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8 Little Remodeling Touches That Make a Big Difference

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When we did our remodel, our contractor suggested a thousand things I had never really thought about. They weren’t necessarily design considerations; they were more quality-of-life considerations — just little things you didn’t know you were missing until you had them. 

Here are eight little touches I didn’t know I couldn’t live without until I lived with them. What are yours?

1. A built-in dish soap dispenser. Because I don’t care how nice the bottle is; it’s just one more thing cluttering up your countertop.

2. Soft-close hinges. It is impossible to slam a drawer or cabinet in my kitchen. Each closes with a small whisper. It’s calming somehow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Large kitchen drawers. Looking down into a well-lit space is much better than looking deep into a dark cabinet. In this kitchen large drawers have completely replaced cabinets. Just make sure they are all soft close.

4. Undercabinet lighting. I know this seems like no-brainer, but before I had it I never knew how useful it could be for task lighting and mood lighting. But spring for LEDs. We opted for fluorescent to save money, and we regret it.

5. Dimmer switches. Because there are a thousand stops between on and off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. A garage keypad. You will never be locked out of your house again.

7. A motion-activated porch light. You will never fumble in the dark for your keys again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. An automatic drip system. People told us, they did. But we didn’t listen, and because of that we killed a lot of plants over 12 years. Last year we finally had an irrigation system put in. The yard is nicer, the plants are healthier and life is easier.

To-Dos: Your October Home Checklist

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With the air turning crisp, leaves falling and farmer’s markets overflowing with squash, gourds, apples and potatoes, October is a time to celebrate the harvest — and button up the home and garden for the winter ahead. From raking leaves to sharpening knives, see which of these 13 to-dos make your list this month.

1. Rake leaves. Clearing away leaves from lawns is hard work, so be sure to choose a rake that feels good to you. Plastic rakes don’t last as long, but they are lightweight — which helps if you get fatigued easily (or have a lot of leaves to contend with). Instead of bagging all of the leaves you collect, try chopping some with your mower and using them as mulch in flower beds, or add them to a compost pile.

2. Clean gutters and downspouts. Schedule rain-gutter cleaning for after most of the leaves have fallen. Inspect gutters and downspouts for cracks and loose parts, and make repairs as needed.

3. Put up storm windows and doors. If you use storm windows or doors and haven’t put them up yet, now is the time.

4. Decorate outdoor spaces. Fall flowers, pumpkins and gourds are versatile enough to work throughout the season. If you enjoy decorating for Halloween, get out that frightful decor.

5. Shut off exterior faucets and store hoses for winter. Disconnect, drain and roll hoses before storing them indoors for the winter. Shut off the water supply to exterior faucets to prevent frozen pipes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Sharpen knives. The holidays are around the corner — be sure your knives are ready to take on all of that cooking by having them professionally sharpened now.

7. Launder and iron holiday linens. Get ahead of the holiday crunch and prep your linens — roll up the freshly laundered and ironed linens on old wrapping paper tubes to prevent wrinkles.

8. Decorate with layers of warmth. Get toasty indoors with cozy throws, thicker curtains and soft rugs. If you haven’t done so yet, swap out your bedding for thicker blankets and fluffy duvets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Check safety devices. Test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house, and replace batteries as needed. Check the expiration date on the kitchen fire extinguisher and replace it if needed.

10. Swap seasonal clothes. Depending on where you live, September can be a fickle month — but now that October has arrived, it’s time to settle into more predictable fall weather. Gather up stray sandals and lightweight clothing that you don’t plan to wear again until spring, and pack it away. Also look over your fall and winter clothes, and note anything you will need to replace this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Start an art wall for all of those school projects. Corral those stacks of paper coming home from school with a dedicated space for display. A large bulletin board or magnet board makes hanging art and papers easy. Or you could try art wire with bulldog clips, or simply tape art to the wall with colorful masking tape.

12. Start planning or making holiday gifts. I know it seems like the holidays are still a long way off, but that’s exactly why it’s smart to start thinking about gifts now. Especially if you have hopes of making anything by hand! At the very least, start a gift list that you can add to as you think up ideas.

13. Savor your favorite fall traditions. Is there a local harvest festival you’d love to attend, a favorite pumpkin patch or apple orchard to visit? Mark some dates on your calendar so you don’t miss out.

Your Guide to a Smooth-Running Construction Project

Construction and craft tools

Imagine walking into your newly built or remodeled home and seeing it exactly as you had imagined it at the start of construction: the windows are all in the right places, the flooring is the right color, and the kitchen cabinets are a perfect fit.

Now allow me to pinch you on the arm, because for most people, reality is often different from that idyllic scenario. You might see missing trim around the bedroom doors or wonder why that small change in the kitchen cost so much. Looking back, you might ask, “And why did we have to hire another subcontractor to finish the bathroom?” 

Of course, there are things you just can’t plan for, but there’s plenty that you can. Costly changes and additional time-consuming work can be kept to a minimum if you fully understand what you are building before you start. By understanding the construction process, being part of the team and keeping a firm grip on the budget, your construction project can result in the home of your dreams. 

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What to Know About Budgeting for Your Home Remodel

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The budget conversation — it’s sometimes awkward, often slightly uncomfortable and usually comes with a bit of anxiety. Because of the nature of construction, things often cost more than what homeowners think. There are endless debates on why that is, but the result is that we designers often have conversations with clients that end with an awkward silence. The silence usually means that certain aspects of their project might be out of their reach. And truth be told, we really don’t like being the messenger in these conversations. We want our clients to be satisfied with the process and get what they really want. 

But the flip side of that conversation is that budget constraints can make a project better. Just hear me out. What we find is that financial considerations make our team and clients focus on what’s really important. That pressure helps edit down the myriad choices and allows a more coherent story to emerge. And it all comes back to sticking to that budget. Here’s how.

Establish Your Budget Early

We have been in situations where clients have not told us their budget until we have completed some of the initial phases of work. This, no surprise, can slow down the process. It’s like going to a personal trainer but not telling them how much weight you can lift, and so you spend time trying a few exercises to figure out what the proper weights are. 

There are situations where homeowners generally don’t know what a new custom home or addition will cost, but a key part of the process is considering how much you would be comfortable spending on the project. Obviously spending $50,000 will produce a dramatically different result than if you spent $500,000. And what you spend will be influenced by a wide variety of factors, including neighborhood, type of project and level of finishes.

Without knowing a budget range, we could get through the first few meetings with clients and then give them a rough ballpark figure, which is sometimes double or triple what they thought it would be.

Don’t try to second-guess your design team by holding your cards close to your chest. Help us work with you to get the most value for your hard-earned dollars. Most designers don’t look for opportunities to waste money just for the sake of it. Sure we all want a great project at the end of the process, but we also want to make sure our clients are happy. So establishing your budget early in the process will be helpful to your team, as it will give them one of the key ingredients that will go into making a design you can live with.

Ensure Your Budget Is Realistic

It’s easy to look at TV shows and get the wrong idea about what things cost. In most cases those budgets are not realistic for a bunch of reasons, most of which revolve around how suppliers and trades price their services to be included on the show. There is an old project management saying that goes, “Price, speed, quality — pick any two.” 

It’s not totally untrue, and it underscores that there are no easy trade-offs in a construction project. It would be problematic for me to suggest pricing in this article, as it varies substantially based on a number of factors, including location, number of trades in the area, level of finish, complexity of construction etc. 

The budget number that most clients care about is the “all-in” number. That includes everything they will write a check for including moving expenses, fees and construction. (More about that later.) 

Your design team can help you get a sense of what a realistic budget might be for your project; you can also ask friends who have done projects in the recent past, or check the Houzz Real Cost Finder. 

Pricing tip: Pricing can change substantially in certain areas over as little as a few years, so be sure that the projects were completed recently for the best idea of pricing.

After you create your budget, subtract 20 percent. Construction being what it is, there are always situations that arise that will increase the cost, and those are hard to foresee at the beginning of construction. It’s a very complicated process involving many people and a lot of communication, so there usually are things that happen that will eat into that 20 percent contingency. The contingency should not be used for upgrades to counters or splashy fixtures. 

On a recent project, our clients had to spend thousands of dollars to get their utilities hooked up again, as the electrical feed from the street was torn up by mistake. On top of that, since the utility’s own drawings said that the feed still existed, there was a three-month delay on top of the reconnection order so that the utility could update its drawings. Even though this these will never be seen, they were absolutely critical and had to be completed before construction could be completed. 

Keeping a 20 percent contingency allows our clients to end up spending what they thought they would spend initially, and they can sleep at night.

Understand What You’re Paying For

Hard costs, fees, furniture — what is in the contract? Your design team will also help you understand what is in those budget numbers. Hard costs include the costs of the construction materials and fixtures required to actually build the structure. Soft costs generally include fees for permits, consultants and designers.

It’s important to establish what your team is referring to in conversation to make sure everyone is on the same page about budget numbers. For example, construction is often expressed in dollars per square foot to give a rough guide during planning. Generally this does not include appliances or soft costs. So it’s important to know that if your contractor says your new house can be built for $750,000, there are soft costs likely not covered in that estimate. Work with your design team to understand the costs and how they relate to a schedule, and how there are items you might not have thought about, to get an overall sense of what is required.

What if You Run Out of Money?

We have had this conversation with clients on more than one occasion, and truly it’s not easy for either the clients or us. It’s frustrating to hear how something that you’ve been planning for is out of your reach. 

There may be opportunities to reduce costs by changing the scope of the project. For example, instead of fully constructing a basement bathroom in a new house, you might just rough in the plumbing so it could be finished at a later date. Or it could be possible to reduce the cost of fixtures and finishes such as flooring or faucets.

During a recent conversation with clients, we recommended that they wait before starting the project so they could gather more resources before proceeding. In the discussion we realized that it wouldn’t be possible to “de-scope” or redesign the project to fit their needs, so the best course of action was to delay. Was this difficult for all involved? Absolutely, but we felt strongly that starting a project that didn’t address their needs wouldn’t serve their overall best interests.

Whenever you are dealing with money, there is the potential for some uncomfortable conversations. But if you understand what you are dealing with early in the process, those conversations will be less stressful than if you’re standing in the middle of a half-completed project in the middle of winter wondering where all your hard-earned money has gone.

Choosing New Cabinets? Here’s What to Know Before You Shop

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With all the options available, choosing cabinets for your kitchen or bath can be an overwhelming experience. Aesthetics aside, there are lots of factors that might not be readily apparent that will impact the cabinet’s performance and price. Understanding those factors will give you an advantage in making your selection.

There are three basic structural components to a cabinet: the box, the shelves and the drawers. Each can be constructed in a number of ways. Cabinets generally come four ways: boxed and ready to install in standard dimensions, boxed and ready to assemble, semicustom and custom.

To get a better understanding of the way cabinets are made, I visited two manufacturers: Canyon Creek Cabinet Company in Monroe, Washington, which makes semicustom units, and O.B. Williams Company in Seattle, a 125-year-old woodworking shop that builds custom cabinets. 

Boxes 

They look just like they sound: rectangular and ready to be filled up with shelving and drawers. Boxes are typically built in one of three ways: with plywood, particleboard or MDF (medium-density fiberboard) and a base that is later covered with a finish piece called a toe kick. There are pros and cons to each of these materials. 

When plywood is used, it’s typically ¾ inch thick and has a maple or birch veneer. Plywood is made from layers of wood laminated together, and has the benefit of being a fairly stable material that performs well over time and in areas with higher humidity and the chance of contact with water. The panels can be glued, nailed or screwed together, and are usually installed (as is the case with most cabinets) by screwing them into the wall. Plywood’s main downside is that it is relatively expensive.

 

 

Particleboard’s draw is its low price. Made from pressed bits of wood bound together with adhesives, particleboard can be covered with a veneer of wood or melamine, or a paper veneer printed to look like wood. The interior can be white or a wood tone. 

The downside to particleboard is that it can be sensitive to moisture and is more prone to coming apart at stress points — where hardware is screwed in, for instance. Ask about how the veneer will hold up with small amounts of water (glasses not completely dried, for instance) or something more serious, like a spill that sits for a while. 

Some cabinet manufacturers, like Canyon Creek, regularly have the particleboard they use tested for performance, so ask if there are different grades of material from which to select, and what you can expect in terms of durability. 

 

MDF is also less expensive than plywood; it has a more uniform surface than particleboard. MDF is often used for paint-grade panels, rather than thinly milled solid wood, because it’s such an easily paintable material. 

Manufacturers of semicustom and mass-market cabinets tend to have better/best or good/better/best options for their cabinet boxes, which may consist of one or a combination of all three materials. Custom shops tend to stick with plywood and MDF, or just plywood, for construction, because of its strength and performance. 

On boxes that will have European-style doors and drawers (where the doors and drawers completely cover the box — also known as full overlay), making sure the box is completely square is essential. That can be accomplished with a clamping system, or in a custom shop by using individual clamps. This ensures that when the fasteners are installed, the box will be perfectly square.

 

 

Drawers and Shelves
 
Drawers and shelves are also made from particleboard, MDF or plywood, and can be assembled in a number of ways. The most common and least expensive method of drawer construction is gluing and pinning (stapling) the ends together. 

 

A step up in cost and longevity is dovetailconstruction: Small pieces on the ends are routed out to key into one another, making a connection that is very difficult to dislodge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sides of the drawers are usually made from ½ inch of material with a bottom panel that’s ¼ inch thick. This is another place construction can vary, with thinner or thicker materials all the way around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can make a decision about drawers based on performance or aesthetics. Ask to see different drawer construction options so you know what you will see when you open them — on the tops and inside — and how they will look when they are extended. 

What you see has a lot to do with how the cabinets are edge banded. More on that in another installment in this series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelves can be installed fixed, or they can be adjustable, with pegs that fit into rows of holes on each side of the cabinet. While shelves are typically made from the same material or wood species as the rest of the cabinet box, an exception would be if the cabinet has a glass front or the shelves themselves are glass. When the interior of the cabinet is visible, making the shelves and box interior the same wood species as the face, or painting it the same color, is a common practice.

 

One more note on the drawers and boxes: Larger-production cabinetmakers tend to build their drawers and boxes at the same facility where all of the cabinets are assembled. Some smaller shops, including many custom cabinetmakers, send out their boxes and drawers to be built by a company that specializes in this. The box and drawer companies can build them relatively inexpensively, leaving the custom shop to focus on the parts of the cabinets that make them truly custom — the doors and drawer faces, and the millwork that finishes out the cabinets. 

Indoor Air Quality 


One final thing to think about is how the materials are made — and particularly whether they include urea-added formaldehyde, a substance known to have an impact on human health. Many manufacturers have removed urea-added formaldehyde from their manufacturing process, making the cabinets NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) compliant. However, there is still the possibility of the material’s containing other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that will off-gas over time. And formaldehyde is a naturally occurring compound, so there may still be traces of it. 

California has been a national leader in air-quality initiatives, so you may see a mention of the materials in your cabinet being CARB Phase 2 compliant. CARB is the California Air Resources Board, which has created requirements to limit VOCs in cabinets, furniture and other materials used in homes. The requirements focus specifically on plywood, particleboard and MDF. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working on nationwide requirements based on CARB’s standards that may go into effect as early as 2014. 

There are a number of claims made and opinions offered about the relative “greenness” of plywood and particleboard, and not all are manufactured in the same way. If this is an important consideration for you, you might need to do some extended research. It also means you’ll need to ask detailed questions when pricing different cabinets, to understand how they are made and with which materials. 

Bottom line: Cabinet prices are wide ranging and directly correlate to materials and construction methods. Expect a basic unit to include particleboard, melamine and stapled drawers, and everything else to be an upcharge.

Considering a New Kitchen Gadget? Read This First

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I’ll admit it: I have an expensive juicer that’s still in its box in my kitchen cabinet. It’s been there for months and cost close to $400. (We paid for it using wedding gift cards.) It’s our fourth one. But that’s because the other three (all the same model) failed within days. By the time we got a different brand and model, my wife and I had lost interest in the constant upkeep and chopping of an entire garden and orchard to get only one glass of juice for each of us. 

Of course, I’ve suggested we return the juicer in exchange for something (or many somethings) that we’ll actually use, but my wife refuses to hear it. She plans to use it next week. She promises.  

Traditional Kitchen by Gulfport Kitchen & Bath Designers Sunbelt Lighting – Appliance and Design Center 

In the same cabinet, we have a large Crock Pot that we never use, another juicer we bought at a garage sale (never use) and some electric chopper thing, also still in its box. If only I had thought about my actual cooking habits rather than give in to a fantasy about what my life might be like if only I had the right gadget, I would have saved a lot of space and money. 

In a recent Houzz discussion about the worst home gadget, users pretty much echoed my dilemma. Popcorn makers, ice cream makers, waffle makers, rice makers (think before buying something with the word “maker” in it, by the way) — they all get used once and end up collecting dust in a cabinet. 

So I decided to put together some questions we can all ask ourselves the next time we have the impulse to buy yet another bulky, complex, promises-to-make-my-life-easier home gadget. You might find that a good sharp knife and rearranging your busy schedule to allow just a little more prep time in the kitchen are all you need.

 

Can you use your hands? Cooking is a hands-on process, and that’s the way it should be. For most of us, it’s relaxing and therapeutic. There’s a subtle joy in chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients and working with your hands and simple tools. Once you take that out of the equation and surrender that control to a hulking, electric, ear-splitting gadget, you’ve relinquished the soul that goes into making good food. 


And face it: You’re not ever likely to cook a meal for a hundred on a Friday night. That means you probably won’t get much use out of large appliances and gadgets meant to do a simple task at a high volume.  

Do you have space? If you’ve got the space — and money and need — to store every new gadget on the market, then by all means, have at it. But the majority of homeowners are very tight on space in the kitchen. 

So before you buy, survey your cabinet space and take measurements. Where will the gadget or appliance go? If you have space only up high, how will you reach it? Will you need a step stool or ladder? And how heavy is the appliance? Do you have dishwasher space to accommodate the parts? A large enough sink to wash the machine in? The disruption this new gadget will cause in your life might just outweigh the perceived benefits. 

Do you have time? A big complaint with appliances is that they take a long time to clean. Most of them can’t go in the dishwasher, and even if some parts do, it takes time to disassemble the appliance, wipe it down and reassemble it. 

Also, have you ever made your own pasta? It takes a long time. So maybe a pasta maker is not something you need on a regular basis. 

 

What can you use it for? Avoid appliances or gadgets that offer to do one simple task just a little bit better: a garlic peeler, a lemon zester etc. Most of the time, you’ll find that a good kitchen knife will do the trick; plus it’s easier to clean and more empowering. 

Also avoid gadgets that promise to do too many things. A multiuse gadget will likely do 10 tasks poorly, while 10 solid hand tools will perform great.

 

Traditional Kitchen by Ijamsville Kitchen & Bath Designers The Washington Kitchen Gallery 

What will you use it for? If you made a pureed soup one time last year and thought maybe a handheld blender would make your life easier, maybe you should reconsider. Having a gadget that you take out only once or twice a year isn’t very efficient. Similarly, you probably don’t need a stand mixer if you bake only every so often.  

Spend the money elsewhere. I can’t express strongly enough how important and useful a good set of kitchen knives is. One sharp knife can do the work of all those Slap Chops and multipart dicers. Plus, there will be less to clean up. And nothing beats a sturdy, handheld can opener. 

Sleep on it. Never give in to a late-night infomercial or cooking demonstration on the spot. With any investment — no matter what the cost — give yourself time to really think about how important the gadget will be to you. Ask yourself the aforementioned questions first.

Construction Timelines: What to Know Before You Build

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One of the first questions we get when talking to clients about a new custom home or remodel is, “How much will it cost?” This is usually quickly followed by the second question, “How long will it take?” The answer to both is, “It depends.” 

While we don’t want to be evasive, there are many variables that have to be factored in before we can adequately assess the time and cost of a project. One thing that most homeowners don’t see initially is that for a properly planned and designed project, the design and construction phases can last roughly the same amount of time.

As I’ve written about previously, the design process can take up to six to eight months for a new custom build (including determining the client’s needs, designing to those needs and deciding how to best to build the project). And it could take longer if there are complications such as other approvals or if someone objects to your project. This time is not spent just daydreaming and staring out the window — your team is working to understand the design and construction to smooth out potential issues in your timeline. 

Be realistic. It’s often difficult for homeowners to know what’s realistic for each phase of the construction process. For instance, one week to construct a kitchen is not realistic due to the number of services and trades involved — installers, plumbers, tile contractors. It would be foolhardy to think that everything could be done to satisfaction in such a short time. 

What’s also confusing is that timelines for suburban developments can be wildly different from a single luxury custom home. We have had clients ask us why a custom home costs more per square foot and takes longer that a tract home. The reason is that developers have crews that move from house to house and are dedicated to that development. This means that for all intents and purposes, they finish their work on one house and move on to the next. 

On a custom house, your framers might be a week late showing up (because their last job ran late), and then the next trade in line is thrown off as well. You can see how this can cause a domino effect on your project. Most contractors can’t wait around until the exact time they are needed on a site — they have to keep their crews busy, or they don’t get paid. So they tend to overbook rather than underbook to make sure they have enough work to keep them busy. 

Often one trade cannot begin work until another is finished. There is time associated with mobilization and demobilization of each trade, and often one of the trades cannot be onsite the exact day or even within a week of when you need it. So often there is downtime that needs to be accounted for. When planning, it is important not to try to plan schedules too tightly, as they rarely work out that way.

Understand the timeline and the implications of what is written. Do you know what demolition entails? The mess? The noise? Words on a spreadsheet can seem awfully abstract when you are looking at them in your living room, but they can mean a whole different thing when one wall of your kitchen is blown out in the middle of a March storm. It might mean that you want to consider moving out while some of the more disruptive work is completed. Your design team should be helping determine this as part of their work. If you don’t understand what specific items mean, clarify them with your team. 

Also, plan for construction to take place when it will best for the project and affect your family the least. One of our clients learned the hard way after he insisted on starting a project just as winter set in. The contractors were only able to pour the footings, and then a cold snap set in, which held up the project for six weeks. The lesson here is to understand what potential delays could crop up that could derail your project timeline. 

What is in the timeline? Your timeline should be specific enough to include a level of detail that helps you and your team understand the logical flow of activities, so you can follow the logical steps that should happen in sequence. It is typical to require the contractor, as part of the contract, to prepare a comprehensive schedule for all work and phases from start to finish and present it at the beginning of the project. This schedule is then reviewed at a start-up meeting, at which the client, architect, contractor and major consultants who might have a stake are present. 

Get a sense of what could affect the timeline. There’s a rule of thumb for construction used by contractors and designers: “It will always take longer than you think.” There are a number of factors that conspire against the pristine order of a freshly minted timeline document: complexity, weather, number of construction workers, permits and inspections, back orders and delays for materials, equipment or fixtures. Make sure you or your team members are aware of products that have a long lead time. These could include materials, equipment or products that are not warehoused locally, such as custom-fabricated furniture, light fixtures or imported tile. 

There are also municipal approvals to consider. A municipal building inspector has to come to the site during construction to check that what is being built corresponds with the drawings. It is the contractor who coordinates these inspections, and who needs to plan for them so work doesn’t stop while everyone waits for an inspection to happen. 

If the inspector feels there is a gap between what has been documented in the drawings and what is being built, he or she can request more information from the team. This is to understand that the changes from what is documented in the drawings will still satisfy the building code. Or worse, the inspector can place a stop-work order, which effectively shuts down the project. And that can put your timeline on life support. But with proper project oversight from your design team, your project should be able to move along smoothly. 

Final details. For some reason the final details on a project often take a lot longer that you might think. The reasons are that they often require very precise work that takes time to get right. Things like installing trim or custom millwork can wreak havoc on a schedule. 

On a recent project, we specified a custom millwork piece for all the bathrooms. The challenge was that it required coordinating three separate trades: the millworker who built the cabinets, the countertop contractor who fabricated the quartz and the stainless steel fabricator who made the custom sink. While the owner is thrilled with how it looks, it did take some time to get everyone involved on the same page. 

One thing to keep in mind is that at the end of the project, most of the budget has been spent and many of the tradespeople have made the majority of their money. This is where holdbacks come in. A holdback keeps a certain percentage of the contract amount set aside until a set number of days after completion. Tradespeople want to see their work completed and will finish up what needs to be done. But in some cases, it is important to not only judge the amount of work done when a contractor applies to be paid but also how much work is left, and can the remaining funds motivate them to finish. It is not unheard of for a designer to return a contractor’s application for payment and insist that certain details are done first before the requested amount is paid out. 

Just as there is not one piece of art that everyone agrees is perfect, there is no construction timeline that fits all projects. But by working with your team, you can understand the components that go into your timeline. And that can help avoid timeline trauma during construction.

February Checklist for a Smooth-Running Home

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February means the thick of snow and cold across most of the country — but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream of spring. Spruce up your home this month by giving your bedroom a feng shui makeover in honor of Valentine’s Day, plus take stock of cleaning supplies, keep road salt out of the house and refresh walls with paint (and maybe some new art, too). These 10 to-dos can help you keep your home in top shape, even if the weather outside is still frightful. 

1. Tune up the bedroom with feng shui. With Valentine’s Day this month, it seems like a good time to spruce up the bedroom. If you are in the market for new bedding, consider shades of pink and red to encourage romance. Rotating your mattress regularly will help prevent it from developing hills and valleys, which in feng shui can be seen as separating partners in the bed. While you’re moving mattresses around, have a peek underneath the bed — what’s hiding down there? In feng shui a clean area beneath the bed is best for relationships, so be sure to vacuum up dust bunnies and deal with hidden clutter. 

2. Fluff pillows and duvets. Duvets and pillows looking flat? That’s because over time, air is pressed out of them, and the filling (whether down or synthetic) can shift and clump.

Some synthetic-filled pillows and duvets can be machine washed (check the labels for instructions), and even down-filled items can be fluffed up in a dryer on a no-heat setting. Toss a few tennis balls into the dryer with your duvet to help it regain maximum fluffiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Clean up road salt from entrances. If the winters are chilly where you live, you know how grimy road salt and melted snow can leave your floors, especially in high-traffic areas. After giving these areas a thorough cleaning, stow your supplies nearby so it’s easy to sweep floors regularly.

4. Clean seat cushion covers. Like floors, entryway seat cushions can take a beating at this time of year. Take off removable covers and launder them; spot clean upholstery. 

5. Tidy and restock cleaning supplies. Get prepped for spring cleaning by sorting out your cleaning supplies. Toss products you tried that didn’t work and fill in gaps with fresh cleaning supplies and tools. Look over your dish towels, mop heads and microfiber cleaning rags, and replace them as needed. 

6. Rotate art and touch up walls. Give your home a winter wake-up call by swapping out a few pieces of artwork, patching dings in the walls and touching up paint. 

Make rearranging your collection easier in the future by installing a few narrow shelves around the house, like the one shown here.

 

7. Recycle e-waste. Old tech devices, CFL bulbs, ink and toner cartridges, and batteries contain dangerous toxins and cannot be tossed in with your other garbage or recycling. Store up your e-waste in one place and take it to a recycling center that accepts these items. Some office supply stores, like Staples, have free e-waste recycling programs — just drop everything off at your local store, and you’re done. 

8. Change furnace filters. A clean furnace filter will help your heating system work more efficiently and trap more dust and allergens. Most high-efficiency filters should be changed every three months — but it helps to inspect them every month, just to be sure.

9. Spruce up your favorite reading nook. This is a good time to get cozy with a book. Spruce up your reading corner with a warm throw, a soft rug and a comfy ottoman to put your feet on. And if you find yourself stuck in the house on a snowy afternoon, why not spend it organizing your books?

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Book a summer rental … and consider renting your home out, too. Seem a little early to be thinking about summer vacations? Not if you want to book a cottage — highly coveted locations arebooked months in advance. 

And if you want to offset the costs of your trip this year, consider listing your home as a rental or look into doing a house swap to stay somewhere for free.

How to Make Your Garage a Storage Powerhouse

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Garages often turn into repositories for everything from sports equipment to holiday decorations. But with planning you can turn your garage into a harmonious space with room to actually — wait for it — park the car. 

Why: “The garage is definitely the most underutilized space in the house,” says Amanda Le Blanc, a professional organizer (she owns The Amandas in Birmingham, Alabama) and spokesperson for Organized Living. “I prefer the garage to the attic for storage, because a garage actually has less temperature fluctuation.” 

How: Ginny Scott, chief design officer at California Closets, says to start by determining what you need to store. “You need to think of your goal first. Do you want to store overflow from the pantry? Do you want to make a Costco closet? Do you need a workspace like a potting or tool bench? Maybe you need a place to stash sports equipment. Once you have determined what you want to do, that will inform the kinds of shelving, cabinets or lockers you need,” she says. 

Le Blanc says knowing yourself will help you figure out what kind of storage you need. “It’s all about how you function in a space,” she says. “An organization system won’t change the type of person you are.” 

She says that although a garage lined with storage lockers and cabinets has a clean look — an important factor for garages that open at the front of the house and are visible to the neighbors — if you are of the “out of sight, out of mind” school, closed storage is not for you. “If you are that type of person, then go for open shelves and labeled bins,” she says. 

Le Blanc says for kids’ items and sports equipment, open shelving is almost always the answer. “I tell parents to forget about lids with kids,” she says. “If there’s a barrier, it seems to keep them from putting things away.”

Whether you are installing shelves that are open or in cabinets, Scott suggests choosing adjustable units for the garage. “It’s more important here than elsewhere,” she says. “We may not change the way we use our pantry much, but what we use in the garage varies from year to year and season to season.”

 

Scott adds that it’s also important to choose storage units that are made from durable materials; items stored in the garage are often heavy, so you want shelves that won’t buckle or bend. She also says in the tighter confines of the garage, you are more likely to bump, brush or spill things on your storage system, so an easy-clean material such as a high-grade laminate is often best. 

Cost: It depends on material selection. “The good news is that garage storage is often less expensive than regular closets, because we usually use simple materials and hardware, and we usually don’t use glass inserts,” says Scott.

She says an 8-foot run of open shelving in a garage could cost $1,000 to $2,000 (rough estimate). A row of storage lockers of the same length might cost $2,000 to $3,000. 

Project length: From consultation to installation, this kind of project could take three to five weeks, Scott says.

Permit: “Unless we are doing something structural or adding electricity, no permit is generally needed,” says Scott.

10 Creative Ways to Give Your Kitchen a Boost

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After the flurry of holiday decorating and baking is over, the kitchen can seem a bit forlorn — but if one of your New Year’s resolutions was to eat healthier or cook more meals from scratch, it’s important that your kitchen supports and inspires you. These 10 doable project ideas are meant to revive your kitchen and make it an inspiring space that you can’t wait to spend time in. 

1. Use a found branch for hanging storage. If you have open shelving in your kitchen that rests on brackets, as shown here, extend their usefulness by sliding a thoroughly cleaned branch through the base of the brackets. Use simple S-hooks to hang small pots, spoons and other implements from the branch. You can even hang a small vase or a mason jar filled with flowers — just wrap the mouth with twine or wire to form a loop, and hang it from an S-hook. 

2. Try a pegboard in the kitchen, à la Julia Child.Julia was onto something when she designed the now-famous pegboard pot rack on the wall of her Cambridge, Massachusetts, kitchen. You can do the same by hanging basic pegboard on your kitchen wall and using S-hooks to hang cooking tools. Paint the pegboard to match your walls for a seamless look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Paper the interior of a glass cupboard. This is the perfect place to use up any wallpaper scraps you may have lying around. If you don’t have wallpaper, pretty shelf paper or even quality gift wrap can be used instead.

 

4. Glam up your shelving. Another easy way to spice up basic wall shelves is by coating the brackets with gold paint. Or, for a similar effect with less fuss, pick up a roll of copper tape at the hardware store and carefully apply it just to the edge of your shelves — this works best if your shelves are the same thickness as the tape, so measure first. 

5. Bring in fresh blooms. You probably buy fresh flowers for other rooms in your home from time to time; why not snip a few for the kitchen? A vase with slots for individual blooms, like the one shown here, is ideal because it is so easy to fill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Add a splash of unexpected color. Transform a plain step stool with a lick of vibrant color, paint the interior of your pantry, or line your drawers with polka dot paper. A bit of color or pattern where it’s least expected is especially welcome when it’s gray outdoors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Give a plain basket a neon makeover. French market baskets are some of the most useful little accessories to keep around the house. Spruce one up with a simple painted-on star or heart in a neon hue and use it as a mini hamper for dirty dish towels and cloth napkins. For an even easier (and temporary) take, simply cut and stick on neon-colored tape.

 

8. Borrow baskets from the living room for produce storage and display. Have some lovely woven baskets just hanging around with nothing in them? Put them to work storing long-lasting produce like potatoes and onions, or colorful piles of lemons and limes.

9. Hang food magazines on a painted ladder. If you refer to your favorite food mags for recipes and menu ideas, keep them handy. A short ladder leaning against the wall is a perfect spot for stashing a rotating selection of your favorite foodie magazines — and in a pinch, even smaller cookbooks could get slung here, too.

 

Mediterranean Dining Room by Other Metro Architects & Designers Echo Design 

10. Paint your breakfast-table chairs in a rainbow of pastels. Love pastels? I say, go for it. After all, why shouldn’t your breakfast nook be the cheeriest spot in the house? And if you don’t feel up to painting the entire chairs, even giving just the legs or seats a dip in pastel hues would make a big impact.