Hellobee Boards

I agree to do floors before moving in but the rest live with and see how it feels. We are in a similar boat- house was built in 74but decorated in the late 90s. Tons of wallpaper to remove over time but we can live with it and do most of it ourselves as we have time. We have decided to hold off on a smaller kitchen Reno so we can do a really
Big one a few years later (like knocking down walls instead of replacing cabinets).

But we are Lso living with the old carpeting for now as well. Houses are expensive.

DIY house renos with children is extremely difficult and frustrating. If you have help from your FIL it is doable. You'll probably be gung-ho about it all in the beginning which will help get things done. Use that momentum to get everything you can do yourselves done as quickly as possible. Because after a while you don't notice all the little jobs that need to be finished and then suddenly it's a year later and your kitchen walls are stripped of wallpaper but still unpainted. Not that I speak from experience or anything

Assuming your husband will be doing more of the work just be mentally prepared to spend a lot of your weekends taking care of the kids so they can get stuff done. I must admit this gets old really fast.

@Smurfette: Second this. Especially with DIY everything takes 3-4 times longer than I think it will and is about twice as expensive.

Good luck! It is worth it to have a house you love and to save a ton of money in the process.

I agree with living in it for a year before doing anything that isn't necessary.

Who knew sliding glass doors were so freaking expensive? We ended up finding one with a huge gap so it was a "this has to be done now before a blizzard" kind of fix. Had we done some of the "we'd like to" projects already, there's no way we could have paid for the new doors

One thing at a time, prioritize, do floors before you move in and paint last if doing it all at once. I think it's good to live in the house for 6montjs or so before doing anything major so you get a feel for how you utilize the current space, what you need to have, what you can live without, etc. Have fun!

Look into what you can do store bought that goes a long way. After we purchased our Florida home I walked through Home Depot or Lowes and saw our bathroom vanity. Here I thought the prior homeowner had to really coordinate finishes and woods. Nope, he selected an updated vanity with great, soft close drawers, stone counter top, and updated fixtures. The big box stores have good stuff if you're handy.

When we were house shopping some people would do two things that made all the difference in their 80/90s bathroom. Add beautiful granite counters and frame out the mirror. The sins of the small tile shower or floors and not so exciting cabinets instantly went away.

List everything you want done with the house and then score them as needing to get done ASAP, can wait a few months to a year, can wait over a year. Also make budgets for each (as reference). This will help put an order to when to do each part of the renovation.

Also- most hardwired smoke alarms (which most 1990s homes have) are only good for 10 years. Check those for a date and see if they are too old and replace before you spend a night there!