5 Things to Think About Before a Kitchen Renovation

Remodeling your kitchen can be a big undertaking. As long as you take a step back and ask yourself a few simple questions first you can avoid a lot of stress. Many of the problems are caused by a lack of preparation and consideration.

Here are 5 things to think about before a kitchen renovation.

Why are You Renovating Your Kitchen?

Understanding “why” you want to do something—namely renovating your kitchen—is an important thing to understand. If you’re renovating for yourself because you want a change then you should pick a kitchen that suits you. If you’re looking to sell your house or improve its value then you need a kitchen that appeals to others. They may be entirely different things. Perhaps you need more storage space or you want to update your appliances. Ask yourself what you really need out of your new kitchen.

What is Your Budget?

Your budget is super important. Another common problem with any renovation is underestimating the cost involved. While the DIY route can be cheaper, it can easily be more of a hassle and cost more in the long run if you’re not sure what you are doing. Also plan for unexpected occurence that will cause you to go over budget. Work out a budget and add 10% to it for emergencies or changes that cost more than expected.

What Can You Keep?

A great way to cut down on the costs of renovation is to keep things you can still use. If your appliances work great then don’t replace them. The same applies to your shelves and cabinetry. If you like your shelves, sink, and appliances then don’t get them replaced. Appliances are definitely a major cost. The more of the original kitchen you can keep the more you will save on the renovation.

Are You Staying in The House During Renovation?

If you’re going to be staying in the house during the renovation then you need to prepare for that. You pretty much won’t have a kitchen until the work is done—at least not a functioning one. You could be living off of takeout for a while. This can be a big hassle if you have little children or you prefer to eat fresh foods. Come up with an alternate plan for dining—whether it’s backyard grilling or eating out, just know ahead of time meal times are going to be affected.

Where Are You Going to Keep Everything?

Another big thing to consider is where you’re going to keep the food you already have in your kitchen. You won’t have access to all of your kitchen and there’s a chance that your power might be cut for a short time, rendering your refrigerator useless. If you have a lot of frozen goods then they could end up spoiled. Find other places to store what’s in your kitchen while the renovation is happening. Getting a kitchen renovation completed doesn’t have to be super expensive or incredibly stressful. Just ask yourself these questions and really prepare for it. Accept that things may take a while and you are going to lose your kitchen for a short time. Work out what you want out of the renovation and how much it’s going to cost you. You’d be surprised at what a little preparation can do for your stress levels.

Quick Checklist to Follow Before Commencing Home Improvement Project

Home requires care and maintenance to keep it the same cozy place where you love relaxing and unwinding yourself. There are many reasons to opt for home improvement but the difficulty lies in commencing the home improvement project as there are many factors guiding the decision. The need for home improvement can be related to maintenance work, inconvenience of some kind, or just to make it a better place to live in. You may have your own reasons for home improvement but at the same time you may have your hindrances like lack of time, technology, or finance to get it done. We very well know the issues you face in making this happen and we have therefore made this excellent checklist to work as your step by step guide for starting the home improvement project.

1. What areas of your home require improvement?

See whether your entire home requires improvement or only few areas in your home call for quick maintenance. This is the first step to home improvement as it will provide you with the line of action. Even if your entire house calls for improvement, you can break the renovation work into phases as per the priority. This may seem difficult at first but then think about the limited budget you might be playing in and decide accordingly. Note down the areas that need improvement and the work estimate. List them in the descending order of priority, hence you know what you can take up in your budget.

2. Play in the fixed budget

When you are playing in the fixed budget, make sure that you plan your finances beforehand. In case of improvement, you can raise some money by selling off the existing furniture. Take into account all the saleable stuff and the amount you can raise from selling them. Form the final budget after adding the sum you can earn from selling off the existing stuff. This will make your decision easy.

3. Time Matters

Time surely matters! The time frame in which you want the improvement work do be done would also help in prioritizing your work. Some jobs are time consuming while some are time bound. For e.g. If the home improvement is targeted for some particular season then you need to get it done before that season arrives, hence it is time bound and needs to be done on priority. Also there are jobs that don’t take much of time and you can take those tasks on hand first so as to quickly get to the end of the list.

4. Decide the right way to go for it – DIY or external contractor

You may be the real DIY enthusiast but not all home improvement work can be done just by reading a book. Your professional toolkit will also not support certain job works as it calls for the professional hand. So, before deciding to take up the DIY route, know your limitations and if you are not sure about the execution then start the project in phases and if found difficult then allocate it to the professional at the later stage.

5. Source designing ideas

Now when priorities are set, you can start sourcing the design ideas. You can source some amazing ideas from internet as now a days most of the social networking sites are posted with various designing ideas. Check out the home improvement ideas on various home décor websites too as the pictures posted there would help a lot. Sort some good pics online and later discuss with your contractor for exact estimation. Stretch your budget a bit to accommodate your favorite design as it is difficult to get the home improvement work done again and again. Think of certain cuts elsewhere but don’t compromise on the design.

6. Tools and Tricks

If you are on the DIY way, procure the professional tools and browse through internet and books to learn the right tricks. Equip yourself with sufficient knowledge to begin, troubleshoot, and end the project. It will help you avoid major setbacks to the completion. There are special home improvement shops catering your tools and tricks needs under one roof.

7. Contractor

Not going for DIY project? Find the good contractor to carry out the entire project. Good if you can find some family or friend recommended contractor as you would be sure of the quality in that case.

8. Get the plan on paper and money on hand

When budget is ready, apply for the quick finances. You can use up your savings and arrange for some quick finance by selling off some old furniture pieces. For those who are depending on loans, it is better to apply for it once the work starts as it will save you from unnecessary interest payment. Also make the blueprint ready with the activity log to track the entire project efficiently.

Each home improvement project must be handled professionally to get the outcome as planned. It consumes your time, money, and energy, hence ensure that you get the flawless results in your first try.

Author Bio: Carol is a lead content writer at Worldcraft Industries Furniture Store that offers an Indian Inspired furniture range featuring wooden furniture such as beds & seating and fabrics for curtains, pillow covers and cushions.

How To Clean Up a Water Damaged Home

When water enters unwanted places like our homes, it can be a serious pain to the homeowner. It can cause a lot of damage and ruin your prized possessions. However, you can minimize the damages and save some of your household possessions if you act quickly. Water damage and restoration is an important skill that a team of professional cleaners is able to offer. It involves the professionals going into a home affected by water disasters such as floods and burst pipes and restoring the home back to its pre-loss condition. In this guide, I will show you how to clean up a water damaged home before professionals arrive.

Stop the flow of water

First and foremost, shut off the main water line in your home if the flooding was caused by a burst pipe. After that, turn off the power system and remove all items out of the water's way. You are more likely to save the items when you move them much faster from the water. Get in touch with a professional and tell them where the water is coming from.

Get rid of standing water

Getting rid of all the water and drying the area is very important in preventing the growth of molds. When water continues sitting there, it is more likely to cause a lot of damage. Therefore, you should pump out any standing water. Be sure to wear protective gear like gloves and gumboots when working in a flooded area and keep children as well as pets away from the standing water.

Dry out the area

After you have got rid of all the water standing, dry out the area using a dehumidifier. Fans can only be used if the molds have not started growing since they spread mold spores to other areas. For the area to dry faster, open windows to allow air circulation which promotes faster drying. When everything has dried out, you should use disinfectants to disinfect all the areas that have been affected by the flood waters.

Dispose of the damaged items

You should make a list of all your damaged property and call your insurance agent before you begin the cleanup process. Let them know where you are disposing the damaged items and ask if you need to keep samples. When you use the services of a professional water damage restoration company, they will document for you the materials that have been affected and also determine their proper value of all the materials lost.

Will Making Sustainable Housing More Affordable Increase its Adoption?

When builders create a sustainable home, they are conscious of using resources that do not harm the environment. A secondary goal is to equip the home to use water and energy in the most efficient manner possible. While the concept of sustainable housing has existed in developed nations for the past few decades, the push to make them more affordable has only come about in recent years. World leaders, including those in the UK, are realising the benefits of using limited space and resources to create homes for their citizens. Below are several examples of sustainable homes that people of average means can afford.

A Sustainable Home for less than $20,000 

Rural Studios, located in Alabama in the United States, set out to prove that it could produce a sustainable home for less than $20,000 and sell it to a first-time home owner. This is quite an accomplishment considering that the average home in Alabama sells for $121,900. The figure included materials, labour, and profit. The finished home was 500 square feet (46.45 metres) and contained one bedroom. Rural Studios built it with high ceilings to promote cross-ventilation and reduce heating and cooling costs. The large overhanging roofs protect the home from sun damage. Construction crews placed doors and windows in strategic places to take advantage of bouncing light.

Australia’s Homes Are Getting Smaller

The typical home in Australia is larger than anywhere else in the world, with the United States coming in a close second. With both the price of land and housing on the rise in Australia, homes with an average size of 241 square metres are no longer realistic. Austin Maynard Architects came up with the solution to construct an environmentally, financially, and socially sustainable apartment building that promotes the benefits of community living. This is something that had been lacking in Australia up to this point.

To serve young and growing families, the Australian Population Council also recommended building small, affordable, and environmentally friendly homes of approximately 65 square metres. Builders in that country have reduced costs by using lightweight construction materials and limiting the number of bedrooms in each new home.

Sustainable and Affordable UK Neighbourhoods

Not content to build just a single sustainable home, several UK construction companies have created entire neighbourhoods of them. The housing association Radian is an industry leader in the UK for having retrofit thousands of homes to improve energy efficiency and lower fuel bills. The retrofits benefitted 44,000 people while reducing C02 emissions by 34 percent.

A project at Cotney Croft and Peartree Way consists of eight new low-carbon homes available for rent. Baily Gardner Architects exceeded Level 5 maintained by the Code for Sustainable Homes when creating this city block of homes. Residents here enjoy lower energy costs than their neighbours living in non-sustainable homes.

Privates residences and apartments on Bearwood Road in Birmingham are built with load-bearing masonry and timbre frames with advanced insulation. BM3 Architects created multiple structures with solar thermal heating capability as well as roof-mounted panels and hot water storage supplementation. The designer of these structures achieved an Eco Homes Very Good Rating.

The demand for sustainable housing is expected to grow as the issues of environmental concerns, land costs, housing costs, and population growth continue to challenge developed nations.

Tips for decorating your dream home

There are many responsibilities that come with owning a home. Of course, owning a home comes with many benefits as well, but it means more than being able to take advantage of tax breaks every year when you file your taxes using TurboTax. In fact, one thing that people may see as both a perk and a drawback is decorating. This is partly due to the work that it may involve and the time and money that people spend making a home theirs, but when all is said and done, their home is beautiful inside and out, granted they know how to properly decorate.

Here are a few tips for decorating your dream home.

Don't choose busy designs

When picking out furniture or decor, steer away from things that have busy designs. They may seem cool at the store or when you view them online, but in person, certain designs can be distracting and almost nauseating. Not only may you find that the pattern or design distracts you, you'll find that it will distract guests in your home as well.

Don't try to match too much

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are decorating their home is matching too much. It is nice to have everything in the home flow together, but having too many things match can be just as distracting as having a busy design on the walls or on your furniture. If possible, choose one color to have in all rooms, but avoid having the main pieces of furniture in those room the same color. For example, if the couch is navy blue in the living room, maybe having the carpet or curtains navy blue in another room is a good idea.

Use mirrors

If your dream home is small, a good way to fix this is by using placing mirrors in some of room, specifically the living room and bedrooms. This will give the illusion that the room is bigger and make the space feel more open.

When anyone is purchasing their first home, it can be a very exciting time in their life. While they may be excited about their purchasing, they may quickly become overwhelmed. When they take a look at all of the decorating that must be done, it may seem like a lot of work is to be done before they can really settle in and call this place home, but once it is complete, they will feel right at home.