Sunday, April 16, 2006

Home Improvements at Easter Time

Happy Easter Greetings to you!

This is such a wonderful time of year, spring is in the air, the daffodils are coming out and families are coming together - There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly cut timber, the hum of the drill, the thud of the screw gun and the sight of a plan coming together.

This is the biggest traditional break before the summer holidays, so if anyone is talking Home Improvements at Easter Time - there's a good chance that they - or even you... are busy planning your summer home remodeling project.

Get togethers are a great opportunity to ask any extended members of your family how their own home enhancing projects are going, someone might be busy with plans similar to yours and their experiences or recommendations may well help you to find the right contractors and experts to work on your home.

This is a great conversation topic, there is just so much to talk about from plans, permits, contractors, insurance cover, time lines, budget and one of the most popular questions - "What materials did you use?" - and you can usually depend on family and friends to tell you all the ins and outs, the pitfalls they have encountered and how they overcame problems to get to the satisfactory finished results they were looking for.

If you are actually busy with a build during this long weekend - you are right - you could complete your decking to have it ready for the summer, or you could construct your gazebo kit and have that special place to relax and enjoy your garden - or you could give your patio a pergola cover... which will mean that the climbing plants will be well settled in to give you a decent foilage cover for the summer holidays, but...

whatever you are doing, if you are involved with Home Improvements at Easter Time, please don't forget to give youself time to kick back, relax and enjoy your chocolate egg!

All the best

Susan
home-improvement-and-financing.com


p.s. Just to remind you... the two full weeks left in April, just following Easter time, the weekend starting Friday 21st April and the weekend starting Friday 28th April - are jammed packed with Home Show 2006 events up and down the country - you can have a look at the April list on our site to help you find the best home improvement show near you.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Preparing for your 2006 Project

Are you busy running around Preparing for your 2006 Project so that you can complete your next home improvement project in time for the summer.

Once you have decided on the most beneficial project that will enhance your home for both comfort and value - it is a race against time at this time of year to find the right "fully qualified and insured" people to help you complete in time to be able to enjoy the summer sun at home.

It's a fact that most great home improvement contractors are booked up well in advance so if you haven't yet found the right team but you want the work done in time for the holidays - you have to work on your short list now and follow up on all the references - both on paper and by visiting their most recent completed works.

There is a lot to think about and prepare if you are planning a big home improvement remodeling project - from organising your home equity line of credit - deciding on plans and materials to use - and a time line that you or a contractor needs to work to.

Visiting a local Home Show 2006 is a great way to discover new materials and building techniques as well as meeting qualified experts in your area - have a look at the March and April Home Show 2006 Listings now available to you on our Web site to find a home improvement show near you.

Whether you are imaging a new remodeled kitchen or an inviting bathroom - perhaps you are thinking more about outdoor living for the summer and want to build a pergola or buy a gazebo kit - there is still time to get organised.

Preparing for your 2006 project to create a more usable space and a more valuable home takes time - and will take up a lot of your time during the project while you work on or oversee the build but it does help if you keep focused what your home will look like once the work is finished.

Enjoy your Home
Susan

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Kitchen Island Design

Are Kitchens really coming OFF the wall!

There is an ever growing trend for a full Kitchen Island Design instead of having all the kitchen work surfaces facing the wall... can you imagine completely turning your kitchen inside out.

Instead of having an empty floor space in the middle of the room surrounded by base cupboards, kitchen counters and wall cabinets - you could change in all around - lose most of the wall cupboards and cabinets and work around one big center kitchen unit.

One big advantage of a Kitchen Island Design is that you are creating a much more social kitchen - the island will be one complete level piece or could be split leveled. One half is for the family chef and the other half is used as a breakfast (or any meal) bar.

At the chef's side you will find a drawers top to bottom of the unit - some big enough for pots and pans, every day plates, crockery and kitchen utensils - special knife drawers could have safety catches to keep your best choppers away from little fingers.

Often you also have place for spice jars, vegetables and the daily bread and kitchen cloths, everything easy to reach.

What is important about the cook's side of a kitchen island design is that everything that you usually use when cooking is easily 'at hand' whenever you need it!

In smaller kitchens the kitchen island design is often a compromise in that it may be attached to the outer kitchen cabinets at one side - but can still be effective enough for you to gain all the advantages of a kitchen island design even in limited spaces.

If you want to have a look at basic kitchen island plans for large and luxurious kitchens and also a kitchen island idea for small kitchens then go ahead and take a look at the full article at Kitchen Island design

It can mean a radical change in planning - especially if you have always been used to having all your kitchen cupboards and kitchen cabinets screwed to the wall.

Instead of bending over kitchen counters under artificial light and banging your head on the wall cabinets - there is so much more enjoyment from working in a well lit open space, with all the family gathered around your very own special Kitchen Island design

The kitchens of the future will all styled around an innovative Kitchen Island Design


Enjoy preparing your very own kitchen island design
Susan
home-improvement-and-financing.com