Home redecorating advice needed (flooring/paint/doors)

[Tap]

I am redoing my entire downstairs and 2/3 of the upstairs in new flooring. I am also having all of it repainted, new trim installed and all of the doors replaced. I have a budget of $20,000 and my house is 2200 sqft.  I hope I can do it all for that price. (fingers crossed)

I want to replace all the downstairs with hard surface flooring. We live in a rainy climate and have a medium dog. I am thinking about doing the entire downstairs in just one type of flooring. Which means using something kitchen grade throughout the house. What do you think of this idea? I want something that is really forgiving to abuse. I also definitely do not want to have to maintain it, so no tile.  I need to go to a flooring store, but what should I look for? I have stopped in a few times at Home Depot, but every time, I get overwhelmed and leave. I don't plan on buying there, but am just trying to get some ideas in my head of what I may want. It is hard to imagine in my house, so I get decision paralysis LOL. I thought I had picked out flooring last year, but had to stop my project for a while. In that time, the reviews of that product got worse, with people saying they were having issues with it. So, I started over. 

I am getting new carpet in 2 bedrooms, and will use the same hard surface flooring from downstairs in the hall and hall bath upstairs. We need the carpet to buffer sounds. The master is directly above the living room.  What do I look for in carpet? Does it need to be premium grade for just bedrooms? They aren't big, so the price difference won't be huge, but still, why spend money I don't have to. 

Same with paint. I put 12 color swatches  on my walls and still can't decide. Our windows are almost all North facing and 2 are South facing. The colors I tried are all recommended for North light. 2/3 of my windows have covered porches outside, so that just makes the lighting worse.  I don't want white, but want a single light color throughout with a few accent walls that I can paint later. 

I just painted my kitchen cabinets a dark Navy blue, so there will be very little natural wood to compete with in color. My counters are Formica in the grey/beige color scheme. I can't afford new counters right now, but we will see once the project is done if I have any money left. 

Doors. ---ETA:I have another $5,000 if I need to add it, for the doors. I don't want to put in the budget, but figure I may need to.--- Who do I contact about buying and installing new doors? Our old ones were cheap, flat, hollow core, and some have holes in them thanks to dd14.  I want to redo them with raised panel doors. Is it better to go with a door company or try to hire another contractor to install them? There will be 9 regular doors and 5 sets of bi-folds.

UGHHHHH! I don't want to even think any more. LOL I have searched Houzz and paint websites, but I can't seem to make up my mind. I really wish the dream homes were open this year! Just to see something in person, would help me. 

 

I am in the middle of a very amicable divorce and that involved a lot of decisions on splitting up items/assets. Add 3 birthdays, Christmas and potentially quitting one of my two jobs.....I think that my indecision is rooted in decision fatigue.  I thought I would reach out here and see if anyone wants to offer ideas. I wish I knew a home decorator LOL

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Tap

[lmrich]

I hate to add more to your confusion; it sounds like you have a lot on your plate. But you might want to find out what is typical in your area and for your home's price range. If vinyl plank is normal for your area or laminate is, then do that. But, for my current home, I could not resell my home if I put laminate on the main level. You also want to think how long you are going to stay in your home. If this is your forever home, hardwood would be a good investment. I have hardwoods in the kitchen, and it is fine. The last house, we had a slate inlay in the foyer to help with rain, etc.. this house has a big front porch so that helps too (or we come in through the garage and enter through the tiled mudroom).  Flooring will be the most expensive.

Paint - really depends on what you like. My current house is all white and it is so peaceful. I can add lots of color with decor. I am surprised how much I love it. It is so clean and bright. We did the same with my dd's condo. But there are so many whole house paint swatches out there that you can really go in any direction. I will typically paint the walls and trim myself, but I will pay for the ceiling to be painted since I am messy! 

Doors are tricky to hang correctly. I would ask around for a handyman. I am lucky to have one I trust. He/she will order the correct doors for you. The bifold doors you might be able to replace on your home. 

 

Good luck! Post pictures

[Tap]

7 minutes ago, lmrich said:

I hate to add more to your confusion; it sounds like you have a lot on your plate. But you might want to find out what is typical in your area and for your home's price range. If vinyl plank is normal for your area or laminate is, then do that. But, for my current home, I could not resell my home if I put laminate on the main level. You also want to think how long you are going to stay in your home. If this is your forever home, hardwood would be a good investment. I have hardwoods in the kitchen, and it is fine. The last house, we had a slate inlay in the foyer to help with rain, etc.. this house has a big front porch so that helps too (or we come in through the garage and enter through the tiled mudroom).  Flooring will be the most expensive.

Paint - really depends on what you like. My current house is all white and it is so peaceful. I can add lots of color with decor. I am surprised how much I love it. It is so clean and bright. We did the same with my dd's condo. But there are so many whole house paint swatches out there that you can really go in any direction. I will typically paint the walls and trim myself, but I will pay for the ceiling to be painted since I am messy! 

Doors are tricky to hang correctly. I would ask around for a handyman. I am lucky to have one I trust. He/she will order the correct doors for you. The bifold doors you might be able to replace on your home. 

 

Good luck! Post pictures

My house is already the nicest in the neighborhood on the outside, so I am not worried about what quality of flooring I choose. Pretty much every other house is contractor grade materials. I know I will loose money when I sell. LOL I don't like my neighborhood, but I just refinanced the house into my name due to the divorce. I can afford this house, have a good interest rate. It is a good location for everything I need and the yard it ok size for our dog. Property is crazy expensive here (outside Portland OR) and very, very few houses are on the market due to COVID. I decided to take the house in the divorce and just make the house into what I want, and ignore the neighborhood. LOL 

I will not be doing any of this project myself. I know I will pay double or tripple to have someone else do the work, but I just can't do it right now. I have painted my entire house myself before, put in laminate and hung a door. NOPE. Not gunna do it this time! LOL

Edited December 5, 2020 by Tap

[Carol in Cal.]

I think you want luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout, if you want a good hard surface.

Re the colors, I’m of the mindset that you can’t go wrong with a creamy white most places, so in the analysis paralysis phases of life that would be my default.  Accent walls with a striking color are much easier to add in later than full on repainting of rooms would be, and using white would give you time to see what seasonal and directional lighting variations would do to your color scheme.  I have a room in our cabin that is painted white but always looks pale aqua during the day due to the outside light filtering in through evergreen trees.  That room is so much darker than it seems like it should be that when I got a petal blue IKEA book shelf to put in there, it looked blue/black.  I have noticed that living with something for a while often makes me wish I had gone lighter/brighter with decor, even though I think warm dark colors are cozy.  

FWIW, the one place I would never want wall to wall carpet is bedrooms, for allergy reasons.  And from a resale perspective, others feel the same.   So in your situation I would put in hard surface floors and use big area rugs with heavy pads for the bedrooms.  That looks nicer than wall to wall carpet also.

I love Navy blue kitchen cabinets!  I’ll bet yours are nice!  Sounds like they are decent with the Formica, but would like to say—if there is money for new counter tops later I’d suggest looking at quartz.  The newer quartz looks pretty nice to me, and it’s pretty durable.  Then subway tiles mounted horizontally for the backsplash areas.  

[elegantlion]

I would do prefinished hardwoods in a light to medium stain color, something that will complement your kitchen cabinets. 

I'm not a huge fan of vinyl planks throughout a house. 

Paint is so personal, it really depends upon your furniture, do you want one color throughout? I'd try to create a palette that goes with your furniture and kitchen. 

I'm also not a fan of carpet anywhere - but I understand some people like the warmth for a bedroom. All I remember on carpet is quality padding is almost more important than quality of carpet. So I'd upgrade the padding. 

[mmasc]

I have absolutely no idea what is in style (I live in military housing), but I’d do a lighter color for your floors, like oak color. Here’s why: I’ve lived in homes with dark flooring and I *constantly* would see every little speck...crumbs, dog hair, speck of paper...it totally drove me nuts! Plus, lighter will look good with your darker navy cabinets. 
 

re: paint. I’d pick a nice, neutral greige and paint the whole house that color. It would be soothing, look good in all light, and would be easy to blend into any decor throughout the house. 
 

Eta: I do think carpet quality matters. If you’re only doing it in 2 rooms, I’d go with the best you can afford. I have brand new contractor/cheap grade carpet on my stairs and hall and it looks flat and worn in only 1 year! It’s crazy how quickly cheap carpet will look worn. I once bought an oddly shaped carpet remnant in a super high quality (for cheap) and that thing looked great and lasted forever!

Edited December 5, 2020 by mmasc
Eta: carpet info

[Tap]

1 minute ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I think you want luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout, if you want a good hard surface.

Re the colors, I’m of the mindset that you can’t go wrong with a creamy white most places, so in the analysis paralysis phases of life that would be my default.  Accent walls with a striking color are much easier to add in later than full on repainting of rooms would be, and using white would give you time to see what seasonal and directional lighting variations would do to your color scheme.  I have a room in our cabin that is painted white but always looks pale aqua during the day due to the outside light filtering in through evergreen trees.  That room is so much darker than it seems like it should be that when I got a petal blue IKEA book shelf to put in there, it looked blue/black.  I have noticed that living with something for a while often makes me wish I had gone lighter/brighter with decor, even though I think warm dark colors are cozy.  

FWIW, the one place I would never want wall to wall carpet is bedrooms, for allergy reasons.  And from a resale perspective, others feel the same.   So in your situation I would put in hard surface floors and use big area rugs with heavy pads for the bedrooms.  That looks nicer than wall to wall carpet also.

I love Navy blue kitchen cabinets!  I’ll bet yours are nice!  Sounds like they are decent with the Formica, but would like to say—if there is money for new counter tops later I’d suggest looking at quartz.  The newer quartz looks pretty nice to me, and it’s pretty durable.  Then subway tiles mounted horizontally for the backsplash areas.  

I agree for resale the hard surface can be great....but I want carpet. Carpet in bedrooms is common here, I think partially due to the damp climate. Large rugs are a nice compromise, but you still have lots of noise. I would also have to deal with two flooring styles (mops and vacuums).  My master is probably 14x14 and the other bedroom I am putting carpet into is 10x10. If it becomes an issue when I sell, I will deal with it then. LOL We have a 3rd bedroom that I will do in hard surface and the bonus room (or 4th bedroom) is already hard surface.  We have hard surface flooring with a good pad underneath in the upstairs bonus room. In the room below it, we can hear quite a bit more than the carpeted areas. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Try swatching Sherwin William’s worldly grey. I picked up a sample card and had it color matched at Home Depot. It is looking great in my north facing rooms. It took me about 30 swatches to get there. It looks good in this really dim winter light as well as in summer light.

As for flooring...that budget is going to be hard for 2200 sq ft and 20-25k. You are going to have to really bid around on  things, at least based on our experiences. We picked a $3.99/sq ft basic oak floor product for <1200 st feet  and most of our bids were around $18k for flooring installation. 
 

My best advice is to get a bunch of samples and scrape them lightly with a key. It will become super obvious what floors will damage easily. I am normally team hardwood, but with your budget and pet I would also steer you towards LVP. They put it into new construction here, so I don’t think there is any stigma.

 

[PeterPan]

If you want a quick and dirty tip, Pottery Barn has color palettes for the season. So you could just pull up the deck from them you like and use it, boom. 

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/pottery-barn-collection

As far as the flooring, you could make it easy and use whatever flooring color is shown in the pics of the wall colors you like.

For materials, I have tile in my entry, vinyl and hardwood in most of the rest of the house. It sounds like you already know what you want (carpet upstairs, laminate/vinyl downstairs). I see no issue with that. If you plan to be there a number of years, the next occupant would sell anyway. I think simply looking fresh and streamlined (which you would get by copying a PB scheme) would probably override the question of the particular materials. People who are picky or have needs know they'll have to change anyway.

[PeterPan]

My ds has put some holes in doors, sigh. My dh figured out a way to fix them. Some kind of colored spackle or something. Not that I'm deterring you, but if it's only a few doors, maybe your handyman could fix them, leaving you the money to put toward the countertops you want instead. It doesn't sound like upgrading doors will give you any return, but new counters could be immensely pleasurable.

PS. Congrats on taking these steps! 

Edited December 5, 2020 by PeterPan

[Bootsie]

1 hour ago, Tap said:

I agree for resale the hard surface can be great....but I want carpet. Carpet in bedrooms is common here, I think partially due to the damp climate. Large rugs are a nice compromise, but you still have lots of noise. I would also have to deal with two flooring styles (mops and vacuums).  My master is probably 14x14 and the other bedroom I am putting carpet into is 10x10. If it becomes an issue when I sell, I will deal with it then. LOL We have a 3rd bedroom that I will do in hard surface and the bonus room (or 4th bedroom) is already hard surface.  We have hard surface flooring with a good pad underneath in the upstairs bonus room. In the room below it, we can hear quite a bit more than the carpeted areas. 

Why would a damp climate make carpet in the bedrooms common? I ask because when I lived in a damp climate carpet was known for mildew build up and allergy problems.  

[klmama]

As you are considering flooring, you may want to try to see what it will look like in the various rooms before you buy.  Some places have apps which allow you to upload a photo of your room to be viewed with the flooring of your choice.  As an example, there's one at Lumber Liquidators.  Other companies probably have something similar.  

Edited December 5, 2020 by klmama

[gardenmom5]

The vinyl plank that LOOKS like wood.   A good quality one should be fairly inexpensive.   easy to maintain, stands up to dogs and kids.

  You will save a lot of money if you will do most of the painting yourself - it can be ridiculously expensive!   

[prairiewindmomma]

2 hours ago, Bootsie said:

Why would a damp climate make carpet in the bedrooms common? I ask because when I lived in a damp climate carpet was known for mildew build up and allergy problems.  

I think it’s because of the cold. It definitely is a regional preference, though. Most houses in the PNW are on crawl spaces, though, as opposed to slabs so the mold in the carpet pad issue isn’t as bad as it would be on slab. We are still saving to ditch our carpet, though. 

[Tap]

3 hours ago, Bootsie said:

Why would a damp climate make carpet in the bedrooms common? I ask because when I lived in a damp climate carpet was known for mildew build up and allergy problems.  

Cold and damp. 😞 Carpet makes the bedrooms more cozy. Mold isn't an issue here. Like a pp said, I'm guess it is because of the crawl spaces. 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Tap

[Scarlett]

9 hours ago, Tap said:

I am redoing my entire downstairs and 2/3 of the upstairs in new flooring. I am also having all of it repainted, new trim installed and all of the doors replaced. I have a budget of $20,000 and my house is 2200 sqft.  I hope I can do it all for that price. (fingers crossed)

I want to replace all the downstairs with hard surface flooring. We live in a rainy climate and have a medium dog. I am thinking about doing the entire downstairs in just one type of flooring. Which means using something kitchen grade throughout the house. What do you think of this idea? I want something that is really forgiving to abuse. I also definitely do not want to have to maintain it, so no tile.  I need to go to a flooring store, but what should I look for? I have stopped in a few times at Home Depot, but every time, I get overwhelmed and leave. I don't plan on buying there, but am just trying to get some ideas in my head of what I may want. It is hard to imagine in my house, so I get decision paralysis LOL. I thought I had picked out flooring last year, but had to stop my project for a while. In that time, the reviews of that product got worse, with people saying they were having issues with it. So, I started over. 

I am getting new carpet in 2 bedrooms, and will use the same hard surface flooring from downstairs in the hall and hall bath upstairs. We need the carpet to buffer sounds. The master is directly above the living room.  What do I look for in carpet? Does it need to be premium grade for just bedrooms? They aren't big, so the price difference won't be huge, but still, why spend money I don't have to. 

Same with paint. I put 12 color swatches  on my walls and still can't decide. Our windows are almost all North facing and 2 are South facing. The colors I tried are all recommended for North light. 2/3 of my windows have covered porches outside, so that just makes the lighting worse.  I don't want white, but want a single light color throughout with a few accent walls that I can paint later. 

I just painted my kitchen cabinets a dark Navy blue, so there will be very little natural wood to compete with in color. My counters are Formica in the grey/beige color scheme. I can't afford new counters right now, but we will see once the project is done if I have any money left. 

Doors. ---ETA:I have another $5,000 if I need to add it, for the doors. I don't want to put in the budget, but figure I may need to.--- Who do I contact about buying and installing new doors? Our old ones were cheap, flat, hollow core, and some have holes in them thanks to dd14.  I want to redo them with raised panel doors. Is it better to go with a door company or try to hire another contractor to install them? There will be 9 regular doors and 5 sets of bi-folds.

UGHHHHH! I don't want to even think any more. LOL I have searched Houzz and paint websites, but I can't seem to make up my mind. I really wish the dream homes were open this year! Just to see something in person, would help me. 

 

I am in the middle of a very amicable divorce and that involved a lot of decisions on splitting up items/assets. Add 3 birthdays, Christmas and potentially quitting one of my two jobs.....I think that my indecision is rooted in decision fatigue.  I thought I would reach out here and see if anyone wants to offer ideas. I wish I knew a home decorator LOL

 

 

 

 

I am sorry for your divorce.  I knew you had talked about it but I didn’t realize it was happening.  
 

You have lots of good ideas here about your floors.  Any chance you could share a pic of your blue cabinets?I am going to be going blue for my cabinets and would love to see yours.  

[popmom]

For a project this big I highly recommend bringing in a decorator. You have a $20,000 budget --I think I'm remembering that right. You could bring in a decorator for a consultation for 2 or 3 hours. I found mine on Houzz. She came to my house and helped me pick paint colors, flooring options, ways to update my kitchen w/out breaking the bank, placement and sizing of light fixtures, and she helped my with furniture placement. You would be shocked at what a big difference that can make. A decorator can save you money down the road by recommending good sub contractors, too. (Nextdoor is good for that, too.) The decorator cost me $200 and was more than worth every penny. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by popmom

[Carol in Cal.]

30 minutes ago, popmom said:

For a project this big I highly recommend bringing in a decorator. You have a $20,000 budget --I think I'm remembering that right. You could bring in a decorator for a consultation for 2 or 3 hours. I found mine on Houzz. She came to my house and helped me pick paint colors, flooring options, ways to update my kitchen w/out breaking the bank, placement and sizing of light fixtures, and she helped my with furniture placement. You would be shocked at what a big difference that can make. A decorator can save you money down the road by recommending good sub contractors, too. (Nextdoor is good for that, too.) The decorator cost me $200 and was more than worth every penny. 

How do you find a good decorator?

I have only ever known one, and she mostly did staging for realtors.  I liked how she would use a combo of what people had and extras that she brought in, and how she combined antiques with new items, but I don’t think she had a clue about paint or flooring changes.  I tried to hire her to help me make a flooring decision and although she expressed interest, she never would even give me a quote.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Carol in Cal.

[popmom]

17 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

How do you find a good decorator?

I have only ever known one, and she mostly did staging for realtors.  I liked how she would use a combo of what people had and extras that she brought in, and how she combined antiques with new items, but I don’t think she had a clue about paint or flooring changes.  I tried to hire her to help me make a flooring decision and although she expressed interest, she never would even give me a quote.

I found mine on Houzz. On the homepage near the top there is link to "Find a Professional". The next page gives a link for "Interior Designers and Decorators". You can read about each one and see pics of their work. When you read through the descriptions/ bios, you can get a feel for who you might be compatible with. Example one had as the first sentence of her bio..."My passion is to help others develop their perfect room or home! A stunning result isn’t about how much you spend..."

That would be someone I might shoot an email to for a quote. You don't have to have a showcase level house to benefit. Mine certainly isn't. 😉

ETA: You could also ask for recs on Nextdoor for a decorator.

Edited December 6, 2020 by popmom

[popmom]

If you do end up bringing in a decorator for a consultation. TAKE NOTES lol. 

ETA: Paint stores often have relationships with decorators. They should be willing to give you some names, too, if Houzz doesn't pan out. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by popmom

[fairfarmhand]

I will say this, I know you said no tile, but I have wood look wide plank tile in my sun room and it is fabulous. The tile installers used a narrow grout line and a dark colored epoxy grout that the man says will never need to be resealed and does not stain. I've had TONS of compliments on it. Even a home appraiser admired it. It looks just like wood, but is pretty much maintenance free, doesnt scratch or stain and it is where everyone comes in, so I like that the mud and water from winter shoes won't damage it. It has a texture to it too. It isn't smooth, and is a little rough feeling on bare feet. 

[Carol in Cal.]

ALSO!  Slate is HELL on bare feet, IME.  And marble tile is extraordinarily slippery when wet, like, ice skating type slippery.  It's lovely but impractical for entries, bathrooms, and kitchens.

[Jann in TX]

We put in 'luxury vinyl flooring' last month in most of our house (kitchen and bathrooms too)--and LOVE IT... it is 100% waterproof (not all vinyl is) and is very easy to care for-- it has a nice wood texture and is comfy to walk on... we also got it at Home Depot-- LifeProof brand.  We purchased a few boxes ($50-60 each) and took them home to see what they would look like-- it took us 3 colorways to find the perfect fit.  They took back the other boxes without issue (they were the ones who suggested we take it home and test out an area).  We put carpet in the 3 kid bedrooms-- again Home Depot gave us the most for our money-- they have 'special purchase' carpet that is from a major manufacturer-- it was less than $3 and is far superior to our local carpet store's $5-6 stuff.

So we put new flooring in a 3200 sq ft house (every room) and cost with installation was around $15,000.