You probably spent more time indoors during the past 12 months than you would have liked, staring at all the things in your home that could use some updating. We’re all thinking of our homes and how we use them much differently after the challenges of 2020. Well, in 2021 it’s finally time to stop dreaming and start doing! And May is National Home Improvement Month, so get ready to start sprucing things up.
Don’t know where to begin? We know you have a wish list, so let’s do a reality check and narrow things down by asking yourself some simple questions.
“In what room does my family spend the most time?” “What about my home annoys me the most?” “Is easy maintenance important to me?” And most important: “What project would make the biggest difference in how well my home suits my family’s lifestyle?”
Usually, one of the biggest considerations in planning a home remodeling project is the budget. So, we can help you take a look at the “cost vs. value” aspect of any project and help you decide on trade-offs you could make to stay on budget and on the right track to your goal.
Value engineering is the process of budgeting, planning, and designing a project so that more funds will be allocated to the areas that are most important to you. Every homeowner has different priorities, and we work hard to understand and build your remodeling project around yours.
Three things quickly became obvious to most of us during the past few months: we wanted to keep our homes as clean as possible, we needed quiet places to study or work, and we needed a break from the 24/7 closeness of our family members (even though we love them very much, of course). One of these ideas might be just the solution to the issue that’s the highest priority in your life.
A mudroom is much more than just a laundry room. Think of it as a transitional space to enter the home with ways to keep the rest of the house clean.
Along with the washer and dryer, you need a drop zone for bags, packages, keys, travel mugs, and purses. Cubbies for everyone’s coats and wet boots. Touchless faucets that make that always-important hand washing extra easy. A place to towel off a wet dog before it muddies up the rest of the house.
Every family member has come to appreciate a bit of “me time” at least once in a while. Whether it’s a homework and study area with fewer distractions or a place where the kids (or the adults) can take a break, watching some sports or playing video games, a finished basement can readily solve so many problems in a busy household.
Have you found that having a home office would be a really convenient thing to have? Don’t have a spare bedroom? If you’ve already been thinking that everyone needs some more elbow room and that expanding your home with an addition is an option, a flex room on the first floor is a value engineering solution when working from home is in the plan.
For now, it could serve as an office, but could also later be turned into a playroom, exercise room, hobby room, reading nook, entertainment center or even a guest room.
The key to the success of a remodeling project is value engineering: stopping to do a reality check on your highest priority needs and then planning your budget around them. You can count on us to take the time to listen, ask questions, understand what you want, and to deliver it with exceptional quality and customer service. Let’s talk!