Holiday Home Improvement Projects

The run-up to the holiday season is a good time to be taking care of home improvement projects. Friends and family will be dropping by a bit more frequently, so they'll be able to see the fruit of your labors.

Even if your home isn't a major social setting, if you're like most of us, you tend to spend a bit more time indoors in the winter, so you might as well be making the most of your home for the people living in it: you.

Seal the driveway and fix those cracks in the sidewalk

Salt on the roads and frequent temperature changes can break down your entrance ways. Make a good impression on the outside of your home and avoid curious looks from guests thinking "was that crack always there?"

Home theatre area

You've got a big screen television and a great sound system. But what about the stand the TV rests on? How about the decor? You may want to look at custom cabinets or storage for your DVDs and related items. Is the couch your guests will be sitting on looking a bit worn? Upgrade and replace as needed. You may also want to consider mounting your flat screen television on a wall for more effective use of space and a sophisticated look. 

The kitchen: the most used room in the house

When you've got company over for the holidays, even if the main event may be in the living room, people naturally gravitate towards the kitchen for an extra cup of cocoa or a gingerbread cookie from the pantry. Think about new cabinets, solid slab countertops or a coat of paint that brightens up the room can create a welcoming feel. And if you've upgraded your kitchen utilities like your dishwasher, you'll have an easier time after the party is done.

Bathroom fix-ups

New tiles and re-grouting can add a fresh look to your bathroom. Maybe it's also time to add touches like a new mirror, shower curtain or bathroom mat.

Designer fireplace and maintenance

A lot of holiday parties tend to center around the fireplace. Custom fireplaces that double as art installations are becoming more popular. More homes are also including them in other parts of the house besides the living room, such as in the kitchen or master bedroom.

If installation is a bigger job than you were thinking and you've already got a working fireplace, at least get your maintenance done, cleaning it up, checking connections and ventilation and ensuring cracks in the mantle or other areas get sealed properly.

Give yourself a home improvement schedule

You're not going to want to deal with dust and packaging from home improvement projects while your guests are arriving. Give yourself plenty of time to work through your improvements, and don't bit off more than you can chew. Give yourself a realistic list to accomplish and if you can't get it done before New Year's Eve, well, there's always next year.

Kitchen Space and the Organized Homeowner

The war against clutter is not just about keeping objects in your space in line. It's about the emotional pay-off of having a space that is easy to move around in. And no room in your home demonstrates this benefit more than your kitchen.

To explore this, guest writer Jenney Maria is here to present a few ideas on de-cluttering and organizing your kitchen.

Photo: American Cabinet & Flooring | Designer Clay Bernard

The kitchen is the central part of every house, as the whole family gathers here to prepare food, enjoy the meal and to entertain friends. It is also the most frequently used portion of your house which needs to be organized on a daily basis. If you utilize your kitchen space effectively, food preparation and cleaning up becomes very efficient and comfortable. Here are some tips that will help you a lot in organizing your kitchen in an efficient manner.

Kitchen space, the wheat and the chaff

First of all, it is very important to make a list of all the items that you will need in the kitchen. You should only include items that you use on a daily basis and try to avoid any unnecessary items. After preparing the list assess the situation, which is, what you actually have and which items you'll have to purchase. 

Zones and your kitchen

Once you have all the things you need; now you can start organizing your kitchen. Divide your kitchen into different zones, e.g. cooking - eating - and washing. Your kitchen can be organized very easily if you arrange things accordingly. Designate a small area for your family members to sit and eat in the kitchen. A well-organized kitchen will give you a pleasant feeling every time you enter and will make your kitchen tasks quite easy and hassle-free.

The right kitchen tools to have

The next step is to place all the routine tools and appliance near you. You must have an easy access to all these items because while working in the kitchen, you have to perform multiple tasks. You should place your cooking utensils in a storing container so that you can save the drawer space. Make use of the cabinet doors by placing cook books, or other type of reading materials that you require while cooking, inside. 

Kitchen space organization

Finally, it's time to position things. Ensure that you have placed the things that work together near each other. For example pots, pans, whisks, spatulas and also ladles should be placed near the stove; bowls, measuring glasses and appliances should also be in the cooking zone. Small appliances, sharp tools and cleaning chemicals should be carefully placed in secured storage areas so that children are not able to reach them. Hardly used tools and appliances should be placed on the top shelf.

Simplify your life in your kitchen

By following these simple tips you can easily utilize your kitchen space and make your life much easier. Dividing the kitchen area according to your work will help you find whatever you require as it's needed and will save your time and energy. Having a well-organized kitchen could make your task movement smooth, and your time in the kitchen will be more enjoyable and comforting.

The Four Things Home Buyers Really Want in Kitchen Cabinetry

A great kitchen design can dramatically increase your property value - if you want to attract prospective buyers, your kitchen  is the perfect place to invest money. The trick is to get it to appeal to the majority of people by spending your money on what most of them really want.

Kitchen cabinetry can do much to attract the right buyers. There are four key factors to consider:

1. QualityPhoto: American Cabinet & Flooring
2. Symmetry
3. Color
4. Layout

If you can get these key elements right with your cabinetry, you're bound to have a higher home value.

Quality

The number of cabinets you have is not as important as the quality of the cabinetry. The fewer cabinets you add to your kitchen renovation, the less expensive it will be. Choose quality over quantity.

DO: choose quality hinges and runners, including soft-close drawers and custom made cabinetry.

DON'T: go for large fillers and ill-fitted modular cabinetry.

Keep the cost down by keeping the cabinet count down. Design the kitchen layout to keep it light, bright and with an open plan, without using tons of cabinets. 

Note: Excessive internal organizers aren't essential if you are planning on reselling your home. They are wonderful in adding value to your personal use of the kitchen but are not always a wise choice if you are renovating purely to sell. Internal drawer and cabinet fit-outs are often expensive, and the extra money you spend on these accessories may not come back to you when you're selling your property.

Symmetry

The eye is naturally drawn to appreciate symmetry and repetition. When you're renovating to sell, keep your kitchen cabinetry simple and appealing. Elegance has a way of being understated, and simplicity is key when you are trying to appeal to the majority of buyers.

DO: keep the wall cabinetry sizes the same where possible. Drawers look nice when they are large and expansive - if you have multiple sets, keep them the same size, with the same proportion of drawers.

DON'T: add multiple cabinets in varying sizes, try to keep the look and feel consistent in the whole space.

Light, Bright Spaces

Many buyers want an open, light and airy space. A kitchen that is white makes the space feel bigger. White is also a universally appealing color and leaves a blank slate so buyers can re-envision the space.

DO: keep the space open, bright and light with white cabinetry. If you want some contrast, go for a darker bench top. Backsplahes should be kept fairly neutral too - try to introduce texture instead of color into the backsplash. The more neutral and elegant the space is, the more potential buyers you will attract.

DON'T: use darker-color cabinetry which can make the space feel closed. While adding a strong color may suit your taste, it may not be to everybody's liking. You want to attract as many potential buyers as possible, and while white may not be the most daring color for your cabinetry, it's the most popular. 

An Open Layout

Designing your kitchen to have a sensible and open layout is pivotal to increasing property value when you're renovating to sell. The trend is moving toward open-plan living and multifunctional spaces. 

DO: have a large open-plan space with a kitchen island if possible. Buyers often want to multi-task in the kitchen. They want to cook, have their kids do their homework and socialize in it.

DON'T: place your kitchen in a small and poky room, the kitchen is now often the hub of the house and buyers want to see a kitchen that is interactive and sociable.

Reclaim Your Car's Home

The Garage Ranks as one of the most disorganized rooms in the house, according to several highly rated professional organizers across the country. Worthless junk often crowds out the family car. "They're one of the most neglected areas and can get out of hand quickly," says Alexis Rubin, owner of A-rated Funktional Home professional organization service in Littleton, CO. 

She estimates garages make up one quarter of her business, and she charges an average of $500 to $800 to clean and organize them. "Considering that cars are often a family's second most expensive investment, professional help in desiging a garage that can maximize and maintain its function is a good use of money," Rubin says. "Beyond that, a well-designed garage can expand storage for a wide variety of household items."

Professional organizers help homeowners sort, purge, categorize and put items back in a way that makes the most sense to the individual. They will often discard unwanted items, either by donating them to a charity or consignment shop or posting items for sale online. 

Some organizers sell storage products and install them, while others handle the decluttering and bring in help to install cabinets and perform other tasks. "I consider myself project manager of other community experts, such as handymen or women who can assist with hanging," says Melanie Raelin, owner of A-rated Wits End Organizing in Somerville, MA. "I personally set up donation pickups and yard or estate sales to help the person offset the cost."

Photo: Your Great Garage

Highly rated Your Great Garage in St. Petersburg, FL., sells and installs garage-specific solutions. Owner Tony Braswell says costs start at $99 for simple shelving and go up to $5,000 for multiple solutions in a large garage, such as overhead rack systems, epoxy floors and custom workspaces. 

Angie's List member Carol Pressman of New Port Richey, FL., hired Baswell in July to clear out junk, organize her hobby paraphernalia and corral her grandchildren's toys. The job, which took just over two days and cost $2,800, included an epoxy floor coating, overhead racks, wall storage and a customized gardening workbench. "It will make everything I do much more pleasant," she says. "And they took away everything I didn't want - that was a huge selling feature."

Rubin and other organizers stress the importance of developing a system that's easy to maintain. "Clearing out a space and making it look nice is just the beginning," she says. "Organization is about maintenance. We can help change habits and build structures that work for you."

Angie's List member Cathy Flanders of Littleton, CO recently hired Funktional Home for the third time. After tackling the home office and kid's playroom, Flanders wanted to maximize storage space for toys and bicycles and add a mudroom area in her garage. For less than $500, Rubin cleared out unwanted items and added shelving, hooks and bins to store outside toys, garden tools and other supplies. "It doesn't just look pretty - she put in new systems that are easy to keep up," Flanders says. "Our garage was a disaster," Flanders says. "We could only maybe fit one care, if everyone held their breath. Now, we have a workable garage that should last."

Flanders says her favorite part is a brightly painted accent all that Rubin suggested. "It feels like a finished space that's an extension of the house," Flanders says. "It makes me smile".

September 2012 Newsletter

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American Cabinet & Flooring, Inc. - September 2012 - Newsletter      Featured in House Beautiful's 2012 - Kitchen of the Year - Kraftmaid Cabinetry teamed up with Chicago based kitchen designer Mick de Guilio for House Beautiful's 2012 Kitchen of the Year. The 1,000-square-foot kitchen was on display through Friday - July 20, 2012 - at Rockefeller Center in New York City. It represents transitional style and features a Butler's pantry sporting dove white painted Sedona cabinet doors with glass doors and matching interiors. The asymmetrical kitchen includes cabinets of varying heights that incorporate Slate stain contrasted by polished nickel hardware. All of the doors and drawers feature KraftMaid's soft-close Whisper Touch System.  "The Kitchen of the Year showcases the best of kitchen design and inspires homeowners with ideas they can bring into their own home," said Kate Thompson, lead KraftMaid designer on the project. The design did leave many dreaming about bringing the Kitchen of the Year to life in their homes. Well, dream no longer! Thanks to The Suffolk ReStore and KraftMaid one homeowner will have the opportunity to make the Kitchen of the Year cabinetry their own. As Kitchen of the Year came to an end, KraftMaid donated the cabinetry to the ReStore of Suffolk County, NY; which will sell the cabinets and donate the proceeds. The sale of the cabinetry will raise over $24,000 for Habitat for Humanity, giving one lucky individual the kitchen of their dreams and providing support to families in need. American Cabinet & Flooring is a proud carrier of KraftMaid Cabinetry. Come visit our design center and meet with one of our talented Design Specialists to get your remodel project started today!   Nine Whimsical Touches to Wake Up the Garden As the August heat started to wilt everything outdoors, ask yourself how you feel about this season's garden. Do you love every inch of it, or does all of that dead headed, pruned perfection leave you wanting more? It's time to have some fun in the garden, and this is the perfect time to start playing around and planning for next year. September is a great time to plant new trees, shrubs, and fall bulbs, and as everything starts to wither on the vine, you can spend your time painting the shed, building window boxes, adding trellises, bringing in a statue, changing up the plan, putting out birdseed in funky feeders and scooping up outdoor furniture and decor on clearance. Here are nine fun elements that will get your gardening mojo flowing again.  Vertical Delights: today's vertical gardens can take on all sorts of graphic designs. You can even create a sign, a painterly composition or spell out a monogram with plants on the wall. Cutouts: heart shapes entice visitors to pass through your garden doors. Unexpected Color Sneak a Design into the Plan View Wall Planters: classical statuary plantings with Medusa-like 'dos made of succulents bring a giggle to a fence or wall. Birdhouse Villages: the only thing more fun than a single birdhouse is a swinging singles birdhouse community. Embellish the Shed: you can go over the top with a shed in a way you can't on the main house. Have some fun with color and accents such as barn stars, window boxes, trellises and climbing vines. Surprising Scale: oversize items become eye-catchers when placed strategically in the garden. Kooky Statues: place a statue in a spot where people will delight in stumbling across it. We want to hear from you! We value feedback from our customers and want to hear how we did on your project. You can easily submit a review as well as see what others are saying about American Cabinet & Flooring by clicking on the following links: Angie's List Facebook Google Local CitySearch Yahoo Local Yellow Pages DexKnows Houzz Forward to a Friend GE Capital Fast. Smart. Simple. Quick Credit Decisions Simple & fast application process Low minimum monthly payments Come in & see a Sales Associate for program details and apply today! To subscribe to our monthly newsletter click here.