What are the differences between remodeling a house purchased as an investment – As opposed to remodeling a house intended to live in?

A young couple from Los Angeles purchased a house as an investment, and hired us to renovate it so it will be more appealing for future buyers. Approaching such project requires a different planning, since the house should suite a wide range of tastes and styles.
Another parameter is budget. When purchasing a house intended to live in, we design our clients dream home, and a lot of the budget goes towards expensive materials. While renovating a house intended for sale or rent, we priorities the budget without focusing on one room more than the other.

Kitchen renovation
When renovating a kitchen, we think of two universal needs: storage and lighting. A modern kitchen design with no upper cabinets will not work in this case. We want future buyers to feel confident in the ability of the kitchen to suit their needs, long term. Lightning is also very important – a dark kitchen is a con when purchasing a new home, and it can determine whether the house will sell fast or stay a long on the market. Natural light is the best choice, and if there is not enough of it, we will aim to design the kitchen as wide as possible, as oppose to a square kitchen. A wide kitchen will feel lighter and more spacious even if a bit darker, while a square kitchen will ultimately feel denser.
As for the design theme, a white kitchen is a no brainer. We offered our clients adding brass hardware to level up the kitchen style without eating too much of the budget. We chose Quartz countertops that are both natural and stylish, and easy to maintain.

Bathroom renovation
The house had two bathrooms: the master bedroom bathroom, and the kid’s bathroom.
We added a guest toilet.
As for the master bedroom, since the room was not very spacious, we removed the bathtub and enlarged the shower. In a small space it is better to have less elements and making them as wide as possible, to make the room seem wider: we built a wide bathroom cabinet to fill an entire wall, and hanged a wide mirror above it.

Floorings
Floors are usually being taking for granted, while they are super important! They make the background for the entire house. For that reason, we dedicated a nice portion of the budget towards nice flooring. A light toned oak floors were installed throughout the house, that will compliment any chosen interior design. The light floors added a fresh and clean look that is always a buyer’s favorite.

Back garden
Another important aspect for California’s housing buyers is the backyard.
Since the weather is nice all year-long, the back garden is highly used.
We built an outside kitchen and made a space for a wide patio dining area. A big herb garden was built from reclaimed wood, to add a touch of farm-to-table to the outdoors dining experience.

Special features
There are some features that most buyers will find appealing, for instant: fireplace. Though winter in California is not that cold, a fireplace is not only for heat but for creating an ambience. For that reason, a large fireplace was installed in both the living room and the master bedroom. Another impressive element for buyers are faux reclaimed ceiling wooden beams. Installing a faux reclaimed ceiling wooden beams is affordable, and always does the trick of taking a simple house and making it look full of character.