Organize Your Kitchen Remodel Budget

If your kitchen is losing its luster, it may be time for a few refreshing changes, redecorating, or remodeling.

When people come into our showroom in the inital stages of considering a kitchen remodel, the biggest question they ask is “I haven’t done anything to my kitchen in years…what does something like that cost?”

Create a ballpark. Take the value of your home and budget 8-12% of this number if your kitchen remodel will not include cabinetry. If you are planning to include cabinetry, budget 12-18%. For example, if your home is valued at $275,000, plan to spend between $22,000-50,000.

Then, plan on breaking your “big picture” budget into managable pieces:

35% Cabinetry
Cabinetry makes up the bulk of your kitchen’s budget because it is the very backbone of both the design and functionality of your kitchen.
Spend More: Outfit your kitchen with an accessory package that meets your needs. Add baking sheet dividers, pull out trash and recycle bins, spice drawers or racks, etc. Upgrade your doors and drawers to include soft close. Finish off your look with upgraded hardware to tie in your design taste or style.
Spend Less: Utilize existing cabinetry. Consider refinishing existing doors. Or, integrate new cabinetry. Opt for fewer drawers. Utilize standard widths and depths as much as possible in your cabinetry layout. Minimize or eliminate accessories. Utilize standard hardware selections to avoid an upcharge.

9% Counters
What you spend on counter tops depends largely on the type of surface you wish to install. Today, most of our clients choose slab granite, marble, quartz, or another natural stone.
Spend More: Select a stone you fall in love with at the slab yard! Countertops can truly define an entire kitchen and give you and your designer a fun pallette to pull from. Selecting a honed or antiqued stone will increase your cost, but also give you a less standard look. Upgrade your standard edge to an ogee for a more traditional, polished appearance.
Spend Less: Select a “standard” granite that is more common and has a tighter grain to reduce your material cost. Or, consider Corian or laminate tops. Utilize a standard granite edge (such as an appliance edge or full bullnose). Eliminate radiused edges and opt for straight cuts instead.

15% Appliances
You can tailor your appliance budget based on how you use your kitchen and what kind of appliances you will need. Love a professional range? Plan to spend more. Just need a simple kitchen to reheat take out and cook occasionally? A basic appliance package will suit you just fine.
Spend More: Opt for professional appliances with integrated refrigeration and dishwasher. Add fun specialty appliances, like a drawer microwave, built in espresso machine, or a wall-plumbed coffee maker. Select from appliance finishes ranging from stainless to oil rubbed bronze, to every color of the rainbow!
Spend Less: Select a basic appliance package. Consider choosing a black or white finish rather than stainless. Maintaining the same appliance layout you had originally (if it was functional) will save you money in moving water and gas lines.

7% Electrical and Lighting
Why settle for a couple of poorly scaled, no-impact pendants over your island?! Choose lighting that really defines your space and add appropriate recessed and direcitonal lighting to make cooking a breeze. Take this opportunity to move your outlets either up or down so that your backsplash isn’t interupted. Switch out your device colors to better blend into your tile.

6% Wall tile
The intricacy and material you choose for your splash will make all the difference in how much of your budget it constitutes.
Spend More: Choose decorative listellos, liner bars, or accent tiles. Select a field tile that is porcelain or natural stone. Create an intricate design that lends interest to your splash and take advantage of the space above your range or sink. Opt for glass mosaic tile or slab on your entire splash.
Spend Less: Plan your design around a simple ceramic tile and use minimal decorative accents. Straight set your tile to avoid labor upcharges.

8% Flooring
Your flooring budget will rest on the material that you select.
Spend More: Opt for hardwood or tile. Setting your tile on the diagonal will increase your labor expenses.
Spend Less: Choose less expensive laminate or vinyl flooring.

20% Labor
You get what you pay for when it comes to labor!! Spend what it takes to ensure that what you’ve spent 80% of your budget on looks as good as it should!

Why a measure fee instead of free?

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2Bplan%2Bexample” alt=”” border=”0″ />We are sometimes asked, “Why must I pay for a measure to be done?” We have a simple answer: we are creating a measuring tool that can be used now and in the future. It's not just a collection of scribbled dimentions and square footages (like some companies will use,) it's a quarter inch scaled floor plan, or half inch scaled elevations for kitchen backsplashes or bathroom showers. The floor plan created allows for us to highlight the intended areas of installation, show floor breaks, and draw in seams for roll goods such as carpet and vinyl. This provides clarity for subcontractors. It also allows us to calculate waste with a much better degree of accuracy, saving the customer money. Finally, this nominal fee is applied to your project upon order. So when you add it all up, you may actually save money by having us do your estimate!
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We are sometimes asked, “Why must I pay for a measure to be done?” We have a simple answer: we are creating a measuring tool that can be used now and in the future. It's not just a collection of scribbled dimentions and square footages (like some companies will use,) it's a quarter inch scaled floor plan, or half inch scaled elevations for kitchen backsplashes or bathroom showers. The floor plan created allows for us to highlight the intended areas of installation, show floor breaks, and draw in seams for roll goods such as carpet and vinyl. This provides clarity for subcontractors. It also allows us to calculate waste with a much better degree of accuracy, saving the customer money. Finally, this nominal fee is applied to your project upon order. So when you add it all up, you may actually save money by having us do your estimate!
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Designer Turn Offs: A Missing Piece

What’s wrong with this picture?
Where is the headboard?!  
If you could do one thing to legitimize your bedroom set up, it would be adding a headboard.  For whatever reason, selecting a headboard seems to paralyze people.  One thing is for certain, it is not for a lack of options.  Take a peek at a few of these:
Lort’s makes stunning furniture in finishes you will absolutely drool over.  This beautiful layered finish makes the headboards look like they’ve been in the attic for generations.  Their whimsical shape and pleasant dimension gives this room a unique look worth repeating.
Here’s a bed you can smoke a cigar in.  Clad with tufts of supple leather, this masculine piece is sure to please even the most discerning bed mate.  Don’t shy away from it in an ultra-femme space, though.  In a softer tone or in velvet rather than leather, this could be your new favorite spot to stay up with novel.
Having been schooled in the South, I’m well acquainted with what a monogram can do to, well, most anything.  What a sophisticated way to add a little Southern charm to your bedroom.
The shape of this four poster bed will take your breath away.  Reminiscent of a weekend on the Maine coast, the details of this bed are truly what make it a one of a kind piece.

Who doesn’t want to be enveloped by this stunning piece?

Come in soon…bedroom furniture is 30% off all week!

Naked Windows.. Window Treatments that save you money!

Do you love to save money? If your answer is yes, the Architella honeycomb shades are for you. This collection features a state-of-the-art, patented ,honeycomb-within-a honeycomb design offering the industry’s highest level of efficiency.



One of my Favorite Things is helping my clients get the most for their money. Do you have some Naked Windows in your home or office? I would love to help you Dress them! Not only will you save money for years to come on your utility bill with qualifying energy -efficient Hunter Douglas products, you may qualify for a Federal Tax Credit up to $1,500 . Only 21 days left to take advantage of these faboulous savings. Must be purchased and installed by December 31, 2010 to qualify for the Federal Tax Credit.