Invest in Your Nest Book

“Young people on a lark might keep in mind that all birds, except cuckoos, build their nests before hatching their eggs.” — Anonymous

When the complimentary review copy of Barbara Kavovit’s latest book arrived on my doorstep, I felt christened as book critic. Now I could tell my friends that free stuff tops the list of blogging perks.

The book is entitled: Invest in Your Nest — Add Style, Comfort, and Value to Your Home. Let me summarize its content using the words of her representative: “This three-part book shows women the ins and outs of buying and selling real estate, updating the major elements in their home, as well as room-by-room renovations they can do on their own or with the help of the pros.”

The above accurately describes the book and Jim over at Bargaineering wrote a professional and gracious review a couple of weeks ago. He read his copy on a trip to Tahoe while I read mine in 21B on the return flight from Austin last week. Apparently being lakeside with a view of the mountains puts a reader in a better frame of mind than you’ll ever find me at 30,000 feet.

So who is Barbara K? I had never heard of her until I was contacted by her representative. I’m pretty certain that I’m supposed to refer to her as Barbara K! Note the exclamation point! At first glance, her liberal use of this punctuation mark was a bit distracting but I can only assume it was intentional… her product line of power tools is branded with an exclamation point. But reading the book made me wonder when hearts might start showing up as bubbly dots to the i’s.

Obviously, Barbara is an enthusiastic and expressive woman. I have a feeling this translates better on HGTV but it wasn’t working for me on the written page. That said, Barbara’s message is one of empowerment and I can certainly appreciate when a woman wants to roar.

To start, let me talk about what I didn’t like about the book (oh yes, after a year of moderating all those pesky anonymous comments on my posts… it’s nice to finally be the critic for a change). So here goes:

Barbara’s examples are skewed towards remodeling her “house in the Hamptons” and 90% of America cannot relate to the summer or weekend home experience. She discusses The Indispensable Bathroom and writes, “I always add more bathrooms if there aren’t enough (one for every bedroom) when I buy a new home.” The only reason homeowners need a bathroom for every bedroom is when their New York friends are crashing there on the weekends. I’ve renovated five homes and none had equal parts bathroom to bedroom.

Here’s another Hamptons example from her hardscape section: “A pea gravel driveway is very pretty, and more appealing than concrete or asphalt.” Unless your home is in Southhampton or South Palm Springs, your neighbors will be ranting about your pretty pea gravel driveway at the next homeowners association meeting. While pea gravel makes a cool driveway, it is not consistent with the aesthetics of typical neighborhoods in suburban America.

These might be petty observations, but Barbara is supposed to be writing for the common woman and Hamptons living is very uncommon for most people. Also she suggests using the equity in your home to improve it. This advice is circa 2003 when adjustable rates were low and home equity loans were the rage. It’s a different ball game now and borrowing equity to do home improvements is a risky way to invest in your nest. Cold hard cash is the better method in my opinion.

But she has good intentions and for the most part the book has helpful advice. Personally, I think her strength is in the renovation sections: Part 2 and 3. Here’s what I liked about it:

She spends considerable time on what she calls the three most important areas of your home — the kitchen, baths and landscape. Okay… so Barbara knows a thing or two about remodeling and where to get the best bang for your buck. I couldn’t agree more. I eat and bath everyday, but I rarely sit in our living room.

And nobody needs to twist Jeanine’s arm about landscaping… money spent on curb appeal always is a good return on investment and the neighbors will love you for it while you live there and after you move on. Barbara writes, “Landscaping is the picture frame around your home. Just as the wrong frame can diminish a stunning piece of artwork, the right frame elevates the painting’s beauty.”

Those areas are no-brainers but you would be surprised at how many people spend thousands of dollars on a gazebo (trust me… this doesn’t count as curb appeal) before making their kitchen functional and beautiful. My favorite Shaker quote is: “Don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; bit if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful.” Begin with the part of the house where you spend the most time and make it a lovely place to be.

Barbara gave me a few surprises along the way and perhaps she’s not the Hamptons snob that I made her out to be. In my opinion these are her best three tips:

1. Save money by painting cabinets… I’ve done this often. There’s nothing like glossy white paint and new hardware when you don’t have the funds to replace them with new ones.

2. Her section on doors and floors… “Great finishes like wooden floors or solid paneled doors with beautiful hardware make a statement — they ooze quality and workmanship, which say high value.” Same goes for closet doors. These are all good places to spend your money.

3. And finally: there’s nothing like wide, luxurious baseboards. She writes, “They add substance and richness to a room. And it’s the kind of detail that people always notice. I immediately replace conventional 2- or 3-inch baseboards with super wide 5- or 6-inch styles. Any way you look at it, adding simple, decorative molding to a plain room is a good aesthetic and financial investment.” And that’s some Hamptons’ advice that everyone can take to the bank. Enjoy the book.

So now that I’ve finished reading Invest in Your Nest, I’ll send my copy to the first person that emails a good story about why they want it. Be enthusiastic and expressive but try and convince me without using any exclamation points!