Home Remodeling Blog
February 2009
The Archives
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02.24.09Make the Most of a Small Kitchen Space
Kitchen Remodeling (0)Alan Zibel Asheville Citizen-Times If you love to cook, but are afraid of buying or renting a place with a kitchen the size of a phone booth, fear not. A small kitchen doesn't have to be a big drawback if you use your space creatively. How to design and outfit a cramped or narrow kitchen is a common quandary for urban dwellers. You can use small appliances, cabinets that extend to the ceiling, multipurpose furniture and simple additions like wall shelves to make use of the limited space you have. In fact, being small can actually be an advantage as it discourages excess. “Too ...
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02.23.09Color Trends for 2009 Announced by Kitchens.com
Kitchen Remodeling, Painting (0)Picking the right shade of paint and finding the right cabinet finish is no easy task when choosing a kitchen color scheme. Fortunately, Kitchens.com has compiled the latest in color trends to help consumers find the hues that are hot -- and right for their homes -- in 2009. With expert advice from the Color Marketing Group, Pantone Color Institute, and Sherwin Williams, Kitchens.com has compiled a comprehensive list of the hottest hues in its 2009 Color Trends. With five new shades emerging this year, color is bringing an optimistic and fresh approach to design in light of a nation in ...
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02.09.09Developing a Realistic Remodeling Budget
Budgets & Remodeling (1)Money. Few things cause more quarrels and tension. Luckily, developing a budget for a remodeling project does not need to be nerve-wracking or start a family war in the living room. Remember these simple tips from The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). Determine What You Afford This establishment alone can strike fear into a remodeling homeowner's heart. The truth is, not many homeowners enjoy establishing a remodeling budget - and many simply don't do it at all. "Some homeowners prefer to call in a remodeling contractor and expect him or her to create the budget for them, which is not ...
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02.09.09Try Brick Pavers for a Patio That Will Last
Decks and Porches (2)DEAR TIM: Pavers are top on my mind. I'm planning a paver patio and want to be ready to go when the weather is favorable. Because of the harsh economy, I can't afford to hire a contractor. Will brick pavers make a durable patio, or should I lean toward concrete pavers? What's the difference? Patio pavers look great because of the seams and texture, but are they difficult to install? — Shelly V., Lebanon, N.H. DEAR SHELLY: My wife and I have had a paver patio at our last two homes, and I have one at the home I just bought in ...
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02.06.09Give Your Basement An Extreme Makeover
Basement Remodeling (0)Kate Ashford CNNMoney.com Though Beth and Ken Wilson's 5,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home in Union, Ky. wasn't exactly cramped when they bought it in 2005, they yearned for a space that could accommodate the passions of their two oldest sons (their three boys are now 17, 12 and 2) yet allow adults to enjoy activities too. So shortly after they purchased the home, the couple decided to turn the house's dark, mostly unfinished 2,000-square-foot basement into a livable lower level. Besides adding a bedroom and a powder room, the Wilsons dedicated about half the space to the hobbies of teenage boys, with a home theater, ...
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02.05.09Kitchen Aid
Kitchen Remodeling (0)Wanda A. Adams Honolulu Advertiser For Daniel Leung, it's gas (or the lack thereof). For Frank Gonzales, it's counter space (ditto). For Gloria Chee, it's hard-to-reach cupboards. The subject: What bugs home cooks about kitchen design. For me, it's just about everything — so much so that I spent part of the New Year's holiday writing a foaming-at-the-mouth rant about why home kitchen design hasn't changed substantially in my more than 50 years of standing at the stove, counter and sink (unless, of course, you can afford to have your kitchen custom-designed — and even then, it's often more show than go). It begins, "My kitchen is ...
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02.02.09Builder Rebounds from Design Snag with Happy Results
Additions (0)Robin Chenoweth Columbus Dispatch The Goal: Their 1950s Upper Arlington ranch needed updating, but Deb and Tom Montesanti didn't want to change certain aspects. Tom longed for a gourmet kitchen, and Deb wanted to keep the window above the sink. They both wanted to add a family room and eliminate the maze of walls and doorways in the foyer. And they weren't willing to give up their screened porch. The Strategy: The logical place for a new family room would have been behind the expanded kitchen, toward the center of the property. But to save the window, renovator R.J. Landis planned to build the addition into ...
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02.01.09Opening Up Floorplan Adds to Home’s Enjoyment, Resale Value
Additions (0)Greg Swann Arizona Republic Removing interior walls and low ceilings can make your house feel more open and more modern. Combined with other improvements, such as kitchen and bathroom remodeling and energy-efficient windows, opening up your floorplan can add substantially to your enjoyment of your home now and to its resale value later. Simply opening the kitchen up to the living and family rooms can make a huge difference. Modern homes are built around the "greatroom" concept, where the kitchen leads to an island, which in turn leads to the entertainment space. Whether people are cooking, hanging out or watching television, family and guests are ...
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02.01.09Newlyweds Said ‘I Do’ To Color
Painting (0)Jenny Callison Cincinnati Enquirer Getting married can involve far more than blending two lives or even two families; it involves remaking a household. When Silvia Tavera and Michael Leal got married last summer, and he moved into her Wyoming mid-century home, they embarked upon an adventure: creating a unified home interior that would reflect their individual tastes and new family identity. When she purchased the home in 2005, Mexican-born Tavera-Leal did some renovations, focusing on opening up the kitchen and adjoining space. "This was a series of small, claustrophobic rooms," she explains, gesturing from the now-open plan kitchen across a spacious family room that ...
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