Home Remodeling & Construction Blog

One of the best decisions you can make this season is to tackle a little indoor remodeling. The weather may push you inside but that’s no reason to put your design plans on hold. A contractor can help you tackle your Virginia kitchen remodeling plans quickly and easily. The best part is, you don’t have to have the contractor handle every aspect of the job. There are some projects you can take on yourself in order to save a little money. If your kitchen is begging you for a face lift, focus on some key details and let the general contractor handle the big stuff.

The Cabinets

You don’t necessarily have to gut your cabinets and start over from scratch. If your cabinets are all in good shape then you can adjust and improve the look of your kitchen by re-surfacing and/or re-painting your cabinets. Re-facing the cabinets is a little more expensive (it involves replacing the veneers) but it will still save you a lot of money over a complete remodel. Provided your cabinets aren’t laminate or melamine then you can simply repaint them on your own. Read more…

Though winter is newly upon us, there is never a bad time to begin designing your dream Virginia home kitchen. Kitchen design is both a science and an art, so make sure you take your time follow the guidelines listed below to make sure that all of the features and convince of the modern kitchen are included in your design.

Make a List, and Check it Twice

Before you start drawing out diagrams or anything else you should make a list of all of the features that you know you want your dream kitchen to have. This way you can refer back to your original ideas for the rest of the design process when faced with choices that affect the whole room.

Choose Your Appliances

From your list you will be able to determine which appliances you need, so next you should decide on the models and styles of the appliances you which to install. If you do this step later, you may run into problems of making your counters or cabinets fit properly because they are some of the largest features of the room.

Determine Utility Positions

Without hiring an electrician and a plumber, the current positions of your appliances and sinks are pretty much where they will be in the new remodel. If you need a new sink on an island, or want to move your gas range to the other side of your space, getting professional help from a contractor is always advised.

Maximize Cabinet Space

Designing cabinet space can be really tricky, especially in the corners. Playing a lot of Tetris as a kid probably hones this skill. There are a number of different styles to choose from, so take your time to visit a few home improvement stores to look at what there is out there before making your decision.

Keep Your Budget in Mind

Putting together your dream kitchen can get expensive very quickly, so if you intend on actually completing the project at some point, then you should keep track of the cost of your improvements. If you don’t have experience calculating these expenses, a contractor might be able to help you estimate your project costs.

Remember the Kitchen Triangle

Your Range/Oven, Sink, and Refrigerator should ideally form an equilateral triangle to get the most efficient use out of your kitchen. This design secret is what makes industrial kitchens work so well. Watch Iron Chef for a little while and you’ll see what I mean.

Spring will come faster than you think, and the project season underway with it. Your Virginia kitchen can be the most often used room in your home, so it is an improvement that the whole family can enjoy. It is also an investment in the value of your home, and if you ever consider selling your property, the kitchen can prove to be one of the strongest investments you can make.

You should ask yourself when the last time you had a good hard look at the interiors for your house. If you want to get a head start on next year’s remodeling projects, a great place to start might be your Virginia kitchen. Not only does it add equity value to your home, but it also can make your daily life much more enjoyable.

Great Design Ideas

The look of natural stone is becoming a much more affordable style. Whether it is granite countertops, or natural stone back splashes and other veneer wall experts, there is little doubt that this kind of beautiful feature would make any home a more appealing place to live. Stone floor tiles laid in stunning mosaic patterns can give your kitchen a much needed face lift that will continue to look new for quite some time. The shine and non-abrasive nature of stone can make it one of your favorite features of your home.

A great look that goes well with natural stone features is stainless steel appliances and accent hardware. With the proper choices in materials, you can have a very expensive looking kitchen that won’t split your wallet in half. A new sink, combined with all of the other accents in stainless steel: like a stainless steel cook top stove, stainless steel refrigerator, and all stainless steel pulls on the cabinets and drawers. Stainless steel goes with the overall timeless quality of the stone you use for your countertops and tiles.

Lighting options are usually a matter of taste, but a stainless steel finish would blend well with the appliances and accents. The style for your fixture should reflect your creativity while providing enough light to work by. The right lighting level in a kitchen can be a little tricky to find because too little light makes it hard to cook, and too much light is bad for the eyes. Combined with sun exposure it creates a situation where the light levels are constantly changing. You can counter act this problem be using dimmer switches to directly control the light levels in your Virginia kitchen.

The Investment of Remodeling

Time and again you have heard that home improvement projects in your Virginia home is an investment in the value of your home, but there are ways to get the most out of your remodeling budget. Prices comparing materials is always a good idea, and sometimes you can find good quality product for cut rate prices, but something that is important to avoid is using materials that are cheaply made and of an inferior quality. This short term budget saver might cost you much more in the long run.

Another great way to help cut costs in your Virginia kitchen remodel is to do as much of the prep work yourself as you can. You should empty everything out of your kitchen, including your appliances, food stuffs, furniture, and so on. You should talk to your contractor about your options for cabinetry, whether new ones are a necessity or if you can get away with refinishing your existing ones. Getting the most out of your remodeling takes open communication with your general contractor and good research.

The kitchen countertop is the most important part of your kitchen.  While some might argue that the stove, refrigerator or microwave oven is the main priority of a kitchen, they clearly haven’t spent enough thought on their kitchen countertops in Virginia.  The kitchen countertop is important to your Virginia kitchen for the following reasons:  it’s where you prepare the food, it’s where you have your sink to do dishes or clean the food, and it can also function as a place to eat if the dining table is full or just as a place to stack bills.

With one main feature of your Virginia kitchen having so many crucial abilities, the best thing you can do is to make sure you have the best countertop available.  Stone countertops are stable, durable, and can increase the value of your home.  Another exciting feature about these kitchen countertops in Virginia is how unique they are.  Even though you may think that one piece of granite is the same as another, you’d  be wrong.  Each piece of stone has it’s own personal makeup, just like humans do.  Every stone has it’s own mineral color, speckles and even veins, giving it a distinct look.  While these features may not stand out right away, a closer examination will reveal the true depth of this material.

Stone countertops are also much more durable and stable then other countertops.  Unlike plastic or wood, hot or cold materials don’t affect stone countertops.  You can leave your hot casserole dish on the stone without any protection if you want to for hours on end and your stone countertop will look exactly the same.  These kitchen countertops in Virginia also have very few if any seams, meaning unlike ceramic tiles, they won’t have a grout area for crumbs and other unwanted materials to gather up.  Stone countertops can also be repaired very easily:  if there are any chips or cracks, a simple phone call to a stone restorer will ensure a visit to your Virginia kitchen to get your stone countertops back in shape.

Unlike other countertops that have a number of disadvantages, the only downfall about stone countertops is that foods or other materials can stain these kitchen countertops in Virginia if they are ignored.  If you’re worried about staining, fear not:  some modern day stone now comes with an anti stain guarantee since they have improved the sealant that’s applied to the stone.  Should you get a stone countertop that doesn’t come with a stain guarantee, maintenance is a breeze.  The only thing you need to do is to wipe up any stains that occur.  Also, once every few years, reapply the sealant.  By doing these two small things, your stone countertops will last as long as your Virginia kitchen does, making it a valuable feature due to lack of upkeep charges.

Investing in a stone countertop is a major decision.  Not only are you choosing to alter the most important feature of your Virginia kitchen but you’re also picking a material that can last many years without a hassle.  Stone countertops are a great choice for many reasons including durability, uniqueness, easy to repair and have little to no upkeep.  Although stone countertops can be a slightly expensive upgrade, these kitchen countertops in Virginia pay for themselves over and over again with their beauty and dependability.

Northern Virginia Kitchen Remodeling companies recommend creating a budget of no more than 15% of the total value of your home when you’re planning a kitchen remodel. If you blow your budget, you can almost guarantee you’ll lose money on the resale. With that considered, it’s hard not to take the time to run a kitchen remodel and install a functional and attractive kitchen. After all, that kind of kitchen remodel offers benefits to newly open space for cooking and suitable space for entertainment.

Take time to consider how long you’ll be in your home, as this will play a role in your plan for your Virginia kitchen remodel.

Improve to Move

If you’re intending to upgrade your home in an effort to sell your house sooner rather than later, then your overall goal shouldn’t be to “wow” potential home buyers. You should be reassuring them that the kitchen you have is in good shape. Whether that’s with the “original” kitchen or the result of a recent kitchen remodel. Here are a few tips to freshen up your kitchen without springing for a Virginia Kitchen Designer.

· Consider new paint and new knobs on the cabinets in your kitchen. A pleasant kitchen redesign is often more effective than a remodel.

· Take a look at the plumbing and the kitchen cabinets. Fix anything that could be loose or broken , such as loose hinges or leaking pipes. It’s easy to turn off a buyer when there are obvious faults.

· Consider a facelift to your kitchen countertops. Virginia kitchen remodels don’t have to be expensive, and sometimes replacing a countertop with a new color is all you need to spice up the kitchen

· If you’re not into a replacing all your kitchen countertops, then consider the install of a new back splash. Creative tile work can add just the right contrast to brighten up a kitchen.

· Replace faucets that leak or don’t seal well, and consider springing for a new kitchen sink. If you’re not sure what the best model would be for your home, consider a consult with a Virginia kitchen designer

· The out-of-sight additions sometimes mean the most. You’d be surprised how many home buyers look for a garbage disposal and check it during a walk through. If your garbage-disposal shakes the house, it’s time to replace it. If you don’t have one, consider picking one up to include it in your new kitchen design.

· Raise your eyes up when you’re thinking about changing the look. Alternative lighting is a great way to change the environment in a kitchen. Adjusting light sources has a major impact on how shadows can mellow out or liven up a room. Consider things like recessed lighting, or track lighting, which is extremely easy to install. Any change in lighting will imbue a lot of extra life, just be sure to consult a Virginia Kitchen Designer on this one, and bring in the aid of a professional electrician.

Spend a little – Make a lot

When considering minor upgrades in your new Virginia kitchen design, keep in mind that minor touch ups won’t cost you much at all. If you’re handy with tools and a good DIY’er then you can squeeze in some fantastic paint and hardware upgrades for less than $150. If you include a new faucet or light fixture in your Virginia kitchen remodel then you may add another $100 to $150 depending on if you install it yourself or not. Spring for a new sink and you could drop somewhere in the range of $1000-$1700.

While this might seem steep at first, a new kitchen design rarely is. The benefit though comes in the sale, when a few thousand dollars in updates and repairs means twice the return. You can’t beat recovering your costs and then some just from bringing in a professional Virginia kitchen remodeling company to act as consultants and point you in the right direction – or do the work for you.

The popularity of Virginia Kitchen remodeling is undeniable, but so many home owners jump into the decision without properly considering all of the options and consequences of their choices. Here are some quick descriptions of the biggest choices you will be facing.

As you enter the kitchen in any home your eyes typically coast right to the cupboard and cabinets in the kitchen. Most eyes gravitate to these areas. It’s a popular item to remodel, and by changing the cabinet layout in the kitchen you can virtually redesign your kitchen from scratch to update your current look or reinvent the way your kitchen functions. Read more…

The popularity of Virginia Kitchen remodeling is undeniable, but so many home owners jump into the decision without properly considering all of the options and consequences of their choices. Here are some quick descriptions of the biggest choices you will be facing.

Cabinets

Cabinetry is possibly the most prominent feature in any kitchen. Updated, professionally installed cabinets can take a drab kitchen that is showing its age and turn them into something sleek and interesting. Creative designers can develop plans that better use the space you have available as well as help choosing the hardware, finish, and style for your new cabinets.

You will also want to determine what materials your cabinets are constructed from so you know when you will have to replace them in the future. Your options range from inexpensive, but less durable particle board, to extremely expensive, but built to last plywood cabinets.

Flooring

Kitchen flooring options are quite vast and include:

• Ceramic Tile
• Stone
• Split Brick
• Hardwood
• Vinyl

Carpeting was popular for some time, but is impractical and far from waterproof, so it isn’t recommended. When setting your tile pattern, a diagonal look is more visually interesting, but adds to the labor costs of installation. Another way to spice up the look of you floor is by adding a contrasting border.

Appliances

The kitchen probably houses more appliances than any other room in your home. With all of the cooking and cleaning along with the food storage, the bill for new appliances adds up quickly. Gas ranges are generally considered better for cooking than electric. If you do go electric, consider a model with a convection oven, which can save both time and energy when cooking. When you are choosing a refrigerator, always buy an Energy Star model and make sure that it contains all of the square footage you need while maintaining a small enough footprint to fit in your kitchen.

It is important to remain focused on the function of each appliance slightly more than the look of the piece. There are many different looks for you to choose from, solid colors in smooth or textured surfaces, but the most popular trend right now is brushed stainless steel for that professional industrial kitchen look.

Countertops

Your choice of countertop materials is almost as numerous as flooring. On the budget minded end, plastic laminates and other synthetic materials are available in a practically infinite number of colors and finishes. If you are going to go all out, solid stone counter tops are a very popular choice for those with a pocket book that will withstand the damage.

Fixtures

Fixtures fall into two categories: Plumbing and electrical. Electrical fixtures in your kitchen are most likely all going to be lights and it is vital that the entire area of the kitchen is lit very well. For light sensitive individuals, it would be beneficial to add dimmer switches so that they can work in the kitchen as well.

Your plumbing fixtures are mostly going to be the sink and faucet. 99% of kitchen sinks are stainless steel, but you may able to dress up the edges a little bit with some trim work. Your real style choice comes with the faucet and handles, where you can let your creative side shine in your Virginia kitchen.

Are you looking for a new home improvement project for your Virginia kitchen? You’ve probably got a number of choices going through your head, but you should take some time to consider the potential of upgrading your kitchen countertops.

Upgrading countertops is one of the easiest updates you can make to your kitchen environment and can work magic in bringing your old kitchen back to life. Kitchen countertops can really bring a new shine to an otherwise cramped and unappealing space. Read more…

There is a certain amount of danger when entering a kitchen remodel project, whether you’re here in Virginia, or anywhere else. It is a basic necessity of our modern life, our kitchen, but an island is a versatile and less expensive answer to many Virginia kitchen inconveniences.

Ever heard of the kitchen triangle? It is a highly efficient design where the sink/dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove all form a triangle. A more efficient kitchen lets you spend less time cooking, and more time having fun!

An island is a great way to make that triangle happen, but you have to measure your space. Most building codes mandate a 36” walkway between counters, appliances, cabinets, and islands. You have to makes sure that every cabinet and appliance door has more than enough room to open and close completely. Read more…

When you’re considering adjustments to your Virginia kitchen in terms of remodel and renovation, most people don’t really consider ways to save counter space - particularly when it comes to doing dishes.  While a lot of modern homes are equipped with dishwashers, a dish rack can still be extremely beneficial to help keep your kitchen clean and organized.

Now I’m not referring to a cheap counter top plastic model from Wal-Mart, those still leave a mess on your counter.  The plate rack might be a simple device to help streamline your kitchen you still need to find the right one that fits your space needs. Read more…