Anne~~ To answer your question...yes, I personally have had two new homes built---but I was years younger then and single--and I did things "my way" ...DH also did this for a living...so nothing for him to build another one. I think that no matter what we look, at he is always critical of the build. I also am thinking we need to buy a ready-built home...and we have looked at several. The small town (3,000) we are wanting to move to, doesn't have many houses on the market and what they do is either priced for more than we can build what we really want, or ones that need so much fixing that we would have way more in the house than it would be worth....how much fixing does a 30+ year old house need?..and then when you get into moving walls, new kitchen, replacing windows, electric, plumbing etc., you still have an old house with tiny bedrooms and very limited closets that is over priced for the neighborhood..and still not able to get around in should one us be in a wheel-chair or walker. In my heart, I feel that building is not what we should do...I'd rather spend money "living" and traveling than putting everything back into a house......but I may be fighting a losing battle with DH~~ billl~~ Fortunately this little town is near a nuclear plant and houses there do hold their value. With our prime lot location and a well built house, I believe we could hold our money together. DH is a retired architect/contractor of 55+ years and he can keep his finger on the costs. We will have a crew of Amish builders and they do a beautiful job...and put in a good days work for your dollar. I really appreciate your thoughts...I guess the older I get the harder it is for me to make decisions~~

As I said in my original post, our Mannington Adura is glue-down. The flooring company we used refuses to do a click-lock on LVP installs. Period. If a customer insists upon click-lock they will sell them the flooring materials but will not do the install. They said they have had too many complaints with click lock installs and it just was not worth the trouble for them. If you read install instructions for almost any flooring, having a level floor is critical. All of the mfgs specify their tolerances for uneven subflooring and they're mostly all very tight (narrow) ranges. I think a lot of DIYers forget or don't pay much attention to that. We had to, our flooring joists are wildly uneven and no free-floating floor would have worked.

What does back side look like? Since it looks like it matches dining table in background, it likely matches your furnishings. What would you have for a table if not this piece? If that’s a family room, seems like a convenient place to stash a few games and puzzles away when not in use. It’s too low for a display of treasures I think & I’d also want to keep it uncluttered looking so no magazines etc. Books maybe.

Some nice greens and gray-greens above above. I think whatever color you choose for siding should be darker than the current white, but not too dark - just of equal visual weight to the brick below. More of a midtone. Light colors come forward, dark colors recede - thats why theres somewhat of a disconnect between upper and lower parts. Getting those more in balance visually will help. Maybe you intuitively know this and thats why you want to paint the brick (white I assume - to balance out the top)? But why take a route that involves expense, frequent maintenance, and if wrong products are used - spalling and deterioration of brick, mold issues. The breathable mineral based stains are indeed a much better option but my opinion - with an antique house (yep, yours is close if it isnt already) at some point the value is in working with what you have instead of making inalterable changes to it merely to follow latest fads. You still have plenty of room for updating color schemes and integrating new or contemporary elements into it in an eclectic kind of way. My opinion - red brick is classic, entire ancient Roman towns were built out of it - used on up through current times. I dont know about your neck of the woods but its still in use here in midwest for new construction - in context of contemporary color schemes. I think the current dislike of it is just a blip. Sorry, i just cannot think of one single reason to change it ..... if that's what you are looking for? If previous owner has already painted or messed with it, maybe....