Are you a new homeowner feeling overwhelmed by the process of settling into your new space? Join Eric G as he welcomes interior designer Wendy Glaister from Wendy Glaister Interiors to share invaluable tips and insights specifically tailored for first-time home buyers. The conversation dives into essential tasks such as prioritizing comfort with a good mattress, securing your home with new locks, and the importance of creating a clean, welcoming environment before moving in. Wendy emphasizes the significance of making thoughtful choices that enhance not only your home’s aesthetic but also its functionality. With practical advice on everything from painting techniques to selecting durable flooring, this episode is packed with ideas that will help you transform your new house into a cherished home.

Engaging and insightful, this episode of Around the House features Eric G. and interior designer Wendy Glaser as they delve into the world of homeownership. With many listeners likely facing challenges as new homeowners, Wendy provides a wealth of knowledge on how to make their new space feel like home. The conversation kicks off with the emotional strain often felt during the transition into a new house, especially regarding home improvements that can feel daunting. Wendy emphasizes the need for new homeowners to take a step back and approach their renovations with a strategic mindset, ensuring that they prioritize comfort and safety from day one.

As the discussion unfolds, the hosts dissect various practical tips for newcomers, ranging from the importance of investing in quality essentials, such as mattresses and door locks, to the psychological effects of color choices in home design. Wendy shares her professional insights on how to create a serene atmosphere that encourages relaxation and enjoyment. They also discuss the benefits of hiring professionals for specific tasks, advising listeners on how to recognize when it's time to call in an expert to avoid costly mistakes.

The episode reflects on the broader themes of patience and mindfulness in homeownership, encouraging listeners to view their new spaces as a long-term project rather than a race. Eric and Wendy’s engaging dialogue is laced with personal anecdotes and practical advice, making it clear that while the journey of homeownership can be overwhelming, it also presents countless opportunities for joy and personal expression. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to navigate the complexities of moving into a new home with confidence.

Takeaways:

• New homeowners should prioritize a good mattress to ensure restful sleep after moving in.
• Changing door locks immediately upon moving in enhances security for new homeowners.
• Consider hiring a professional cleaner to deep clean the house before moving in.
• Invest in quality furniture that will last, rather than cheap items that may need replacing.
• Don't rush into renovations; take time to enjoy your new space and make gradual improvements.
• Seek professional advice when making design choices, especially regarding finishes that affect home value.

Links referenced in this episode:

• aroundthehouseonline.com
• montymgrills.com
• wendyglasterinteriors.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Monument Grill
• Wendy Glaster Interiors
• House of Carpets
• Casey Logistics

To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.

Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/listen

If you want to join the Around the House Insider for access to the back catalog, Exclusive Content and a direct email to Eric G and access to the show early https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/support

We love comments and we would love reviews on how this information has helped you on your house! Thanks for listening! For more information about the show head to https://aroundthehouseonline.com/

Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.

Mentioned in this episode:

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It's around the house.

Coming up on the second hour of the around the House show, we're going to be talking with Wendy Glaser from Wendy Glaster Interiors about new home buying.

All you new home buyers out there, the great tips and tricks for that brand new house.

Now please excuse my cold here because I was a little under the weather during this one, but I'm feeling great now.

As we always say, the show must go on.

Now let's get going.

This has never happened.

Where you and I have been in a podcast episode and we have ever differed, this has never happened.

This is probably the only time this is ever going to happen.

Here's the thing.

I love it.

You're a dude.

Guy.

I am.

You're a guy.

You like guy stuff.

Cool, masculine.

When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered.

This is a AROUND the house.

Welcome to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.

I'm Eric G.

Thanks for joining me today.

If you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online.com and this episode is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grill.

If you're looking for a killer gas grill for under 900 bucks, check them out@montymcrills.com we have our friend back in the studio again.

And this is for all of you first time home buyers out there.

We got you covered.

Wendy glaser, Interiors welcome back to Around a House Show.

Thank you, Eric.

Thanks for having me on.

This is a fun topic.

This is such a great one because as we know, people out there that are first time home buyers, they just went through the gauntlet, get the deposit stuff together, get into their first home.

I think it's extremely overwhelming.

Plus, you've probably used up a lot of your resources too.

So you want to make sure that as you plan for things that you'd like to do in the home to make it your home, that you're exercising stewardship, that these things are going to pay off in the long run, that they're going to last a long time.

So all those things come into play.

Oh, it does.

And I saw a stat that I can't really source, but I was on a news show and they were talking about that many people are having to come up with six figures, cut the down payment, pay all the cost to get into buying their first home.

And I'm like, I was buying my first home.

There's no way I could have done that.

Right.

It's a very different world.

Crazy.

You got to come up with almost 100 grand to do that.

And then, of course, resources are fairly dried up now.

You've got to get into this house and there's so many things to consider.

Where do you like to start?

It's funny, when I was in design school, Professor Ira Friedman made us do this exercise where he said, okay, you're moving into your first home.

What is the first thing that you buy?

And we all had to go around and answer, a really good mattress.

Because home ownership means you're probably going to be working a little bit more.

You're going to be stretched a little more thin.

It's wonderful, but takes a little bit of time to adjust.

But if you can get a good night's sleep, sleep it.

It will make a huge difference.

So don't skimp on your mattress because you will regret it terribly.

That's my first thing.

I have a tip on a mattress and it's interesting.

I found a company here locally and there's so many around out there.

It's like a little three bay garage.

It actually used to be a 19 Portland area VW dealership that of course got into bigger things.

Or a custom mattress place.

You can go in there on Friday, have the mattress made how you want it, and they deliver it on Monday.

And it was so much cheaper than going to some of the big stores out there.

Sorry, advertisers out there.

But this was one of those things that was really cool.

And you could get it exactly how you want.

You walked in, they had like 20 mattresses lined up and you could go, okay, I want a mixture between 17 and 16.

They're like, cool, we got you.

Yeah.

And supporting a little local business.

Like, that's really neat.

Yes, it is.

And then you can still go spend the money on an adjustable bed or the other stuff you want that's in the frame if you want to.

But you can get something really nice.

And what do they say?

Seven to 10 years is the max lifespan on a mattress.

And I know a lot of people out there have had something for 25 plus years.

Yeah, it's funny, it's.

Well, it's almost like the princess and the pea kind of thing.

Right?

Like, some people are just much more sensitive to their mattress than others.

And so some people go through them more quickly and they need to make adjustments a lot more than friends may.

But I think that's probably the very.

Because at least you have something to sit on or sleep on.

That's not on the ground, you're not in an eight cart.

So that's good.

That's a step in the right direction.

Absolutely.

One of my things too is when you buy a house, I'd put on number two on that brand new door locks all the way around or at least have them rekey.

Yes.

Who knows how many people had a key to your place beforehand.

And it's a great start.

Over the first day that you move in I will call the locksmith and have them meet you at the door.

Yeah, get it done, get it changed over.

Whether or not it's locksmith can knock it out pretty good if it's quality locks.

No sense going out and wasting money.

Have that locksmith come in and re key them.

You've got electronic locks, it's even easier.

You have the code, you can reset that and just jump online and get the instructions and do it.

But don't forget the garage door as well.

That's the one that people always forget about the code.

Change the have you know, you can go through, jump online, read the instructions for the remote.

Maybe somebody had their car programmed to it and they gave you the both remotes back.

Change the little codes on the inside of that too.

Good point.

So buy a ladder.

There you go.

That's a big one, right?

Fixing those burned out light bulbs.

And a coffee maker.

No question.

Moving in with a coffee maker at this point though.

So I hope so though if not you're gonna need one.

There's so many things though that just getting into the house even if it's perfectly done, I always thought going through and having a.

Either if you didn't have this done, have somebody come through and just do a great house cleaning before you move in.

It's been cleaned properly, you know.

And a house cleaner, if you hire one to come in it's going to be way cheaper without your stuff in there anyway.

Definitely.

Because they can go around and clean everything up and then you're just starting out with something super clean and was cleaned properly.

I find that too with sometimes they get so excited to move in and they really compress the move in process and they cause themselves so much stress because they have everything stacked on top of each other and nothing in life works perfectly.

I would love it if it did, but it does not.

And so I don't even, I don't even consider it coming off without a hitch the way I used to when I was younger and totally naive.

But oh, I did this house when I moved into it.

I did it was the most horrible way to do it, but it was the way that it had to work.

So it was a total fixer upper.

But I wanted to get it even neglected for 30 plus years.

And it was a rental for 30 years.

So it was so bad.

And the lady that was, she the original, the owner we bought it from, I think lived half in China, half in San Francisco, and just had a management company deal.

But she went through with silicone caulking and caulked over.

I went over the fireplaces so nobody would use them.

So I went in and went, okay, scraping the popcorn after I had it asbestos tested, checked all that stuff out and basically had three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to get it ready and got it somewhat moving ready, but at least got the hardwood floor refinished, the popcorn off the ceiling and some of the stuff that was just going to be miserable.

You're in there, got that stuff done and then started the remodeling process once we moved in.

Just because we couldn't afford to.

Sure.

And it was just the beginning of COVID So it was that good point of, hey, we got in here, but cut our expenses as much as we can so we can spend on the house.

Right.

I think a lot of times people think it's all or nothing.

They're going to move in and save all that money and they're not going to pay two mortgages and it's all going to work out perfect.

Or they think we'll hang on to the other house and we'll live here while we're remodeling and then it stretches out.

But I like how you did that because you had some very specific parameters about what you wanted to accomplish and you were reasonable about them.

But it's also a question about at what price peace.

Like, I write a lot of checks now for peace that I never did before, but it's worth it.

Gosh, yeah.

Because when it just all piles up on you at once, it's just so hard.

And I see clients choose that option and I worry because sometimes it is a joyful thing to buy a brand new home to you, whether it's truly brand new or it's new to you, it's a celebration and it's lovely.

And of course, a move is stressful, but you can make it more or less stressful.

And if you can just think a little bit about it and not get everything so tightly scheduled that one wrong thing happens and the whole thing Falls apart.

It's probably better for your sanity and any relationships you may be in at the time.

I got a question for you.

What would be the first room that you would think about doing?

You know, updating at least.

Maybe it's new paint.

Maybe it's just some basic stuff, New curtains, whatever.

What would be the first one you would recommend?

I think whatever room you spend the most time in.

So for many of my clients, that means the kitchen, family room area, because here in California, it's more open concept.

So typically, a family room is somehow attached to the kitchen.

And by changing that paint color, you change the whole feeling of the house and the old fashioned way of doing paint.

And not that it's wrong.

It was just before.

Now it's changed a little.

You paint one color as the base molding.

One color is the wall, one color is the crown, one color is the ceiling.

But what people don't recognize is that when you stand back and you look at the room, you've cut your room up horizontally into all these different segments, which is not going to be conducive to a calm, serene feeling at home.

So now what we recommend is paint it all one color.

And, of course, trims.

You want to do satin, eggshell, something like that.

But I like a matte paint.

I like that it doesn't reflect.

And then it all.

It does open up the space, too, if it's all one color, whether it be light or dark.

If you color drench a room light or dark, it does expand the space, and it does make it feel more calm and serene without being like Edward Scissorhands all chopped up, like, on these little space.

Exactly.

That's what we did here, is I picked one kind of warm white color that was really nice.

And because I'm in the middle of a forest and I have a lot of glass, I thought, okay, I'm going to let the outside speak.

So I painted basically everything that same color, Three different sheens, as flat as I could get for the ceiling, a mat on the walls, and then just an eggshell on the trim so I could clean it up a little bit better.

And we went with that for four years or so.

Just until then.

I went, okay, we're gonna add some color here.

We'll add some color here.

But it was a good way to get through the project quickly and really open it up and make it feel fresh.

And honestly, it's better for your budget because painters don't like to change colors.

So if you do it all one color, your Quote for that paint job is going to be much less because they'll spread it all and then they'll just do detail work on the millwork.

So that's something that people don't know.

So much easier.

You can cut that time by half just because.

Yes, it's sophisticated and good looking, but.

Absolutely on the mechanical side.

What I like to do is if you've got a central heating and cooling system, have the people that installed that system, if there's a sticker on it, have them come out and service it and make sure that it's in good working order.

You know, that's one thing I learned about over the years with home inspectors.

They are great.

There's some amazing home inspectors out there.

Really.

Their liability is in most states out there is what paid for them.

So if you paid 400 bucks for the, for the pre buy inspection, their liability is 400 bucks.

So it's always good to have the basics to make sure they're working correctly and make sure that's been serviced and cleaned up and that it's clean, that it's running and it's not going to leave you hanging in two months after you've started spending money putting stuff in you want in the house.

And you could budget her through it.

Yeah, that's really smart.

Yeah.

Here in the Central Valley in California, summer temperatures can be 110.

It's like it didn't used to feel like Vegas when I was a kid growing up here.

But it seems to be getting warmer and it, it would be so sad to move in the springtime, be all excited and then have your H Vac poop out on you when you need it the most.

I got so lucky when I moved into this house.

I said, okay, I'm going to do this once.

I went, okay, I'm putting a brand new heating and cooling system in here.

I went with a traditional lawn gas with ac, but I had it zoned.

And so I had them go down the crawl space and put in the dampers and modify it so I could have a thermostat in the bedroom and one down in the hallway in the grey room.

So that could happen two weeks after I had that system in and running.

Broke our all time heat record in Portland at 117.

I didn't stay 117.

Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

Oh yeah.

And 40% of the people here don't have AC in their homes because that's the way they've always built them.

And yeah, it was horrible, horrible.

But I was like, this was the best timing purchase of my life.

Pure luck.

But yeah, no, that's one of those things.

Make sure that you've got that so you're comfortable and you can stay in there.

And it's a first time home buyer.

So for people out there, a lot of people have been renting for so many years and you could be in your 40s and it's your first time home buy, right?

Yeah.

And if you didn't grow up in a culture or a home where your parents or whoever was in charge of raising you were handy, it can feel extremely intimidating.

And I, it is, I mean it, it is intimidating.

It is just.

But it.

Again, I think it's important to maybe try to pick a little project without water.

Don't pick a project with water or electricity for your first.

Just have grace with yourself and give you, give yourself that window.

Not to do something like that, but even just to paint or to change out a doorknob or to change out the hardware in the kitchen.

Little things that you can do that do make that house more your home and give it a distinct flair that's just yours.

And you can feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

And then maybe that will embolden you to take on a larger project and learn another skill.

On and on.

Even wallpaper even.

And if you're not super sure, you could do peel and stick.

But it can really change the feeling in the house and make it something completely different than it was before.

And again, that's just your.

You and your home are working together to make it more special and unique and have your signature on it.

And it doesn't need to be a major renovation like an someone on Instagram who's getting their bathroom.

And don't do that.

Just don't do that.

I have a tip, a couple tips on wallpaper.

First off, don't buy the peel and stick stuff off Amazon.

I tried to do a TV segment with that.

I thought, okay, let's just try it out.

Because we did some tested stuff where I'd buy like cheap tools off Amazon and see if they work like the real thing.

I bought this stuff and it all is.

It's the contact paper that your grandma put in the bottom of the shelves that they're calling wallpaper.

That's all.

That is not good.

It's not good.

And when you try to put it on, it stretches because it's vinyl.

So you're trying to keep an even texture and you're like, oh, wow.

The pattern just changed because it's stretched.

There's a great little company I discovered at Las Vegas Market.

It's called Tempaper T E M P A P R.

And it's very nice quality.

It's thick and the adhesive is great.

So even if you have like an old fashioned knockdown texture or something, it can go right over the top.

You'll see it.

As we all know, it's supposed to be a smooth level 5 finish for wallpaper.

But if you're just having fun in your new house and you want to enjoy it, it's not going to kill you.

And it's.

So it's a fun little thing to do.

And it's in bulk right now.

One tip too.

If you want to be able to take any wallpaper back off, make sure you go over that wall with no good coats of a good thick primer.

Because what that'll do is if you've got a latex, sometimes it'll go through that.

But if you use a really good thick primer out there, your favorite paint store, and put that on there.

And then my tip too is when you do it, hint that tint that to the base color of the wallpaper so that when you've got that color.

Behind it, because inevitably those seams do expand and contract, it can move a.

Little bit sometimes, especially with peel and stick stuff.

If you have that same base color back there, I won't see it.

It's a little more forgiving.

So if you have that primer tinted, put that up there.

That way, even if you're using a traditional glue on, when you can put the remover on it, take it off, it'll come right off with that primer.

I learned that from a guy that's been doing wallpaper for almost 50 years.

And he goes, there we go.

Taking the tip from the 50 year old wallpaper guy.

The 50 year wallpaper guy.

No.

Yeah, he's probably 70s.

I don't know how old he was, but he had just been doing it for 50 years.

And I'm like, oh, you're putting the cool 70 stuff on.

I like it.

You know, that's neat.

So I was like, all right, I'm stealing that too from you.

That's good stuff.

But I'm like, all right, that's good.

But yeah, it's.

You get what you pay for with wallpaper, though.

It's just again, one of those things.

And that's.

I always talk about the show here and my usual listeners are going to Go, oh, he's talking about paint again.

But there's no saving money on cheap paint.

You're just going to buy more of it and it's going to be your most expensive thing you do is buying that cheapest paint you can buy.

That's true with everything in life, isn't it?

Cheap chair, the second you drag it to get up to the table, the leg is going to break because there's no construction integrity there at all.

Or cheap faucets going to fall apart, cheap lights going to look like Motel 6.

It's just.

And generally, if they give you pictograms and tools to put the furniture together with, I can almost promise you it's not going to go well after you've moved it three or four times.

Yeah, it's hard, I think, when you want to furnish a home and you're brand new to the home and what do you buy?

And like we're talking about, it does feel like even just a really great sofa.

If you buy a really great quality sofa, it will last you a very long time.

And is it a huge investment?

Yes.

But do you want to buy lesser quality sofas over and over and over again and essentially spend triple the amount to get it right?

No.

So it's.

But it's a different mindset.

Not decorating all at once, I think, is something that's really hard for people especially.

This is going to sound like an old person talking, but in the Instagram culture where everything goes like the before and after the thing, love that they get a sense of satisfaction out of it.

But if you don't think and save and stop and do it in a way where you don't have to spend it over and over, cry once a thing, you'll regret it in the long run because it's not on Instagram, it's in your house.

It's.

And you're going to sit on that sofa with your friends and you're going to sit on that sofa, maybe with your dog, and you're going to sit on that sofa with your spouse or whatever and watch movies and have card games and have great conversations, hopefully for years.

And it's worth the investment.

But it's tricky because I think a lot of people purchased really nice furniture pre Covid and it was in one price point and now everything's gone up 40%.

So when you quote out a beautiful sofa or a beautiful chair or even your mattress, like we talked about, it's so much more expensive.

So if you think you can get over the Initial shock and plan and purchase it a little at a time.

You'll have it forever and you won't be wasteful.

You know, I still, even though I, if I can't afford to get what I really want, I will go find what I want in a gently used Facebook marketplace, Craigslist.

High quality piece that maybe somebody's moving it well in their house, but it won't fit in the new one and you go get it for 60% off and it's still got decades of life left in it.

And there are so many great buys.

If you're on a budget and especially for first time home buyers that don't want to go out and spend eight grand on a couch, maybe they can spend two grand on a couch and get something that's going to be nice for a number of years and then when they're ready to get the right couch that they're looking for, still have that comfortable quality experience there, but they can sell it and probably get that money back out of it again and use that to go buy the, or order the couch that they're looking.

If you're in a metropolitan area too and you have a design center in your city, those showrooms can't keep the same things on their floor forever.

So there will be a place that they use as a clearing house and if you can find out where that is and you're patient and you go, you can get it for a less than wholesale.

So it's just how do you look, how do you find it, where do you go?

Some of those little insider tricks.

That's a great way to do it.

It's a great way to do it.

The other one I think that people will run into that I think is an issue out there and it's so easy to get.

It's like that little trap.

Inexpensive, 99 cent a square foot, click lock, vinyl plank flooring.

Say now you'll spend four times a time clicking it together and it all done.

Walk back the next day and go, how come that unclick?

Why does it look like a bad picture of wood?

Yeah, yeah.

And you get what your people are with.

That is hard.

Quality flooring is hard to explain.

So I work with this incredible gal, Amelia Wallace, and she has, she works at House of Carpets and she has helped me on projects for 12, 15 years.

15 years.

She's seen a real arc in my career, but she has stayed consistent because she knows everything about flooring.

And I will have couples, they come to me for all kinds of different things.

Oh, I'm going to do a flip and I want to make sure I get the right colors.

Oh, I want to do my forever home.

So it runs the gamut.

But the floor is the foundation of your house.

And if you don't pick the right floor again, you're going to have to spend that money over and over again.

Is it.

What kind of finishes on it?

If it's pre finished hardwood, how.

What is the warranty like?

If it's luxury vinyl plank, what is the thickness, the mills of the finish on the top of it?

Is there cork or something underneath it?

So you don't get the click, click.

Even your installation team, if you're not doing it yourself, do they warranty their work?

Like, even in my own home, I'll pick a project once a year that I want to accomplish.

A couple years ago, we put all new luxury vinyl plank down and people will say to me, luxury vinyl plank.

Why are you doing luxury?

You know that little look, the nose does this.

It's the instant scrunch.

But if you have a pool and you love to garden and you have pets and you have kids, it's a great choice.

And there's even like a pet protect version that you can.

I'm looking at my floor as I keep looking.

That will help you.

The longevity of that floor pays off.

And that's.

I appreciate Emelia so much for that because I can tell her, okay, these are all of the circumstances of the family or the individual living in this home.

What is the right flooring choice so that we exercise stewardship, Put the right thing in from the beginning.

And then of course, her installers do it because no one else is going to touch that floor.

It's too problematic.

But it's great because yes, it is the foundation of your house.

Also, do you have anyone in a wheelchair?

If you do, it has to be glued down.

You can't have a click on place floor.

It'll be destroyed.

It's gonna, it's gonna come apart.

So there's a lot of things, and I think a lot of times people think they can just walk into a big box store and say, oh, I really like this color.

Let's use this in my house.

And they don't have an Amelia Wallace to talk to.

And they don't know that they can ask those questions or that those questions should even be addressed.

And then they spend $10,000 on a floor they have to replace in two years.

And it's awful.

So you can tell I feel very strongly about floors.

I need To.

And here's one that I saw too.

It was a new homeowner.

It was on a social media page.

I will not.

It was not one of mine.

It was one.

One of the grimps out there that I'm.

That I contribute to time.

And they had just put their cabinets in.

This was a weird one.

This was a kitchen remodel.

Cabinets were installed unfinished.

White oak, luxury vinyl plank had just gone down.

They were staining them in place, which I thought was really weird.

And they were trying to perfectly match the color of the luxury vinyl plank white oak to the cabinets.

Really?

I went, huh.

Well, people like what I would do with the stand.

And I'm like, whoa, let's stop.

You're taking a natural wood.

I tried it.

It is sitting in your house on a different plane.

You're trying to get it to match a picture of wood on plastic with a plastic coating over the top of it.

You do not want to go down this road.

No.

Not want to go down this road.

Right.

You know, you will never get it right.

And if you did get lucky, when the wood ages and changes, it's going to look like you missed.

True.

Going to go well.

And I see mistakes like that.

I'm like, oh, you need a designer so bad.

And I just said, maybe it's time to bring a designer in to help you work with the finishes on this project since you're.

You have cabinets installed and you're thinking through stain color right now, which to me was completely backwards of any process I'd ever seen.

Yeah.

And the other thing, there is a compulsion, I think, among many people to match everything.

And I really discourage people from doing that.

I try to.

So let's say we have a beautiful, like old right now.

We have a project where we have an old fashioned, beautiful two and a half, three inch wide plank oak.

It's a red oak floor.

So of course trying to avoid the red in the stain that we picked.

But when you lay down the stain, there are lights and dark in the floor.

I try to pull the dark color.

And this is done way in advance, of course, and have the cabinet for the island or lowers stained to match.

Not match, but come close to that darker quality in the grain of the wood on the floor so that there's a little bit of contrast.

Because if everything matches, unlike painting your walls, everything the same, it's different.

So, you know, it's a different rule.

It is contrast between your floor and your cabinets so that it looks more layered, a little more intentional.

Interesting.

Because if it all matches.

It just looks like.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I wouldn't.

It'd be too much of a good thing.

And that's the problem you're working with.

Yeah.

Just too.

Yeah, too much.

That's a great way.

I don't have.

Reminds me of the 80s Oak rooms where you had the oak panels on the walls and the oak cabinets and the oak floor and it was just light box.

No, exactly.

And the dusty blue chickens on the wall.

Just like I'm.

No, no, we can't go back to that.

No, no.

We're painting it all out actually.

Everywhere we go.

Absolutely.

So that's.

Those are in that.

I think that's one of the best tips too is if you are going to be renovating and you're trying to come up with a plan and this goes back to a previous episode you and I did.

But this is where you bring in the designer early on to go, okay, what's our first task?

And work through that.

Pay the designer to come out and give you an hour consultation to take a peek at it and come up with a plan.

So you're not doing things two and three times.

Yeah.

I think also like using tools and doing a project at home for the first time.

Having a designer come to your home for the first time can also be pretty intimidating.

And it's.

I think we talked about that in that episode.

Just get into their Instagram and see who they are.

Like, would you be friends with this person?

Do you think they would treat you with respect?

Yes.

You're a first time home buyer but you want to start off doing things right.

Do they respect and appreciate that?

Are they happy and excited for you or are they aloof and a little cold and risky?

It just protect yourself and do a little bit of research in advance so that you can enjoy the process.

If you do choose to hire a designer.

I'm going to get on my soapbox for a minute on my one of my top like free pet peeves.

Or you go paint the brick or the stone off to a dozen professionals first and see if that's okay.

I want to know why.

I have seen some absolutely stunning century homes that had beautiful brickwork that was timeless.

It was the fireplace.

Maybe it was something.

There was a very thin ledge stone that was gorgeous.

That was expensive.

Somebody went in there and blasted Navajo white latex over the top of it.

Yes.

Please think before you paint the stone and brick.

It might need to happen exteriors.

Depending on your climate, there can be issues there Maybe you want to be staining it instead of.

But ask the professionals first if it's a really good idea of what you're doing, because sometimes you're really hurting the value of your house.

Maybe you bought the wrong home.

Eric, this has never happened.

Where you and I have been in a podcast episode and we have ever differed, this has never happened.

This is probably the only time this is ever going to happen.

Here's the thing.

I love it.

You're a dude.

Guy.

I am guy.

You like guy stuff.

Cool, masculine stuff.

Wood and brick and rock and it's cool, and I totally respect that.

Every guy I've ever worked with in my whole life, on every job ever in my whole life, doesn't want to paint the brick or the stone.

Does not like.

It's a vehement opposition.

We are not.

Who are you?

You have no value of any girl.

What?

That is what.

I resemble that.

Yes.

I have exceptions.

There are times when I go, oh, my gosh, that is the worst peach.

Get rid of it.

I have exceptions, but.

But sometimes I can encourage them to the point where they're willing to paint.

And more often than not, they say, oh, actually, that looks nice.

So I'm not saying paint all the brick.

Paint all the stone.

I am not saying that because I'm installing brick and stone in projects.

It's just there.

There are places and times when it's useful.

And I think sometimes.

No question.

More often than some men might think.

Very true.

I'll give you that.

I'll give you that.

The stuff that I've seen.

The stuff that I've seen that was so horrible was that Trend in the 70s where they took that almost Hawaiian volcanic rock sections and they put them up to get that kind of late 70s look.

No down.

You can't paint that and make that look better.

Oh, Eric, you can use schmear.

You know, like, all the jagged.

The stuff that I saw was so porous that.

It was so porous that, like, it was almost like it was coral where it just.

There was an inch of depth to it.

Sure.

And I'm like.

It was black.

You know what I mean?

And they had tried to roll paint over the top.

No, that's not gonna work.

And get a spray if you're gonna do that.

Didn't work, but.

Yeah, exactly.

But it was just.

I'm like.

So that one should have been taken down and put something nice up there.

Okay, Eric, I'm gonna write this one day down.

I don't.

Sam noted.

I like it, though.

Because, you know.

No, Toby, I love people to say, oh, but wait, there's more.

Think about this.

It's just.

I think it's a guy thing.

I really do.

It is.

And it's totally fine.

And I think what it is, I have had to go back with on design projects as of the last decade on seven or eight times where people had painted it, and then they went back and went, oh, I wish it was back.

And then they've had to pay somebody to go in there and restore it.

And then they turned around and spent, you know, 10, 15 grand to go in there and have somebody hand strip all the paint out of the.

Out of the stonework to get it back looking the way it was.

And I've seen that pain on that side, too, where you go, it's gonna be.

Even my beach house.

We're gonna have to get out there where my brother and I are gonna get out there with.

We tried to do a little sandblasting because it's got this 50 stat stone that is cut.

That's beautiful.

And somebody has painted it four or five times.

So we're going to try it out.

So now I hear.

Now I know where this whole thing, because you talked about it's the restoration.

Work afterwards, trying to come back.

And even that one, we got to go back and try to.

We're going to get in there with some brass brushes and try to see if we can save it.

But again, you know, there's plenty of red brick fireplaces out there that I'm like, oh, my gosh, that would look so much better painted.

Yes.

I have no problem with that.

That's good to know.

See, we're in the middle there someplace.

I'm just on one side of it.

So.

There's so many things as a homeowners, though, that I always say, hey, when you're getting into the house, like you had suggested, do something that's going to make it feel like yours and feel good, but also balance in the foundational stuff to make sure that it's operating correctly.

Like you're heating and cooling and the exterior is maintained.

And the foundational maintenance stuff that you don't want to forget.

Yeah.

Leaf gutters or rain gutters, get the leaves out so that you don't have a huge leak and have to do something very costly and expensive that you weren't planning on.

Just little.

Because if you don't know, you've never had a home before and you don't know to do it.

But that can really be very Painful later in the pocketbook.

And if you can afford it, hire movers for the pig stuff.

Friends don't want to come over and help you move, I promise.

Or leave all the stuff behind and just plan to save and do it over time.

There you go.

There you go.

Movers, professionals.

And there are a lot of moving scams out there.

So find someone in your family circle, your friends that have used them.

Make sure they're licensed in your area.

If that's a thing, do the research.

Don't just jump onto Nextdoor or Craigslist and find somebody that's advertising.

Find a legitimate company that you see the trucks around in the neighborhood that have great.

Yeah.

And if it's local especially you'll.

You can find local reviews.

I know in our area it's a family owned moving company, Casey Logistics, and they're really great and they service all the designers in our area.

So I don't know if your audience probably has heard White glove service, but they pack it all just right.

They unpack it all just right.

You don't end up with icky, grimy fingers, all prints all over your beautiful furniture.

They can navigate staircases, narrow passageways.

They know what to do.

They're not.

They moved a client of mine into Bass Lake in the middle of a rainstorm in November and there was no paving.

And their guys were so sweet and they were so accommodating.

They even had a forklift to hoist the sofa for the outdoor deck and the canopy bed up over the railing so we could get it in because there was no way it was going up the stairs.

And we knew that from the beginning.

But.

Yeah, you knew that.

Obviously I did measure, but they were just fantastic.

But that's like if you can find whomever works in your area with the local designers, that's a sure bet that they're going to be quality.

There may be issues because in life there are issues.

But whoever's servicing the designers locally really knows what they're doing.

Now be careful, guys, because those are the two biggest home scams that I see out there.

Or duct cleaning and moving.

Those can be very troublesome.

There's a lot of great people that do it.

There's a lot of people out there that are there to take your money and do a lot of damage to both of those.

So just be careful and do your research on that.

So when we're starting to run out of time, this goes so fast.

Especially when you have a philosophical discussion about painting.

Exactly.

Well, I can't wait for the comments on this, my inbox is going to be completely loaded up, which I love, by the way.

Oh yeah, this is.

That's what awesome is that I will have so many opinions on this because it's like one of the most controversial things out there.

I think.

I know.

I just want to be friends with everyone.

Like this is not personal.

No, I love it though.

That's what I love about having you on here is we always have a good spirited conversation and it's always fun.

Are there any more tips we should get people out there on first house other than can't do it all overnight?

Yeah, I think enjoy it.

You don't have to be in a hurry.

You're there, you've made it.

Congratulations.

That's to be celebrated.

Now enjoy it and create memories in that house that are meaningful.

That's what a home is about.

It's not about your stuff.

It's about what you do in those four walls or in that garden or in that front yard or with your neighbors and those social connections that will carry you through years of your life when you're in that home and how important that is to your health and being and your mental health.

And I know I can look back on my life and I know that I valued how something looked more than I needed to because it really didn't matter.

And I thought I needed to.

I thought I had to keep up.

I thought I had to do all these things that other friends or acquaintances are doing.

You do not.

You have to do what's great for you, for your family, for your long range plan.

Not only decorating and outfitting your home, but for your retirement, for your savings account.

And just enjoy it.

And then every new little thing that you bring into the home is another celebration.

And that is fun, but don't stress out crazy about it.

Because in the grand scheme of life, at the end of the day, that's not what's really important.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And if you just bought the home and you're tuning in, I have one last tip for the holidays.

That whole bathroom that's downstairs by the living room where everybody's hanging out, the powder room about a toilet that's 10 years old or over, change it out.

You're right.

When all did.

When Uncle Frank comes over for the first time, someone's gonna be yelling to the door, where's the plunger?

Oh, go get a nice toto.

Put it in there.

Throw the plunger away, you won't need it.

But fix the problem before you have it.

You need A Santa flesh.

Cause it has the two.

That's what I love about it.

Cause then you don't have to whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh like a cyclone.

That's true.

Yep, you got me there.

Mix it before it happens.

Mix it before it happens.

And it'll save you on water too.

So it'll help lower your water bill while you're at it.

So it's the gift that keeps giving you back.

Wendy, thanks for coming on today.

How do people find you if they want to bring you onto a project?

Maybe they're a new homeowner and they're going mad.

I need her help.

How can they find you?

Sure, you can find me@wendyglasenteriors.com and it's G L A I S T E R or I'm also on Instagram, Wendy Glaser Interiors.

And I would love to chat with you.

That would be terrific.

And congratulations if you're a first time home buyer or any homeowner at all because that is a fantastic thing.

Thank you for having me, Eric.

It is.

And guys.

Yeah.

Wendy is this fun?

So you definitely want her on your next project.

That's for sure.

Thanks for taking the time today, my friend.

Thanks for having me back.

I really appreciate it.

I'm Eric G.

I've been listening to around the house and undiscovered anywhere beyond the me Life is a love song let's be lovers we're all over the radio Take my hand I know where to go all over the radio with you we're all over the radio.