Interior Design Tips for Your Kitchen Renovation

The planning and creation of your new kitchen is an exciting time but if you don’t plan and prepare for it properly, it can quickly turn into a nightmare. As excited as you may be for the renovation, it can also be a chaotic and stressful experience. Keeping the following tips in mind when undertaking a kitchen remodel can help keep the chaos at bay and the sleepless nights away.

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Create a Mood Board

Deciding on a style you love and making it come to life in your new kitchen is most certainly an exciting part of remodeling. Out with the old and in with the new is as good as taking a vacation! Before the project begins, create a mood board of what you want your kitchen to look like, the colors and materials you want included and finishing touches you want added. You can create a physical mood board on a piece of project board, a pin board or do it digitally and craft one online. 

Source Quotes for Your Budget

The best design tip for remodeling your kitchen would be to create a functional budget and stick to it. You don’t want to start the project and run out of funds to complete it, which happens quite a lot. It is imperative to create a budget, keep it up to date and to stick to it. It is unfortunately part of your project management duties. Source at least three quotes per item or task to see more or less what you can expect to pay and construct a budget this way. Once you have sourced enough quotes, you will be ready to find a contractor to turn your kitchen into one of your dreams. Keeping within your budget will benefit your pocket and your blood pressure!

Focus on the Details

When planning a kitchen remodel or renovation, one often forgets about the details such as lighting applications, flooring, and window treatments because you are so focused on the counters, cabinets and appliances. Ideally, these aspects should be included in your mood board to incorporate the total look and feel you are striving for. 

Get Rid of the Clutter

Another great tip for your kitchen renovation is to take this opportunity to get rid of the unwanted, unused and broken items you have accumulated in your kitchen for years. Now is the time to tackle that drawer that you throw things into when you have nowhere else to home them. Make three piles of items to trash, donate and keep. Making space for your new items, and decluttering your kitchen in general, adds to the aesthetic and keeps your new remodeled space clean and tidy.

Once your kitchen revamp is underway, remember to not rush the process as rushed projects can turn into costly mistakes and do-overs. Keeping these handy tips in mind when you are ready to start on your kitchen project will help you achieve the kitchen of your dreams. 

The Home Maintenance Checklist Every New Homeowner Should Have on Hand

Your home represents a significant financial investment, and to maintain your property’s value and keep your home safe and comfortable year-round, you must perform annual maintenance. The average cost of annual home maintenance was $1,105 as of 2020, but you may have higher costs if you own an older home.

Investing in routine maintenance now can save you from the cost of emergency repairs tomorrow. Use this checklist to ensure you develop a thorough maintenance routine that will keep all the essential systems and features of your home in great shape for years to come.

Essential Systems Check

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Turn to trusted HVAC technicians and cleaning specialists, such as Direct AC, for annual air conditioner maintenance service. Your air conditioning system should be inspected every spring to ensure it runs smoothly during the hot summer months. The air filter should be changed regularly throughout the year, and the coils and ducts should be cleaned regularly to ensure your air conditioning system isn’t spreading dust and allergens throughout your home.

 for leaks and look for signs of water damage, mold, or damaged floorboards in your home. All of these issues can indicate issues with your plumbing. Plumbing problems can generate expensive repair and clean-up costs. The plumbing experts with Advanced Plumbing Technology offer a free consultation. APT will thoroughly assess your pipes, and their team can produce a comprehensive replacement plan if your pipes are corroding. Lead pipes should also be removed to prevent health issues, such as kidney damage.

Check to ensure your sump pump is draining properly in the spring and fall. This will ensure your sump pump operates effectively during spring rains and when it snows.

Have your furnace inspected each fall. Replace the air filter to ensure the furnace can heat your home effectively. Allergens or pollen can build up in the filter, and if the furnace is blowing air through a dirty filter, it will send the allergens and pollen throughout your home. An annual furnace inspection can also ensure your furnace properly operates all winter.

Yard Maintenance

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Yard maintenance is an essential part of your annual home maintenance plan. Every spring, you should check the lawn and reseed if there are bald spots. Remove any leaves or debris from your yard and plant flowers to improve your home’s curb appeal.

A certified arborist is qualified to inspect your trees to ensure they’re healthy. A tree inspection is an effective way of determining if there are signs of disease. Trees weakened by disease can be blown down in a wind storm or lose limbs, and ones that are close to your home could fall on the house. Trim long branches that are close to your roof or siding to prevent damage to your home.

Safety Check

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Choose an annual date to check your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detector. Smoke detectors are activated when they detect smoke in the air. Carbon monoxide detectors are designed to detect carbon monoxide, which is odorless and colorless. Carbon monoxide is produced by several household items, such as dryers, gas stoves, water heaters, furnaces, wood stoves, and generators. Ingesting carbon monoxide can be fatal, so this checkup is extremely crucial. Make sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detector are working correctly and replace the batteries once a year.

Also, whether you use your fireplace regularly or not, your chimney still needs to be inspected and maintained. The chimney allows harmful gases to leave your home. If the chimney is blocked or dirty, it can compromise the air quality inside your home. If you use the fireplace regularly, creosote will build up inside the chimney. Creosote is flammable and can cause chimney fires. An annual inspection and regular chimney cleaning will help ensure the safety of your home.

Exterior Features

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Inspect the exterior of your home every spring. Power wash the exterior to remove grime to prevent mold from growing on your siding.

Check the gutters every spring and fall to ensure they’re clear. Gutters remove water from your roof. If the gutters are blocked, the water may penetrate your roof and damage your home’s interior.

Spring is a good time to repaint your home’s exterior and stain the deck. You should also check your deck for loose or damaged boards or loose nails to prevent people from tripping or cutting themselves.

If you own a pool, you will want to ensure the valves and filters are in good condition and have the equipment inspected before using your pool.

Four Things to Keep in Mind When Designing a Kitchen

Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

There is no denial of the fact that designing a kitchen is the most crucial aspect when it comes to building a house. The kitchen is the beauty of the house and should be designed in such a way that it sets a style statement of your house. It represents you and should be designed according to your wants and needs. All the kitchens which you may have come across your entire life must be different, and each of them uniquely suits the needs of the family. A kitchen should be designed by keeping into consideration the functionality and purpose of different things. You may have seen many kitchens that aren’t even designed properly and pose a bad impression on the visitors. 

The way you design, plan, and organize your kitchen will have a significant impact on both the dining and the cooking. Starting off from the basic structure to furniture and decor, you have the opportunity to design everything according to your imagination. You can gather countless ideas from your friends, family, and internet, and picture your kitchen as the exotic zone of the house. 

The following are some kitchen design tips that can be taken into consideration when designing the kitchen. 

Go For an Open Kitchen Plan

Gone are the days when people used to be more inclined towards having a separate room for the kitchen. Today’s modern homes have open kitchens as they are more in demand. An open kitchen has a more welcoming and inviting atmosphere. The kitchen space is more open to entertainment as its open; after all, what’s better than a kitchen that has no barrier between it and the social space of your home. It looks highly sophisticated and luxurious. Open kitchens also give you an opportunity to keep an eye on your children, as they’ll be playing around in front of your eyes. 

Make Sure That the Kitchen has Enough Natural Light

A kitchen is the place of your house where you spend a significant amount of time out of your daily routine. Being dependent only on tube lights and light bulbs is going to add a burden to your electricity bills. Therefore, it is essential to have windows inside your kitchen and allow maximum amount of natural light inside during the day. You can install window blinds to control the amount of light coming inside; for inexpensive custom roman shades click here. Installing windows will keep the mood of your kitchen fresh and full of air. 

Have a Proper Ventilation System

Having an efficient ventilation system is a need that is often ignored. It has to be understood that a kitchen can never be a comfortable place if it doesn’t have a proper ventilation system. When you cook, the hot air, being less dense, accumulates near your kitchen ceiling. It has to be wiped out; otherwise, it creates oxygen deficiency inside your kitchen. Because of high humidity, a person can’t stand there for too long, and this honestly creates a miserable atmosphere inside a kitchen. Different smells can accumulate as well and can be very unpleasant. Therefore, an efficient ventilation system is required to keep the inside environment of your kitchen bearable and pleasant.  Kitchen hoods are an essential part of the kitchen as they eradicate any odors, fumes, and pungent smells from your kitchen. 

Have Enough Storage Space

Having inadequate storage space is a common mistake made by many individuals while designing the kitchen. You need to carefully plan where you are going to place the cupboards. Make sure that the cupboards are easily reachable so that they can be used properly. Purchasing frequently used kitchen tools is the key to an organized kitchen. You can buy a utensil hanger and can place it over your counter to hang pans and spoons on it. Make sure that your kitchen counter has drawers to store different items. By following all these storage tips, it would be much easier for you to manage your kitchen and organize all the items in a proper manner. Significant storage space will also make your kitchen look tidy and big. 

Best Tips to Improve Your Knife Skills

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Knowing when to use the proper knife for the proper cutting is itself a skill that needs to be mastered if you want to become a good chef. Wondering how to chop, dice, or mince, the article brings all the crucial knife skills you should follow to make yourself feel confident while cooking. These skills can be used easily in daily life and will help you sharpen your knives skills.

Keeping the knives sharp

Dull knives are not safer for cooking so always use a sharp knife. You can keep your knives sharp by honing tools. It is better to sharpen your knives by a trained knife sharpener. Detergents have adhered effect on some knives. So it is better to wash your knives by hand. However stainless steel is safe for dishwasher use. They can be washed in the dishwasher.

Having the proper knives

Knives vary in their size like you must have a four-inch and an eight-inch chef’s knife in your kitchen. These knives must be included in your standard kitchen knife stand. An eight-inch bread knife that we also call a tomato knife is also a must-have knife.

Split and slice

You must place your thumb and index finger on the handle of the knife. Chefs call it “choke up”. The thumb and knuckle of your hands should have a hard grip on the blade in the handle while the rest of the remaining fingers wrap around the handle. All of this gives you extra control, which will help you in using the knife more easily. One more thing, you don’t want to hold your grip tightly as this will strangle the knife.  

Use it like as saw

You should use your knife like a saw, instead of moving up and down slice it through. It helps you in handling the food or vegetables more efficiently. You just need to hold your knife firmly and slice it through like a saw motion.  

Instead of visiting the stores, you can also buy sharp knives online. There are many websites that provide critic reviews to the knives that they are selling. You may use cheap discount codes purple and you can avail discounts while online shopping.

Cut in half to create a flat surface

Cutting, chopping, or slicing your round products in half will help in creating a flat surface. To do this, you must keep your knife above the height of your elbow as it will put more control and pressure. Now using gravity to your advantage, cut it through nicely and firmly.

The claw technique

Making a claw while cutting the food is very helpful. In the process, your fingertips must be towards the cutting board. It will help you in cutting more precisely and harmlessly. This skill takes time and a lot of patience. So while cutting the onion, hold the onion in the hand and make a claw. You can dice the onion painlessly. 

Following the above-mentioned tips, you can refine your knife skills and can easily become a master chef. 

Luxury Tile Guide – Questions to Ask Yourself

Most new homeowners are very aware of how they want their homes to look and feel, where things go and what colors they prefer on their walls. From the biggest things such as the paint on the house, the furniture, and the floor selections, to the smaller more intricate things such as the type of tiles you want on your bathroom or kitchen area is a very important decision to make, because once they are laid out, there’s no going back. It’s for the world to see. So careful consideration is key in this department. Other information about this can also be found online. 

However, there is no need to worry about your options and what to go for, as this guide below has some great quick advice for you regarding this to help you make sure you choose the one that’s a perfect fit for the house, so you enhance the rooms as opposed to making them look dull or boring. 

The idea is to ask yourself a few important questions and then play the field. Let’s look at the things to consider. This is an important initial step that will help you set the tone of the overall room in question. 

Things to As Yourself When Choosing Tile Colors

Here’s a tip – before choosing on the hue to go with, look around for any existing colors that may already be there, such as the tones of the furniture as well as the mood you want to set because the bathroom will be different from the kitchen and any other areas in the house. 

1. What Size Is the Room? This is an important question to ask yourself.  As the logic goes, the lighter colors typically make a room look big and vice versa. If it’s a small bathroom and you want it to look bigger, use whites, creams, and pastels colored tiles for the walls and floor. Large kitchens, for instance, can get away with luxury tiles of a dark chocolate hue and burnt sienna.

2. What Kind of Tile Type Do You Desire? From glazed tiles to matte ones, the choices can be confusing, however when going for kitchen tiles, be it luxury of not, it’s best to keep it glossy, and stain-resistant due to obvious reasons or splashing and food going everywhere. This would be great for the countertops and the walls surrounding the stove and backsplash areas. If opting for a flooring choice, the denser porcelain types are your best bet, in both areas. 

3. What Hue Are You Going For? Ever heard of a color wheel or a color circle / spectrum? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_wheel this could be your best friend in any color situation. You can go with vibrant colors, that are from the opposite sides of the color wheel. Rich blue walls make a luxurious statement in any home and give the place a sense of positive energy, so for your lounge areas, entertainment rooms, and perhaps even your bedroom, selecting these hues, darker and slightly lighter, would make a significant gorgeous impact.   

Unless you want a more relaxing atmosphere, then you can go with the paler tones such as the lighter ones on the wheel, like the yellow, creams, and lighter blues. 

4. Pattern or No Pattern? Some tiles have brilliant patterns on them that stand out from the crowd and enhance any space when placed correctly. Mottled patterns or Carlanto luxury tiles, for instance, make for a nice layout in the entranceways and any high-traffic areas. Go with slightly darker tones here for a more luxurious feel. One can also opt for the terrazzo tiles with elegant motifs displayed on them, like lace, zigzag, or swirls. Mix this with browns, golds, and tans and you will be the envy of the neighborhood in no time.   

In the end, when choosing the types of tiles, you want to adorn your home with, treat it like a piece of art. Which ones do you want to stand out more and which ones not so much? Look at it through the eye of strangers, and ask yourself what would they think? Although, we would highly recommend, doing what is best suited for you and your family, as you will be living in the home and you need to be happy with the decision. Guests will appreciate that too.