Home Improvement Blog

What’s Trending for Southeastern MA Home Remodeling for 2016

February 9, 20160

Choose the right tiles with the help of home improvement contractors.

Home improvement contractors can help you choose the right tiles.

Don’t make any home improvement plans before you see some of this year’s creative and exciting remodeling trends. Gloriously retro Art Deco geometric designs are already a hot trend this year, as are fabulous fusions and deep, rich colors. Another 2016 trend to watch is luxurious, stylish outdoor living spaces designed for multi-seasonal use. Personalized, artisan, one-of-a-kind designs are another big trend this year, something the top custom home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas specialize in creating.

Art Deco Is Hot

Popular between 1920 and 1940, Art Deco’s bold lines, geometric patterns and symmetry often combined futuristic fantasy with elements of pre-modern art and ancient, mystical geometry theories, such as the golden mean. Art Deco design elements can feel as modern as they do retro, especially when using modern colors or as an accent to an otherwise sleek, gleaming modern space. Art Deco fusions are also trending, such as the combining of southwestern Navajo styles and motifs with Art Deco geometric symmetry.

Make great changes with premier home remodeling.

Premier home remodeling can make some amazing changes.

Tile Is Trending Big

Tile is indeed trending this year, but not just any tile. This year’s tile trends are all about fabulous throwbacks. Expect to see round penny tiles showing up everywhere, on floors, walls and ceilings, in bathrooms, kitchens and even bedrooms. These remarkably versatile tiles are being used to create retro looking floors and walls, as whimsical accents, such as flowers and swirls, adding a bold splash of color to a light, cool monochromatic space, and to create one-of-a-kind mosaics. Those mosaics may serve as back splashes in the kitchen, decorate an over-sized luxury shower or be the centerpiece design of a foyer floor.

Encaustic tiles are another trending retro tile. These tiles feature geometric designs that are formed not by painting the tiles, but by using different colors of clay in their making. These tiles are being used on floors and walls in gorgeously complex and richly colored geometric designs reminiscent of Islamic Byzantine art. This isn’t the sort of thing you can call in the average, run-of-the-mill tile guy to handle. For this type of floor or wall design, you want to call in a southeastern MA premier home remodeling contractor.

The Great, Elegant Outdoors

The trend toward well defined, stylish outdoor living space is growing. What’s new this year with that trend is bringing elegant, luxurious interior design outdoors to spaces that are designed not just for summer use, but for spring and fall as well. Many offer a greater degree of protection from the elements than the casual classic back deck or back porch does. Gorgeous fireplaces, furnishings that are opulent in look and feel, yet resistant to the elements: these are among the important design trends home improvement specialists in Wellesley expect to see a greater demand for during 2016.

Should You Invest in a Fixer-Upper? A Dover Home Improvement Contractor Can Help

February 4, 20160

Renovate a home with the help of a home improvement contractor.

A home improvement contractor can help you renovate a home.

There are several factors to consider when weighing the merit of investing in a fixer-upper. Naturally, the number of renovations the home will require and how much those projects will cost are major considerations. After all, the true price of the home is its purchase price plus the cost of a home remodel in Dover, not just the bargain price of a home in need of work. You’ll need to run your numbers carefully before making a decision.

Adequate Return on Investment

When considering the purchase of a fixer-upper primarily as a financial investment, you’ll need to carefully assess the balance between the purchase price and the costs involved in renovating the property. Whether you plan to flip the house by remodeling it and selling it for a profit or you are investing in it as a rental property, you’ll need to do the math to see if you will be able to earn a worthwhile return on the money you invest.

It’s a good idea to add 20 to 25 percent to your estimated remodel budget to cover any unexpected repairs that may come up during the renovation process. That’s because, as almost any Dover home improvement contractor can tell you, sometimes when you open up a wall or begin what by all appearances is a small fix, you can discover a larger problem lurking under the surface. You could, for example, expose the wiring in a wall during the process of moving a wall switch to a more convenient location and find evidence other wires need immediate replacement.

A home remodel can help you create a beautiful home.

If you buy a fixer-upper, you need a home remodel.

Home Investment Is Different

The numbers run a bit differently when you are thinking about buying a fixer-upper and renovating it to live in. If this is going to be your long-term home, gaining a better quality home at a bargain price may be more important to you than what the return on your investment is going to be in hard numbers after five or 10 years. After all, if it is your home, you aren’t looking to sell it within that time-frame anyway. The deciding factor is what the home is worth to you. A fixer-upper can be transformed into a gorgeous custom-designed home when you have an expertsoutheastern MA premier home remodeling and additions contractor handle your renovations.

Ask the Experts

If you don’t have a lot of hands-on home improvement project experience, it can be difficult to accurately assess the condition of a house to determine just how much remodeling and repair it needs. Talk to local expert contractors to learn what types of damage to a home tend to be the most problematic or most likely to run into unexpected costs. Ask about what types of renovations are most cost-effective when it comes to increasing curb appeal or home value. Investing in a house is serious business so take your time to gather facts and work your numbers before making any final decisions. Contact us for more information about renovating houses that may need many repairs.

Benefits of Building a Garage Apartment in Brookline, MA

February 2, 20160

Is a garage apartment part of your custom built home plans?

Custom built home plans should include a garage apartment.

Space needs often change over time, requiring residents to either upsize or downsize a home. A garage apartment can be an ideal way to meet those changing space requirements, whether you’re considering room additions in Brookline or looking to downsize. A garage apartment can be as simple or luxurious as you choose to make it. It can be designed to serve as a temporary living space, for long-term living, as a home office or as recreational space, depending on your needs.

More Living Space

Families often grow and change, sometimes in unexpected ways. A tough economy has led to an increase in the number of adult children returning to live at home after college. Sometimes young married couples return to parents’ homes while saving up to buy their own house. Perhaps it is time for an aging parent to join the household. Choosing a garage apartment over room additions in Brookline has the advantage of privacy and a greater degree of independence for the soon-to-be residents. That can make the living arrangement more comfortable for everyone involved.

Guest Quarters

A garage apartment is an excellent option for short-term or long-term guests. If you have visitors who come during the holidays or vacation season, they can enjoy the visit without the added expense of staying in a hotel. If you’re building a home, you may want to include a garage apartment in your custom built home plans in Brookline. When your in-laws come to stay or your adult children visit home with their own children, the ones you’ll want to spoil and send back to their parents, you’ll have the space you need.

Room additions can include a garage apartment.

Consider a garage apartment for your room additions.

Special Use

If you have a specific use in mind for your garage apartment addition, talk to your local southeastern MA home improvement contractor. They can help you custom design the space to create exactly what you need. For instance, if you are envisioning an art studio, sewing room or home office, natural lighting, smart space-saving storage and built-in amenities can maximize productivity and comfort.

You could use a garage apartment to increase your income by designing a rental unit with your local contractor design. This apartment can be designed with an entrance separate from your garage entry for maximum privacy for the tenant and you. Using a skilled professional builder is important for this type of project because vehicle fumes must not make their way into tenant living space. Be sure to check local zoning laws before making this investment.

Ready to Down-Size

If you are ready to downsize, you might want to do the opposite – custom design an easy-to-care for, low-maintenance garage apartment for yourself and rent out your house. That home rental could significantly add to monthly retirement income for seniors who no longer want or need all that space. This arrangement can be a creative way to reduce monthly expenses or increasing monthly income without having to increase weekly work hours.

Should You Have Your Southeastern MA Home Improvement Contractor Paint Your New Concrete Floor?

January 28, 20160

Talk to your home improvement contractor about using concrete floors.

Your home improvement contractor can help you with your concrete floors.

Painting your new concrete basement floor offers practical advantages, but it can also be a quite attractive option. Concrete flooring is no longer just for the basement but has become a design trend eastern MA premier home builders have watched develop over the past decade. In fact, today’s concrete floors can be gorgeous, sophisticated and stylish. Concrete floors, ground smooth, polished, stained, dyed, painted and even stenciled, are appearing in kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms far more frequently.

Practicality Comes First

The rise in the popularity of this flooring option has to do with improved coloring and sealing technologies. Properly sealed and painted, a concrete floor is extremely durable. Unlike lesser flooring options, concrete floors finished by skilled eastern MA premier home builders resist surface damage from high heels, heavy furniture, pet claws and other normal household wear and tear. It also resists damage from moisture when properly sealed with a quality sealant.

Concrete floors are typically easy to care for and often require just a quick pass with the broom and mop. They resist staining and don’t absorb odors. They aren’t high maintenance either. Depending on how highly used the area is, you may want to replace your sealant coat every one to three years. With muddy springs, wet autumns and snowy winters, it’s no surprise painted and sealed concrete floors are an increasingly popular choice for home remodeling in Dover and the surrounding areas.

Consider painting concrete for your home remodeling.

Painting concrete can be great for home remodeling.

Let’s Talk About Looks

While some types of beauty may be fleeting, unable to withstand the test of time, that is far from the case when you paint, tint, dye or stain a concrete floor. When you use a knowledgeable, skilled southeastern MA home improvement contractor, you can expect your painted concrete floor to retain its good looks for years to come. With today’s polishing, coloring and sealing technologies, that floor will typically outlast the usual flooring options.

There’s an incredible array of options to choose from when painting your concrete floor. You can go old-school, keeping that industrial sort of look you’d typically see in a basement or you can go for a highly polished, gleaming and gorgeous concrete floor. You can use stencils to create the look of hand-painted medieval tiles or amazing Byzantine art inspired geometric patterns.

Coloring concrete floors can produce several visual effects, depending on the products used. Tinted stains offer a full spectrum of shades. Acid-based stains tend to be more translucent and more subtle in nature. Water-based stains can have those qualities, but they are also available in deeper, more paint-like colors. You can even include metal flakes, adding some shimmer to your floors.

Another way of painting concrete floors is with dyes, which add a rich depth of color due to the higher degree of color saturation. For marbled color effects, you can use water-based dyes. Add a high-gloss sealing coat and you’ll have a gorgeous floor that, with proper care, can last for decades. When you consider the lifespan of a painted concrete floor, it is a highly cost-effective choice.

Once you see the wide style potentials of painting a concrete floor, you may want to talk to your local eastern MA premier home builders about concrete floor painting options that are right for your custom built or remodeled home. Contact us to learn more about painting your new concrete floor.

Designing Your Own Home in Brookline, MA? What Comes First, Land Purchase or House Design?

January 26, 20160

Are you thinking about designing your own home.

Designing your own home requires careful attention to detail.

When working with skilled eastern MA premier home builders, your custom built home can be a success, whether you obtain your land first or design your home plans first. However, your decision regarding which to do first can have an impact on how smoothly the overall process goes from start to finish. It can determine whether you have to make design compromises. There are many factors at play in this sort of project and lots of planning to be done so the order of operations does matter when designing your own home in Brookline, MA.

Major Factors to Consider

Zoning and land use laws can impact the type and style of home you can build on a parcel of land, as well as whether you can even build there at all. When selecting land to buy, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of all applicable zoning laws and land use regulations. Guiding covenants can also apply to the way land is used, such as limiting the removal of trees to a certain percentage of the tree population on the parcel, specifics about how far structures must be from property lines, perhaps significantly farther than local building ordinances demand, and rules about utility or access easements. All of those things can impact custom built home plans in Brookline and the surrounding region.

If you design your home before you acquire your land, that can make finding the right land a more daunting task. Not only do you have to find a property that works to satisfy all the bureaucratic demands, but that land will also have to work topographically with your design. Certain types of homes, for example, work better in flat open land spaces than on land with rolling hills. Slope and water drainage may make positioning a home within a lot’s legally buildable space difficult. However, without having an idea of your basic home plan, choosing the right land for your eastern MA premier home builders to construct your dream home can be difficult.

Consider the property regulations in your custom built home plans.

Custom built home plans need to consider the property too.

Take a Different Approach

Instead of choosing one or the other to do first, take the middle road in designing your own home in Brookline, MA. See it as the dynamic, fluid project it is. Come up with a basic design, then look for land within your budget, distance from work and other essential elements. Then, add further depth and detail to your custom built home plans in Brookline, shaping those plans so your home works with the topography of the land and all laws, regulations and restrictions associated with the land parcel or building lot. When you use eastern MA premier home builders offering 3D design technology, you get a better view of how tweaks to your custom home plan will look and function, making the process a lot easier.

Contact us for further information about how 3D design technology can help you efficiently bring together land purchase planning and custom home designing, reducing the difficulties in making your dream home a tangible and pleasurable reality.