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Renovating Your Kitchen for More Livable Space

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Your kitchen is one of the most used places in your home. If it’s not exactly working for you, consider renovating for more livable space. Cooking meals while relaxing with or entertaining family and friends becomes a bigger possibility when there’s enough space to do so. From start to finish, you’ll be glad you decided to renovate and renew your outdated kitchen space.

Consider an Open Style Concept

An open style design can create more livable space, as the kitchen more easily flows into another room or rooms. This makes the kitchen more spacious, as well as opens up options for more seating, hanging out with friends, and so on. For instance, if walls are removed and an island is installed, family members and guests can be seated at the island. If the kitchen opens into the dining area or living room, this also provides more seating and relaxation options.

Dealing With Small Spaces

Small spaces may seem tough to deal with but there are many ways to make the most of what’s available. For instance, built-in storage is one way to save space. Folding or in-wall pull-out  seating options may also help. Your contractor will help with your specific area. Further ideas include adding seating to countertop areas, leaving decor to wall art and floating shelves, combining two or more rooms to gain more space, or building an addition.

Use Unique Storage Ideas

Sometimes finding more space to live in is all about creating more space for storage. How well are you using all of the potential space? Sometimes there is extra space you could be using for storage but aren’t. Built-in storage is one way to solve this issue and free up a large amount of space. Also, consider using the spaces above and below appliances and cabinetry for shelving or storage drawers. These are just some of many options available. A good design build contractor will have the best ideas for your exact space.

Stack Appliances

Choosing appliances that can be aligned vertically is another way to create more livable space. Your contractor can help design countertopsand cabinetry to accommodate for this option. Ovens, dishwashers, and microwave ovens are common appliances this is done with. If your washer and dryer are generally in your kitchen area, there are stackable options for those as well. When your appliances are aligned this way, less space is taken up by them, allowing more room for other options.

Consider Multipurpose Options

Sometimes people opt for islands to create a space that is useful for more than one task. There are also many other ways to create multipurpose spaces. When you’re using spaces for more than one purpose, it helps free up other spaces you may not have been able to work with before. This leaves more room for relaxation, seating, and other “living” areas.

 

Creating extra livable space is all about design, comfort, and functionality. Your design build contractor can help develop a plan that works for your exact needs, lifestyle, and budget.

 

Multiple Room Renovations

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Multiple room renovations can be fun and rewarding. Jazz up your living space by creating an open floor plan with the use of one or more rooms. Open up a small kitchen and add useful space by connecting it with a living or dining area. No matter which rooms you’re planning to remodel, contact your experienced licensed contractor to get started with your ideas right away.

Opening Up a Small Space By Combining Areas

If you have an area of your house that is fairly small, try adding more space by combining it with another area. Knock down a wall or so to create a more open area. This is common in the kitchen home-designarea, as many people like to view the living or dining area while preparing meals. Remember that only a licensed contractor should do this kind of work, as it needs to follow code and requires building permits.

Creating a Fluid Living Space

Going for even more flow than is offered in joining two rooms? Try creating a fluid living space by combining three or more rooms. Some may choose to do this with the kitchen, dining, living, and playroom areas. That way, everything flows together nicely and the space available is also maximized. Others may do this with a child’s bedroom and playroom or a parent’s office with the playroom (for keeping a closer eye on smaller children). Whichever areas your family would use together the most or access from each other the most make for the best fluid spaces.

Open Master Bedroom Additions

Looking for more room to relax, but need an easy way to get to and from the bed and relaxation area? Try combining your master bedroom with another adjacent room for more space. An open floor plan in your master area can help things flow more easily. Obviously, you may want a door or wall separating the toilet area. However, some enjoy the comfort of an open floor design that brings multiple rooms together as one master bedroom. This often includes the sleeping area, a lounging or game area, and the master bathroom.

Open Floor Basement Ideas

Whether your basement serves as a master getaway, a family retreat, a gaming and lounge area, an exercise space, something else, or all of the above, try an open floor plan. By opening things up, you can make a smaller space seem big and a bigger space seem like a luxury. Open floor designs make it easier to get to each area and also help you maximize space. Oftentimes, they create a more organized look and feel as well.

Should You Go With an Open Floor Plan?

Before deciding on an open floor plan, consider your lifestyle. If you enjoy having a more fluid layout without so many walls and doors, this option may be the right choice for you. Talk with a licensed remodeling contractor about your ideas, needs, lifestyle, and budget to find out what works for you. Their experience with a large variety of options will help you explore and discover the ideas that fit your family’s lifestyle.

 

Open Floor Plan Kitchen: How to Plan It Correctly

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Homeowners are always focused about the decor of their living room and the comfort of their bedroom, but they never really pay attention to kitchen that also is an integral part of the home. Kitchens today are beyond any ordinary cooking place, as many families prefer to have their meals together in the kitchen area. On the other hand, there are many people that would like to party and would like to invite their guests in the kitchen area. Keeping this is mind, many homeowners focus on open floor plan kitchen that would allow them to get enough space to walk and work around conveniently.

traditional-living-roomIf you are planning to have a perfect kitchen you need to start with a perfect open floor kitchen plan that suits your requirement and budget. There are many factors that you need to consider when you are preparing open floor kitchen plan. While you are doing that it is important that you focus strictly on your cooking requirements and styles. This will help you great deal in preparing your open floor plan kitchen. Everybody home has a different requirement and prepares meal differently and that is a crucial factor that needs to be incorporated while making kitchen based on open floor plan. This also gives the family ample space that they need to be together and optimize the limited floor space.

When you talk to the experts about open floor plan kitchen many might provide you with ideas of having kitchen in certain shapes that can optimize the space. For instance, there are kitchens that are developed in G-shape, L-shape and even U-shape and in all these designs renovators and interior decorators work on combining the three most crucial elements in any kitchen which are; the cooking area, the refrigerator and the sink. You can certainly go through all these shapes and see which one fits your kitchen space in the best possible way. Single wall and gallery kitchen styles also work for many homeowners, so do keep that in mind as well.

While you are making the kitchen efficient, you also have to keep in mind not to make it look monotonous. For this you can create more countertops and place them in the right way to provide a new dimension to your kitchen. With a proper plan for cabinets, drawers and shelves you can ensure that you store a lot more items in a neat way. Most kitchens that do not have proper plan for storage often end up looking cluttered taking up the limited space. It is recommended that you know about your cooking styles, so that you know how many storage options you need to keep your kitchen look spacious.

If you are internet savvy you can certainly make use of various programs that help you to design your open floor plan kitchen and you can experiment with different ideas before you finalize a design that suits your kitchen requirements. It is also recommended that you keep a close watch on the budget while preparing your plan.