Rose Cottage Ltd

As much as I enjoy HGTV, I get so annoyed with some of the House Hunters programs. Well, not the programs, but at those trying to choose new homes. Outside the fact that they should be thankful they have the money and means to be looking for a new home is the rather odd list of “Have-tos” some of them come up with.

So my question for this year is – “What’s up with granite?

I got a little mailer last week with a 3″ x 3″ piece of sample granite enclosed. While reviewing the marketing brochure I found that I too could have granite counter tops in my kitchen for a mere $8,000 to $12,000! Woo-hoo – what a deal! I had a look around my kitchen and saw a perfectly good set of counter tops that are completely in-line with what’s in the rest of the kitchen and what’s in the rest of the house.

If I now go and change over to granite counter tops – that I don’t require to use my kitchen – am I then throwing the kitchen out of alignment with the rest of the house? Quite probably.

If I change over to granite counter tops AND I believe everything I see and hear, I will HAVE to have stainless steel appliances – to go with my new granite counter tops. Apparently, you could be lead to believe that you can’t have one without the other.

Once I have the new granite counter tops – let’s guess $10k for those, and the new stainless steel appliances – we’ll add $8k for those, will I be able to stand (on) my current kitchen floor? (Pun intended.) Will I now require Travertine tiles to match my new granite counter tops and my new stainless steel appliances? Won’t I then need to repaint the walls to match all this new stuff?

You can see where I’m going with this. I started out replacing what were perfectly functional and attractive counter tops in my kitchen and now my frenzy to have “what everyone else has” would have cost me around $25,000. For a kitchen. This is assuming I can still stand the cabinets – which will probably not look right with all my other new kitchen toys.

Before you get on this sort of remodeling treadmill, think about what is really important to you. Granite counter tops may impress your friends, but they won’t make you a better friend, or a better chef. Ending up with a $25,000+ kitchen will NEVER be more than partially recovered in a resale – especially in a lower priced property. If the home improvement bug takes you over, stifle yourself and drop $200 on a really nice upgrade to your kitchen sink hardware (faucet, etc.) You’ll be amazed at how smaller, less expensive (and less invasive) improvements can still make you feel better about your surroundings