Our old house was built in 1910 and has been updated throughout the years, each room has its own personality. During our 20 years here we've replaced the plumbing and dug an extra well. The new well is plumbed into the new addition so now the house has 2 sources of water. The new addition has a full bath, laundry nook, and a mini kitchen for canning. Also installed a greywater system for the laundry nook's washer, sink, and the jacuzzi tub/shower in the new bathroom. Many of these updates are hidden from view but have improved the house greatly.

We turned the back deck into a screen porch and also screened in the front porch and installed outdoor ceiling fans and motion detection lights on both. VgQn loves the new kitchen sink, a 1930's era SS farmhouse style sink that goes well with the main kitchen. Lots of little stuff over the years like stripping the stairs and railing from years of paint and exposing the original wood, the original heart pine floors were also sanded and sealed. Our next improvement might be asphalting the old gravel driveway.

oops, forgot to add that we replaced an old oil burning furnace with a heat pump.

I am NOT trendy at all, hence no redecorating other than paint, flooring and appliances as needed. I always say my house is "old" and I do not care.

But if you bounce between Tuscan or blue geese wallpaper or gray kitchens or other trends, you're forever chasing your tail.

I think it's very hard for people who do not have an affinity for design, decoration, or art to know the difference between classic and transitory. They tend to focus on what looks good to them, without having a strong basis for understanding the reasons things look good to them.

I know what I just wrote sounds snobby, but I assure you knowledge is power and saves a ton of money in the end. However, there is no need to force yourself to care. So long as you like your environment and it functions well for you, you are golden.

The trouble in my eyes are the people I know who don't know their own tastes and are influenced by trends, which leeds to the chasing tail cycle, which is so unnecessary. I know a woman who changes the decor of her house every ten years, it goes from theme to theme. She started out Tuscan and has cycled through MCM and farmhouse. What comes next?

I agree with Zalco; it is not wise to follow trends IMO. I try to update to classic, timeless when I update. I try to save up money for about 5 years and do a fairly large or costly project. I have updated all of the floors, the patio, the deck, the driveway, the kitchen. Am currently updating the bathrooms and hope to be finished by Christmas. However, what may be a big problem has popped up. One bathtub started draining very, very slowly. The plumber has tried snaking and is coming back Monday with a different snake. He said he hopes it is not a broken pipe and that if the new snake doesn't work, the next thing is to go down with a camera. The tub had dirt in it after the last of the water drained out, so I am afraid it is a broken pipe. I pray it will not be so costly I have to get a loan to repair it. That is why I save up money for the projects, I don't like paying the interest on loans, so save up to pay cash - well charge on a 2% earn for any purchse card to earn that money, then pay off when the bill arrives.

UPDATE: Forgot another update I had done to the house, replaced all of the windows and exterior doors. Oh, and had a new roof put on. And all of the gutters replaced. One more, a entirely new HVAC system with digitally controlled smart thermometer which I absolutely love. We like to turn cool/heat down at night to sleep in nice cook air, and now I can turn the heat up in the morning and stay in bed and wake up until the house is nice and warm.

The plumber was successful in clearing the blockage in the bathtub drain - he had to go up on the roof and go down a vent pipe to clear it. Thank goodness, it was not bad, bad, bad.

Now to get the painter out here to finish up the project in the guest bath.

I'm with you, Judy. My house was built in 1942 and I bought it in 1998. It has an addition (the family) and beautiful hardwood floors in the living room and that is what sold me on the house. The wall to wall carpeting in the bedrooms, hall and upstairs was new in 1998. I could live with the colors that were here when I moved in and I didn't get it painted until 2008. I was so happy I didn't realize how much of a difference that makes. I had the windows replaced in 2009 and had the bathroom floor tiled. It had been a dark linoleum. Other than that, the only updating I do is moving furniture around when the mood strikes.

I had new broadloom installed in the bedrooms last year and had the kitchen and laundry room cabinetry painted white. The most dated element of the house now is the busy granite of the kitchen counters and backsplash, but as we are looking for a smaller home, I doubt if I will change them. I have original on-site finished red oak, narrow plank hardwood floors throughout the public areas. Although those will seem dated to some buyers, they are pretty classic and should work with all but the most modernist design schemes. They could be sanded and re-stained to a lighter or darker color.

I remember being told by a designer that the rule of thumb for style-forward remodels is that they are good for 9 - 10 years before looking dated.

Of course, we are continually doing maintenance painting and repairs, especially to the exterior.

We've done nothing I'd specifically call "updating" from a design standpoint but over 25+ years we've had three major construction projects for what I think of as maintenance and functional updates, including adding 1500 sq feet as one project. The rest, the usual suspects - new windows, new bathrooms, new kitchen, new HVAC equip, new roof, periodic painting, and the like.

The time had come for new furniture one time when major public rooms were repainted but nothing was ever done to change the style or appearance as a goal. No take off wallpaper and repaint, we had all wallpaper removed before we moved in.

My old boss said he got tired of looking at things every 10 years. ☺ I don't have a time line...but...I like incorporating new art....or new pieces of furniture. The house itself, if it wears out...it has to go. The carpet in my master closet had a wear path down the middle. That to me is unacceptable and easily replaced. So I did. What I replaced it with, Bamboo planking was an upgrade "and" added 6 cherry-wood dresser drawers.

• I don't--if you wait long enough it will be back in style. Our furniture is outdated but it's like the day we bought it and it doesn't bother me. The only things we have done is put a new roof on--a new furnace. hot water heater only because it was needed. We built this house for retirement and it's already been 22 years. The one thing we have is GREAT location so when the kids go to sell I am sure it will go fast.

Well, we tend to update as things need to be replaced. A couple light fixtures fell from our ceiling, so we upgraded them. When the windows or doors start to be drafty, we update them. Floors wear out, we will update it. For the most part, I am not a person who is bothered by things being somewhat dated as long as they are functional. I do not LIKE how my bathrooms look, but I do not feel the need to gut and redo them just to change the look. There is a monster rat in our attic that I assume will cause the need to replace some things, and when the pest company finally gets him and we do, it will be an upgrade. As for furniture and things like that, well, comfort is king. I left the choosing of our living room furniture to SO, and ended up with a puffy brown set in which every piece reclines. It is comfy, if boring. I suspect we will wait until it wears out and becomes uncomfy and them he will want a set just like it again. Whatever. We live there, its not a showroom or an HGTV set.

I WOULD like to completely gut and rebuild my kitchen. A want better cabinets and something not so....brown, and a walk in pantry rather than the giant cabinet that serves as a pantry of sorts. But that is not a priority at all.

We have done a ton of stuff in the 38 years we have lived in our 183-year-old house. Some idiot in the 1920's took the old keeping room with back stairs to a back bedroom and turned it into a small one-car garage. We knocked down the wall and incorporated the keeping room into the kitchen as one big room. Since it had been excavated, we got old attic floorboards to use as flooring which perfectly matched the random boards in the kitchen. We built a 2 and 1/2 car carriage house in the back of our property. I took a pic of one in Colonial Williamsburg and the contractor duplicated it.

Next project was to dig up the perennial bed and build a large koi pond with a waterfall. The original koi are still in there and some weigh 10 pounds.

Twenty years ago we gutted the kitchen and little powder room and got a designer from Plain&Fancy to build us a kitchen that would look like one from 1840. So still timeless. We incorporated the powder room into the kitchen and built a large one taking a corner of the back porch to do it. All the floors in the ten-room house are original even though that meant paying two guys to rip up layers and layers of linoleum. We had shaker cupboards built and soapstone counters and a huge soapstone sink.

Next project was the small bathroom. We ripped out all the white ceramic tile on floors and walls and restored the wood floor and put shiplap siding on walls. New pedestal sink and toilet.

The house doesn't have the mid 20th century look which is popular but it doesn't look dated because everything is antique and timeless.

Edited to add that we put in central AC about ten years ago.

We look at doing minor renovations (I hate the word "update") every two years or so, and then do just whatever minor renovations we feel are necessary. Whatever renovations we do are changes that we want to make to suit our taste and have nothing to do with the concept of updating. We may even take the style back to an earlier era, which would be the opposite of updating.

"Updating" implies that something is out of style, and that is the least of our concern.

In our Los Angeles house, after about four years of living there, we replaced the granite tile countertops in the kitchen with quartz, and this made a huge difference and made me very happy. We replaced the plastic gutters with copper about a couple of years or so after that, and we also installed central A/C in the first 3 or 4 years we were there. We've made the most changes in the back yard, I think, and we built a pergola where there used to be a stupid firepit that we never used. My only regret was that we did not remove the firepit as soon as we moved in.

In Cathedral City, we renovated the bathrooms within a couple of months of moving in, and we are now in the process of renovating the kitchen. We've had this house for a little over two years now, but it is not our primary residence, although I spend about 50% of my time here.

Some idiot in the 1920's took the old keeping room with back stairs to a back bedroom and turned it into a small one-car garage.

Oh, this reminds me of a quotation from Gatsby (1925) :

"I've heard of making a garage out of a stable,' Tom was saying to Gatsby, ' but I'm the first man who ever made a stable out of a garage."

Of course Tom was being snobby, and you are not, but the era is the same. I can well imagine how exciting motor cars were back then, hard to fault the previous owners ;-)

PS Lily, your house sounds incredibly beautiful. You have spent so much time and effort to make it just so. It's a lucky house.

One thing I will never change is my cast iron tub. Our bathroom is heated through/under the tub. I turn the heat up one degree before I fill the tub and it stays warm a lot longer. I love my OLD tub.

I forgot about the new heat pump I had to put it within a short time of moving in. Maybe the first year or two. I don't remember now. It's pretty old now.

• To me upgrading is replacing something because you don't like the look of anymore or because you want the new bells and whistles. Routine maintenance is things you expect to replace due to its life expectancy is up such as furnaces, roofs, windows, etc. We have a 1974 quad level, bought in 2014. Up dating has been minor. New paint inside, new carpeting, kitchen countertops/backsplash, repaint cabinets, some new light fixtures. The bathrooms were updated by the previous owner except for the counter and vanity in one of the bathrooms. It is original and it is a keeper. Before getting the new carpets I found our 3 different stair cases were unfinished hardwood so they were sanded and stained. After growing up with hardwood floors, the stairs reminded me of another reason why I don't like hardwood. They are slippy, but that is another story. The only solid surface furniture that is new in the house are two nightstands and a bench at the foot of the bed. I prefer vintage furniture. The soft furniture such as beds,chairs, couches, etc are new. I'm happy with just updating, paint, pillows, drapes, bedspreads, etc when I need a new look.

Function, wooden stairs need runners, both for the protection of the stairs and the people and pets using them ;-)

I update when something new will offer me things I want that my current doesn't offer -- usually that's better functionality, features, or efficiency. I rarely update for just a new appearance, though I will sometimes change the appearance (paint, flooring, etc) when I am making a change for other reasons.

Well, I sort of upgraded when I replaced the roof about 5 years after buying my 'forever' home in 2014 because even though it was necessary, the much better quality architectural shingles installed greatly improved the look. New gutters though the old were functional. I didn't live in my house the first year during the reno when the kitchen and bath were completely gutted except for the tub, including the floors. Walls were removed with a bedroom eliminated, new basement windows, mini splits added, all electrical fixtures and outlets replaced and more added, switches upgraded, big section of the kitchen ceiling was vaulted with 2 skylights added, ceilings skim coated, and painted along with walls and trim. A closet was added and one removed. crackle glass pocket doors added, one in a bedroom in a new opening, the other in the one bathroom. Heated marble floor in there, hardwood matching the rest added to the kitchen and all refinished. (Glorious glowing untrendy orangey oak! I was just thinking about this the other day; so much more was done, including upgrading the electrical. wiring and service. Before the pandemic, two new glass doors with blinds in the porch. Just last month all the porch jalousie windows were replaced, with much larger windows added in the back. I just love it! Next project is adding a raised mudroom in the back of the garage (car will still fit fine) and a raised patio off the porch, probably next spring or fall. Driveway will be replaced/enlarged and fencing needs to be installed next year as well with landscaping. Luckily I save by not replacing furniture and accessories- I favor antique, vintage or vintage-look (like Stickley) and have had many pieces for decades. Once something makes the cut, it's in, and once I achieve the look and functioning I want, I'm done. Trends? No thank you..

zalco, If I had to go with a runner I would of re carpeted the whole stairs. We have no kids or pets. I love carpet on floors. but not stairs. My last house had a runner on the stairs since we had kids then. I hated cleaning them. Even with a special stair vacuum.. My purpose for the hardwood was so I didn't need any kind of vacuum for them. I just dust them and clean them with the mop. I used a water base stain and a water base sealer on them. It has been about 5 year and surprisingly no wear. The stairs from the garage to the main level get abused the most. We are shoes on people, so road salt etc gets on them. They still look good. I have learned not to wear socks or smooth sole shoes and hold onto the railings. lol .

The only time I've ever looked around and said "Gee I hate the way all my stuff looks" was 40 years ago, in my first solo apartment after graduating. My light-weight sofa and chair came from a charity shop, and the cheapest kitchen table, folding metal chairs, and shelves from the equivalent of Walmart. My bed was a mattress on the floor. Cheap, cheap, cheap. No sense of style at all, but it didn't put me into debt!

I thought of an other factor for me in deciding to update - what will happen to the stuff I'm replacing? I am more likely to update something (including clothing and bedding) when I know there's a good place for the stuff I'm getting rid of. It will take a lot for me to update something functional if what I'm replacing will end up in the dump, so I try and find a place for things before I decide to update. Usually that's not hard, because someone needs my old builders-grade washer/dryer tower, or worn and torn leather couch, but it definitely factors into things. Of course, I will replace something even if I can't find a home for it (like my 11 year old noisy dishwasher) but I do try to minimize it.

We just bought our final home, immediately renovated the kitchen. Didnt choose typical white or 2 tones, went for dark stained cherry. But I am 2nd guessing myself as it is definetly not on trend. Who knows it may recycle back in style!

We built new twenty years ago. The house is 'traditional' inside and outside. I gave away almost every upholstered piece and some case goods and bought new for this house. With just two adults here, we're only starting to see wear on upholstery. Classic colors, polished brass fixtures, Orientals on hardwood floors. We've painted, of course, but without any drastic color changes. No changes to Kitchen, Baths. Only the dishdrawers have been replaced. We're content with our 'small, one-floor house with big rooms', even if we couldn't find one and had to build it! Having almost everything 'all new' in 2000 has put us comfort and money ahead.

We only did one major redecoration at our prior 1950's home, where we lived from 1971. We replaced windows, re-did kitchen, refinished wood floors, replaced HVAC, and replaced the roof. This house will need a new roof before long, although with a 10/12 profile, I see little deterioration. This summer we had all exterior trim painted.

I found it interesting to calculate our 'profit' when we sold our prior home. It was a sellers market, yet after considering taxes, maintenance and inflation, over the 30 years, we 'made' barely 4%. Of course, we had a *home* for all those years, but that illustrates how people might consider whether owning or renting will best serve their needs. There are other options for 'nest eggs'.

It's been over 20 years since we upgraded or replaced anything in the house. Carpet badly needs replacement, as do kitchen counters. If only I could decide what I want!

We have painted the outside of the home and replaced the roof, but things need to be done inside.

"that illustrates how people might consider whether owning or renting will best serve their needs. There are other options for 'nest eggs'."

I agree - there are reasons and times in our lives when it's better to rent. I think it's too often overlooked as a viable option. (Renting also means you're not at the mercy of the RE market if/when you need to move. People think they'll live [somewhere] forever, but it usually doesn't work that way.)

I put a little more thought into this question. Out of necessity...I am updating.

ie: The kitchen had NO exhaust fan. We added a SS updraft, which to me was a stylish upgrade, because it did pass code as-is. Or....I added a slate backsplash & crown moulding in the laundry room. It didn't require this, but looks richer...an upgrade or up-class look. The pedestal sink in the powder room was sitting on a 6" box(plumber missed the pipe being put into the wall), I replaced it with a cute vanity that covered the pipe/latest rustic style w/ a barn door and a vanity adds storage. I put the entryway demilune downstairs where I needed more furniture & replaced it with a live-edge, skinny-weird, walnut, artistic looking table. I wasn't redecorating...I was just problem solving. ♥ smile

@chisue....I agree! I have several military renters who will be here for 3 years then move. For years housing prices only inched up, then 5 years ago housing prices shot up. Market timing for military is impossible. Chances are they will pay people to do repairs & up keep....then lose money when they sell. Or a single parent, I rent to. She needs someone on call to come over immediately or she panics. ♥

My beautiful 1934 house had the loveliest bathroom tile, but we replaced the toilets(1934 vintage--marked inside the tank!) because we figured they had surpassed their lifetimes by 1990. We replaced the stand-alone sinks with vanities just because of storage needs, but we had them made to match the tile and the "feel" of the rest of the rooms. We redid the kitchen to bring back a classic look, replacing an avocado formica everything remodel from the seventies. Nothing else, and were I still in that home, I wouldn't be updating anything, because I chose what I loved. In our downsized condo, built in the 80's, the bathrooms had those fiberglass tubs, all one piece, with old shower doors with mermaids. We gutted those before we moved in, and the bathrooms will never see another remodel in my lifetime. We waited on redoing the kitchen, so I could get a sense of how the space worked. Condos have constraints on how much moving of things that you can do. But I chose what I loved, and I will love it as long as I am here. I am untrendy, love old brown furniture and grew up in a small NYC apartment without 2 sinks in the bathroom, so I am beyond happy with what I've got. I never expected to have this much.

My beautiful 1934 house had the loveliest bathroom tile, but we replaced the toilets(1934 vintage--marked inside the tank!) because we figured they had surpassed their lifetimes by 1990.

Ah, then that was a 56 year old toilet! Our toilet has the exact date "July 25, 1949" embossed inside the tank. So it is 72 years old.

There is no particular updating around here. We've painted the common areas once in 28 years. A washable paint means that it stays fresh even if the color never changes.

In my area and I know in many others, real estate values have been on a long and steady upward climb. For people who can afford to buy a home and who don't anticipate a significant move in the near future, staying in a rental for too long can be a costly mistake. Because with time, the difficult first step becomes all the more difficult.

Where I live in a small cape cod, when an owner sells and moves it most likely means the little house will be torn down and a $650,000 house put up in its place. As such, I am reluctant to do any major expensive changes because it's unlikely I would ever get that money back. Luckily I am content with what I have and this will be my last home.

"and who don't anticipate a significant move in the near future, staying in a rental for too long can be a costly mistake."

If one is fortunately enough to have a secure view of a stable future, then renting doesn't make much sense.........but a lot of people aren't in that position. Their jobs or their health (or their expectations of such) are in greater risk of changing.

Someone who does not have confidence in a stable future or whose job or health status is similarly not stable, MAY NOT be able to afford to purchase a place to live. I used the word "afford" deliberately and envisioning many factors, beyond current earnings and bank balances.

You said "Renting also means you're not at the mercy of the RE market if/when you need to move". I think this is not good advice for people in circumstances I clearly described.

Renting works great for some people. The previous owner of our house only lived here for 9 months before he got promoted and had to transfer to Texas. The company paid for the loss he took on selling the house, but it was only a one time deal. He is renting now since his company is all over the US and he could be transferred at any time. I know widows /widowers who just don't want the maintenance of owning a home anymore.They don't want the headache of hiring multiple people it takes to keep a home maintained. If something goes wrong they just call the property manager Some of them In the winter just shut off the water, lock the door, inform the property manager and head to Florida. Not everything is about the return on your $$$, you also have to factor in the quality of life. Sure for the majority of time owning a home is a good investment and people enjoy owning a home, but it isn't for everyone.

My definition of UPDATING is driven by trends. Having to fix or replace things is not updating to me, that is maintenance. IMO

In our previous home, we lived there 14 years before making any major changes. When we did, the entire 1st floor was redone to include knocking out a wall between the kitchen and dining room, total kitchen gut that gave me my dream kitchen, changing out all the trim, adding more HW floors, redoing the stairway to get rid of the carpet—basically a new first floor. Upstairs we added HW floors in our bedroom, gutted the Master bath and redid the closet, plus a few other things. Outside we added a fieldstone stairway to our front door that ni one ever came to and added a patio off the deck. When we sold the house 7 years ago, I know it was my kitchen that sold it at full ask in 5 days—in January in NH.

Our current home we built 7 years ago, so there hasn’t been the need for updating, other than finishing a few things we didn’t want the builder to handle. With Covid and me retiring 18 months ago, I started looking at things I’ve wanted to change. We added a pergola with a retractable shade on our deck, which has made that space much more useful. Next spring we will be adding a patio out back. We have a large closet behind the guest bath that screamed ’make me a cedar closet,’ so finally did that last fall. Now we are in the process of redoing our laundry closet, going to a LG tower and having drawers and shelves built in. Next on the list is redoing our fireplace.

I’m always noodling over what can be done to make things more functional and to my esthetic. We built three homes over the past 38 years and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.

Updating need not be trend driven. My furnishings are about as classic as they can be, yet updating for me does not rely on any trends, just looking at new things which may liven up the mix of what I have. I crave some novelty here and there. Switching a salmon colored kilim rug out for a burgundy Tabriz is hardly a matter of following trends. Adding a neon trimmed acrylic console is a way of adding some artistic tension to a room filled with antique furniture. Trends are for the unimaginative. The desire to update an interior need not be trend based.

I fully agree, Zalco. Judy, nothing in the house I bought NEEDED to be changed, although I thought the house was tired, everything was fully functional. It just wasn't my aesthetic. I'm sure many people would have moved right on in. Yet really nothing that was changed, and literally everything but the front door, tub and windows in the main part of the house was changed, nothing was trend related. My kitchen cabinets are quartersawn oak and my counters are linoleum with a custom stainless steel band. Kitchen lights are vintage. And so forth....

"My definition of UPDATING is driven by trends."

Your definition isn't necessarily broadly shared. There are other perspectives. 20 year old kitchens, bathrooms, fixtures, often need to be modernized with better equipment, more flexible fixtures and capabilities, and the rest. Remodeling can have more to do with function than appearance and oftentimes has mostly to do with function.

Never. I have NEVER felt the pressure to be 'updated'. To have the latest and greatest just because I didn't and THEY do. Just because HGTV SAID this is in now!! hahhaha!!! I have found appliances or accessories that caught my eye, that I believed would be most helpful to me, and acquired them. I have recognized my furniture does not meet the needs of my family and changed them out. I have come to the conclusion I cannot stand an avocado bathroom one more month and insisted on renovation. I have bit the bullet on a leaking shower and let it lead an entire redo. I have grown weary of carpet beat up and worn out so replaced it and that led to paint which led to curtains which led to... But UPDATE because oh wow if I die tomorrow someone will have to sell a kitchen that screams 1990s, nope. That's not my problem..let the new owner make it their own. I did. The gal around the corner is 'updating'. All she talks about is her this or that she thinks is 'dated' so she's on the hunt..but she has no idea what is 'in' so she's seeking advice everywhere. Under all her mussing about how awful her dated things are is just a bored lady who wants new things. Why isn't it perfectly ok to say 'Ya I got a new couch, I saw this and thought I want it, so I bought it'. Leave all the 'dated', 'off trend', talk out of it. Ya don't NEED a reason. If you can afford it--do what ya want!!

So hard for me as I worked so hard to get the house the way it is, and I was at a peak of creative streak at the time. Mostly too I still like it, so it doesn't look dated to me at all...but just how I want it. Besides that, making changes to the house is such a lot of work. And then there's what to do with all the stuff you aren't using any more. DH is too much of a sentimentalist to get rid of any of it.

It's funny, a friend of mine just sold her home--a darling Tudor from the 30's--and she had a very hard time. It had--OMG-- chestnut trim that was not painted white. And walls, can you imagine! I think some people today have little sense of style beyond the HGTV mentality.

"You said "Renting also means you're not at the mercy of the RE market if/when you need to move". I think this is not good advice for people in circumstances I clearly described."

Projection again -- I didn't give any advice, good or bad. You just thought I did.

I gave an opinion on a situation, but no advice about how to prioritize that situation in anyone's life. You're just always looking to move the goal posts to find something to argue about.

Ten years after we had this place built, we had the kitchen gutted and completely redone. The layout with it's too long kitchen island, clutter-magnet, space-hogging kitchen desk, and too deep pantry cabinet were very much not working for me. Around the same time, our son's bedroom finally morphed into our guest room, once he bought a home of his own. That was a fun decorating project for me!!!

Five years ago, we had most of the windows replaced, with more energy efficient ones. And, we had a cedar storage closet built in our attached garage for out of season clothes. A great move!

Three years ago our in-floor radiant heat system totally died on us. It had been set into concrete with the entire floor throughout then bricked over it as it was built. So, we had the choice of tearing up all the bricks throughout our entire one story home, jackhammering the entire concrete subfloor, and putting in a new in-floor heating system, and then bricking over it all once again (and this was in November when it was quite cold here in our Northern New Mexico mountains!), OR installing a new heating and air conditioning system up on the roof, with all heating and a/c venting being cut through our beautiful wood and beamed ceilings, as all our walls throughout are thick, real adobe brick. We chose the latter, but Ugh, what an expense and disruption that was!

But, up until last week, other than refreshing the walls with the same cream-colored paint now and then, we really haven't done anything else, except adding more paintings here and there. Oh, and having 4 more adult trees and 2 large evergreen bushes planted by our favorite nursery just the other day (LOL).

And then, last week, our 27 y/o daughter, came home here for an extended Thanksgiving visit (because, as a therapist, she can counsel in her dad's private study via the internet on a kind of private facetime). Anyhoo, she and her dad decided to turn her old bedroom into a serious workout room for him/us. Soooo, our home is now upended and a mess as they work on this project whenever she's not counseling. I'm a good decorator and my husband and I still like and enjoy how I've decorated our home. It doesn't look of feel dated, and we're satisfied with it just looking welcoming and comfortable. I'll be very glad when the new workout room is finished, though! No other updating plans are in the works!

I only update as things need repair or replacement from wear; (for more minor things) if I have grown to dislike something - like the wallpaper, wall color, ceiling fan design (just done last month), light fixtures and so forth. Generally, if I liked something well enough to buy it in the first place, I like it for a very long time. I do not care if anything is out of fashion - I'm the one living with it.

I need to redo the bath because the tub finish is worn out, and that will probably end up as a complete redo. The kitchen remodel really was needed since the previous one by a previous owner was not done well at all in terms of layout and materials.

Once I am "done" with a room, I tend to remain done. So unless something breaks, gets dirty, or otherwise looks tired and worn out, it stays.

When I buy a new house, I'm a whirlwind of activity. In order for me to be comfortable in my own home I need it to suit me. Paint colors in particular can have a large influence on how I feel in a space.

It's a bit weird in a way, because I actually don't have a strong affinity for what HGTV sells as mandatory in today's world. I don't chase trends. I've hated grey as a wall color for decades and it hasn't changed yet! (Side note - I am not dissing anyone who loves grey. My dislike is based on how I "feel" about colors, which is likely of no interest and certainly of no actual use to anyone else on the planet.)

I also don't know squat about "good" design. I hang out here to learn things. I actually started hanging out here over a decade ago, because I hated my newly painted ceilings, and didn't even have the vocabulary to explain why. It turns out the problem was that the ceiling white was very cold, and my walls were a warm white, and it turns out I don't like cold colors anywhere but my bedroom. Yes, I'm weird. But hey, at least now I have the vocabulary to explain what's going on, so that I don't make these mistakes anymore.

Anyway - once I'm happy with how a room looks, it's done. If I'm happy....well, then I'm happy. And I couldn't possibly care less what HGTV, or anyone else thinks, at that point.

I pretty much like everything about my house. It is comfortable and not trendy, of course I do pick up some things that are a little trendy. Painting, new hvac, new roof and looking at windows next spring. Maintenance items are done as needed. There are only a couple things that I would consider need updating, bathroom floors and kitchen counters. What I have works just fine and in great shape so I will hold onto my money since we don't plan to sell ever.