Kitchen renovations not only help increase the resale value of a home but also ease up a person’s lifestyle by adding convenience. With just the right idea, the kitchen can be converted into an art piece. So, what are the main things that can be changed during the renovation?

1. Flooring material used

The quality of the flooring material used in the kitchen should be of high standards. For instance, one can opt for melamine, particleboard, wood veneer, laminate or MDF depending on taste. What’s important here is durability and the owner’s preference.

2. Cabinet heights and appearance

If the kitchen has a high ceiling (8 foot to be precise) then the height of the cabinets should be just as tall. This will increase storage space. Better yet, the ‘extra’ wall space can be used for hanging artwork or for an open shelf. A 15 to 18-inch space should be left for a ceiling higher than eight feet. The appearance of the cabinetry can also be tweaked to look different. It can either be painted or stained depending on your choice.

3. Countertops

To add some warmth and elegance to the kitchen, the countertops should look elegant. Using white Carrara marble or even stained wood should do the trick. For an even more sophisticated look, Wiarton limestone, honed Kirkstone slate, soapstone or plastic laminate (with wooden edges) can be used.

4. Kitchen surfaces

Kitchen surfaces should be easy to clean. Any surface with an intrinsic texture like terra coat, slate, brick or tumbled marble (no pun intended) are hard to clean but do an excellent job of concealing the odd speck. Those in a lighter color like white laminate or ceramic are easy to clean and show everything.

5. Lighting

A kitchen renovation project may also involve redesigning the lighting. The key thing here is that it should correspond to the adjacent room’s design.

These are the key areas often considered during a kitchen remodelling. Contact Trademark renovations for more ideas on the same.

The key to reducing stress during kitchen renovations is choosing a reputable contractor. The mess that comes with renovating a kitchen may be unavoidable but taking the time to choose a contractor with an excellent reputation makes the process much easier. In addition to reputation, there are also several other factors that should be investigated before choosing a renovation company.

Always Get Referrals

Blindly trying to choose a company for kitchen renovations can be a difficult task. Instead, ask for referrals. Great sources for referrals are a local chamber of commerce, social media, and friends and family.

Check Contractors Credentials

It’s important to check contractor credentials. To do this, ask a contractor for credential information and then research it. A contractor’s credential information is also often found on a website, in ads, or in the company’s social media bios.

Ask for References

Always ask a contractor for references. Most contractors already anticipate this request from new customers and have the information needed readily available.

Evaluate Experience

Lastly, it’s important to evaluate the experience and management team of every contractor being considered. When evaluating a company’s experience, it’s important to consider how long the company has been in business, whether the company has a good reputation in the community, and whether they have earned any professional designations or belong to trade organizations. Another aspect to consider is whether the contractor has liability insurance that protects homeowners in the event of an accident. If subcontractors such as plumbers or electricians are needed to complete a project, a homeowner should inquire if the contractor has relationships with other trades or what the process is to have these types of tasks completed.

By taking the time to choose the right company for kitchen renovations, a homeowner can reduce stress and expect great results when the project is finished.

To increase the curb appeal and value of your home, you need not to concentrate on renovating the outside only, but the interior as well. Kitchen renovations are paramount since it is one of the critical places in any house. However, you need the ideal designer and contractor in order to get value for money and satisfy your expectations and desire. With hundreds of kitchen materials in the market today, getting the ideal one can be quite daunting. Some of the factors you have to consider before purchasing include cost, quality and durability. This article explains some of the best materials for kitchen renovation.

What is the best material for kitchen renovation?

There is a wide range of materials needed for kitchen renovations, but you need to do a comprehensive market research to get the ideal ones. Eco-friendly materials that contributes to a healthy living are the most recommended and readily available. To minimize the time used on maintenance, you need smooth materials that are easy to clean, not prone to staining and are water resistant. For flooring options, materials to consider include hardwood, tile, bamboo, laminate, linoleum or Vinyl.

Kitchen countertops are other crucial parts that require quality materials. There are a wide variety of kitchen countertops that you can chose from, but this will depend on your desire. The commonly used materials include granite, marble, laminate, tile, wood and ceramic. All of them are durable, but it will depend on how you maintain and clean the surfaces.

Kitchen doors not only give you access to the kitchen, but also offer a decorative touch to your house. Your options may either be a swinging door, glazed door or a sliding door. The material and color of the door should match with that of the cabinets. Wooden materials in this case are preferred for kitchen renovations due to their durability and decorative aspect. It is recommended you select materials with smooth surfaces that will give you an easy time when cleaning.

The most important component of a kitchen renovation project is improved functionality. However, there are of other advantages vis a vis; improved aesthetics and increased home resale value. To achieve all this, the homeowner must have a clue on how to make a kitchen renovation plan. Here’s a guide on factors to be considered if a homeowner wants to bring his/her renovation idea to life.

Maximize space usage

Today’s kitchens range between 200 and 300 square feet. This is the number one factor that comes into play when one is thinking of a kitchen renovation – space. How is the use of this space maximized? Will the kitchen be a multi-purpose room when the kids do their homework while mom cooks? How much material will be used for the project? These questions help the homeowner set up a budget and plan for remodeling.

Think efficiency

A kitchen should be an organized work space and not feel like an obstacle course. If it does, then the homeowner should consider the ‘work triangle’ kitchen layout. This imaginary triangle features the fridge, stove and sink as its focal points. Its perimeter should not exceed 26 feet (any of the sides should be between 4 and 9 feet). For more details about this kitchen layout and many others, contact Trademark Renovations.

Estimate costs and set up a budget

In all likelihood, the homeowner will have to make choices on where to save and where to splurge. It’s estimated that about 29% of the total cost will be taken up by cabinetry and hardware, 14% for ventilation and appliances, 10% for countertops and 17% for installation. Experts advise homeowners to set up a supplementary budget for contingencies.

Since the kitchen is the heart of the home, it should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, spacious and convenient. If the homeowner wants to remodel it, they should take time to come up with a plan. A practical plan.

Deciding to renovate a home’s kitchen is a big step for any homeowner. Whether a redesign is necessary because the kitchen isn’t functional anymore or to maximize space, it’s a massive endeavor. Many homeowners want to simply demo the kitchen and start from scratch when remodeling, but that isn’t always necessary. In fact, the most problematic part of a kitchen renovation is deciding what design meets the inhabitants needs and budget. To make finding the right design for a kitchen easier, homeowners and contractors should work together to create a design that is cost-efficient, simple, practical, and multi-functional.

Consider Available Space

The first step in kitchen renovations is to evaluate available space. If the space available isn’t enough to create a functional design, it may be necessary to add more space to the kitchen or trim the design.

Entertain Creative Concepts

Many contractors work with designers to develop creative concepts to solve kitchen design dilemmas. It may cost more to have a designer create a kitchen design plan, but if it creates more usability and functionality in the space, it’s a worthwhile investment.

Keep it Cost Efficient

One mistake many homeowners make with kitchen renovations is completely demoing the kitchen including the cabinets. Today there are so many options that allow many fixtures in the kitchen to be salvaged and re-purposed. Before any demoing is done, it’s important to consider all cost efficient ideas such as painting cabinets or kitchen trim instead of simply replacing with new units.

Simple and Practical

A grand chandelier may seem like a great idea on paper, but if a home only has 8-foot ceilings, it isn’t a practical idea. When it comes to kitchen renovation plans, it’s best to keep the design simple and practical.

Planning and Professional Design Allows for Multi-Functionality

If planned and completed by a professional renovations should make the kitchen multi-functional for the entire family. A multi-function kitchen allows a family to eat, cook, and congregate in the kitchen with ease.

Avoid common problems with kitchen renovations by considering all the available options before beginning the project. Proper design, planning, and budgeting will provide a family with a kitchen that increases the value of the home and makes living in the space easier.

“What is better for home remodeling: interior or exterior?” This is a common question that most people struggle to answer. The answer is however not easy or straightforward as many might think is the case. When considering the question, there are different factors that will need to be considered.

First of all, both exterior and interior remodeling is important in any home renovations– this because; they both serve the purpose of improving the looks of one’s home. While the interior design is important, the fact remains that the external remodeling work is the first that whoever visits the home sees. It therefore needs to stand out.

The exterior design will also be affected by the space that is available; if the space is big enough, then a lot can be done including putting up structures. If there isn’t much space, then the designer should work on the little space available to make it look great. The most important thing to ensure is that the works stands out. The design of the house and the landscape will matter a lot.

After the exterior design, the interior design will also need to reflect what found outside, it would be awkward to have amazing exterior renovations and not to have any inside the house. What is inside the house should echo what a visitor has seen on the outside. It is therefore important to carry out both interior and exterior home renovations for uniformity and completeness.

The theme reflected on the exterior renovations should also be expressed in the interior renovations. When hiring a company to do this work, it is always good to ensure that the company has a proven track record. Trademark renovations is a well known company for its reputable work in home renovations job. For anyone who needs to have their home renovated, this is the company to look for.

Home renovation is an important task, one that homes cannot do without. It gets to that point where one cannot avoid it anymore. This is when the home renovation becomes a necessity. At this time, one will need to prepare for the renovation cost. While some of the renovation work may be fairly cheap there is a part of it that will force the owner to dig dipper in their pockets.

This begs the question, what is the most expensive part of home renovation? The following are some of the best known parts in home renovations that will cost some substantial amount:

Remodeling the kitchen

The kitchen tops the list. One of the reasons why kitchen renovations are so expensive is that, with time, there are certain aspects of the kitchen that become outdated. This means that replacing them will be expensive as they cannot fetch a good price in the market. To try to save on cost, one may want to consider sprucing up those parts that are expensive to replace, for instance ceilings and cabinets.

Bathroom renovations

Depending on the size, there cost of renovating a bathroom will vary greatly however, one will have to cough several thousands of dollars to have the work done. Most of this money is spent in fixtures, faucets and plumbing needs, countertops, floor, doors and windows. To save on these, one may consider doing the remodeling work themselves and selecting the less important materials.

New roofing

If the roof needs to be replaced, it too might cost a lot. This is because a new roof will require new gutter and some extra plumbing work. The total labor might significantly increase the cost. To avoid this, one can consider only the parts that need replacement without having to replace the entire roof.

These are some of the most important parts in home renovations that one needs to adequately prepare for. Putting aside a good budget to cater for the cost is a good way to ensure that the cost doesn’t become a burden.

When it comes to undertaking some home improvements and one decides to do some renovations, one has to make a choice on how they want to do it. One can opt to approach a firm like Trademark Renovations or do the renovations as an individual. However, both have their effects and depending on one’s renovation budget, one can decide the best way to do it is.

If one’s renovations include doing some interior design and redesigning of their house, employing the services of a professional firm that does renovations is better than a person doing it. Whether a renovation company shall offer a person a complete interior design will depend on various factors. One of these factors will be the budget a person has set. It should get noted that the higher the number of services offered by a firm, the higher the cost . Therefore, if a person doesn’t have the money, he can opt not to have a complete interior design. Another thing that a person might consider is the purpose of the renovation. If you want to add some value to your house so as to sell it, having a complete interior design will be good for the home. However, if it’s doing a few changes so as to fit into one’s taste and personality, a complete interior design might not be necessary.

When one has limited time as well as space, a complete interior design might not be possible. Doing a complete interior design calls for one to look for extra space to pack their belonging during that period and when they don’t have that space, the company can do partial interior design.

However, for an individual who wants to have a complete transformation of a home, a complete interior design is necessary. When one wants to change the purpose of a room, like transforming an unused garage into an extra guest room or study room, a complete interior design is necessary.

A complete interior design may as well be given by a renovation company when one has undergone through some life changing occurrences. For example, if an individual or family member suffers from an accident or a disease that changes their lifestyle, one can request a renovation firm to give a complete interior design.

Whether or not a renovation company should give a complete interior design will be dictated by various factors. The homeowner in consultation with the renovation company like Trademark Renovations should discuss this before the work gets started.

Exterior renovations can drastically increase the curb appeal of a home. When it comes to deciding what material should be used for exterior renovation, homeowners have many options to choose from including vinyl, wood, brick, stucco, stone, or stone veneer. The type of siding chosen for a home can be decided by considering several factors including the look a homeowner is trying to achieve, the home’s style, and renovation budget.

Vinyl Siding is Affordable and Offers Many Options

When considering exterior renovations, many homeowners are drawn to vinyl and for good reason. Vinyl siding is affordable, extremely versatile, installs quickly, easy to maintain over long periods of time, and available in many colors and styles.

Wood Siding

Wood siding is a great option for use on the exterior of homes because it adds a rich look to homes. It is most popular on bungalows, cottages, and Cape Cods. Like vinyl, wood siding is durable but does require regular maintenance including staining. On average wood siding should be expected to last 10 to 100 years.

Brick Siding

For years, bricks covered the exterior of homes all over the world. Today, brick siding is used much less often because it is expensive and labor intensive. However, owners of Colonials, Tudors, and English cottages can add an attractive and authentic look to a home by adding brick siding. When bricks are used on the exterior of the home, a homeowner can expect them to last the lifetime of the home.

Stucco Siding

Stucco siding is created with sand, lime, water, and Portland cement. Stucco can be applied to the exterior of any home, but is most often used on Mediterranean style homes, ranches, and Spanish-Mission exteriors. When created and applied by an experienced professional, stucco siding can be expected to last as long as the home does.

Stone or Stone Veneer Siding

Stone or stone veneer siding can be added to any home to increase visual interest and texture to the exterior. Contractors usually choose limestone or granite for this type of siding because it is extremely durable. Due to its expense, stone siding is better suited for new home construction than renovations. However, it is possible to add this type of siding if new exterior walls are created.

With the information above, any homeowner should be able to work with a professional contractor to add the type of exterior siding that will protect a home while making it visually appealing at the same time.