Budgeting Your Project

Contractor Tips: 10 Strategies to Get the Remodel You Need for Less

| Ause1977

Everybody knows remodeling is expensive, but it usually ends up becoming even more expensive than you thought. So, how can you get the home you desire while adhering to a strict budget? Take some advice from this contractor — the tips below will help you complete your job without veering off your strategy. Buckminster Green LLC 1. Complete the Strategy. The more time spent exercising and finalizing the program with your architect and contractor, the more time you’ll have to find cost savings and avoid expensive change orders down the road 2. Locate a contractor willing to value engineer your job. Value engineering is when the design group, you and the contractor discuss creative ways to achieve the design intent for less. Be frank about your financial plan from the beginning — if you discover a builder that you wish to work with and he knows you are serious about…

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Coastal Style

The Way to Choose Kitchen Appliances

| Ause1977

There are a number of things to consider when setting up your kitchen to accommodate people with different heights and mobility requirements. The placement of appliances should be planned so they’re simple to operate and secure for everyone. Almost every appliance today comes in a number of styles and with myriad features that have real benefits for people looking for a safer cooking environment for everybody without compromising features and aesthetics. GE Profile Slide-In Induction Range PHS925STSS – $2,759.99 Cooktops and RangesInduction cooktops and ranges would be the most powerful cooking appliances to use, as no open flame or hot burner coils are found. Curious littles ones and endangered individuals can not burn themselves by accidentally touching the stovetop. Induction cooking is based on an electrical process that produces a high-frequency electromagnetic field. This method induces the cooking vessel to create heat — perhaps not the cooktop. Once the vessel…

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Coastal Style

A Midcentury Gem on a Wooded Acre in Dallas

| Ause1977

With a passion for honoring their midcentury house’s background, Mike and Jill Wood decorated it with furniture and color to fit its roots. The home, built in 1962 from Ju-Nel Homes architects Lyle Rowley and Jack Wilson — protégés of Howard Meyer and Frank Lloyd Wright — is one of about 50 that helped to crack the ranch-house mould in Dallas. Open floor plans, exposed rafters, natural materials and expansive windows created for a refreshing change for postwar households, and for the Woods. Using locally sourced classic furniture, both Mike and Jill have successfully paid tribute to the house’s roots. in a GlanceWho lives here: Mike and Jill Wood and brothers Chloe (8 years old) and Devon (4)Size: 2,400 square feet: 4 bedrooms, 3 bathsLocation: DallasThat is intriguing: The previous owners had installed a pet door for Rocky, their domesticated raccoon. Sarah Greenman The previous owners had tastefully upgraded the…

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Dining Rooms

'Dinner at Tiffany's' Design Wins People's Choice Award

| Ause1977

Although the fictional Holly Golightly dwelt in a tiny New York apartment, that this fantasy dining area could have suited her just fine. Made for October’s Serving Up Style 2012 fundraising event in Portland, Oregon, this staged exhibition space beat out 19 additional dining rooms to acquire the People’s Choice Award. Working with a tight deadline and budget, Urban I.D. Interior Design Services designed this glamorous Holly Golightly–inspired dining area dependent on the trademark blue-green colour of Tiffany’s boxes. Urban I.D. Interior Design Services The design team wanted to create an elegant area that hauled Breakfast at Tiffany’s but still felt livable. They utilized beautiful furniture given by Parker Furniture to come up with a creative layout that felt comfy but open. Wall paint: Green Bay, Emerald Collection, Sherwin-Williams; rug: designer’s own Urban I.D. Interior Design Services Cheap furniture and accessories (such as the rug, ottomans and mirrors) combine with…

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Kitchen Guides

Kitchen of the Week: New Traditional Design in a 1900s House

| Ause1977

Set in Seattle’s historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, this 1900s home has tons of appeal, but the kitchen was closed off, with just enough room for a mini fridge. Sarah Henry of Gaspar’s Construction worked with the family on a renovation to increase the kitchen’s size to 12 by 12 ft and add modern conveniences while maintaining the home’s unique character. Gaspar’s Structure Knocking down the rear wall opened the kitchen into the dining area and made room for a spacious Liebehrr refrigerator. Henry installed an end-grain butcher block bartop to your eat-in part of the kitchen; Richlite — a recycled paper product — constitutes the rest of the countertops. Gaspar’s Structure Like most families, this Seattle couple wanted loads of storage. Henry installed wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in the adjacent breakfast nook and dining room, and place a few shelves in the kitchen for cookbooks. Marmoleum flooring — an environmentally…

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Basements

How to Switch Your Basement into a Kids' Playroom

| Ause1977

Every child wants a room to release his or her endless boundaries of energy — ideally, this area isn’t in the center of the carefully curated living room. Give your children their very own designated section of the home by altering a basement space into a playroom. Since this room will probably change in function after your kids have increased, it doesn’t need to receive a large or expensive renovation. More importantly, it should be an enjoyable, imaginative area which is going to continue to keep the children occupied. Before jumping into your basement renovation, read a couple of tips and tricks from the pros to get you on the right path. Wentworth, Inc.. Plan the position of the playroom in regard to adult distances. This is particularly important when your children are rather young, as you will want to keep an eye on them while they are at play….

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Eclectic Homes

How to Savor Your Beautifully Imperfect Home

| Ause1977

As someone who appears at a excellent deal of photos of beautifully designed homes every day, I know how the pangs of design cravings have the capability to overwhelm. Even 3 years after moving into our first home, my to-do and to-buy listing remains a mile long. Actually, I think that it can be several miles at this time, and any chance of checking all off my wish list is pretty much shot. For instance, just how likely is it that I’ll add French doors into my (yet-to-be-built) deck from my remodeled kitchen, complete with marble counters and a classic farmhouse dining table? Probably not so. Fortunately, regardless of the fact that we might be wishing for something different at home does not mean we can not also learn how to love our homes just as they are now. Over time I’ve developed an arsenal of strategies to help cope…

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Traditional Architecture

An Architect's Tool Kit

| Ause1977

Every profession has its own set of specialized tools. As an architect, here are a few I couldn’t live without. Pllc, Jody Brown Architecture A flat surface with a movable parallel bar, used when drafting by hand. Jody Brown Architecture, pllc Lightweight, semitransparent paper used to quickly sketch out ideas. Affectionately known as “trace” or “garbage,” and less affectionately known as “bumwad.” Jody Brown Architecture, pllc Used to fasten tracing paper to the drawing board. I typically store some of them on the elbow of my sweater. Jody Brown Architecture, pllc Sure, it is a pencil and a sharpener, but it is so much better than that. I stole these from my father 20 decades ago. Jody Brown Architecture, pllc Used to draw circles and poke small holes in the newspaper. Jody Brown Architecture, pllc Used in combination with the parallel bar on the drafting table to draw straight lines…

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Eclectic Homes

The Family Home: 8 Easy Tips for an Organized Bathroom

| Ause1977

Teaching children the art of being arranged from a young age is the safest way to save your sanity for those who have a type A personality, like me. One of those rooms in our home that can acquire out-of-hand crazy is your toilet. Toothpaste, towels, tissue and creams can readily get straightened out within the counter, or in the instance of the toothpaste. See how after these easy storage and organization solutions can help your family stay organized and tidy in no time. Zinc Art + Interiors Dirty laundry on your restroom floor and towels is one of my pet peeves. Having a laundry hamper inside the restroom, you, your kids and your spouse will have no more excuses when it comes to cleaning up. ZeroEnergy Design Placing pretty baskets on open shelving will give you the storage you need while hiding any unattractive items which you may have…

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Small Bathroom

Important Makeover: Bland into Evocative Asian-Style Bath

| Ause1977

Designer Dan Danenberg’s customers desired anything but the standard when they built their Palo Alto, California, master bath. The project involved tearing down the present bathtub and cabinet and shifting both spaces into a huge spa bath that’s comfortable, luxurious and evokes an Asian theme. “The ultimate vision was to reinterpret what people typically see as Asian information into newly fashioned and modern materials,” says Danenberg. Danenberg Design At first glance, I found the Asian theme only in the squares: a pot of orchids on the countertop, a couple of ceramic rice bowls and bamboo reeds collected at a vase. But Danenberg points out that the whole purpose of this remodel was to reinterpret the Asian motif — and specifically, a Japanese aesthetic — which meant doing away with anticipated decor improvements such as chinoiserie, shoji screens and calligraphy artwork. Look up in the ceiling and you will notice how…

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