Kitchen

Guest Post: Intelligent Remodeling Ideas For Your Home

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.

How to take the pain out of remodeling

If you are like me, you are nursing a serious Halloween hangover. 

Maybe you took too many sips from the witch’s cauldron or, in my case, ate all of your kids’ candy after they went to sleep? 

While we can’t help with that, we can help take some of the pain out of remodeling your home. 

CNBC has a great article outlining four steps that will make your home renovation a little less painful.

The article reminds everyone to perform due diligence on the contractors, review your contract, ensure permits are obtained, and pay bills on time. 

It may sound straightforward, but you would be surprised how many people don’t honor each step. 

As far as what projects you should undertake, Reader’s Digest has you covered with its article on the best projects to get done before winter

Granted the Valley doesn’t get a true winter, but all of the projects in the article are great places to start. 

Some of the best projects mentioned in the article include master suite upgrades, HVAC replacement, new flooring, or a closet renovation. 

If kitchens are more your thing, then check out these seven kitchen remodeling ideas from AZ Big Media.

Have a good week!

Guest post: Your guide to starting a kitchen remodel on a budget

This year, many American homeowners will finally start on a long-awaited kitchen remodeling project. Some may want to design their dream kitchen, while others just want to re-invest in their home and add value. In either case, you’ll need to start by establishing a budget and then prioritizing what you spend that budget on. In this article, we’ll review how to go about planning your kitchen remodel and the best ways you can get a great kitchen out of a tight budget.

Budgeting for your remodel

One of the most difficult parts of a kitchen remodeling project is knowing where to start. We recommend that you begin by setting a total budget for the project. On average, the American homeowner spends about $23,000 remodeling their kitchen. However, if this is far above the number you had in your head, don’t panic: by prioritizing the most important aspects of a kitchen remodel, you can complete your remodel for far less than that figure.

Completing a kitchen remodel on a tighter budget may require making some tough choices. For example, you may be dreaming of transforming the space into an “open kitchen” concept. But, doing so may involve extensive remodeling, plumbing, electrical, and flooring work. All of this adds up and may balloon your costs, lowering your return-on-investment (ROI).

It all comes down to what you want to get out of the project. If the open kitchen is key to your vision for the space, then you may need to wait to save more for the remodel. However, if you’re just looking to add value to your kitchen, keep in mind that an open kitchen concept is not always treated as a necessary upgrade by many prospective buyers.

Build your budget around new countertops and cabinets

The two most essential pieces of any kitchen remodel are the new countertops and cabinets. For many homeowners (and prospective buyers!), these two elements define the kitchen. They are also typically the most expensive components of the project: on average, American homeowners spend about 39-56% of their total kitchen remodeling budget on cabinets and countertops alone.

However, the end results often justify this upfront expense. Beautiful counters and high-quality cabinets can maximize your kitchen’s ROI and boost the overall curb appeal of your home. Our recommendation is that you factor in the cost for both into your initial budget and then work backwards from there, fitting the rest of the upgrades and changes that need to be made to the kitchen into your remaining budget. No single upgrade to the rest of the kitchen will be as consequential to your overall ROI as counters and cabinets.

Stretch your remodeling dollar further with small upgrades

Once you’ve dealt with the essentials of the remodeling project, your focus should shift to finding ways to maximize every dollar of your remaining project budget. Here are a few items that can add value to your kitchen without a major upfront cost:

  • New Lighting: You’d be amazed what light can do. The best kitchens feature natural light, but adding or updating light fixtures are the next best thing. Move away from harsh fluorescent lights to softer lighting that illuminates counters and highlights your new countertops. Pendant lighting is also highly effective and stylish. 
  • Painting: New paint is one of the least expensive things you can add to your kitchen. Depending on your design choices elsewhere in the kitchen, your walls may benefit from a splash of color, or may be best served with a neutral choice, such as a white, off-white, or light gray paint.
  • Backsplash: Typically, backsplash tile is not expensive, especially in the quantity needed for most kitchens. The right backsplash that complements your cabinet and countertop color choices—either by matching them or providing a splash of color or design to white or neutral cabinets—can add value and bring the entire kitchen together, from top to bottom.

For a full breakdown of average kitchen remodeling costs and even more tips for saving money on your project, be sure to look at this new infographic from the team at Superior Stone & Cabinet in Phoenix, AZ: