Interior Decorating for Your Fixer-Upper House

When a son and his bride of two years embarked on a house fixer-upper a month ago, I requested the story rights. I estimated this would be a tale of the strength of a marriage, as well as an epic battle of home decorating decisions. The absolutely delightful twist to the plot is the fact that the money source is 1500 miles away - in the hands of his in-laws. Ouch! Let this article be a lesson to any new home dwellers that do not investigate all of the ramifications of agreeing to be tenants for a relative. Also, interior decorating takes time, money, and most of all mutual agreement, not compromise.

It is late fall. Fresh out of the military and living in an apartment with a pit-bull puppy, the young couple desire space and "freedom". "Freedom from what?" is a logical question, but in the eyes of these kids, the gated apartment community is fencing them in. My husband and I begin hearing some noise that her parents are offering to buy a house in Texas as an investment and "allow" them to rent it cheaply. We offer our rather negative opinions on the subject and dire warnings to our son that he needs to be very careful before entering into a contract-type situation, especially with in-laws. We see him putting a lot of his time and effort into a project that does not gain him any equity, tax deductions, or benefit other than some more square footage to heat and air-condition. (And yes, we understand there is the intangible factor of pleasing his wife.)

In this era of instant gratification, he does not want to hear about the concept of living in the small apartment, saving money, and buying his own house in a year or two. He is in full house search mode. Also, he and his lovely wife have not explored interior decorating of their apartment in depth. I personally do not believe they are ready to tackle home decorating ideas in tandem. My husband and I shut our mouths, since it is not our idea or money.

In from California, Mrs. S. proceeds to house hunt. There is a fork in the road already. Amongst the choices, our son prefers a house that is on the higher side of the price range, but does not look like a dump. Mrs. S. is leaning towards the foreclosure with the kitchen cabinets torn off the wall, light fixtures missing, the fence torn down, and numerous other problems. Her plan is to budget an amount for the house purchase, and then an amount for the repair/beautification program. Rounds of discussions between the couple and the in-laws yields an estimate of work - dollars and labor, but nothing is in writing.

Lesson one for all to learn from this article - Get something in writing. Even if it is not formal, at least it is a reference point.

So, the seriously crappy two-story home is purchased. (Let me clarify that the house is in a nice neighborhood and it has potential. I am sure the neighbors are thrilled that somebody is going to do something with this house, since it sticks out like a sore thumb from neglect.) Upon closing, Mr. and Mrs. S. arrive for a week of initial work. They tear out the balance of cabinets and begin looking at flooring - hardwood floors for downstairs, tile for the kitchen and bathrooms, carpet for the steps and upstairs. Some decisions are made in regards to labor, but again nothing is in writing. Our son plans to do all of the indoor house painting himself. A contractor is found for flooring installation. Our son's stepfather and buddies are hired to handle some chores, but they are quickly fired due to lack of initiative, motivation, and actually showing up when promised. Initial interest in helping our son diminishes. Folks want to help young homeowners, not home renters. My husband loans tools and offers skill advice.

The marriage is tested as the couple disagrees on the color scheme. When people fall in love and plan to marry, they should discuss home decorating ideas and issues along with children, religion, and finances. Our son gripes constantly about the colors his wife has chosen. He agreed that she had a full palette to choose from, but now that he is doing the painting he is questioning his acquiescence. Too late now, buddy!

Lesson Two - House refurbishment is a team effort. All parties need to agree before hand on the color scheme. If one thinks he does not care about paint chips, he will. Consider the whole flow of the house and keep in mind the fabric color of any free furniture you have accepted and put in your garage. The forest green leather sectional sofa will clash with the lime and pea green walls of the living room. The white chair rail will not necessarily help.

Between full time employment, as well as overtime work, our son is burning the midnight candle with scraping, prepping, patching, and painting. The task is far more arduous than expected. The floor installation is postponed twice due to the paint project time involved. Removal of old tile shows small cracks in the foundation - a problem in Texas that will not improve with time.

Lesson Three - home decorating tasks ALWAYS take longer than expected. The job requires at least one more trip to the hardware store than planned. Plus, interior decorating and repair costs more than budgeted.

Phone calls from the in-laws indicate exasperation. They question the length of time being taken, as well as questioning the money spent. Suddenly the budgeted number being discussed is far less than the initial number planted in our son's mind. However, he has nothing in writing to prove his point. He has a vested interest and wants the house to reflect quality and his hard work. Unfortunately, this does not intersect with the investors' plans. The in-laws, after reviewing prices, opt for "cheap" pre-fab cabinets and lower priced Formica countertops (instead of our son's preferred granite or Corian). Rather than a new bathtub and fixtures, they are postponing such purchases. Initial decorating discussion items are being thrown out the window, in the name of savings. This is a rent house, and they are approaching it as such.

The situation is playing out as we expected. Unfortunately it is disappointing for our son and he is feeling trapped. The marriage is under strain, and there is still a lot of work ahead until moving day. Analyzing his situation, the young man finally realizes that he underestimated the worth of his labor. On top of this, the lack of bargain in house rent versus apartment rent at this juncture, and the skyrocketing price of utilities completely obliterates his savings plan for his "own" house. All intentions were good, but our son did not do enough research and felt the pressure of "family". Decisions were made on emotion.

An empty house is sad and colors can appear too extreme. Once finishing touches are applied and furniture is moved in, a home develops a personality. Pictures and personal knick-knacks add the true color and flavor. Throw in friends, family, and some home cooking and a home comes alive. Despite some setbacks, this has been a learning experience. The advantage of being a tenant is that one can move. Savings plans can be adjusted and walls can be re-painted. Like many challenges to a marriage, home design and interior decorating requires patience.