It’s easy to flock to a newly constructed home with its seductive new appliances, modern touches, and shiny objects, but there are plenty of reasons to buy an old house instead. According to Realtor, older homes are more affordable, are often in established locations with great schools, boast larger lots and hold more character. Sounds pretty good, but what if you’re conflicted about the modern touches you want? Opting for an older home doesn’t mean you need to stick with all the original details or live with it indefinitely. You really can have the best of both worlds.
Instead, balance renovating original home details with modern touches to create the perfect home for you. From your bathroom to windows, here’s what to keep and what to cut in your home’s original details.
Update The Original Bathrooms
There’s something romantic about a claw foot bathtub, but nothing is charming about an outdated bathroom. Old plumbing, rusty tubs, poor flooring, and an aging vanity need to go. Update your bathroom into an ultra-modern suite by ditching the old tub and replacing it with a new shower.
Your shower can include dual shower heads, glass doors, and a seating area to soak up the steam like you’re in a sauna. Remember the small details like picking modern tiles and a slim shower base or shower pan that completes your modern look. You can also customize those smaller details. Shower pans and bases come in many different styles and lengths to anchor your shower in a contemporary design.
Replace What You Can’t See
If you’ve already dug into new bathroom design and updated your bath with a modern shower, chances are you’re already in the know about what’s going on behind the scenes in your home. If you’re going to renovate, do it right and get rid of those problematic old-world structural details. For example, outdated plumbing, electrical, and structural issues are non-negotiable on your home renovation journey. Not only can these issues put you and your family at risk, but they can also drag down the value of your house.
Open Up The Floorplan
Old homes often come with a disconnected floor plan where every room from the living area to the kitchen is closed off and tiny. Although your home may have fantastic bones, the floor plan isn’t doing much for you. Open up some of the walls that are cutting off natural lighting. Try extending your kitchen into the living room or a family room into a den. Along the way, mind the details and retain some of that old-world charm like crown molding or old air vent registers that give your home a vintage touch.
Strengthen Your Built-Ins
It’s tempting to start knocking out walls to open up every room in your house, but classic built-ins are a total find that can be put to practical use. Focus on the areas of your home. You can open up and keep some of those old walls with kitchen cabinet built-ins or bookshelves. Your kitchen is a great place to leave that built-in wall in place and decorate with vintage dishes and pops of color. Your den is also an ideal spot to clean up those built-in bookcases and invest in a few leather-bound classics and keepsakes from your travels.
Optimize Your Windows
Remember how you felt when you pulled up to your new home for the first time and fell in love with that oversized bay window? You may later discover that all those windows you adore are drafty, outdated, and shaking along with every seasonal storm.
Keep the windows you can that speak to your aesthetic like a porch window, and focus on optimizing your bedroom, kitchen, and living area windows. Renovating is also the perfect excuse to snag some smart windows that darken with the sun and adjust as needed. The newest smart windows on the market even generate electricity from harnessing the energy from the sun.
Older homes can be a total find and even offers the opportunity to update original details with modern touches. Start with the rooms with the most practical use, from your bathroom to your kitchen, and work your way through your home to figure out what to keep and cut. You could end up with the home of your dreams.
