Home Remodeling Costs Got You Like, “WHOA?!”

How to: Minimize Expenses & Maximize Curb Appeal

Single-family home prices have increased exponentially over the past eighteen months (roughly) and most economists do not predict that prices will go down any time soon.

If you are a recent home buyer, you probably ended up buying a home that required some improvements rather than the move-in ready home of which you’d dreamed. Your wish list may have read, “No Scrubs” but without some compromises you’d still be singing, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” With the cost of lumber and other building materials at an all-time high, how can new homeowners find a way to “Love The One You’re With?”

Paint is cheap (relatively speaking, of course). Do not let an unimaginative or conservative mindset hold you back when it come to exterior paint colors. After our collective time in quarantine, working from home (and maybe you still do) and travel restrictions not such a distant memory, perhaps there is no need to explain why curb-appeal is important not just for sound investment purposes but also for your own sense of joy. Let’s consider some photographic evidence from what I’ll call “Fascination Street.”

1. “Home(ward) Bound!”

The following note-worthy home is located in a charming neighborhood in Tacoma. Try to imagine this home painted grey with white trim, which is a very popular color combination for many homes. Notice the details on this home, such as the two-toned painted brackets under the soffits and the extra trim piece that was added above the window frames and painted an attention-grabbing but pleasing shade of turquoise. This home is so beautiful, the entire neighborhood must breathe a little easier just looking at it when “Home(ward) Bound!”

2. “Strike a Pose”

This garage was seen in a SE Portland neighborhood. Painted in taupe, chartreuse and black, with dentil molding, board and batten, and an accessory turquoise flower pot positioned like a scarf pin, it was so fashionable and vogue it begged to be photographed. Clearly, this was its moment to “Strike a Pose.”

3. “Crazy Train”

Imagine this next home that was seen in a NE Portland neighborhood if it were painted a boring beige with white trim. Instead, it is painted a beautiful blue with white trim and has a contrasting and cheerful orange accent color. Some may say, “Oh, that orange is too ‘Crazy Train’ for me!” However, all this house needs is an “Orange Colored Sky” to accentuate it and suddenly, the color isn’t crazy after all, but superb.

4. “All I Do Is Win”

This coastal charmer was seen right in our “backyard” of Waimanalo. Just try and imagine this home painted solid white; it would be a shame to lose its charm potential of which its owners clearly capitalized. With its board and batten contrasting colored grey and white stripes and welcoming aqua-colored front door that matches the surf just one block down the road, these homeowners must feel like, “All I Do Is Win” and “On Top Of The World” living here.

5. “We Are The World”

Perhaps a fabulous paint job will lead to greater harmony amongst neighbors and one-by-one, attentively and thoughtfully painted homes could lead to world peace. After all, “We Are The World,” we are the ones who make a brighter day; and paint comes in so many brilliant colors.

If you are inspired to buy a home in Hawai’i and think soliciting the assistance of a seasoned renovator + Realtor sounds like a good idea, contact the author of this blog, or Anna Barrett; she’s excellent, too!