Home Improvement Blog
Stories from the front line of the kitchen and bath remodeling industry.
Most recent posting below. See other blog postings in the column to the right.
(SALESMAN'S DISCLAIMER: The follow blog is in no way meant to discourage readers from contracting with this blogger or any other kitchen and bath remodeling firm for massively large kitchen and/or bathroom projects that involve full guts of existing spaces, movement of walls, addition of windows, skylights, new floors, full appliance packages, custom cabinets, and exotic countertop materials. The following discussion of small and modestly priced projects is for entertainment purposes only.)
Lately we've been remodeling a good amount of smaller spaces for our clients. Some of these projects, I think, have been to satisfy the urge to renovate, but without investing in full kitchen remodels. It's always satisfying to improve a home you love, and remodeling your home office, mud room and smaller bathrooms can be very rewarding. And in smaller, down town homes, a thoughtful re-design of little spaces can make a big difference.
Here is nice home office we did on an unused third floor.
We used semi-custom cabinets here to keep the budget reasonable while allowing us to customize the cabinets to fit the smaller walls under the roof line.
Cranmer's Kitchens designer Kris Greaves created this desk/reading/dresser area for a girl's bedroom, adding fun, style and function all on one wall!
Here is a great, small kitchen remodel designed by Stephen Thompson or Design Force, with material and renovation by Cranmer's Kitchens. The kitchen looks brand new and completely re-designed, but it's not. For this project, we only replaced the wall cabinets, replaced the doors and drawers on the base cabinets, and added the newly designed table area. This is a great example of good design and careful budgeting resulting in a brand new space for a reasonable investment.
My favorite part - Stephen specified a little extra depth over the hood, changed the finish and found some high-end chicken wire (who knew?) to provide a great focal point.
Hall baths and powder rooms are nice, modest investment level projects that can really add to a home. Here is a great powder room designed by Andrea Powell from Complete Interiors. Great use of bold colors and a totally custom Wood-mode vanity piece to really make maximum impact in a small space.
(Pic coming soon!)
Baking the Bird
2 comments
- Last on 11/23/2011
Buying used appliances is fine idea assuming of course they are in good shape, and assuming of course that the savings is signifigant. Remember, no warranty will transfer with the purchase, so any repairs will be fully on your tab. Of course, if the appliance is used, it may have out lived it's warranty already. But it's an important point to keep in mind because repairs can be expensive, especially in high end appliances.
Sub Zeros are great - they recently had a major re-deign, so virtually all their refrigerators can achieve the fully inegrated look that made them famous. Previously there was a distiction between a paneled, cool 'Built-In look' and the totally dissappearing WAY cool 'fully integrated' look that had only been possible in their smaller 700 series. Now their whole line can copletely disappear behind cabinetry.
Of course they are expensive, and like all appliances, they can have issues. On the other hand, they stand firmly behind their product, and being a market leader, they have a very wide network of local technicians who are familiar with the product, so getting issues resolved is never that difficult.
Speak Up Sonny
2 comments
- Last on 09/08/2011
Wow - great blog and love the pictures. Do you hve any advice for someone who needs new appliances NOW but is hoping to do a kitchen renovation in the next year?
Sorry - just read your comment more closely - you need appliances NOW but want to completely renovate later. That's always tough. Particularly if you want to change things - for example, if you have a range now, but would rather have a cook-top and double oven...or, you have a 30" range today, but want a 48" range after the full renovation.
If that is the case, you might think about buying affordable but good appliances today, and know that you will sell them when you start your renovation. Appliances sell fairly well through classified ads and online sales. Or, you could investigate a few minor alterations that allow you to fit your new prefered applaicne configuration in the existing kitchen. But be careful, those costs add up - new appliance configurations often mean new wiring, cabinet and countertop alterations etc....
If you are comfortable with your configuration, then you should be safe to simply buy new appliances today, and know that you are going to re-use them when the time comes to renovate.
Hope that helps.
Baking the Bird
2 comments
- Last on 11/23/2011
Speak Up Sonny
2 comments
- Last on 09/08/2011
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How do you feel about buying appliances online through Craigslist . . .I am in the market for new but have heard there are great deals online - slightly used or new. And, what's the skinny on Subzero - the good, bad, and ugly please . . .