I have been stung by designers twice with new homes. I am a professional woman but also had four small children and grew up with a limited income on a farm. So when later decorating a large home and finally had a nice income I was so intimidated by the designers who neither had children and convinced me twice to put white carpeting in my bedroom because the "children" wouldn't be in there. Pleeeze!! The designers always looked like a million bucks and I had oatmeal in my hair and flipflops on. I had no interest in oriental design but a designer convinced me it was all the rage so I spent more $$ than I should have on wall art, uncomfortable furniture and little brass or china things to sit around on shelves. I felt like a fool. But the time before I did the Ethan Allen look with floral wallpaper and my house looked like Ralph Lauren exploded in it. Never trust a designer whose name ends in "i" like Bambi, Wendi, Mandi, Tami, etc. (Just kidding all you "i" people). So where am I today? Well, we sold our large home and I gave away a lot of the furniture to the kids (they really didn't want it) and what I didn't sell in a garage sale I gave to goodwill. Some lady shopping in a thrift store is wondering who will ever buy those ugly brass bookends. The children are all grown and my hubby and I are downsizing, we bought a cute historical cottage in a great neighborhood and with the help of an architect enlarged it some and made it fit our lifestyle. Gone is the formal living room, we only have one eating space (dining room) plus the kitchen bar/island, gone is the masterbath big enough to park an 18 wheeler in, and in is relaxed and cozy with a screened porch with a fireplace on it, rose garden, open kitchen, and a small carriage house for guests. I am having a fun time decorating it with MY style whatever that is and old enough I don't care what anyone else thinks except hubby. But it took me years to get to this place. After being married 40 yrs lots of stuff has worn out or just sick of it so it's fun buying new things. I think life for everyone is more relaxed than it used to be so lots to choose from. I use magazines, this forum, travels, etc to get ideas. I am also taking it slow, not feeling it all has to be done at once so I get something and live with that and it helps me see where I want to go next. Then I confess I do have some boxes in the attic of stuff I can't part with but really don't want and neither do the kids. I guess after we're gone the kids will get rid of it. Things like wedding presents, I had a big wedding 40 yrs ago and got silver revere bowls, silver nut bowls, candy dishes, expensive china figurines, stuff you can't quite part with but hardly ever used. We just don't entertain formally anymore. Also your taste does develop over time so probably you do have to make mistakes to figure out what you like and don't like. When I first got married we bought a large mediterranean sofa with arched cushions on the back, little wooden knobs between cushions on back, large wooden arms and it was some gold/brown mix and I was so delighted that we bought a gold velvet chair to go with it. Geez!! But at the time, I thought it was terrific. We had it through lots of kids and dogs. Don't beat yourself up, pay this designer off and tell her bye, try to make some lists of what you like and develop your style and take it slow.

Excellent job. We got rid of ours this year,had it for a number of years and i had already replaced the top several years ago.The fabric on the seat still had some life left in it,also sunbrella,but because we live close to the ocean the frame had rusted and one of the legs broke off part of the way.So yesterday i salvaged part of the seat fabric and recovered a cushion on a bench we have on the front porch.I'm all for recycling whenever i can. You got a good buy on your fabric,when i bought mine several years ago i paid 14.99 a yard,and that's the going price around here ,unless you have a coupon and joann's is having a sale.Although they never have the color/pattern i'm looking for,so i go to an upholstery outlet. Kathi

1. Your house has great bones. It would look beautiful in any color. I'm advocating preserving the brick, though, because using that brick color was integral to the design of the house, is more appropriate for the era, and also because you can't get that brick anymore. It's historic & perhaps even rare. It's a golden color with a lot of depth & character, looks good no matter what the season, has a natural earthiness to it, and makes the house fit in with the land. And when the sun shines on it, it exudes a warm glow that's just so homey and lovely. 2. The Great Painted Brick Debate: caroleoh brings up a controversial post from last year about a house with gorgeous brick that the owner wanted to paint. The issues with that house were different though. The brick was only on the front, with vinyl siding on the rest of the house. The house looked nice...from one angle. The house looked disjointed from all other views. Also, the windows on that house were awful: unattractive vinyl windows, placed badly too (a lot of tiny windows on a massive facade). The owner especially didn't like how the windows were so prominent. The dark brick, though lovely, just made the bad windows jump out at you. She wanted to paint the entire house a soft, light color to unify the sides and downplay the ugly windows. She did, and it worked. There was a lot of heated argument about painting that brick, though. It was beautiful brick, but it's like the builder tried to cut costs elsewhere by using lots of vinyl, and the house ended up looking awkward for it. That pretty brick juxtaposed with all that vinyl didn't work. 3. Your example, snagd, is gorgeous. Your house could probably wear those colors & accessories very well, and I really can understand why you'd want to "update" the look of the house. In lots of cases, that works for the better. But I feel strongly that pretty old houses like yours are a dying breed. People "update" them or tear them down merely because of fashion. Here you have this exquisite historical home with authentic colors and design, all of which are still fabulous & beautiful. But you want something else, and want to make superficial changes that will destroy the historic character of the home, and perhaps the neighborhood too. (I'm saying all this without anger, btw, just trying to present a reasonable case for historic preservation.) Besides, if you clean the brick instead of painting it, you'll have more $$$ for the interior & landscaping :)

Some things to consider that I haven't seen mentioned yet, cost to move can be significant. New houses are more expensive than the price you're told, generally. Most people I've talked to who built new found out the hard way that things like locks on the windows are optional extras, and so on. As mentioned, new houses, unless custom built, will normally have builder grade everything. 10 year roof, cheap faucets, plumbing fixtures and lighting. If you want to upgrade, figure quite a bit more than retail at the DIY store. Also they might not build it the way you want. For instance, a friend couldn't get the builder to install an ADA height toilet. So that would have required installing it himself or hiring someone else. More money. Appliances? If they come with, which seldom they do, they'll be cheap ones so plan on replacing in 5-10 years. And if they're not included/specified you could spend $1000 on them or $20,000 on them, depending on tastes. Figure that into the bill too. Unless you spend some major money on the new place, you might just defer your expenses for 5-10 years and be in the same boat you are now. If you put the roof on now, (which you might need to in order to sell it anyway), it should be good for 20-30 years or more. Now for other considerations, are there concerns as far as medical services, shopping, emergency or the like? You know what you have, will it be more expensive in a new place? If so, it's an added cost. My point is to be careful to consider all items in making your decision. Heat costs are high for you now, but insulating should help significantly and you might even get some assistance if you qualify. Some other costs could outweigh the heating savings. Don't forget about taxes, assessments, HOA fees and other incidentals. If the new place has a public sidewalk you probably have to maintain that, additional effort or expense. Personally, I would like to move. And soon. But there's a real comfort in having no house payment. Ideally I could move to an area where I could buy/sell with pocketing money, but that's not as easy as it would have been a while back. And a built house most likely wouldn't have the cripple-compatibility & conveniences I'd want so there's expenses there. Buying a modular, even customized would have issues. There's other benefits to living where I do. Problem is, being crippled up makes everything more difficult. So I hire mowing, shoveling and a lot of the maintenance. Would still have to do that at a different place though. Lots to consider. Good luck!