Photo: Living After Midnite

Wallpaper

The wallpaper trend is a fun and unexpected way to spruce up a room. It’s the perfect contrast to crisp white walls and can bring an air of sophistication. Wallpaper has come a long way from the cringe-worthy orange and yellow prints of the past. You can now choose from a variety of prints and patterns. Go for chic black-and-white stripes or baroque floral and bird designs. Or try modern with abstract prints or bold photographs of large bursting blooms. The possibilities are limited to your imagination.

Gallery Walls

Gallery walls are on everyone’s Pinterest board. If you aren’t allowed to repaint the white walls in your rental, choose interesting artwork to display on your walls. If you have a bold space, choose an array of black and white photographs to ground the room. Alternatively, a sparse room can use bold colorful pieces. The key to the perfect gallery wall has to do with the proportions of the art pieces. Designers advise to plan the wall ahead of time; use blue tape to determine the dimensions of the art before you buy. Don’t be afraid to include art of different shapes, sizes and dimensions!

Photo: Loombrand

Navy Blue

This season, navy is the new black. Incorporate navy on a wall or add navy accents like a blue couch, curtains or pillows. Navy is a true neutral that can ground any space with almost any color palette, and will help potential buyers picture their own items in the home.

Pink

Pink is a pop of color that provides surprising benefits. Various pinkish hues adorn walls and accents in designer homes this year. Choose from a true blush pink or a subtle beige that provides just a hint of rosy color. Pink accents like lamps, hobnail glasses, artwork and more create a playful and inviting space.

Photo: Style Your Senses

Indoor Plants

Indoor plants have always been popular but the trend is bigger than ever. Small apartments make gardening a luxury so many have used indoor plants as an alternative. Tall plants like the Fiddle Leaf Fig, leafy plants like the Monstera Deliciosa, and vine plants like the Philodendron make a room feel earthy and vibrant.

Faux Marble

Faux marble is another refined fixture that can elevate the space—without the designer price tag. You no longer have to break the bank to have fine marble in your home; now faux marble makes design cheap and easy. Think outside marble countertops to add edge. Go for a marble coffee table, lamp or shelves. You can even use marble dishware and mugs!

Gold Accents

Gold pairs perfectly with marble, pink, navy and other accents mentioned here. Use gold fixtures in unexpected ways like faucets, chair legs, lamps, showerheads and more. Switching out hardware is an easy way to give a facelift to the rooms that don’t need as much attention during your flip.

Photo: House Beautiful

Copper Fixtures

Not a fan of gold? Copper is an excellent alternative. With just a slight adjustment in the hues of your color palette, copper can replace gold in a heartbeat. In comparison to gold, copper has a more neutral and earthy feel. Copper is especially prevalent in homes with a rustic vibe and pairs well with antiqued furniture, wooden flooring and large restored accents like barn doors.

Wood Accents

Wood is the perfect accent that grounds any room. Need a quick fix? Wood laminate flooring is extremely affordable and comes in an array of stains. Organic wood is another popular staple; the furniture retains its natural shape, knots, and curvature to turn tables, end tables and coffee tables into instant art. On the other hand, restored and upcycled wood ads interest to any space. Seek carpenters who convert anything from bowling alley wood, wooden crates and barn wood into furniture and works of art. This is great for the environment—a fantastic selling point for modern homebuyers.

Photo: How To Decorate

Affording your Decorations

As any flipper knows, transforming a home can be a costly endeavor, and some of these decorating trends come with a hefty price tag. Whether you’ve used Los Angeles hard money loans to finance your flip, you’ve gotten help from an angel investor, or you’ve started a GoFundMe campaign for help from friends and family, investing in these decorating trends can help you draw in high-end buyers—meaning high-end profit.

Photo: The Glam Pad

When buying your first house, you should consider whether to buy a “flipped” house or renovate for yourself. A house that has been flipped is one that the owner bought in a debilitated state and refurbished before reselling it. You can also buy such a home before renovations and undertake the work yourself.

Looking at houses in an interior design magazine will give you some wonderful ideas. Moreover, once renovations are complete you will get a good idea of what adds value to the house and what to avoid.

Photo: Copy Cat Chic

Spy on House Flippers

Before you commit to a flipped home, you should visit house flip projects in the area that you want to live in to see the flippers in action. Seeing the flipping process is helpful because some people are attracted to the new house look instead of fixating on its structural issues. If a house is flipped in less than three months, you need to be wary, as the flippers may have glossed over serious issues.

If you want to buy a flipped house, consider bringing an expert to your first house viewing. This person can help you to see the cracks in a seemingly nice façade. You should not be afraid to get on your hands and knees if you want to see what is going on and examining every aspect of the remodel. Do the kitchen cabinets fit well together? Does the front door rub against the frame when you open it?

Photo: Style Caster

[otw_shortcode_quote border_style=”bordered” background_color_class=”otw-pink-background” color=”#ffffff”]BDB Tip: Buying a house with many underlying problems is a waste of money because you will spend a lot more trying to keep it from falling apart. Ask yourself if you would rather pay top dollar for a badly renovated flip or buy an old house and renovate it for yourself. Whatever you decide to do, just know that your investment will be emotional and financial.[/otw_shortcode_quote]

Remodelling an Old House

When buying a house to remodel, make sure that it is not more damaged than you can handle. Renovating and later on decorating your home takes time, so you should not choose this option if you are not prepared to wait. Are you a perfectionist? This is even more reason for you to stay away from renovation projects if your finances, time pressures, and finances mean you will never finish.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”#bfac65″ class=”” size=””]Suzy: “If you plan to tear the house down to the ground and rebuild it from scratch, it might be easier and cheaper to buy a new home. However, if you do not mind investing your time and money in building your dream house in an ideal neighbourhood, then remodelling is the way to go.”[/perfectpullquote]

Remodelling vs. Buying A Flipped House

Although buying a house flip is nothing new and people have been doing it for years, bad house flipping often hits the news of some buyers who end up with uninhabitable houses that only look nice. To make sure that you are not falling into the same trap, you should research house flips in a specific area and research the owners who do them.

Photo: Domino Magazine

Some real estate agents are able to fool buyers into purchasing useless properties, although they may have listed the house in good faith. They might believe that the renovation is well done, which makes it your responsibility to check whether a house is habitable though a housing inspection.

Be Prepared for Costs

Good remodelling is a process that requires expertise and time. If you are doing the renovations yourself, you will be able get a great house that you know is sound.. However, hiring roofing contractors in New Jersey for example and other house renovators is not cheap. You would have to buy building materials such as roofing materials, fixtures such as a traditional bridge faucet, and granite slabs, as well as pay the contractors.

Photo: Hello Sukio

Whatever you decide to do, you should be ready to spend a lot of money. Neither buying a flipped home nor renovating yourself is cheap, as you would need to spend money on uncertain projects. To be on the safe side, you should buy a brand new house or at least one that needs less work.