By Heidi Stevens

Ludwig Van Beethoven once declared that “Love, and love alone, is capable of giving thee a happier life.” Come again?

Call us shallow, but we are fairly certain that skim-coating your walls can actually give thee a happier life. Or crown molding: Crown molding makes us pretty happy. If you can have those things and love, well, that’s real happiness. A home renovation project, after all, is not the backdrop against which bliss typically blossoms. Tattered nerves, clashing tastes, blown budgets. It can all go sour pretty quickly. That’s why we’ve called in the House Therapist*, our in-house expert on keeping the peace, even while the literal dust is flying. Happy renovating!

Q: I want to surprise my partner with a perk-up of our vintage (midcentury) living room without spending a ton of money. Ideas?

A: Have custom baseboards made. You may think baseboards will go unnoticed, but they won’t. Beauty can be found in the details, and having new, clean, painted baseboards adds a crisp, finished, detail to the room. It’s akin to topping off the perfect outfit with just the right shoes.

Q: There’s no way to expand my galley kitchen without creating the mother of all renovations. What to do?

A: Hire a designer who specializes in space planning. Our kitchen renovation didn’t gain us an ounce of floor space, but it did gain more storage where it mattered; as in a skinny pantry that now holds all the stuff we use every day — cereal, onions, coffee, bourbon … coffee. And taller cupboards allowed storage for things like oversize roasters and the bulky Cuisinart. All you need to make this plan work is a folding step stool. (Get the one made by Hafele. It lasts forever, folds with ease and hangs on a hook.)

Q: Now that the kids are a little older, my husband and I like to enjoy quiet dinners in our backyard. Is there a way to make it more atmospheric?

A: Build an arbor. If you specify hefty lumber (use 8-by-8 posts for support, for instance, or opt for pre-milled porch pillars) and keep the design simple, anyone with reasonable carpentry skills can build it. It’s the construction project that gives the most bang for your buck, hands down.

Q: My husband and I go to the paint store excited to choose new wall colors, but what should be a fun project inevitably turns into a battle over colors. Help!

A: If my husband and I had a dollar for every time we left a paint store tired, depressed and paintless, we’d have enough money to buy separate houses and paint them however the heck we like. Bright orange? For the DINING ROOM? HAVE YOU LOST ALL FIVE SENSES? Sorry. Keeping the peace. Something that has worked for us is to trade off rooms. That is, this go round, I choose the color of the bedroom and he gets the dining room. Next time we switch. Remember, it’s only paint. Just like a bad haircut grows back, color can be changed.

Q: The new baby means my house now is without a guest room. Where will I put the out-of-town relatives?

A: A hotel. Oh, wait. (Why is it so hard to remember that keeping-the-peace bit?) Any room with reasonable bathroom access and some claim to privacy can accommodate a Murphy bed. Folding beds have gotten pretty high-tech (you can even get expensive ones that lower from the ceiling) and offer real mattresses instead of those flimsy sofa bed things.

Q: I’m sick of the kicked baseboards and dirty interior doors at home. My wife refuses to have our children’s feet removed. Now what?

A: Both baseboards and interior doors — especially the latter — look great in black. Glossy black doors are a good accent in either a vintage or more modern interior, focusing eyes on the architecture, whether it’s simple or more detailed. They offer a good hit of visual punctuation and, in a high-gloss finish, also stand up to the abuse that these places get. If you’re determined to stay white, acquaint yourself with Magic Erasers and embrace the zen of scrubbing.

Source

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/26/the-house-therapist-is-in-with-6-solutions-for-your-tough-home-issues/

Source

http://www.aberdeentimes.com/local/crime-reports/9059-better-business-bureau-warns-of-home-improvement-scams

Showered With Style How to Plan Your First Bathroom Renovation

Whether you’re renovating for your own enjoyment or for an investment property, proper planning will ensure you end up with the result you want without going over-budget or cutting corners on design or quality along the way. Follow these recommendations to ensure your bathroom reno runs smoothly and gives you the result you are after.

Make a Style Decision

This might be the most important first step because it’s going to influence the rest of the renovation. To ensure you have a cohesive look that stays under budget, you need to make a solid decision on the direction you are headed in from the get-go and then stick to that. One of the main reasons budgets blow out is because people jump in too soon then get halfway through and make a drastic twist in the style they are going for and then have to redo a whole lot of the bathroom.

Don’t make that mistake. Take the time to research and decide in detail on the perfect bathroom space for your home. Be sure to plan everything and make choices on what you want the colors, the cabinetry, the tapware to be before you start buying or building. Collect images and create a collage of your vision.

Plan the Layout

Once you know what style you going for, figure out how you are going to adapt that style to the space you have. You might really want a claw-foot tub but if it’s not going to fit into the space that you have, you will have to revise your decisions and go for an alternative.

Draw an outline of the space you’re working with and experiment with different layout options, to ensure that you are going to end up maximizing the space you have available. Don’t just set out one layout option and jump straight in, create a few, stick them on the wall, envision what it would be like and then make a decision after letting the ideas sit and stew for a while. And make sure that your final layout will fit within your budget constraints – depending on your budget you might not want to alter the plumbing set up too much. If you’re unsure about costs, get in touch with a to discuss your layout options and get a quote.

Budget Your Bathroom

Speaking of budgets – once you have a layout in place, then add up how much you think it all will cost. Get a quote where you can and shop around online or in-store for the best prices on fittings and fixtures. Get a good idea of how much it’s all going to and then add some. Always over budget to ensure you don’t get caught out with hidden fees. Adding at least an extra 10% onto your initial budget is recommended. Then, once you commence work keep track of every expenditure you have and check in regularly on how you are going in sticking to your budget.

Stay On Top

Stay on top and in control of the renovation from the get-go. Be organized and plan for as much as you can, then keep track of everything once the reno starts. The last thing you want to do it make rushed decisions or cut corners when you are halfway through and be left with an end result that you aren’t entirely happy with.

A quality bathroom is something you will enjoy and that buyers will pay for, so think of your bathroom renovation as a real investment in your property. It can be a big hassle, but once it’s done you will be so glad you did it and you’ll get years of enjoyment out of it.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates

Source

http://www.themommiesreviews.com/showered-with-style-how-to-plan-your-first-bathroom-renovation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MommiesReviews+%28Mommies+Reviews%29

When you are considering doing some work on your property, you need to consider whether it will fall under the category of home repair, or home improvement. This is a crucial distinction because home improvements are tax deductible, whereas home repairs are not.
So what constitutes home improvement? In its basic form, it is any task that will add to the quality and therefore the value of your home. Such tasks would include putting up a new fence, installing a new driveway, complete kitchen remodeling, extending your property to add a room, building a swimming pool or garage, constructing a deck or porch, adding insulation, installing new heating or air conditioning systems, replacing the roof, or re-landscaping your yard. All of these tasks will require capital expenditure, but will add to the value of your property and increase the equity in your home.
Home repair, on the other hand, is a task undertaken to prevent the decline or decay of your property, and a subsequent drop in value. The task is necessary to maintain your home to its existing standard, without making significant additions or improvements. Home repairs include repainting or decorating, fixing leaks or breakages, repairing cabinets and replacing fixtures that no longer function.
Generally expenditure on home repairs cannot be used to obtain a tax benefit. However, there is a possibility that you could incorporate your repairs into a home improvement project and still gain a financial advantage. If you were undertaking a large remodeling task, you would be doing a lot to improve your property and increasing the value, and if you were doing some repairs as part of this project, expenditure for the whole task could be tax deductible. In other words, next time you plan to add an extra room to your home, be sure to fix the leaky roof at the same time!
If you require refinancing to pay for your home improvements, you may be advised to wait for a drop in interest rates. If you obtain refinance and use the capital for home improvements, you will be able to deduct the loan points in that same financial year. If you choose not to use the capital to pay for home improvements, the points will be deducted over the term of the loan. If you use only a portion of the loan for home improvements, then your possible deduction is also proportional. The rest of the points will be deducted during the term of the loan. Any points not deducted by the final payoff date of the loan will be cent per cent deductible in that year.
Before you start work on your home, you really need to understand the various distinctions that allow or disallow tax deduction. You can then make a decision whether it would be financially prudent to expand your project beyond simple repairs to increase the value of your property and ensure your expenditure is tax deductible.
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Source

http://plrplr.com/37197/kitchen-remodeling-would-be-tax-deductible-as-a-home-improvement/

Source

http://yeni.mescale.co/home-improvement-website-templates/