubby and I jumped in with both feet to do a kitchen remodel. He removed 3 layers of contact paper revealing the ugly steel underneath. And then we removed that beautiful (yuck) floor tile.
Shopping for paint is not one of my favorite things to do. Let me clarify. I love shopping for watercolor or acrylic artist paint but not house paint or room color paint. While at Lowe’s shopping for tile for the floor and countertop, I found Valspar Brilliant Metals Copper Gleam.
That was perfect for our new “Old World” look. A mission trip to Guatemala had made an impact on me and I wanted to bring that ancient look into my West Texas kitchen. Joe pointed out to me there were 5 doors in the kitchen. I had never paid attention to that. Part of this remodel involved removing 2 pocket doors in the living room and creating 2 arches.
REMODEL – CONSTRUCTION:
REPLACED COUNTERTOP
REMOVED POCKET DOORS AND CREATED OPEN ARCHES
CLOSED DOORWAY INTO THE HALL
NEW OIL RUBBED BRONZE FAUCET AND BLACK ENAMEL SINK
INSTALLED NEW FLOOR
There are a couple of things I want you to note in the photo above
The top arrow is pointing to the Old World distressed wall paint technique. The middle arrow is pointing to some more HANG-UPS. I really am working on that. The bottom arrow is pointing to my lovely dark orange, crackle finish doors. There are 4 of those. I haven’t made a final decision on those just yet.
Because it had been 10 years since we remodeled the kitchen, I decided that after Thanksgiving we would UPDATE my kitchen. Just paint.
RENOVATE: JUST PAINT
PAINT CABINETS, PAINT DOOR AND DRAWER PULLS, PAINT WALLS, PAINT DOORS
Baby Bird and his Lady Bird are in their own nest now. They needed a bit of financial assistance and I needed some workers. It was a perfect match. And of course, Kitty No is supervising.
Lady Bird is painting all the dark brown trim white. So much better. I loved the brown but it was time for a change.
There is a spiritual lesson in the 2008 remodel and this renovation.
Old house remodeling and updates are like sin:
It takes you further than you wanted to go. Keeps you longer than you wanted to stay. And costs you way more than you thought it would
There were several reasons that this update has taken so long. First thing is because the Birds are not professionals. Second their work schedules have to be considered. Third is that it was not high on their priority list. Everything was stacked in the living room during Christmas. There was no decorating done here. No one was coming and this year, it just wasn’t that important.
De-clutter! What?!? I can’t even think about it right now! This post is real. You only want to see the pretty, “AFTER” photos, right? This was and is a real work of patience for me. I had to be patient with the kids, patient with the progress, patient with the mess. To get that much needed break from the slow moving progress, I went into the studio and made the RUSTIC COFFEE MUG RACK. A couple of day later I made the sign above the coffee rack that says, “My Cup Runs Over”. It really does!
Well, friends, I didn’t answer the question. How often do you need to renovate, remodel or update? I guess it really is up to you. For us it had been 10 years. I started repainting the bedrooms while it was still US. Now it’s just me. It was time for new color a little renovation.
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit”. Ecclesiastes 7:8 (ESV)
The paint part of this update is done. But there is more!!! You knew there would be! It is too much for one post, so I will be back. I hope you will, too!
’til next time,
Nathalie
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