The same is true in the bathroom. Swan shaped taps are just not everyone's cup of Darjeeling, and an avocado, chocolate brown or burgundy bathroom suite is these days very hard to come by...for a very good reason. While it is true that you should buy a home to live in and fill it with the things that you love, if you do intend to move on within a few years a wise eye must be kept on the resale value.
Generally the panel were in agreement on this one, though one estate agent from the Midlands suggested that buyers were happier and more resolved to having to replace a bathroom than a kitchen. 'I think it's a toilet thing. I don't think many people like the idea of a second hand toilet.'
The open plan loo as a design feature does crop up occasionally, but is just another way of flushing away some of the value of your property. As Charles Seligman puts it: 'It's a big no, no. Actually I saw one recently. You could see how it fitted with the design, but it's not a popular concept and it will probably cost you around £3,000 to get rid of all the works.'
Something of a geographical split here with one Bedfordshire estate agent swearing by its virtues: 'It's actually quite a popular thing around here. Pine rather than anything too swanky. I've sold some wonderful properties that were panelled throughout with no problem.'
Perhaps not surprisingly the panel members from more urban centres were apoplectic in their dislike. As one particular detractor put it: 'Timber panelling is just a complete mistake. The buyer is always going to be worrying what is lurking underneath it and so will expect to negotiate the price down for its removal. Anyway, if you panel a room you end up losing a good few inches of living space.'
'People who move out from the cities hate this with a passion,' commented one Kent based estate agent. 'It's not usually a complete deal breaker but the buyer will try to negotiate down because they know they can't live with the ceiling like that, and also know it's a horrendous and expensive job to remove it.'
Again, the panel showed something of a geographical split, even more pronounced between city and more rural practices. One northern based estate agent couldn't imagine it would ever be a problem, as most homes in the locale would have textured ceilings. However the general consensus was that, with more flexible materials able to cope with movement in a home, smooth ceilings were least likely to cause offence.
While original period features are generally accepted as a good selling point, installing fake period features into an inappropriate setting can put buyers off in a big way.
'After the big council house sell-off in the eighties this one couple bought both halves of a late forties semi detached council house for next to nothing, knocked it into one and then gave it Corinthian pillars, a balcony, portico, the lot,' remembers one South Yorkshire based agent. 'It was extremely carefully executed, and they spent thousands on it, but it was still an absolute dog. It was on the market for years. Bless 'em, they just couldn't understand where they'd gone wrong.'
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