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Designing your dream kitchen is a fun and exciting step in your home build or remodel. You’ll want to find the perfect cabinets, countertops, and sink for your new space. In addition to the aesthetic of the pieces you select, be sure to consider their functional value. Here are some smart ideas to keep in mind when designing your space.
You’ll want to have functional spaces that store your belongings in a well organized, easily accessible way. Consider pull out cabinets that have built-in racks for your pantry stock or food storage containers. Kitchen items can get lost in deep cabinets, select medium depth to shallow cabinets with shelves to keep things within reach. Introduce lazy susan cabinets to activate otherwise wasted space. Look for options with shelves that rotate out when the door is open. Hidden trash drawers are perfect for keeping your space tidy, closing up food smells and opening up floor space.
One of the more difficult things to account for is space for smaller appliances like food processors, blenders and mixers. You need to store them but you also need space to use them. Building your kitchen from scratch allows you to make smart decisions about where and how you will use appliances. Instead of creating two spaces for your appliances, consider creating cabinet space or shelving that has built-in electrical outlets. This allows you to use the appliances in the same place that you store them.
You may be concerned about having ample space for meal preparation. Consider adding an island or introducing workspace through pull-out counter spaces or cutting boards. Including vertical storage solutions like pegboards, hooks, and shelving will help to keep counters clutter-free.
Before you work through the design aspects of your kitchen remodel, think about how you’ll use the space and design it meet the unique needs of your household.
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Large homes use a considerable amount of energy throughout the year, especially from heating and cooling. Making some upgrades to your home can significantly reduce your energy usage while also boosting the value of your home. If you’ve been thinking about making your home more energy-efficient, consider one or more of the following eco-friendly upgrades.
Solar panels provide you with a way to generate energy for your home without having to rely on fossil fuels or other sources of nonrenewable energy. These panels convert sunlight into usable energy to power appliances, lighting, HVAC systems and other items in your home. Having solar panels means you’ll be using a renewable source of energy to produce electricity, which decreases your dependence on fossil fuels.
When you install solar panels, you can also expect the value of your home to rise. According to Money Magazine, solar panels raised home values in the U.S. by roughly 4 percent. This increase in value could add thousands of dollars to the sale price of your home when you put it on the market.
Making your large home more eco-friendly can involve literally making it more green. Bringing greenery into your home helps improve your indoor air quality by removing pollutants and allergens. Having plants around has also been linked to better physical and emotional well-being through improved mood and reduced stress, according to a study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Rather than placing a few houseplants around your home, consider going bigger with a living wall. These are walls or columns made out of various plants and flowers. Living walls can provide you with the health benefits of indoor greenery while also making your home more decorative. The types of plants that would work best for a living wall in your home will depend on different factors, such as the amount of sunlight that part of your home gets.
From floor lamps to chandeliers and landscape lights, the amount of energy your home uses for lighting adds up quickly. Changing to energy-efficient lighting provides a simple way to reduce this type of energy usage. Switching to LED bulbs can help you use roughly 75 percent less energy compared to traditional light bulbs. Having skylights installed is another way to use less energy for lighting your home. Skylights allow you to enjoy stunning views of your surroundings and increase the amount of natural light your home gets on a regular basis. Adding skylights in one or more rooms or areas can also boost the value of your home.
While home remodeling can be about getting your home some major cool points, you really want to be focused on the home remodeling projects that will provide you the greatest amount of return on your investment. There are certain home remodeling projects that just aren’t worth it. Others will help the value of your home truly soar. It’s important to invest your money carefully and thoughtfully. If you know that you’re moving in the near future, you may not even want to undertake remodeling projects for fear that they won’t be worth it. There are certain projects that are absolutely necessary for you to complete if you hope to get the top value for your home. You don’t ant to put in thousands of dollars with no sign of return for your investment.
You don’t need to get complex when it comes to remodeling your home. Take a look at what needs help on the surface. This will include things like new kitchen countertops, replacing sinks, cabinet refacing, or floor retiling. Don’t bother with huge structural changes to the home. Also, keep in mind that someone else has a different taste than you. Keep things neutral. You might love a bright yellow kitchen, but it’s certain that the next owner will probably have a different preference.
While you may wish that you had a lot more space and hope to put an addition on the home, the next owners could have a different vision. While there will be more square feet of living space, many buyers look at a home’s potential for them. There’s no sense in starting a bunch of huge construction projects that will only become a costly source of stress.
Buyers will love a home that has a fairly new roof over one that will need a roof replacement within a couple of years. You should fix the things around the home that need to be tended to. This includes window replacements, roofs, electrical outlet work, and major yard issues.
It’s important for your home to look good from the outside as well. Buyers appreciate a home that has been well taken care of. Take the time, money, and effort to keep up your lawn and outdoor landscaping. Planting some greenery around can never hurt. While new owners may have different tastes than you, it’s always a bonus to move into a house and have a little less work to do on the outside!
Whether it be simply the preference of the homeowner, or an attempt at increasing home value, hardwood flooring is increasing in popularity. Hardwood floors can add a touch of class to a smaller home, and make larger homes really show off their square footage in a way that carpeting cannot compete with.
If you are considering outfitting your home with hardwoods, style and durability will be your two biggest categories to explore, after cost. Some hardwood options, while stylish, lack the durability of others, and care would need to be taken in order to not wear out your new home addition prematurely. Below, I'll list some of the more popular varieties of hardwood flooring options.
Wide-Plank - Wide-plank flooring is quickly becoming one of the more popular options for people looking to add a touch of class to a room or home, without sacrificing their floor's durability. This style of flooring gives you a wide variety of wood options and styles to choose from, but woods with complex grains are the preferred way to go. Wider planks allow the natural beauty of woods like Hickory and Tigerwood a chance to shine.
Reclaimed Pine - This eco-friendly option is also a popular favorite. Perfect for homes that already possess a rustic flare, reclaimed pine flooring can add a touch of historical class to any home. And because one of the primary sources of reclaimed pine flooring are historical buildings, this is an environmentally-friendly alternative to some of the more extravagant hardwood varieties, like Brazilian hardwoods, or teak. Reclaimed pine is just one of many varieties of reclaimed wood, so shop around a little. Almost all reclaimed hardwood options will add a touch of mature class to a home.
Eucalyptus and Ebonized Hardwood - These varieties are extremely dark and elegant. Best paired with contemporary homes. If you are partial to white furniture and decor, this variety will serve to complement your design style immensely.
Red Oak - This variety of flooring is gaining a reputation for it's ability to successfully coordinate with any design style, as well as it's durability. Red Oak is a fantastic choice for homes with children, as the durability of the wood will prevent most scuffs and dents that a high-traffic family would normally dish out on a less-resilient wood variety. The lighter, warmer colors of the wood also serve to heighten the brightness and color of a room, which may be preferred in houses that don't get a lot of natural light.
Brazilian Cherry - This variety is the classic "mosaic hardwood". The natural variation in color from plank to plank is an eye-catching addition to any home, while the affordability factor is also an appeal.
