Remodeling Your KitchenWritten by Mark Donovan
Remodeling a kitchen is one of best investments a homeowner can make. For most homeowners it is most important room in house. It is used for cooking, eating, and gathering, and is typically a focal point in home. Consequently, though a great investment, a kitchen-remodeling project can be very disruptive to family. And length of disruption can take as long as two or three weeks.The Planning Stage Planning is absolutely essential in remodeling a kitchen. The homeowner should first identify main objectives of their future kitchen. They should next research latest products on market including: cabinets, countertops, appliances, and flooring. If kitchen is more than 5 years old, there are a lot of new products to choose from. For example, Silestone is quickly surpassing Granite and Corian, as premier countertop surface as it is extremely hard, elegant in appearance, and comes in many colors. For cabinets, trend appears to be towards lighter colors as they help appearance of lightening and enlarging a room. In regards to appliances, Stainless Steel look appears to be in. And for flooring, vinyl or wood is trend. Tile looks nice, however, it can be unforgiving in a room where things tend to get dropped. In addition, if there is no radiant heating planned for floor, tile has tendency to feel cold on feet. Sketch out some plans After main objectives of future kitchen have been identified and homeowner has an idea on products for it, they should next sketch some plans. I would suggest developing two or three sketches, keeping in mind three important points. First, professional kitchen designers like to think of a triangle when starting a new design. The three points of triangle include Sink, Refrigerator, and Stove. Make sure your sketches consider this as it will ensure a good functional kitchen. Second, consider adequate walking areas and space for an eating area, such as a table or center island, with applicable space included for chairs. I would suggest that walking areas be wide enough for two people to walk through at same time. The sketches should also include dimensions, as these will be needed when meeting with Kitchen Designer. Finally, consider where existing outlets and power for stove are, and assess if additional outlets will be needed or old outlets relocated. Visiting Kitchen Design Center Once sketches have been created, bring them to a Kitchen Design Center or Home Improvement store. A certified Kitchen Designer will then take sketches and goals and incorporate them into a formal set of plans. Once Kitchen Designer has formally generated plans, typically someone from Kitchen center will visit your home and take very precise measurements so that plans can be finalized. In fact, make sure that they do visit your home; otherwise unexpected costs and delays could occur when wrong size cabinets arrive on your doorstep.
| | Decorating to Sell a House by Meeting Three Key NeedsWritten by Julie Dana
Specific marketing campaigns are no longer just for automobiles and designer clothes. Targeted marketing techniques are now applied to houses that are for sale. Decorating your house in a specific manner to facilitate selling of it is an important aspect of selling and marketing your home; this type of decorating is called home staging. The goal of this type of decorating is to strategically style to address psychological needs of buyer. The buyer has three major needs when they look at house. - Can I imagine myself (my family) living here?
- Is this an easy, carefree house to live in?
- Is this a good value for my money?
All décor choices you make to sell house will reflect those needs of buyer. The most important tip to keep in mind at all times is that first impressions are critical in every area. The first time a potential buyer sees this house is curb appeal. That first glance they get as they step in house can sell house. First impression will happen in each and every room; make that impression awesome!Remove: This area of staging is very difficult for some homeowners because it involves decorating it as a marketable house not as a beloved home. You do not want anything personal on display. This includes removing all family photographs, all toiletries, mail/bill piles, and all special collectibles. All bathroom and kitchen counters need to be cleared expect for only one or two decorative objects. Generally speaking, remove all wallpaper and paint all rooms a neutral ivory color. This meets need of being able to imagine living there (and not being distracted by who lives there now)
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