If you aren’t selling your home, why would you remodel like you are?!
You might think, “uh, well, I want to be smart with my money.” Of COURSE you do. You should know, though, what you’re spending your money for in a remodel.
Is it really for ROI (return on investment)?
If you’re selling your home in the next three years, then yes, focus on ROI. Make selections that are more neutral. Design with typical, open layouts. And focus on specific kinds of renovations, like facelifts.
…If you’re staying in your home, though, “spending your money wisely” means not focusing on ROI. Specifically, you take it out of the equation. After all, by the time you sell, today’s renovations will no longer be up to date and marketable as “new” at all.
So…if you are staying in your home for at least a few years…what ARE you remodeling for?
…For you, right?
Your pleasure.
Your lifestyle.
Your comfort.
Your family.
Where We Went Wrong with ROI…
ROI is important because homes are often the biggest investments that most people make. It’s understandable that ROI’s been preached as the “holy grail” of renovations. We’ve been taught to ask:
“How much of this investment will I get back when I sell?”
Here’s the irony, though…if you are staying in your home, and will be living in the renovation, then remodeling for resale harms your investment instead of protecting it.
In Dallas-Fort Worth, even the biggest investments for upscale kitchen renovations barely recoup 30-40% of their cost at resale, according to the newest Cost vs. Value Report from Remodeling Magazine.
And that’s for homeowners who sell right after the kitchen remodel!!
Consider next the depreciation of that ROI, and unless you’re selling immediately, ROI is a losing game if it steers your design decisions.
So, what are you really remodeling for?
ROI-fixated rhetoric costs you the very thing you’re really remodeling for:
Your enjoyment. YOUR quality of life.
If you’re living in one of our established suburban neighborhoods around our home in Keller, Texas, these are the homes with the square footage that will become one big boring “blah” if you focus on ROI instead of your own likes and wants.
So, once again, ask yourself…what space do you really want remodeled? And why? Would that be…
- A kitchen that functions for your family’s rhythm?
- A bathroom that makes getting ready feel a little luxurious?
- A living space that fits your lifestyle now (not a buyer’s later)?
You’re getting closer to your “why!” Get honest with yourself and establish now, why do you want to remodel?
ROI Numbers From the Source
According to the 2024 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report by Remodeling Magazine that everyone in our industry uses, homeowners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area saw some pretty eye-opening returns on upscale remodels last year.
- Upscale major kitchen remodel: Cost = $150K+…ROI? 35.2%
- Upscale bathroom remodel: Cost = $73.8K…ROI? 44.6%
- Upscale primary suite addition: Cost = $312K+…ROI? 20.4%
- Upscale bath addition: Cost = $99K+…ROI? 28.5%
- Look at our data from Houzz’s 2025 report for kitchen costs, too, and see how size of a kitchen changes everything!!
If you need to renovate any of these spaces, we’ll say it: you’re not getting all your money back when you sell. So why do we let fantasies of a high ROI drive the design decisions we make today?
Finally…The Last Trap That Really Gets Us
The last thing stopping you from detaching from ROI isn’t the logic or the numbers. What’s stopping you is the feeling that it would be “too much” or “not worth it” to renovate just for your enjoyment.
But the day your renovation is finished, the “resale value” meter starts ticking down. And if you’re planning to stay in your home for three or five years or more, then that resale angle? It’s irrelevant.
In a renovation customized to your needs (one that enhances your quality of life as soon as you step into the new space), that pleasure, that comfort, that’s you living in the investment that pays DIVIDENDS daily.
Spend once. Enjoy the dividends every day after.
The real value of renovation? That comes from the way you live in your home between now and whenever you do sell.
Live More Than a “Resale-Ready” Life
Let’s talk style for a second.
Think about that all-neutral, beige-on-beige, depersonalized aesthetic that’s so safe for resale.
NO ONE actually wants to live in that!!!
The “neutral” approach is the design equivalent of hospital food…barely “OK,” enough not to offend anyone. But you’re not “anyone.” You’re YOU. You have style, taste, quirks, and comforts that should be reflected in the surroundings of your home.
If you’re talking to a bathroom remodeler, for example…do you really want to skip the soaking tub you love and leave off the quirky accent tile, just because “the next homeowner might not like it?” Or do you want to skimp on the heated floors just because there’s “no good ROI?”
No. You should wake up every morning to a space that makes you smile the moment your feet hit the floor.
A “Why” We Believe In: Return On Enjoyment™
This is where our team and our philosophy come in.
We trademarked the term Return on Enjoyment™ because this is the “why” behind the kind of renovations that we do. It’s the core of the kind of remodel contractor we are. We focus on how your home makes you feel, function, and flourish every single day.
It’s time to flip the narrative. You don’t need to chase the moving target of resale value!! You need to design a home that brings value to your life now.
Because when you…
- Stop designing for resale and start designing for real life…
- Stop measuring “worth” in dollars and start measuring it in moments…
- And stop thinking “how neutral can we keep it” and switch for “how happy can we make it?”
…That’s when your biggest investment, that house you live in, becomes the home that’s really yours.
You’re in the Right Home, Now Let’s Make It Feel That Way
If you’re here in North Texas, in neighborhoods like Southlake, Keller, Colleyville, Westlake, Trophy Club, or anywhere nearby, you’re surrounded by homes with stunning potential. These are homes that need to be reimagined through the lens of who you really are.
You don’t need to “add value” to your house for some imaginary future buyer. You need to unlock the value that’s already there and start Loving Your HomeTM the way you were meant to.
Let’s talk about how to do that!!
About the author:
Robin Burrill, RID, NCIDQ, ASID, IDS, CAPS, is an award-winning professional kitchen, bath, and interior designer. Robin and her husband, Robert Mathews, have owned Signature Home Services, Inc. for over three decades, establishing a superior in-house team with a widespread reputation for delivering meticulous design to their many repeat clients.
In 2022, the national publication, Kitchen and Bath Design News magazine, named Robin to their Top Innovator list in recognition of her achievements in the field of kitchen and bath design. In 2024, she was named one of the Fall 2024 Market Pros and “tastemakers” by ANDMORE at High Point Market. Also in 2024, Fixr identified her as one of the Top Professional Interior Designers for their nationwide audience. At the start of 2025, she then acted as one of Dallas Market’s “Style Eyes” at Lightovation and Total Home & Gift Market.
Over her extensive career, Robin has been quoted in Architectural Digest and Forbes multiple times; her design work has been featured in top national trade publications; and she has been interviewed for Designers Today magazine’s “Profiles in Design” video series, among others. Widely respected for the depth of her knowledge, Robin is a sought after speaker and judge for many design industry events.
In 2023, Robin designed a bench for Charleston Forge, making her foray into product design. Robin currently serves as a volunteer on the board of the Dallas/Ft. Worth chapter of the Interior Design Society.