Handcrafted Doors • Custom Kitchens • Remodeling Tips • Home Decor S u b s c r i b e t o p r i n t o r d i g i t a l b y v i s i t i n g w w w.l a ke a n d h o m e m a g o n l i n e.c o m
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INTERIOR DESIGN
Written by Angie Layton
So, you are thinking about tackling a remodel project, but you don’t even know where to start?
space. Now the door has been opened, the seal has been broken, and the wheels begin to turn. And thus starts the beginning of your remodel project.
We all have been there. It always seems to start very innocently. Perhaps you’re sitting on the couch with your loved ones and someone makes a comment about something they hate or would like to change about a particular
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LAKE AND HOME MAGAZINE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017
The next thing you know, you are spending nights online searching for ideas and color schemes, followed by weekends in showrooms and box stores. If this sounds anything like you, we here to help! Today we are going to explain the ins and outs
of a remodel project. Here are the tips and tricks to hopefully help you along your journey. Remodeling projects can vary in all sorts of different shapes and sizes and most importantly, budgets. Don’t ever feel like something is out of reach or that you have to put something off because you can’t afford it. At the very least, you just need a little creativity paired with your own blood,
sweat, and tears. Just like with anything else you devote your time and energy to, you come out of it with a huge sense of gratification and hopefully an updated space that you love more than ever! The featured project happens to be a large kitchen remodel, turned main level remodel (more about that in a minute). This project began with the homeowner feeling their kitchen was functional, but
very enclosed and small. They wanted to remove a couple of walls and searched for new ideas on how to open it up. The first thing for a designer to do is to see the space first hand, do a measure of existing walls, and just try to have an honest conversation with the owner on what the ultimate goals may be (obviously including budget).
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Before
While looking at any space, try to figure out bearing walls or see other obstructions that might cause areas of pause. Bearing walls are structurally needed to support upper levels and/or roof trusses. Find out if these walls can be removed or if you need to work around them. Another item often seen in remodeling projects of older homes is old brick chimney stacks. You may not even realize they are there because they have been covered in the same wall finish as
the rest of the house, but a quick trip to a basement and/or mechanical room will tell you what you are working with. Removing full chimney stacks can be time consuming and costly. Sometimes they are still being utilized for venting of other mechanical equipment, which means the stack will probably remain. Either way, these things, along with any mechanical or electrical locations, can drastically change the path of a remodel. In this particular remodel, the owner had vaulted ceilings and knew the walls were
3-D R endering
in no way bearing, so everything was fair game for removal! But always keep in mind, with removal of any walls means the ceiling will need to be addressed once that wall is gone. Patching existing ceilings is hard to do without redoing whole sections. Always beware of what effects an action will have, because EVERY action has a reaction when it comes to remodeling! After an initial jobsite meeting, the designer will usually go back to the office to create different options based on all conversations with the owner. At this point, there may be multiple options created. One may be less invasive, which hopefully makes it more cost effective. The other plans are usually the ultimate dream space. Where it ends up is usually someplace in the middle depending on timeframes, budgets, and ideas presented to the owner.
For this project, the homeowner is acting as his own general contractor. Is that really a good idea? Sometimes. If you have done a large project in the past and have a general idea of how things work, then this might work out well. If you are able to manage the order of how things must be done, then yes, you can probably get away without a general contractor. The larger the project, the less likely a homeowner can tackle it on their own... at least without added stress and frustration. More times than not, when people try to be their own general contractor of a
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project by themselves, it usually ends up costing them more money in the end. With this project, the owner knew who he was going to use and knew the processes needed to complete the job. This owner did the leg work to get other subcontractors out to his site and get their bids, which allowed him to come up with an overall project budget. Which brings us to the aforementioned dreaded ‘B’ word… If only we all had unlimited budgets! Unfortunately, that is not reality. The reality is that we need to stay somewhat within
LAKE AND HOME MAGAZINE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2017
our means. You need to have an honest conversation with your loved ones and yourself. Don’t push the limits to the point that you regret your final project in the end. There is no point in dishing out tons of money to only end up with resentments. So be realistic and give yourself a cushion, especially on a remodel. You might tear out a sink base and find out your plumbing had a small leak and now your drywall and insulation needs to be replaced. Or in the case of our featured remodel, you might find out that moving kitchen electrical switches meant
that you need new “kitchen breakers” to stay up with code. Of course, that meant more money spent in order to do it correctly. The bottom line is to be aware of certain scenarios and don’t be afraid to ask questions of subcontractors when you are walking through your project. Get educated on worst-case scenarios but don’t be intimidated by them. Intimidation will only lead to fear, stress, and feelings of being overwhelmed. Just be very aware of what may happen so you’re not so taken off guard when it actually does happen.
Work In-Progress
Another element frequently forgotten in this line of business is cabinet hardware. Just like window treatments, they can cost more than you imagined and will add up fast. However, they help make everything look complete and finished beautifully. But we all do it. Prior to purchasing, you look around and find cabinet hardware for five dollars each and think to yourself “that’s cheap, I will just worry about that later.” Well, you take that per piece price and multiply it by a quantity of 50 plus tax. Suddenly, it becomes one of those jaw dropping moments. That feeling where you wonder if you can just forgo
them altogether to save the money. Or maybe you purchase something you don’t like with the hopes of changing it out later (which is another thing we all know will never happen). Again, the little things add up and seem to come out of nowhere, so be sure to give yourself room to adjust and not be stuck within certain limitations. As for the featured project, the owner had a really good idea of what he wanted and did a great job of planning for it. However, the kitchen remodel did lead to other items being updated out of necessity in his mind. For example, the surrounding
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millwork went from a stained wood that looked great with his previous kitchen to him painting it all white (complimenting his new kitchen look). A big item that absolutely needed addressing was the flooring and ceiling. With the layout being completely changed with the removal of walls, plus an unused entry closet, he knew he had two options: Fix the existing floors and ceiling somehow and hope it all works out, or do something new. The owner chose to go with all new flooring and had his ceiling patched, textured, and the whole ceiling repainted. But the changes didn’t stop there. The existing half wall leading down to the lower level was removed, so new railing was figured and installed. New interior doors and door hardware was installed. The wall color changed to a fresher, updated tone.
As you can see, in remodels, it’s hard to draw a line of where to start and stop. Be prepared to really go all in if you can. If you can’t, then be prepared for other things that never bothered you before to start bothering you after. It’s amazing how a regular oak interior door looked completely fine before the remodel but after, it all of a sudden looks old and dated.
Do your homework, ask professionals you trust to help you and provide you with the services you need. Also, try to always be respectful of your budget. If you can follow a few of these steps, hopefully you can save yourself extra blood, sweat, and tears and make it a fun project from start to finish, resulting in something you can forever be proud of because you did it right the first time. ~L&H
The bottom line is that it’s much too easy to get excited at the idea of something new, and just start a project without doing your due diligence and research. Unfortunately, that’s how projects end up half-finished, items get added to honeydo lists, and home life starts to seem like such a chore compared to when you were blissfully sitting on the couch, watching a favorite program, and daydreaming about how wonderful changing certain items of your house would be.
Completed R emodel
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