Manage Your Dollars and Sense by Using a Professional

Taking on a home remodeling project of any scale can be one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, experiences a homeowner will undertake. With countless design choices, layers of dust and a revolving door of workers, just thinking about it can send even the most laid-back person to bed with a mind-numbing headache. Whether it’s truly your blood, sweat and tears going into the remodel or just in theory letting professionals take the lead, there’s no doubt about it, remodeling is complicated. The silver lining, however, is the sense of accomplishment and homeowner pride once the project is complete and your design dreams are realized.

One of the best ways to keep stress at a manageable level is by working with a professional. This especially holds true when planning for a kitchen or bathroom remodel — two of the most trafficked areas of your home with the highest potential for return on investment. Working with a professional can make the remodel process much smoother by avoiding budget pitfalls, schedule delays and a crushed design dream.

Here are just a few of the ways a professional kitchen and bath dealer can help:

Visualizing the possibilities

Most reputable kitchen and bath dealers have a showroom to best showcase their work and the products they specify. As a customer, you should expect a neat, organized showroom with friendly staff to listen to you, help get some of your upfront questions answered and show you your options. Kitchen and bath dealers specialize exclusively in these rooms and have knowledge of the latest trends. They have the tools and experience to walk you through the design process, set the budget and troubleshoot to meet your goals for aesthetics and function. In fact, many kitchen and bath dealers and their designers are certified by leading industry associations such as the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) or the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), among others.

Setting the budget

Nowhere will using a professional pay off more than in setting the budget. If you’ve never done a major remodel, you probably don’t know how much to budget for. Or, perhaps you have a budget in mind and need help knowing where to save and when to splurge. Your dealer and design team will make this process much easier for you. Throughout the design and installation, they can work within your budget parameters, specify the best products and alert you of potential overages before it’s too late.

Doing the legwork

We’ve all heard the old adage, “measure twice; cut once.” Knowing how to take the right measurements is imperative in a successful remodeling project. The wrong measurement can set off an unfortunate chain reaction of very costly events. Professionals are skilled in this area and will get the job done right the first time so there aren’t delays in the schedule. Once the measurements are taken, a dealer will put the plans to paper and manage the ordering and installation steps.

Realizing your dreams

Eventually your remodel will be complete and you’ll no longer have to make do with your makeshift kitchen in the family room or fight with family members for time in your only functioning bathroom. After the dust has settled, the end result will be a beautiful space you and your family can enjoy for years to come. And, if you worked with a knowledgeable professional, you are left with both your dollars and your sense.

TEXTURE, MATERIAL, AND COLOR

You are remodeling your bathroom and you’re not sure how you want your bathroom to look. First of all, pick an inspirational piece and use your design ideas around that inspirational item.

Look at several elements such as texture, material, and color.

When considering texture, you should think about scale, light, and visual weight. These features determine how something feels, whether it’s tactile or visual. Rough textures usually add weight to an object, making the item feel more dense and cozy. While softer textures create a lightweight, smooth impression.

A key component to consider is material. A material can mimic some of the special characteristics of another. A good example is the wooden-like tile floor in the image which is actually made of porcelain made to look like wood. You can say you have wood for your bathroom floor!

Lastly, choose the perfect color scheme. Anticipate how you’d like to feel towards the space or object. Choosing color temperature is choosing warm or cool colors. Darker tones such as grays and blues tend to feel cool, fresh, and relaxing. While red, orange and yellow are professed as warm, vibrant and energetic.

Look at the image of the tile back-splash. There are a lot of fun patterns and textures, different materials, and complementary colors all in harmony. The rough surface of the porcelain represents sand on a beach, while the reflective glass is perceived as the ocean. The tile has subtle hues of cool colors consisting of greens, blues, greys, and white.

You have an awesome tile, but what are you to do with it? Make sure to pair it with something complementary. The hues of the tile are quite subtle, so my next step is to match it with a contrasting and bold finish.  For instance, metal, oil-rubbed bronze faucet would warm up the space a little bit. 

Holiday Disasters with HGTV’S Kim Myles, 2013

Holiday Disasters with HGTV’S Kim Myles, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, CSI Kitchen & Bath Studio had a very pleasant surprise.  We had the honor of hosting the filming of HGTV’s Design Star's Kim Myles' Holiday Disasters segment.  The filming took place in our very own Norcross showroom and utilized our Ruskin display by Rutt Handcrafted Cabinetry  as the set.  Kim’s segment has already aired on a number of television stations but, in case you missed it, we thought we’d share.

In her Holiday Disasters segment, Kim Myles discusses tips on how to gracefully side-step roadblocks any holiday party might throw your way.  Kim believes that the most common holiday disasters happen around food and drinks.  In her segment she covers 4 main tips to help avoid those looming holiday disasters.

Tip One | Appetizers

The key to kicking off your party right is to keep the appetizers easy…”quick and easy” to be exact.  If your party typically creeps into all corners of your home it’s a good idea to have appetizers guests can take with them.  This will allow people to get in and out of the appetizer zone and help alleviate the congestion that typically occurs around the appetizer table.

Tip Two | Drinks…and their STAINS

We all know the key to a good time is a little bubbly, but Kim suggests keeping it simple.  Your party is not the time for you to become a bartender, so a few bottles of wine and some beer should do the trick…until someone spills their red wine that is! 

Drink spillage is inevitable – it is going to happen.  So be ready.  Kim suggests having an all-purpose stain remover you can use on any surface or fabric so that when that red wine spills on your dress as it makes its way to your carpet you’ll be ready.

Tip Three | Embarrassing Moments

At every good holiday party someone is bound to get embarrassed…that’s what makes them memorable right?  But, funny and embarrassing moments aside, Kim Myles believes there is nothing more embarrassing than being stuck in the kitchen while your guests feast on the food you prepared and enjoy the party you're supposed to be hosting.  So, to help with prep and cooking time (and to make sure you join in your own festivities), go with some premade/precooked items like a Honey Baked Ham you know your guests will love.

Tip Four | Party’s Over – Get Out…please

As hosts, we’ve all been there before – the moment it’s time to call it an evening but you can’t find the right way to tell your guests it’s time to go home.  Though Kim shares a few tips on how to subtly suggest it’s time to go, she believes the sure-shot solution is to ask your guests to help clean up. 

Though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there are still a few weeks of fun and family left in this 2013 holiday season.  So be sure to check out Kim Myles’ tips on how to avoid this season’s most common holiday disasters…especially if you know you’ll be playing host.