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When planning out a remodeling or renovation project the design can be the most fun and sometimes one of the most frustrating aspects. Rarely is the initial designing taxing or irritating in any way. In fact selecting the finishes for your walls, floors, and surfaces can be an exciting game. But when it comes down to the actual installation improper preparation can thwart a gorgeous design into a hobbled version of itself. By carefully planning out any obstacles that may come up, including code requirements, product ratings, electrical and plumbing capacities, we can be more confident that the final product will closely resemble the original image we were hoping for.

Measure twice and cut once is a mantra heard echoing on any job site. The same can be said, with slight modification, to designing. Measure twice, design once. Proper measurements of the existing space and layout of all fixtures and lines is imperative in planning out a new space, particularly if the new space will not keep its original dimensions. Knowing precisely how the original was laid out down to a fraction of an inch, can help with properly laying out the new floor, electrical, plumbing, and in some cases structural plans. Note also in your original layout where the electrical and plumbing mains are in relation to the project area.

The placement of the mains can have a dramatic effect on the cost of a remodel. If your kitchen sink and dishwasher were at one end of the kitchen, directly above the main water lines to the water heater, it is going to cost more to move them to the opposite side of the kitchen than to reinstall them in a position close to the original location. Likewise, electrical feeds must be run for new appliances or lighting. Sometimes the projected scope of work calls for more than the capacity of the existing electrical panel can carry. If this is the case, a sub panel must be installed, this is no small matter. Is it becoming clear why planning and careful attention to detail must be paid while still in the designing phase?

Another issue to pay close attention to is your actual fixture and finish product selection. For instance if you are replacing an electric stove for a gas one, be sure to plan for running gas lines and the appropriate electrical to accommodate. Not all appliances can just be plugged in. Another example would be counter tops. Marble is beautiful and costly, thus making it a much desired and sought after surface. Be sure to ask about it’s rating and maintenance. Travertine has been sealed with a resin to make the surface of the marble less absorbent, while a natural quarry marble has not. The effects of both can be quite different, but one is prone to staining and needs sealing in order to preserve its beauty more so than the other. Speak with your supplier about ratings for any and all finishes you plan on using, and what to expect from them in your particular installation. This can head off extra work, expense, and headache down the road.

Be mindful as you prepare for your project and remember that proper planning will give you the best result which will closely mirror the image you have set for the final. While poor planning will often result in frustration and extra cost. Enjoy the game of designing your remodel or renovation from start to finish by heading off problems before they have a chance to become one.

In times of tightened economies, such as we are now experiencing, our budgets get smaller and our projects get put on hold or downsized. Sometimes, however, we are faced with a situation that demands our attention and become full fledged remodeling projects. But how to afford them becomes a real trouble for many of us. There are ways of keeping a project within budget and of controlling cost over runs.

Be sure to have more than one estimate done on your project before moving forward. No one person or company will be the end all, be all of remodeling projects. Besides, you must be comfortable and confident in their skills if this is going to be a successful working relationship. Write your questions down and be sure to ask all of them. There is no silly question and having all your concerns addressed up front and honestly is the best way to proceed. It will also be noted by the builder that you will be involved in this project and honesty begets honesty.

Once you have decided on who is going to be doing the work, consider how much you will want to be involved in the actual labor and installation. You may have quite a few skills to draw upon. Any work you are able and willing to do yourself will help drive the costs down on your project. Keep in mind though, that this may affect the schedule of your project. Be sure that if you are providing some of your own labor in the project that you will be working within the projected time frame set up with your builder. This will help to avoid problems that may arise in the future.

The materials used in your remodeling project are a large part of the overall cost. Be sure to research your final selections carefully. Speak with your suppliers and your builder about options for economical and ecological options available to you. Your order may be placed in tandem with others in order to make use of bulk rates or reduced shipping costs. On line dealers are often very cost effective, but careful attention must be paid to the dimensions. Local dealers too, are an effective way of keeping costs down and quality up. They also help support the local economy in your area.

Plan out your floor plans carefully and make the most efficient use of all areas and surfaces. Often a less expensive answer can be found in modifying a floor plan or product selection. You may find that you like the look of one brand of cabinets, but they wont’ work with your floor plan without expensive modifications and extra time. By looking at alternatives you may be surprised to find a simpler, more cost effective way of accomplishing the very effect you were looking for through another manufacturer.

Above all, take the time to carefully reflect upon the parameters of the projects and your needs. A well planned decision rarely leads to expensive alterations or repairs in the future. Speak often with your builder about the project as it moves forward. This way you will be sure to be informed of potential issues before they become real problems. Above all else, do not commit yourself to physically working on the project unless you are able to work within the time constrains and posses the skills necessary to complete the task you have set yourself to. Taking on to much can lead to higher costs and many headaches. Careful planning can head much of this off and keep your project well within your original budget.

Home lighting has come a long way from the glass domes spaced directly in the middle of each room, with perhaps a fancy ceiling fan in the bedrooms. Now we have such a multitude of lighting options that we can almost turn to lighting as an art from in itself. Lights can be used to wash a particular wall in just such a way as to imply more space or height. Light can be installed to provide subtle mood lighting or can illuminate a room to the point of hospital sterility. It can be a difficult task to design and layout the perfect lighting plan that is more than just light to see by in the evening hours.

So how does one go about working with lighting in order to produce an artistic effect while still providing a functional home setting? By playing with it of course. Look into different lighting options by reading magazines on home remodeling. Look through the uncatalogued and on line inventory of your provider. Consider what kind of options they have. Then imagine new uses for those lights and setting in which you may want to have them installed.

Options for lighting uses come in a variety of styles. Small low voltage lights can be hidden behind molding or in niches built into walls and ceilings. This kind of back lighting washes the surface behind with a soft glow and makes a room feel phosphorescent rather than lit. Recessed lighting provides direct light that can be controlled to the point of almost pinprick. They can illuminate an area directly below, above or off to one side. Lenses harness the light and direct it in a specified manner. Hanging or pendant lights can be stylish and provide setting to a room.

Color of shades, lenses, and other kind of diffusion’s or bulbs can alter the effect of a light fixture dramatically. A red lit room make a much different statement than a yellow lit room. Using color diffusion or bulb is a good way of defining areas in wider spaces as well. A seating area lit with a low hanging overhead red tinged light in a larger room, feels private, almost intimate. A blue light set in the floor almost makes the are look smoky, and implies an ambiance of mellow shared space. Playful rope lighting hidden behind a boxed in raised ceiling, defines an area terrifically for games or home movie viewing.

A room is simply a room, until the proper ambiance is assigned to it. An underused and effective tool in doing this is lighting. By exploring the available products and playing with the setting, any room can be dramatically altered with the proper attention given to the lighting. Take time with your installer to talk about your ideas, and see what they suggest. You supplier will often have ideas and examples in their inventory catalogs that may help with this too.

Well done! You new remodel project turned out fantastic. You put so much effort into choosing just the right tile, fixtures and lighting. Your cabinetry compliments the angles of your plumbing fixtures and your window treatments. What, you think something is missing? Could it be perhaps that you chose a white or off white color for your wall paint? Maybe a little color kick would finish your room off just the way you like it.

A little dose of color, or kick in the color pants is quite appropriate in many cases. A room’s mood, and feeling can be affected by the color chosen for the walls. Wall color can influence those present in the room to more tender moods, more formal attitudes, a casual and familiar feeling, and any other emotion one wishes to influence. Bright colors can make a room feel like it’s full of sunflowers. The sea and the beach can be brought in with the right color combination’s. Even seasons can be evoked with careful consideration of color and coordination.

It only takes a little planning, and a day or so to paint. With paint you can have an almost entirely new room. You new remodeling project can be finished off and generate an even more enthusiastic response from you, and those you show the room to, than you anticipated. Painting is not something that you necessarily have to hire out either. You can take pride in having had a hand in the final result of the project and show it off to your friends and family. They will be impressed with your bold color strategy, even if it’s not exactly the color scheme they would have chosen for themselves.

You can’t go wrong if you play with wall color options. If you don’t like the color you’ve chosen, simply chose another. Purchase sample cans of different paint colors. Paint swatches of the colors in different areas in the room and watch how the light plays with it. By watching the color change in the fading light you will see such a range of color that you may not have expected. Compare the colors to your furniture, window treatments and fixtures in the room. Do this throughout the day, and see how different light affects it. Make it a game and enjoy yourself. When relaxed and curious about wall color, selection becomes easier and more bold. One may find particular shades that would have been over looked when settling for white, beige or cream.

Enlist the help and opinions of others too. Insight and from people who are walking into a room without a preset notion of what is to be expected or desired, can often provide just the right angel from which to regard the choices. The perfect color for your room may be a shade in between two colors you have sampled on your walls, and that one stray comment from your neighbor may be just what you need to bring that to your attention.

Kitchen remodeling includes selection of cabinets, appliances, flooring, counter top surfaces, paint color and all manner of accents. But did you know that the layout of your kitchen can be changed to suit your very particular needs, tastes and to maximize the space available to you. This includes moving appliance locations, rerouting plumbing and electrical. In larger projects, walls can even be moved or removed completely.

The layout of your work stations is very important when designing your new kitchen layout. Reflect upon what kind or surfaces would work best for your use. Counter tops can be built to include cutting boards for those who use a lot of fresh vegetables. Raised bar tops are convenient for those breakfast bar fans, and for those of us who are neat freaks, over sized sinks or built in dish drainers are appealing. Islands too, can be utilized to expand particular work areas. Avid cooks find a center island stove with plenty of surrounding counter space is very useful and convenient.

In any kitchen the work stations are divided up into three main work areas, the stove, the sink, and the fridge. These work stations make up the primary working triangle of the kitchen. All other work and storage areas are arranged within and around the primary working triangle. Each of the main stations should be arranged with in nine feet and no less than three feet of each other. This will allow for enough room for more than one person to work within the triangle without impeding upon each other. By keeping the distances within nine feet, nothing will take more than a few steps to reach. Excessive travel between stations makes food preparation more tedious and less enjoyable. Efficiency and effectiveness are well accommodated within these guidelines.

Some people can easily envision a proposed space and others have a considerable amount of trouble seeing a 3d result in an empty room. To help with understanding what to expect from your space take a chalk line or tape into your empty kitchen and mark out where you are thinking of putting your new cabinets and appliances. This will assist greatly in ensuring the proper materials have been ordered, and you will have a clearer understanding of what you can really do with your space.

In addition to floor plan of workstations all kitchen remodel projects must contend with storage needs and appropriate aesthetics. Evaluate your food storage needs as well as you cookware and dishes. Would you like to display your dishes in glass cupboards? Do you have a lot of pots and pans that need big lower cabinets or drawers? Also consider your households food storage needs. Would a large pantry benefit you more or would a side by side refrigerator? Any and all of these choices can lead to a dramatically different end result in laying out your kitchen. Speak with a cabinet supplier about your needs. Have a sketch drawn up so you can have an idea of what it is your kitchen will look like with your selections. It is best to do as much research as you can before hand in order to ensure your new kitchen layout meets your needs and matches your tastes. Be adventurous and look into options that may seem a little different than you have had in the past, it may turn out that you have stumbled upon your dream kitchen.

With all the options out there for wall and floor finishes, tile is being used more frequently than ever before. No longer is four inch white tile the only option for shower and tub surrounds. Other wall surfaces are being covered and displayed with various tiled finishes.   Floors too, are having a lot more attention paid to them. The options out there for floor and wall tile are staggering.

The range of colors for tiles, both wall and floor, have expanded to a point that it is dizzying to fully consider. Not only are our colors choices expanding, but the types of tile readily available to us are also increasing. We were used to having ceramic tiles for our bathrooms and kitchen, and the fancy porcelain tile was to be used in commercial settings. Only the very wealthy could afford things like marble floors. That is just not the case anymore.

The tile manufacturing industry has branched out to incorporate the middle class budget range. This means that tiles which were previously unavailable to many of us living within a certain price range, are now well within our means to obtain. Not only is tile more affordable, but the types of tile available has increased as well. Surfaces are popping up covered in glass, metal tile, ceramic, granite, slate, travertine, and more. Plus, there are recycled tiles out there for those of us who insist upon a more Green option.

With the addition of new types of tile, new colors and a more affordable price tag, more kinds of surfaces are being covered. This means counter tops, walls outside the bathroom, floors in main living areas, tub decks, etc. Even exterior use tile is being utilized. It can be used in place of siding in some cases, on decks, and in lavish displays even driveways are being covered.

With all these options, how do we know what kind of tile is most appropriate for us? Well to help narrow down our range of options, the tile manufacturing industry includes specifications with all their products. These specifications tell us what the particular tiles we are considering, are designed for. For instance glass tiles are stunning and are capable of producing incredibly intricate designs, but they may not be suitable for floor installations or exterior use. Be sure to research the specifications for your tile prior to installation. If you do not have access to this, ask your supplier. They will be your best and most accessible resource for information regarding use and installation techniques.

Once you know what kind of tile would be appropriate for your project, consider the feel or effect you intend to create. If you want something warm, cozy and traditional, metal tiles may not be what you’re after. Although if you want something ultra modern/vintage, consider recycled or salvaged tile. New tile designs come out all the time, so if you haven’t found exactly what you’re looking for yet, don’t get discouraged.

On line stores are also a great resource. They offer selections that may not be readily available to the typical home and flooring stores. They often work directly with specialized manufactures and you can get unique tile options at a very reasonable rate. In planning out your next tiling project, do a little research on the type of tile that works best for you. Take your time and you will be more likely to find the perfect tile for your style, your room, and the intended use.

Many people are going green in all of the things that they do in their remodeling projects. Green floor coverings, green paints, etc. Shouldn’t we all be worried about the quality of the indoor air that we breathe?

The EPA in the United States has done numerous studies that have all shown that indoor air is more polluted than some large urban areas. That pollution comes from many sources. Using environmentally friendly paints and adhesives will lower the amount of pollutants in your home’s air, but is that enough?

How do you remove the pollutants that are already there? You can’t just open a window and hope they fly out. Cleaning your air is where an environmentally friendly company like Aprilaire comes into play. They have all of the products that you need to circulate, dehumidify, and clean the air in your home.

Few things are as important then the air that you family breathes on a daily basis. The only solution to environmental pollution in your home is a whole house approach. Aprilaire considered that when they created all of their indoor air quality products. Aprilaire products provide complete control over temperature, humidity, can cleaner, fresher air throughout your home. This is done with energy efficiency as a top priority.

Aprilaire products will help to pay for themselves in energy savings and fewer doctor visits. That doesn’t even take into account the piece of mind that you will get from knowing that your home’s air filtered and clean. Clean air reduces your childrens’ chances of developing asthma and, if your child already has asthma, lowers the number of attacks that they may suffer each year.

Aprilaire is a green, energy efficient product that will help to protect your family. That is all that you can ask for from a product.

Every aspect of a home remodeling project can be done in an eco friendly,”green”, way. From using recycled and reclaimed building materials to low flow toilets and shower heads to conserve water. Home automation systems take these conservation efforts to the next level by controlling several aspects of your home that can increase your carbon footprint. Here are four tips to help you reduce your impact on the environment and save yourself some cash in the process.

Water Usage

If your remodeling plans include a kitchen or bathroom, you should look into installing low flow toilets or shower heads. Another way to conserve is to switch to a tankless water heater. The combination of these products will lower water usage throughout your home. A home automation system will lower your water usage on the outside of your home by controlling the amount of time that your sprinklers are on. Let’s be honest, how many times have you dozed off or just forgotten the sprinklers for hours at a time? The combination of these products can save you over $500 per year.

Programmable thermostats

Programmable thermostats can be set to a daytime temperature and a different one at night. They can help you maintain a steady temperature while reducing your monthly energy bill. Most of these thermostats can save you around $20 per month on your heating costs.

Recycled/Sustainable building materials

Everything in a remodeling project can be done with recycled, green, or sustainable materials today. Wood is reclaimed regularly, paint is made with fewer environmental issues, and many wall and floor covering options can be made from cork and other materials that are easy to replenish. The impact on the environment by leaving old growth forests in place is easy to understand.

Effective lighting

Using directional lighting, skylights or well placed lamps can have quite an impact on the amount of energy that you use. A well placed lamp by your favorite reading place can keep you from turning on two that are farther away. Skylights can help you to use lights later in the day. Directional lighting can put the light where you need it. All of these tips allow you to use lower wattage bulbs to see by.

Home automation systems, low flow water fixtures, tankless water heaters, and all of the other tips in this article can combine to save you close to $1000 each year. That may not be a huge amount of money, but in this economy, every little bit helps.