COLUMN: Gail Mayhugh

DEAR GAIL: I am going to build a home that I plan on living in for a while before selling it. It will be priced around $700,000. What types of upgrades I should consider? -- Lori

DEAR LORI: Since you'll be living in the home for a while, my advice will be somewhat different than if it was truly built on speculation for sale.

With a speculation home, especially in your price range, there would be certain items that might not be put in allowing the homeowner to make his or her own selections regarding things such as appliances, lighting and sometimes even flooring.

Since you'll be moving in before selling it, everything needs to be completed. You'll want to pay the closest attention to the permanent items: flooring, cabinets, counters and bath tile.

For hard flooring, I would suggest stone. Travertine, limestone, marble or tumbled marble are all beautiful. Add a stone medallion in your entry and accents in your master bath. You also can consider running the hard flooring in your major traffic areas and hallways depending upon the home's layout. We are all looking for easy maintenance and the most difficult floors to keep clean are in the hallways and traffic lanes.

Upgrade all of your carpet and pad. Consider using different carpet in certain rooms. Long gone is the rule that you have to use the same carpet throughout a house, although you don't want mismatched carpets.

Sometimes, depending upon the floor plan, I like to use a low-designed Berber in the formal living room. In the family room use something that is more durable, such as a speckled carpet that has a soft hand to it. You also can consider using a different carpet in your master suite, but I would keep all of the other rooms the same.

If you're going to have a room designated for a home office, wood flooring is attractive.

For cabinets, I would use a maple or cherry raised-panel European frameless style. Although dark cabinets are popular, I suggest a medium stain because it is more acceptable to others. There also are some glazes you can use to upgrade the look.

You don't have to add all the bells and whistles, as cabinet accessories can get expensive, but ones that should be included are trash bins, rolling drawers, crown molding, hardware and a couple of glass cabinets.

Your kitchen counters should be granite with a full-tile backsplash. I suggest neutral-toned, upgraded granite in the cream, beige or gold family such as desert amarillo, juparana santa cecilia or sunset gold. Just make sure you select the exact slab since each batch can come in different than the sample.

If the kitchen is large, go with a 2-inch bullnose counter edge detail. If it is average size, a 1- to 1 1/2-inch bullnose will be just as attractive and save a lot of money.

I suggest using a full-tile backsplash versus full granite because I find people are shying away from having everything in granite. The tile gives a break from the counters and adds color, texture and pattern to the room. One of my personal favorites is tumbled marble. You'll also want to design something special for over the cook top.

You can use a standard ceramic tile with accents in your extra baths, adding interest with liners, listelles or a tone-on-tone design. In the shower areas, you can create a rug design on the wall, run a border of color, or just place the tiles on a diagonal for a different look. You'll want to upgrade your tile in the master bath and powder room.

Of course there are many more selections and upgrade considerations. Consider whether or not your selections will really add to the home's value or are they decorative items that could always be added to close the sale.

Gail Mayhugh, owner of GMJ Interiors, is a professional interior designer and author of a book on the subject. Questions may be sent by e-mail to: gail@gmjinteriors.com. Or, mail to: 8170 S. Eastern Ave., Box 4-275, Las Vegas, NV 89123. Her Web address is: www.GMJinteriors.com.

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