We made the decision that we were going to move to Charleston (from New Jersey) last February. Read why we decided to move here! By the end of May or so, my parents, my mother in law, my sister in law and her husband, and my husband’s grandparents had all bought property down here as well. We certainly weren’t expecting everyone to move here but it has been amazing having family near us as we raise Allison! #allthebabysitters
Obviously, all this happened really fast, so not everyone was ready to move as immediately as we were with flexible jobs and selling their current homes and such. My sister and brother in law finally made their way down 2 weeks ago and my husband’s grandparents moved this past week!
Today, I’m sharing 5 things you can do to transform a new house to be more of your style. There are many reasons to buy a house but location is probably the #1 most important factor since it can’t be changed! I’m going to show you how my mother in law and I (mostly her!) updated her parents house in anticipation of their move!
- Repaint // This is probably the easiest way to update a house for the least amount of money (depending on how much you are repainting!). As you can see below, my husband’s grandparent’s house was super cute before (there was a reason they wanted to buy it!) – but it was really coastal. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good coastal house, but they are coming from New York and have more of a modern/European style so this didn’t completely fit. The interior colors DEFINITELY wouldn’t have gone with their decor. The paint was also getting a little bit tired and just needed to be refreshed (that’s what happens when multiple kids live there before you!). We wanted to go with neutral colors. I tend to go towards grays, but Alex’s grandparents wanted a little more beige, so we picked colors in the middle! Check out my 3 top paint tips here!
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2. New Front Door // Again, the old front door was really cute for a colorful beach house! BUT, it had a serious mold problem, that I don’t think could have been solved without a new door. It also let in about zero light and you couldn’t see out at all, because the door is so tall! So, my mother in law replaced it with a more modern full glass door with a black border. Also, the cool thing about this door is that it has blinds in between the glass panels so you can close the blinds and make everything private! The full glass panel really brightened up the inside of the house.
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3. New Lighting // Get rid of those boob lights! My mother in law picked some fun coastal inspired lighting (to keep a little of the coastal feel! We are 10 minutes from the beach after all!) for the guest bedroom and media room. She also replaced the dining room chandelier which was entirely too small for the space below. Size appropriate lighting makes a huge difference!
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4. Change flooring // Each of the bedrooms (including the master) and the media room had carpet. Nothing was wrong with the carpet and I actually thought we should just keep it. We didn’t know what the hardwood was so there was no way to match it completely. My mother in law got a couple samples and picked the one that was closest based on color, size, and texture – and it looks awesome! If you are updating a house, you definitely don’t have to add hardwood, but carpets tend to look tired if they’re not well taken care of or are in a high traffic area. A steam clean could make a huge difference!
5. Update landscaping // I personally think the right landscaping makes a HUGE difference. First impressions are everything when it comes to houses. Also, it’s a lot easier to maintain the landscaping (ahem, weeds) when everything is fresh and new. I love the new paver edges around the beds. They really make the landscaping look “finished” and keep with the new modern look of the rest of the house!
This view is why they bought the house and you can’t get this somewhere else!
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