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This may be more appropriate for the house/home interior forum, but I thought I'd ask it here since it involves designing a new construction home with resale somewhat in mind...
Do buyers prefer to see consistency throughout the house when it comes to choosing cabinets, countertops, flooring, etc? We have chosen the same dark wood cabinets for the kitchen, master bath, secondary baths, and laundry room. The same marble countertops for the master bath and both secondary baths, the same vinyl for the secondary baths and laundry room. Same hardwood and same carpet throughout the house...you get the picture.
In your opinion, does this make the house look too cookie cutter?
To me yes, change up the other bathrooms a little. You can stay neutral, but still be different. Some may think one bathroom is more "masculine" or "feminine".....keep in mind that your colors may tend to be gender specific. Not everyone likes dark cabinets...the kitchen is fine & maybe the master, but differ on the others. It may seem to a prospective resale buyer that the home has noe sense of style or identity....or cookie cutter. You obviously wrote this because you are uncertain....follow your instinct & change it up a bit. Buy some magazines & see what is neutral that appeals to you & go with it. Try Lowes or Home Depot...there magazine selections are pretty good. Good luck.
It's impossible to pick out something for a house that will appeal to everyone. The best you can do is try and appeal to the widest audience that you can. Keeping a certain consistancy seems to appeal to many folks. If you can find one of two key things to tie all the rooms together, it would give it is more "polished" look, IMO. Things like flooring and paint are the most obvious choices.
Complimentary colors (either flooring or paint), done is neutral tones will give the house a nice flow. Going the extra mile and adding better quality light fixtures, cabinets, faucets, etc.... are also much more appealing than standard contractors grade products.
Continuity is often preferred and tends to make space feel more open. Baths and dining rooms can be more dramatic.
Vinyl floor tiles in a bath strike me as inconsistent with marble counter tops, unless you are talking pre-fab cultured marble. It all depends on what's the norm for the price point in the area.
Continuity is often preferred and tends to make space feel more open. Baths and dining rooms can be more dramatic.
Vinyl floor tiles in a bath strike me as inconsistent with marble counter tops, unless you are talking pre-fab cultured marble. It all depends on what's the norm for the price point in the area.
These are my thoughts as well. I think it looks weird as do buyers, when you walk into nice homes with too many different patterns.
Thank you all for your comments. This is our first time doing new construction and definitely our first time in this price point ($296k base, our budget w/ upgrades is $345k), so we are really getting an education in what our standards should be.
We actually prefer things to "go together" nicely and that's why we chose the same colors throughout for the cabinets, countertops, and flooring. I didn't really think about switching it up until our design center rep commented on how easy we were making it on her and how sometimes she will get a client that does a different cabinet in every room, etc. We all agreed that probably makes a house too choppy. But later I wondered if maybe in our naivete we were being TOO safe by not switching something up. That's why I wanted to get some opinions on here. :-)
As for the vinyl...I thought hard about that one too. It would cost us about $1000 to upgrade the secondary baths and laundry room to the standard level 1 tile. If we only did the secondary baths in tile it would run us about $500. While I know that tile is probably "better", we actually liked the upgraded level 2 vinyl patterns (which come standard in our community). Also we like that vinyl is warmer on the feet and is easier to clean. However, considering that we are upgrading the hardwoods and carpet, I am a little concerned that vinyl will be considered inferior.
This may be a dumb question, but how do I know if the marble is pre-fab cultured?
In my opinion, I prefer to use paint and accessories to make the look different. I agree that having the same basic items throughout keeps the continuity. If I came into a house in that price range and saw three or four different cabinets my first impression was that you bought a bunch of discontinued odds and ends (kitchen and bath retailers sometimes sell off displays when those become discontinued).
"Cultured marble" usually has a one piece sink and countertop. It will have a "marbled" look to it but is basically crushed materials mixed with an acrylic and then molded into the shape. Solid color also exists but is usually not referred to as "marble" and is usually used in lower level housing. Corian is also a manufactured product, but it's appearance is of a higher grade material. Unfortunately the cultured marble scratches pretty easily so be careful of anything metal scratching up against it (men's or ladies belt buckles, etc.)
If you have cultured marble for the sinks, then as long as it is a higher grade and looks nice, vinyl should be OK. But if you would have a higher grade countertop like granite, then definately go with the tile. Keep in mind that it is possible to do the tile yourself later on. Although the upgrade prices don't appear to be too bad, there is always the possibility to do it cheaper yourself later on with better grade tile.
It's impossible to pick out something for a house that will appeal to everyone. The best you can do is try and appeal to the widest audience that you can.
Yep, which is why most new construction looks like elevator music sounds! We have whole new neighborhoods in my city where all the exteriors are different shades of beige.
In my opinion, I prefer to use paint and accessories to make the look different. I agree that having the same basic items throughout keeps the continuity. If I came into a house in that price range and saw three or four different cabinets my first impression was that you bought a bunch of discontinued odds and ends (kitchen and bath retailers sometimes sell off displays when those become discontinued).
"Cultured marble" usually has a one piece sink and countertop. It will have a "marbled" look to it but is basically crushed materials mixed with an acrylic and then molded into the shape. Solid color also exists but is usually not referred to as "marble" and is usually used in lower level housing. Corian is also a manufactured product, but it's appearance is of a higher grade material. Unfortunately the cultured marble scratches pretty easily so be careful of anything metal scratching up against it (men's or ladies belt buckles, etc.)
If you have cultured marble for the sinks, then as long as it is a higher grade and looks nice, vinyl should be OK. But if you would have a higher grade countertop like granite, then definately go with the tile. Keep in mind that it is possible to do the tile yourself later on. Although the upgrade prices don't appear to be too bad, there is always the possibility to do it cheaper yourself later on with better grade tile.
Gotcha - thanks so much for the explanation! I knew it was "cultured marble" but my google searches only led me to vendors' websites. I understand the difference now.
In my opinion (in the process of picking out finishes for a house right now), either colors or style should remain somewhat consistent. If you have the same style cabinets (shaker, raised panel, etc) throughout, then you can change the colors up and it will still flow well.
When I see a house that uses the same exact cabinets and countertops in the kitchen as in the bathrooms, for example, I usually think they were just trying to save time and/or money, and didn't put much creativity into it. I don't like being reminded of my bathroom when I'm cooking, so I'm opting to change the colors up in my house.
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