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Guest Post: 5 Easy Projects to Whet Your Remodeling Appetite

By on May 26, 2020   /   Accessible design, Aging in place, Awards, Bathroom, Blog, Cabinets, Customer Service, Design, DIY, Finding A Remodeler, Flooring, Hiring A Remodeler, Kitchen, Licensed Contractors, Outdoor, Planning, Remodel, Shop, Showers, Storage, Universal design   /   Leave a comment

Don’t want to take on a huge renovation project? Here are 5 easy things you can do to give your home a new look.

If your living space is in need of a refresher but you don’t want to take on a daunting remodeling project, there are still things you can do to give your home a new look. Some simple yet transformative projects don’t take a lot of time or effort at all, but rather a few tools and dedicated minds.

No matter what you do to remodel your home, make sure you do so with proper precautions. You wouldn’t want to break anything due to a mistake that could have been prevented. Even if you have some type of home warranty coverage, small mistakes can lead to costly or recurring reparations.

Paint

Painting is a classic and simple way to give any room a new look. Whether you paint just an accent wall or the whole room, a new wall color can transform any room. Depending on the color you use, a fresh color can make a room look bigger, taller, or slimmer. Lighter colors can also make your room look fresh and bright, while statement colors can create a mood.

To paint a room, you’ll need some basic supplies first. You’ll want to make sure you have:

  • Paintbrushes and rollers
  • Tarps or something to cover the floor
  • Painter’s tape
  • Paint tray
  • Ladder and or step stool
  • Paint and paint primer

With these supplies and a few hours of work, you can make any room feel new.

Use stick-on backsplash, tiles, and wallpaper

Installing new flooring, backsplashes, and wall accents is time consuming and difficult to do if you aren’t experienced with remodeling or don’t have the correct tools. Luckily, there are options for those who want to change the look of a room without going through the daunting process of renovations.

Stick-on wallpapers can not only be used on a full wall, but also can be used to create a stunning backsplash in your kitchen or beautiful tile flooring. Some wallpapers have creative designs on them while others have panel or tile-like designs.

Use organizers

Organization can do wonders for any home. Whether your house is cluttered or not, picking up storage containers, dividers, and other organizational tools can free up space you didn’t even know you had. There are truly no limits to things you can organize. Your closet, pantry, drawers, spices, garage, and more can be organized, making things easily accessible.

Besides knowing where everything is, the extra space created by organizing allows you to utilize the space in other ways. Check out some of the best ways to organize your home.

Replace drawer knobs

Replacing drawer knobs is another great way to modernize any room. With a quick trip to your local hardware or general store, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of handles. Replacing drawer knobs is a simple task that produces powerful results. Tools-wise, you’ll most likely only need a screwdriver. Don’t underestimate what a simple change can do!

Get a new faucet

Just like replacing drawer knobs, replacing faucets can have the same effect on a room. If your kitchen faucet is outdated, an upgrade to a modern faucet is an easy task. To replace a faucet, make sure you turn your water source off before beginning any other work. You’ll also want to make sure you have simple tools such as a wrench, pliers, and tape measure.

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Guest Post: The Do’s & Don’ts of Home Renovation that You Need to Read

By on December 9, 2019   /   Accessible design, Aging in place, Bathroom, Blog, Cabinets, Customer Service, Design, Finding A Remodeler, Flooring, Hiring A Remodeler, Holidays, Kitchen, Licensed Contractors, Outdoor, Planning, Remodel, Roofing, Shop, Showers, Storage, Universal design   /   Leave a comment

We all know that transforming your old, bland-looking house into your dream house with full home remodeling is one of the most exciting yet time-consuming times. If you are planning to remodel your house, there is a high chance that you are working ahead of time to get it quickly completed. However, rushing the whole process without carefully planning the home renovation can cost you more money and time.

If you have already planned on remodeling your full house, you need to have a read through our do’s and don’ts of home renovation. These tips will help you a lot before you finally take a sledgehammer and attempt to knock the walls down. 

Let’s first have a look at the Don’ts of home renovation. 

Don’t Go For The Cheapest Remodeling Contractor

Remodeling the whole house can be a quite expensive undertaking. You always want to try and cut down the cost as much as possible. But keep in mind that hiring one of the cheapest contractors is not recommended. You’ll have to go down the line again and hire a reliable remodeling contractor because of the shoddy job that the cheaply priced remodeling contractor provided you with.

When you plan on hiring a remodeling contractor, you should shop around a bit. Always make sure that you properly vet your remodeling services company by asking around or reading online reviews. 

All in all, you might end up paying a little more when you hire a good remodeler. But look at the bright side, you will not be hiring anyone else for getting the work re-done.  

Don’t Neglect Your Vision For The Design

People who remodel houses are experts when it comes to re-building homes. But this does not mean that they know how to work around on non-existing design. If you do not have a proper plan laid out or do not have a vision as to how the final product ought to look, there is a high chance that you will not be satisfied when the home remodelers are done with the project.

You need to make sure that you have a strong vision for the final design so that you can deeply discuss it with your contractor. 

Don’t Renovate Every Room At Once

Let’s suppose that you are planning on renovating your whole house. Try renovating one room at a time. Trying to do everything all at once will not only turn out to be expensive, but it will be upright inconvenient to you and your family as well. This is because all of your rooms will begin to look like a construction site.

Always choose to take one or two rooms at a time, so that you still have a place to live in your house whilst the renovation is taking place. 

Don’t Keep An Unrealistic Date For Completion: 

What most people fail to understand is that there are a lot of factors that can delay the completion of the renovation project. This is why it is important to keep a flexible completion date. Just keep in mind that a good remodeling job takes time, so be patient.

Do Set A Budget 

The key to a successful home remodeling project is knowing how much you can realistically afford to spend to get the results that you desire. One of the first things that you need to do is discuss your home remodeling plan with your builder or remodeler.

Do not try to go over the allocated budget as much as possible. But always keep a contingent budget. In case something unexpected thing creeps up; you should be prepared beforehand. 

Do Know When To Call A Professional Remodeler

A little DIY is great, for example, when it comes to stripping that wallpaper, giving your walls a fresh coat of paint, or putting a varnish on the decking. However, when it comes to remodeling the bigger parts of the house in which you don’t have much experience or the right skill set, hiring a professional is your best bet.

No matter how many online videos you’ve watched related to home remodeling, such projects are best suited for professionals only. This is why you should always hire a professional for bigger jobs.

Do Invest In A Quality Appliance

Things like electrical appliances, washer and dryer, and HVAC systems are investments that make a lot of difference in your day-to-day life. So, always go for quality over the cost.

Do some research and invest in buying the best appliances that best suit your needs and requirements. Read the reviews and ratings, and gain an understanding of their warranties. Keep in mind that buying from renowned brands will last longer.

Do Keep Your Belongings Safe 

When remodeling the house, dust and dirt can be difficult to control. Most home renovation contractors will use plastic sheets to protect your household items. But all in all, these things will get in the way of workers. This is why they need to be moved to a secure location where they will remain safe. If you have some fragile items, you need to carefully pack and store them until the house has been renovated.

About the author: When you talk about remodeling ideas, no one can help you better than Sarah. With ample experience in the field, she has been a pro in increasing the aesthetic value of places. To stay updated with the ins and outs of remodeling, her articles are a must read.  

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Guest Post: Intelligent Remodeling Ideas For Your Home

By on November 18, 2019   /   Accessible design, Aging in place, Bathroom, Blog, Cabinets, Customer Service, Design, Finding A Remodeler, Flooring, Hiring A Remodeler, Kitchen, Licensed Contractors, Outdoor, Planning, Remodel, Shop, Storage, Universal design   /   Leave a comment

Working Smarter, Not Harder

Here’s a question: will indulging what you want now help you achieve the goals you seek later? Or put it another way: say you’re eating a delicious bowl of sugary, marshmallow-filled Lucky Charms. Do you eat the marshmallows first, eat them equally with the healthy grain cereal, or eat all the cereal first so you can have a big bowl of only marshmallows at the end?

See, if you do all the hard, undesirable work first, what you’re left with are only fruits — only “treats”, if you will. If, instead of remodeling your home to the “nth” degree (such that it’s luxurious, perfect, and costs you an arm and a leg), you instead strategically approach remodel solutions that add value to your property, you’re giving yourself marshmallows.

The other approach would be remodeling so you break even in terms of property value expansion and associated costs. That’s like eating the sugary bits with the cereal, if you will. Whether you want to have the good things up front and pay later, take the good and bad together, or do the hard stuff first so you can enjoy the easy life later, is up to you.

Regardless, the most intelligent approach will be maximizing the value of your home after you’re done remodeling. This makes each remodeling effort an investment in your property. Following, we’ll explore several remodeling ideas that can produce more value than they cost to get done, ultimately giving you better living premises and assets simultaneously.

1. Maximizing Property: Basements, Attics, Garages, Sheds

A lot of properties have unfinished basements—unless you’re in California, where basements are rare. However, attics aren’t rare on the west coast, and these are often unused or strewn with garbage. Garages additionally become repositories for junk, as can sheds. First, clean out the junk. Have a garage sale with what’s salable, throw away what isn’t, keep any “finds.”

Next, clean the premises, apply paint, finish the walls if they need it, install wallpaper, put in a rug. With a shed, you can turn that outside space into an insulated man-cave, apartment, or secondary residence for the mother-in-law. You might even make a “tiny home” back there and feature that in your property listing. You can build a nice tiny home for under $10k, and it’ll definitely add more than that to the property value. Consider the market, and if this is the right choice for you. Still, a little gravel for a driveway, utility hookups, and a several-week build can produce a fine tiny home expanding property value. The kids will love it, too—just teach them to clean up after themselves if you can.

2. RTA Cabinetry

RTA stands for Ready To Assemble. RTA cabinets can be purchased online in a “commissioned” sort of way such that they ship you cabinets which fit the space of your home. This has become a big trend in remodeling. It’s cost-effective, the results are qualitative, and the value can be greater than your expenses, if you’re savvy.

You’ll want to look into means of vetting certain RTA options. Some of the most appreciated RTA cabinets will come with a positive word from those who’ve purchased them — for example, look at this Forevermark ice white shaker cabinet review.

3. Implementation Of Property-Friendly Tech

Solar energy arrays can expand property value between $5k after purchase and installation, and $15k, for a total value increase of $10k to $20k. The average is a little over $16k, excluding solar panel costs. Installation of solar panels isn’t that hard. Mount them on the best part of your home in terms of sunlight — basically you just screw the mounts in.

Make sure you run the right cables to the right surge controller, and from there, to the right battery array. From the battery array, you’ll run a power inverter. You’re going to be looking at around 30 to 50 panels, depending on energy needs and the size of your home.

Each panel will be about 100 Watts, and cost around $1 a Watt. $3,100 gets you 31 panels for 3.1 kWh, another $1,900 gets you mounting brackets, cables, inverters, surge controllers, and batteries. A weekend gets the job done. Do this properly right before you sell and bump up the value of your premises by a minimum of $10k, and as high as $20k, essentially doubling or quadrupling your investment.

4. Landscaping, General Repair And Upkeep

Lawns, bushes, trees, flowers, and vegetables — what works best for you? Figure it out, and then husband that foliage perpetually. Installation of sprinkler arrays can help you do this with less hassle. A well-landscaped property with a built-in sprinkler system can increase associated property value. What’s more, you can put something like that together relatively affordably.

Expanding Property Value And Utility Through Remodel

Smart remodeling involves finding areas where you’ll get money back on your investment. Bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms can be good remodel ideas; but they can be costly, too. Weigh existing resources and options, and determine if you want to forestall appreciation of your labors, or take them up-front.

Landscaping, technology, space maximization, and RTA cabinetry represent several exceptional remodeling tactics that deliver solid value for their cost. Consult landscaping and construction contractors to determine other areas of remodel conducive to profit for your home.

About the author: Wendy Dessler is an outreach manager and blogger.

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