well it's official, the new owners will have new laminate counters

[NMDemDist2]

the real estate guy came by today and says we'll sell fast fast fast for our asking price but the pink counters have GOT to go

one the up side, I got to tell Mr. K "I told you so"

:rofl:

luckily my neighbor has a whole network of "odd jobber" friends and one does countertops cheap. so we'll be talking to him soon and I'm getting two other estimates as well. one from Lowe's and one from a guy in the phone book

with the grey walls, I'm thinking a neutral marble style with a touch of rose to pick up the color of the floor tile. what do you think of these two?

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Recognizing that monitors vary widely and colors shit on computers

The top one, hands down.

Damn ..... even when I don't intend to ....... in the title on my post ...... edit the 'shit' to 'shift'

I'm incorrigible.

[NMDemDist2]

2. that's why we love ya Stinky! n/t

[Warpy]

10. Dunno, the cabinets are pretty dark

and it seems that the bottom one would lighten things up a little more, give that "light and airy feeling" that real estate people like to chirp about to prospective buyers.

Remember, selling isn't about what YOU like, it's about what a prospective buyer can see his/her own junk in as s/he wanders around the house.

[NMDemDist2]

3. well, we hired the guy, he's coming Saturday and we went with

"natural canvas"

[lavenderdiva]

4. was this the top picture in your OP?

In 2001, I had to fix up my townhouse to sell, and the owners before me had installed Peach laminate counters! In all the years I lived there, it never occurred to me to change them (duh), so I worked around the problem- decorating wise. When it came time to sell, I had to paint all the walls, I put in a new faucet, and disposal, and changed the laminate counters to the one that you pictured first in your OP! It really brightened the space, and updated the whole kitchen. They looked great. The place sold pretty fast too, and I made a nice little profit. Good luck to you!

[NMDemDist2]

5. nope, and if I'da know how cheap it was

I woulda done it 10 years ago :cry:

but I'm learning lots for the new house :bounce:

[lavenderdiva]

6. You are so right! I thought it would be very expensive...

but I got mine at Lowe's, and all we had to do was cut to length and miter the corners. My husband and FIL did the labor, and did a great job.

This was the 2nd house I had fixed up to sell. When my parents passed away suddenly, I fixed up their home. Theirs was a MAJOR undertaking, as everything was falling apart, the A/C was broken, all the fixtures were dated, carpeting very worn, hadn't been painted in 30 some-odd years. (not to mention the fact that my Mother was a 'collector', one of those people whose homes you occasionally see pictured in the newspaper under the heading 'How do they get this way?') That house was my near undoing mentally, physically, and emotionally. BUT, when it got to market and sold, it sold for the highest price that particular neighborhood had seen to date. That was quite a nice confirmation of my abilities.

Unfortunately, I didn't even hear of 'flipping properties' until late last year, so I missed the boat on making some real moolah in the real estate market. Things are beginning to go soft here, and I don't have the money to invest anyway.

[Warpy]

12. That's one of the reasons I cite for keeping my laminates

when I redo the kitchen, something that will happen within the next year. They're so cheap to replace that it isn't that big a deal if you find you absultely cannot live with last decade's taste another year. Plus, it's reasonably kind to dropped dishes.

Consider removing granite or any other solid surface. Yeeow! Trust me, it will look dated in 10 years, have some stains and dings if any cooking at all is done around it.

The only granite I'd ever consider would be granite tile. That gives the sharp, up to date look but will be a lot easier to remove when granite falls out of favor. And it will.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Okay .... was that one of the two in your OP?

It appears on my screen - with the color ****shiFt***** - to be different.

[NMDemDist2]

8. no it's different than the first two

the guy shows up with like 300 sample chips, but says all these need a two week lead time. "here's the four we keep in stock" and shows me three dark granite colors and the natural color

I had no idea how affordable the Formicas were.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. They're all about equally affordable

Not much difference in cost bewteen one brand or another and one pattern or another (with some notable exceptions). The cost of laminate counters is in the fabrication ..... and that's independent of the actual laminate.

One of the notable exceptions is this stuff, like you find on 1950s chrome base kitchen tables.

This stuff is only avilable in red, yellow or gray and is a whopping $475 for a 4x10 sheet. We were thinking of redoing one of our two old tables. Then we saw the price. The table was suddenly beautiful to us. :)

[Warpy]

11. Ooooh, much better than the first two examples

Less pattern is always more when you're decorating something for a prospective buyer. That means no faux painting, no wallpaper, no patterned countertops, and none of that weird 70s carpeting that is several colors and several heights and always makes a room look smaller.

You did a good thing.

[wildeyed]

13. Looks great!

I did the same thing in my last house; had a bunch of work done for a good sale, then couldn't believe I was moving out of such a beautiful house! Post pics after you get it done.

I think my endless master bath project might be done in a few weeks, so hopefully I will have some pictures of my own to post.

[NMDemDist2]

14. i have been busting my @ss around here and haven't taken a single pic

:rofl:

but most of it right now is the "invisible" stuff. clearing out closets and painting them so they look "spacious"

packing stuff up and moving it to the shed (for the same reason)

today we cleaned the garage (mostly there's a couple more hours work tomorrow to finish up)

cleaning up the outside of just plain JUNK. we've taken 6 trips to the dump with the trailer but we're almost done. It's simply AMAZING how much stuff you aquire in 10 years.

then inside we still need to paint the hall, baths and bedrooms, change out some old bath faucets, and take a couple more pieces of furniture out

we'll be ready by the 16th or so and have the first Open House on the 20th

I'm tired........

[wildeyed]

15. Last time we sold, we painted our......

basement. Eeek! Try putting higher wattage light bulbs in the closets, too. Helps with the brightness factor, provided you don't burn the place down.

I know what you mean about the invisible stuff. Seems like you are working, working then working some more, and everything looks the same. Then suddenly, you reach that magic point and the place is transformed.

I'm tired too. And this weekend I drive to Asheville to do DFA activist training.

[NMDemDist2]

16. have fun at the training! you'll get a second wind when you have so

many folks around you Bush bashing :rofl:

good idea about the closet lights and as I was cleaning the garage today I looked at the floor and thought "No freaking way"

hope you're right about the "magic point" I can't wait.....

[wildeyed]

17. It will all be worth it when you get a good, fast sale.

Plus, think of all the great info you have for fixing up your new place! :hi:

[NMDemDist2]

18. I was thinking the same thing about the new house hehehe

i'll be able to look around and know exactly what it will take to get it into shape :evilgrin: