We're All Feeling The Pinch
As the economy trends downward, the retail industry is starting to feel the significant impact of a more budget conscious market. In fact, experts believe that the retail industry in general is moving towards a decrease in sales and profits in the coming years as both affluent and average households are looking to cut down on expenses. This mantra is also being incorporated into home designs as many homeowners become more reluctant to splurge on their renovations for fear of overspending.
This doesn’t mean that you have to settle for an out of date home. Design gurus argue that there are indeed ways to spruce up your house without needing to empty your bank account. Refacing kitchen cabinets, for example, is one simple way by which you can update the look and ambiance of your kitchen without going in debt. Other than opting for cheap cabinets, there are actually a number of ways by which you can dress up and overhaul your kitchen cabinets that won't empty your pockets.
Give Your Cabinets A New Look
Experts explain that kitchen doors can dramatically improve the overall look of your cabinet with very minimal cost implications. If they are still in good working condition, you can try to give them a new life by re-painting the surface. If you have a bit extra to spare, then buying a new set of wood style doors that can still go well with your existing cabinet is another option you can use.
How About Open Shelves?
As kitchen cabinet manufacturers become more risky in their designs, open shelved cabinets are fast becoming a preferred choice. Other than saving you money, these open faced cabinets can also be a good avenue for you to explore your organization and designing skills with colorful plates and dishes.
Don't Overfill Your Kitchen
Most homemakers commit the easy mistake of filling out each available space with kitchen cabinets. Remodeling your kitchen does not mean going into over-kill mode to fill each nook and cranny. Analyze and map out a specific area in your kitchen where your cabinets can be strategically and aesthetically located. This will keep the space open and make your home look larger.
Fill Out Kitchen Space With Useful Furnishings
Now that you have streamlined your cabinets, you can start to make adjustments with your available space. You can try filling these spaces with a dainty coffee table or a small cooking island or a mini bar that can add to the functionality of your kitchen space. You can also add a pot with ornamental plants or a basket of fresh flowers to liven up your kitchen.
Being budget conscious doesn't mean that you have to put up with ugly cabinets. Visit us to find cheap kitchen cabinets that can be dressed up to create a premium custom look. We showcase several different kitchen cabinet sizes, so you will be able to easily retrofit any space.
The Most Challenging Room In The House
The kitchen is perhaps the most challenging area of your entire home to choose a wall paint color for. The reason for that is there are many fixed/permanent finishes already present in a lived in kitchen (tile, countertops, cabinets, flooring), and the colors of those finishes have to be taken into account when selecting paint for the walls.
Think About Your Cabinets
One of the first things you should do is look at your cabinets, and make sure the color you are considering for the walls will complement them. Keep in mind that some colors may clash when juxtaposed; others may blend too much and make your cabinets "disappear" against the wall color background.
As a rule of thumb, light colored cabinets work better with lighter wall colors, and dark cabinets can handle bolder shades. But if you fall in love with a paint color that does not work with your cabinets, remember you can always paint the cabinets too.
Likewise, examine the existing colors in the tile and countertops - it's actually considered best practice among designers to "pull" one of the colors from the stone pattern and repeat it on the walls. That usually results in a well coordinated color scheme.
How Much Light Do You Get?
Another thing to keep in mind when picking kitchen wall colors is the amount of light your kitchen gets. If you have a bright, open kitchen, consider yourself lucky, because your can go as dark or as light with the wall color as you like. Owners of northern-facing kitchens or kitchens without windows should stick to light and mid-range tones and avoid deep, rich shades (those can look great on a paint chip, but will turn your kitchen into a cave, guaranteed).
As far as particular colors, reds, yellows and oranges are the most popular shades for painting a kitchen. Green is also appropriate - it looks natural and even makes a kitchen seem "healthier". Blue shades are the least popular, because they work as appetite depressants - but might be useful if you are on a diet!
Quick Refresh On A Budget
Finally, if you are not ready for a full-blown painting project, but want to do something about those blank walls, painting an accent wall a shade of your favorite color and leaving the other walls white is a viable option. Incorporating the chosen shade into decor with napkins, flower arrangements, and tablecloths can help bring out the accent wall and pull the entire color scheme together.
This article was contributed by Yelena of House Painting Tutorials. For more, see this interior paint color guide and the room color scheme tutorials.
The Importance Of The Right Sink
Whatever method you use to cook, whether you’re frying, grilling or baking there is one thing that’s guaranteed; you’re going to be using the kitchen sink. And it’s this frequency of use that makes it so fundamental to choose the correct sink for your needs.
Do you choose a single or double kitchen sink? If you’re a whiz in the kitchen, you’ll probably be using all manner of gadgets in your quest for the perfect meal. Therefore, it may be useful to have access to a double kitchen sink which will allow you to put more items on to soak, freeing up preparation space. A double sink can also allow room to wash or drain foods whilst the washing up is soaking.
How Big Should It Be?
However you should consider the space that is available before taking the plunge and installing a double sink. If your kitchen is a bit on the small side, a double sink could take up valuable preparation space and make your kitchen rather unpractical for prepping and cooking food.
Quality Pays For Itself
The quality of the sink is also vitally important. The last thing you want is to install a cheap sink, only to find down the line that problems with it are appearing. Not only could this call for a costly replacement, but you’ll also be unnecessarily adding to landfill, impacting on the environment as well as your wallet. Ideally you should invest in quality well known brands such as Franke sinks. Franke sinks are renowned for their commitment to quality and their cutting edge designs, meaning that Franke sinks are products that will not only serve their purpose well but also last the distance while looking great.
Waste Disposal Options
Kitchen waste disposal units are gaining popularity in any ultra modern home. Food waste accounts for approximately 25% of all household rubbish, therefore a kitchen waste disposal unit can help reduce the amount of waste you send to landfill while also helping to eliminate those nasty aromas that can arise from food being left in kitchen bins. All quality sink manufacturers, such as Franke sinks, should be able to offer you a range of different sink styles and sizes with a kitchen waste disposal unit installed.
Material Options
Another thing to consider is the material that is best suited to your requirements. Most kitchen sinks these days come in stainless steel, and while this does offer a contemporary, clean and modern look, stainless steel can be quite high maintenance and can scratch very easily.
The main alternative to a stainless steel sink is ceramic. Even though ceramic used to be confined to kitchens of an era gone by, the material is a fantastic way to capture a traditional and classic feel to the kitchen. Many manufacturers however, do now offer ceramic sinks designed to have a more contemporary look and feel so this might be worth considering if you’re worried about the wear and tear stainless steel sinks can incur.
This post was written by James Harper on behalf of the Kitchen Appliance Centre. James writes on a variety of subjects, he is currently renovating his home so has a keen interest in home improvement and interior design.
Get An Education First
Have you ever started a project only to have everyone give you advice about every little thing? Better yet, have you listened to the advice and realized that none of it are things that are of any use to you? A renovation project is more than just something getting fixed or upgraded. It's a learning experience and a way to siphon some of your creative influence into your surroundings.
This is one of the reasons why you should try to learn how to complete a renovation project yourself rather than depend on others. In due time, you'll develop your own techniques and even be giving advice to others. This article is going to give you some necessary tips on your remodeling project so that you can get started and start learning.
- Set up a realistic budget: The first thing you need to be before starting any home renovation project is decide how much you want to spend on it. Having a efficient and realistic budget will help remove the stress factor of having to deal with unexpected cost later on. Try to be honest with yourself on how much you can afford and pencil in an actual budget on paper. Once this is done, you can add another 10% to your budget and work from there.
- Make sure you get value for your money:I'm sure everyone would love to have a 10 seat movie theater installed in their basement or an Olympic size pool in their backyard but is it really worth the money being spent? When remodeling, you have to make sure that the improvement is not just for your own personal benefit but also helps increase the value of your home. Personal renovations may end up devaluing the property if not done to fit the rest of the house.
- Always have a contract in place: One thing that I consider a MUST in home renovations is a contract. Unfortunately this is also the one thing that many homeowners don't follow thru one. They may be thinking that the contractor is a good friend or a family member or maybe they seem trustworthy. Either way, make sure there is always a contract in place. Most reputable contractors will ensure this happens, however a scrupulous contractor can leave you high and dry without this piece of paper. A contract doesn't have to be complex at all. All you need is to detail out the work to be completed, the cost associated with the work and any changes that will be covered within the work.
S. Thomas is a for-hire freelance contractor and writer who does work for companies that specialize as Atlanta home contractors.
I found another cool article on the HGTV site called "Kitchens On A Budget:Our 10 Favorites From Rate My Space" and I had to share it with you. It has a great assortment and ranges of kitchen remodeling projects from very minor cosmetic improvements to budget-conscious larger projects.
Check it out and let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment below.
I found this excellent post on the HGTV site that should make doing kitchen remodeling on a budget a whole lot easier. The thing I loved about this article is that it gives you exactly what you need to know in a very short, compact article so you can learn and get to doing that much quicker.
Here is the link:
10 Steps To Budgeting For Your Kitchen Remodel
I should have a few more articles like this one going up in the next week or so. Keep your eyes open for them and subscribe to my RSS feed.
I found this video on YouTube and decided I had to share it with you. Michael Watts, owner of Bel Air Construction in Forest Hill, MD takes you through the key points to consider when you are thinking of a kitchen remodeling project.
Consider it a late Christmas present! Here's part 1:
And here's part 2:
Michael does a great job of giving you things to consider without overwhelming you with pointless details while also giving you resources to consult for more information.
Both of these are very short (6-7 minutes) and will open your eyes to kitchen remodeling possibilities you probably hadn't considered.
Kitchen Remodeling On The Cheap
I know the feeling...you want to update and refresh your kitchen but you're not interested in dropping big money right now. I completely sympathize with you on that. I feel the overwhelm myself when I look at my kitchen and start listing the things I'd like to change. It doesn't take me long before I just get disgusted and quit. The main reason is I start looking at the big ticket stuff first which is very limiting. Instead, I should be starting from the simple stuff and work up. The cool thing about doing this is that you can quickly see how to make an impact without ending up on the streets.
One of these simple and inexpensive things is your kitchen faucet.
Wide Range Of Styles And Prices
Faucets are one of those things you've got a dizzying array of choices that run the gamut from very simple and sophisticated to incredibly elegant. The cool part is it's all up to you. Just take a look at a site like eFaucets.com and you'll see what I mean. They've got every make and model I've ever heard of at great prices and many with no shipping charges. Bop on over there for a quick peek.
It's All Up To You
Take a second look at that kitchen refresh project and see if you can't start off on the lower end of the price rainbow. You'll be amazed at how much a new kitchen faucet by itself will improve the look of your kitchen and inspire you to make even more inexpensive upgrades.
I found an article today on the DIY networks site that fits perfectly into this site's theme of helping you get the most bang for your kitchen remodeling buck. It's called Cost-Cutting Kitchen Remodeling Ideas and it's definitely worth a look. There are a few ideas that are a little "out there" but some others you may not have considered that could save you a chunk of change. Check it out and let me know what you think.
We at Dream Kitchen Spaces realize that not every kitchen remodeling project will be or needs to be a big one. Sometimes, just changing minor details can make all the difference in today's tight economy. This is why we've created a new section called Kitchen Refresh for our site.
When A Full Kitchen Redo Isn't Feasible
We understand that you can get sick of your kitchen even when you don't have the money to completely renovate it. Don't be discouraged. There ARE things that can be done a little at a time that can get you enjoying your kitchen again. Whether it's small changes that transform your kitchen or just things you can do until you do have the time and money for the major kitchen remodel. We want to help you with them.
Our goal is to add one kitchen refresh idea per week to get you going. Feel free to leave us a comment and share any tips you've had success with so we can all learn from them. Either way, make sure to stop back often to see what we've come up with in the lab.
