Improve functionality with kitchen remodeling.

Kitchen Cabinet Remodeling Ideas in Demand This Year in Wellesley, MA

August 4, 20160

Are you looking for a home remodeling project that will increase the value and also enhance your enjoyment of your home? Kitchen remodeling in MA is the way to go. If you’re like most people, you spend plenty of time in your kitchen. If your kitchen is outdated, in disrepair or less functional than you’d like, remodeling it will result in a transformation you’ll love. As you plan your dream kitchen, one of your biggest choices will be your kitchen cabinetry. Here are six hot kitchen cabinet trends to inspire you.

Incorporate Glass Cabinet Doors

Do you want to make your kitchen appear larger? Create a distinction between your upper and lower cabinets? Easily see what you have so you can find it quickly? Display your beautiful stemware and dishes? Consider glass-front cabinets that will deliver all of these items on your wish list!

Incorporate Open Shelves

When seeing your dishes and cookware is not enough and you want to be able to quickly access what you need, consider adding a section of open shelves in your cabinetry. Skip the doors altogether for the ultimate in convenience and functionality.

Improve the function of your kitchen with help from home improvement contractors.

Home improvement contractors can help create a more functional kitchen.

Make Space for Your Gadgets

When you’re designing a new kitchen, you can truly tailor it to your needs. If you can’t stand being away from your phone or tablet, you can add built-in docking stations and even tablet holders. Just imagine how convenient it will be for you to search for and follow recipes! Don’t forget to carve out a niche for your television if you love to watch TV while you cook.

Don’t Limit Yourself to One Color

Torn between navy or cream cabinetry? You don’t have to choose if you incorporate a two-tone cabinet look in your kitchen. The key to pulling off this look is to ensure at least one of the colors is a neutral, such as white, beige, natural wood, black or gray. Choose one color for your upper cabinets and another for your lowers for a truly custom look.

Don’t Limit Yourself to Wood

When most people think of kitchen cabinets, they think of wooden cabinets. While wood is by far the most common kitchen cabinet material, it is not your only option. Home addition contractors in MA are receiving more requests for stainless-steel cabinets. If your style leans toward the modern and contemporary, this unique cabinetry option may be worth considering in your kitchen remodel.

Horizontal Cabinets

In most kitchens, cabinets are square or rectangular and installed vertically. In some of the most recent home additions in MA, owners have opted for horizontal, or stackable, cabinets. Especially in smaller kitchens, this approach to cabinetry makes maximum use of available wall space.

Cabinetry, counter tops, flooring, storage, island … when you remodel your kitchen, you have a vast array of options from which to choose. It can be overwhelming to say the least. Take a deep breath and contact us at Colony Home Improvement, one of the most respected home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas. Our skilled design team will help you design your dream kitchen at your own pace, and then we will bring your vision to life!

Make the right choice with home improvement contractors.

home additions, room addition

Why Ranch Homes Are Ideal for Remodeling or Room Additions

May 19, 20160

Classic American ranch style homes are common in suburbs from coast to coast. Ranch homes are prized for their spaciousness and for the fact most sit on relatively large lots and boast conveniences like attached garages. Times have changed since many ranch homes were built in the immediate post-war era, however. Many owners of ranch homes crave more living space and are interested in making aesthetic improvements to their ranch homes’ exteriors. If you’re one of those owners interested in revamping your ranch home, you’ll be glad to know home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas will confirm ranch homes are ideally suited for remodeling.

A ranch home remodel can be a lucrative option.

Reasons to Remodel Your Ranch Home

If you’re trying to decide whether to sell your ranch home and purchase a home that better suits your lifestyle or to remodel your existing home, here are a few arguments in favor of remodeling.

Many ranch homes can easily be renovated to achieve a more open floor plan simply by removing non-load bearing walls.
Ranch homes are known for their solid construction. If the “bones” of your home are strong, why risk moving into a newer construction home that may not be as reliable?
Ranch homes are historic homes! You can retain your home’s retro rootsand remodel it to meet your changing needs.

Up or Out? That Is the Main Question

If you’re considering embarking on a ranch home remodel in Wellesley or the surrounding areas and your primary goal is to add more living space, you have two options. You can build up (contractors often call this a “pop-top” addition) by adding a second story or you can build out by expanding at the back or side of your home. Building up can literally double your home’s square footage without changing its footprint. You’ll have the ability to design whatever bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and family room configuration you wish. Building up will also significantly transform the exterior of your home.

Build outs, also known as bump outs, are usually less expensive by about 25 percent than build ups. This remodel usually involves constructing a “U-” or “L”- shaped addition or enclosing a carport. Build outs are only feasible if your home’s lot is large enough. Additionally, for larger build-out projects, you’ll usually lose a sizable portion of your yard. Either option will deliver more square footage and a dramatic change to the exterior aesthetics of your home.

There May Be a Third Option

If you are contemplating a ranch home remodel and your home has a basement, you could pursue southeastern MA home improvement plans that call for a basement remodel. Large basements have immense potential. A skilled contractor can transform your home’s basement into a warm, inviting living space or add bedrooms and bathrooms. Don’t overlook this valuable square footage if you’re considering a remodel.

Whether you are interested in extensive second-story additions or simple room additions in Wellesley, contact us at Colony Home Improvement. We can transform your run-of-the-mill ranch home into a true showpiece you’ll be proud to call home.

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.

Painting with Warm Colors Versus Cool Colors in Your Southeastern MA Home Remodel

January 19, 20160

Your home remodel needs the right paint colors.

Paint colors are an important part of your home remodel.

Remodeling a home can be hard work, with more decisions to make than you had imagined. Just when you think your Southeastern MA home remodel is nearly finished, deciding what color to paint the walls suddenly becomes your next difficult decision. More often than not, a Wellesley home improvement contractor is halted in their progress when homeowners can’t settle on what color to paint the walls. However, choosing the color of your walls doesn’t have to be a dilemma. First, understand the difference between warm and cool colors with this simple guide.

What Are Warm Colors?

Warm colors are stimulating. Here are the warm colors predominantly used in decorating, along with their associated effects.

Red – Fiery, intense, romantic, bold, passionate

Orange – Optimistic, lively

Yellow – Sunny, happy, uplifting, cheery

Home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas might suggest using warm colors in the following areas:

Large rooms to make them appear smaller, cozier.
Where people gather often, such as a family room or kitchen.
A home office to create a more stimulating environment.
Contractors for a Southeastern MA home remodel recommend a warm white or a soft beige for baseboards and trim against warm colored walls.

What Are Cool Colors?

Cool colors are calming and soothing, the direct opposite effect of the warm tones.

Blue – Calm, tranquil, peaceful

Green – Healing, vibrant, renewal

Purple – Majestic, mysterious

Consider using cool colors in these spaces:

Small rooms to make them appear larger.
Where peace and tranquility are important, such as a bedroom or bathroom.
A tranquil cool blue might also be perfect in a living room where winding down after a long day is the goal.
For baseboards and trim, whites with a hint of gray work well against cool colored walls.

Ask your home improvement contractors for help with choosing paint.

Home improvement contractors can help you choose the right paint.

Beige, Grays and Whites

If time is running out and you’re still in doubt, go for neutral. For a warm setting, consider beige, or for a cool vibe, choose a light shade of gray. Beige, gray and white each have a large number of hues from which to choose. Your furniture and accessories, such as upholstery fabric, art and rugs, can provide pops of color against your neutral walls. You can decide to go for bolder wall colors at a later time.

Additional Tips

Dominant vs. Accent – You may love the idea of using a Chinese red in your Asian-themed dining room. However, some colors may be too intense for an entire room; consider painting just one “accent” wall or two adjoining walls.
Hardware Choices – If your remodel includes a kitchen or bathroom, the plumbing fixtures, cabinet hardware and light fixtures should complement your wall colors. For example, choose a nickel finish to work with cool colored walls and bronze or gold for warm walls.
Test It Out – Remember lighting will change the wall colors. You may love that shade of yellow in the nursery after the sun goes down and then discover it is too bright in daylight. It’s best to paint at least a two inch patch of color at eye level height and see how the light affects the color during the day and evening, as well as on sunny and overcast days. Light cast from fixtures and lamps will also alter the colors.

Remodelers and builders are familiar with the difficulty homeowners have in committing to wall colors. Colony Home Improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas have more than 40 years of remodeling experience and can advise you on your color choices. Contact us today for a quote on your remodel project from start to finish – with no obligation.

Home Improvement Contractors Can Turn the Attic in Your Ranch Style Home into a Great Living Space

September 24, 20150

Renovate your attic space with the help of home improvement contractors.

Home improvement contractors can help you renovate your attic space.

Ranch style homes are known for being designed on one floor, which can be beneficial for many people. However, this doesn’t mean you are limited in the type of improvements you can make. In fact, home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas can help you create a ranch style home plan that maximizes the use of your space, including transforming your attic into a great living space you can use.

Improve the Entrance

If your home is like many other ranch styles, the entrance into the attic isn’t much more than a hole in the ceiling that may use a ladder to gain access. When your Massachusetts home improvement contractor creates a livable space in your attic, you need a better entrance. A staircase is often the preferred method, but space may be an issue. To maximize your space, your contractor may recommend installing a spiral staircase. This design takes up less space and achieves your goals of getting into the attic more easily.

Reinforce the Flooring

One of the biggest issues relating to the addition of livable space in your attic is the integrity of the floor. To ensure the best results, it’s critical to work with experienced home improvement contractors in Wellesley and the surrounding areas to ensure your safety. They also need to make sure any flooring changes are up to your city’s building codes.

Learn what to expect from your attic space by talking to a home improvement contractor.

Talk to your home improvement contractor about what you can expect from your attic space.

Brighten Up the Room

Once the floor is safe for walking and adding furniture, it’s essential to find ways to brighten up the room. Most ranch style home plans don’t originally include windows in the attic because there is no need. However, if your goal is to spend significant time there, regardless of its use, you need to consider lighting. A lack of windows can mean higher energy bills as you attempt to use lamps and other forms of unnatural light. A dormer can be a great way to bring in some natural light while maximizing space and keeping your costs down.

Uses of the Attic

There are many uses for your new attic addition. In fact, this can be a valuable use of your space without drastically changing the overall layout of your home. For instance, the attic can be the perfect place for an extra bedroom as your family grows. In addition, this area can also make an ideal office, playroom, media room, hobby room or anything else you can imagine. This area of the home is likely to be quiet and can give you a number of advantages.

A ranch style home can offer a number of benefits, including keeping everything on one floor. However, when you’re ready to expand, you can work with a Massachusetts home improvement contractor to create a ranch style home plan that makes use of your attic space.

If you need the help of home improvement contractors in Wellesley or the surrounding areas, contact us. Colony Home Improvement can help you transform your attic into a livable space.

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