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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements Questions and Answers

Word Count:
363

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When considering home improvements, it is important to ask family members for their opinions. So, how do you evaluate the answers?


home improvements, planning, family, budget, family members, business planning

To find the best Paving Wexford company, click here for Davitt Driveways.
When considering home improvements, it is important to ask family members for their opinions. So, how do you evaluate the answers?

Typical Discoveries

Talking with family members about home improvements will lead to surprising answers. You and your husband each have times you need to be alone (computer work, business planning), and times you need to be alone together (initial discussions about family plans, a new job, the budget, travel, etc.). This varies by age of course, but children have similar needs for being alone, alone with friends and with the family. There are times you and your husband will decide the children need your supervision no matter what their preferences.

Decisions

After discussions and interviews with family members, you are ready to map out a plan for how the various areas of the house are to be used. Do the initial plan and then discuss it with your husband or wife. Don t discuss it with the children until the two of you are pretty much in agreement.

Obviously, tastes are specific to individual people. You and your husband must come to an agreement based on the following considerations:

1. Theme Are you going with a particular atmosphere or style?

2. Costs What do you want to do versus what can you afford?

3. Value How much will the improvements impact the value of your home?

Once you ve hashed through these issues, you ll be ready to move forward with your plans. Then it s time for the two of you to go over it with the children.

Children obviously can have some outlandish ideas about what would look cool in a home. While you may balk at such suggestions, it is important to include your kids in the process. A happy medium can be allowing children a lot of latitude when it comes to their rooms. In reality, their rooms are homes within homes and they feel comfortably in them. Don t worry, you can paint them after the kids leave home or before you sell it.

Planning home improvements can be a bit bewildering. Make sure to include your family in the discussion so you get a result everyone feels good about.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements Planning

Word Count:
320

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Home decorating is one of the keys to making the most out of a home. Do it right and you can turn a pedestrian home into a castle.


home improvements, planning, family living, large project,

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Home decorating is one of the keys to making the most out of a home. Do it right and you can turn a pedestrian home into a castle.

Really good interior designers interview family members prior to making a plan and recommendations for changes in a home s interior design and decoration. You and your family can benefit if you take the same approach when you re in a do it yourself mode. It doesn t matter whether you are moving to a new home and have a big project or are just freshening up one room. Family interviews are the place to start.

What Activities Need to be Accommodated?

Large project or small, begin by figuring out how your family is going to use the space. Let s assume we re talking about a whole house. Meet with each family member and ask them how they feel about an array of things. Don t forget to answer for yourself, too.

Consider the following issues with family members:

1. Will reading be a popular activity?

2. TV and movie viewing?

3. Playing electronic games?

4. Computer use for homework or business?

5. Sleepovers for the younger generation?

6. Sewing?

7. Furniture refinishing?

8. Carpentry and wood working projects?

9. Dinner parties?

10. Is there something new a family member would like to try if there were a decent spot for it? (I do hope your son doesn t tell you he d like to learn to play the drums! The violin was bad enough.)

11. Will the activities be done by someone alone or will a group be involved?

12. Do you or your husband need to be nearby to oversee the activity?

13. Is having it occur within view of (or out of site of) something else important?

Obviously, there are going to be unique questions per the circumstances of your family. If you make a list and ask appropriate questions, the improvements on your home will lead to happy family living.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements Making Decisions

Word Count:
476

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If you have a family, planning home improvements should be a family matter. Still, you want to stick to ideas that work.


home improvements, family planning, breakfast area, dining room, planning home improvements

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If you have a family, planning home improvements should be a family matter. Still, you want to stick to ideas that work.

Ideas That Work

We ve all seen families who get along well most of the time and families who are constantly at odds with each other. One common denominator among families who get along are homes that work for them. Let s talk about ideas seen more than once in homes that work. It may help you explore what will work for you.

Many families with school age children have a computer and homework area near the kitchen. It s often a computer desk and the breakfast area table. This is usually sandwiched between the kitchen and family room, and all three areas are open to each other. It s an easy area for parents to make themselves available to help and supervise the children while they themselves perhaps cook, talk, read, or have a cup of tea (or other beverage) before or after dinner.

Family rooms are also great for TV, movies, and computer games. A finished basement provides an ideal place for a home theater for the same sorts of things, but supervision becomes tougher.

Unfinished basement areas can be just what s needed for a workbench, an artist s studio (especially walk-out basements with big north facing windows), a sewing area, a place to practice a musical instrument, a place to refinish furniture, a potting bench for plants, a place for the pets when the family has guests. I ve seen all of the above work well alone and in a variety of combinations.

Many modern homes have a formal living room that is too small to really work as a living room. It can be set up and decorated as a library or study and be the perfect place for a parent to do some serious work and not be interrupted too frequently.

Master bedrooms are getting larger and larger. They often have a small seating arrangement included in their design. This can be a parental retreat for quiet conversation.

Master bedrooms can also provide a quiet corner for a computer desk and work area. If looking at work space isn t relaxing to you, you can always shield it from view with a decorative folding screen.

Don t forget the importance of family dinners. Studies show that children of families who have dinner and conversation together several nights a week, week in and week out, tend to be more successful and happier than those who don t. It can be at the kitchen table, in the breakfast area, or in the dining room, but plan for it and make it happen if you value the success and happiness of your children.

Every home is unique and so is your family. When improving your home, look for ideas that work.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements Get Your Envelope In Order

Word Count:
412

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Whether you need heat in winter or air conditioning in summer, you run the risk of throwing away money on utilities. You need not do this by making painless home improvements.


home improvements, insulation, doors, windows, energy, utility, bills, heating, cooling, frameshome improvements, insulation, doors, windows, energy, utility, bills, heating, cooling, frames

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Whether you need heat in winter or air conditioning in summer, you run the risk of throwing away money on utilities. You need not do this by making painless home improvements.

Home Improvements Get Your Envelope In Order

Your house is an enclosed structure designed to keep rain, cold, heat, wind, snow and so on out. In contrast, all of those things want in. If you are not careful, Mother Nature will rob you blind. Yes, I am talking about the thermal envelope of your home.

The thermal envelope refers to the protective pocket around your living space. Much like wearing gloves in the snow, you want the envelope to provide a complete insulation barrier between you and the elements. If there are gaps or weak areas, your hard earned money is flowing out of them. Upgrading or maintaining your envelope can save you a bundle.

Insulation can be a killer when it comes to your envelope. Most developers build homes to the minimum requirements because they are focused on profits. Insulation is noted by R values, a method of determining how resistant the insulation is to transferring heat. If you check the walls of your house, an R-11 value will most likely be present. This is bad. R-11 is the minimum required. Upgrade to R-20 or R-30 in the walls and R-70 in the ceiling and floor areas. The temperatures in the house will become more consistent because the heat transfer will stop. This means the house stays warmer for longer in the winter and cooler for longer in the summer. The change will be dramatic.

Windows can be a killer, accounting for as much as 25 percent of your energy loss. The answer is relatively simple. Install Energy Star approved windows and get those frames into shape.

Doors are another area that can kill you. The issue is not so much the door itself, but the framing around it. Make sure your doors are flush to the frames. Installing small seal pads along the inside of the doorstops can make a major difference because they cut off air flow. Of course, the downside is the door doesn t make much noise when you slam it in anger, but you will just have to tough it out.

Upgrading your envelope can make a major difference in your utility bill. If you can save $100 a month, you will save $1,200 a year. If you live in the home for 10 years, that is an easy $12,000.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements General Points

Word Count:
403

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Every home improvement situation is different. Still, there are some general points that apply to most projects.


home improvements, open floor plans, woodwork, breakfast area, family room, kitchen, bedroom

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Every home improvement situation is different. Still, there are some general points that apply to most projects.

Some General Points

When all the woodwork in a house is the same color (cream, white, and off-white work easily), spaces tend to visually flow smoothly even if the walls of rooms are different colors. Make sure you don t break this rule.

The colors of all rooms, which can be seen at the same time, should look good together. Let s take a typical center hall floor plan for a modern two-story house. The living room and dining room are to the right and left of the entrance. The foyer goes straight back to the family room, breakfast area, and kitchen across the back of the house. There is probably a deck opening off that area. Some part of all those areas can be seen from each room, and the foyer walls continue upstairs to a hall from which each bedroom is visible.

To continue our example with cream woodwork, the foyer and halls might be painted a pearl gray, light tan, soft gold, or deeper cream. The woodwork is probably a gloss or semi-gloss and the walls and ceiling a flat paint. Since ceilings reflect light down on people, they’re usually best in cream or off-white. I once saw a dining room with an indirectly lit octagonal tray ceiling painted to look like creamy clouds in a peachy sunset sky that made every dinner guest look like he or she had a perfect complexion. It was wonderful.

The living room opening off our foyer might be a solid color (maybe sage green or deeper tan) or it might look very handsome with a vertically striped wall paper (cream and gray, cream and green, or cream and tan are good possibilities). The dining room is apt to have a chair rail. A darker color could look good below the chair rail (again sage green, gray, gold or tan would work) with a lighter tint of the same color above. If a solid color were chosen for the living room, the dining room could handle a deep red below the chair rail and a cream paper with a narrow red stripe above it. Lots of crystal and mirrors would look terrific in a room like that.

I m sure you get the idea. Today s open floor plans make it important that rooms work together.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements Expressing an Attitude

Word Count:
383

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There are many issues to address when doing major home improvements. The overall atmosphere and attitude of the improvements can be a key issue.


home improvements, formality, window treatments, Leather, built-in bookcases, old books,

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There are many issues to address when doing major home improvements. The overall atmosphere and attitude of the improvements can be a key issue.

Degree of Formality

Certain things tend to go with each other. Silk, silver, crystal, brass, china, oil paintings in gilt frames, and draperies to the floor have an affinity for each other for example. Leather, built-in bookcases, old books, paneled rooms, coffered ceilings, and dark wood are another group of things that go well together. A third such group might be heavy linen, polished cotton, glass and metal tables, woven baskets, and wicker. There are the usual exceptions, but things that go together tend to have about the same degree of formality. Their color and texture are important, too.

Light vs. Dark

Most people are happiest living in rooms that are bright and sunny in the daytime and are softly lit without glare or sharp contrasts in light at night. In most rooms, lamps and indirect lighting is the way to go. Window treatments that leave most of the glass in windows uncovered when they are open during the day are good for letting sunshine and pleasant views in and give your home a cheerful feeling.

How much sun a room gets needs to be taken into account when choosing paint. If a room gets a lot of sun, and you like the look, a dark color will probably work. If the room is on the north of your home and has few windows, you might be happier with a light tint of the color you like.

Small vs. Large

Small rooms can be a challenge. Window treatments, which control light and privacy without taking up a lot of space in the room, make sense in small rooms. Fitted interior shutters, shades, and caf curtains tend to work well. Save voluminous fabric, elaborate swags, and draperies that puddle on the floor for large rooms with high ceilings. Furniture needs to be scaled to the size of the room, too, although one occasionally sees a small room with a few large pieces of furniture, which look dramatically good and serve the intended function well.

Summary

The biggest key is to know what you want before you start. Get that answer straight in your mind and you can t go wrong.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements: Spruce Up Your Home This Season

Word Count:
275

For the best Paving Wexford company, call Davitt Driveways Wexford.

With a few simple improvements you can add character and curb appeal to your home at a reasonable price and make it the envy of the neighborhood.


Home Improvements: Spruce Up Your Home This Season

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With a few simple improvements you can add character and curb appeal to your home at a reasonable price and make it the envy of the neighborhood.

Tidy up perimeter landscaping. Collect and remove all weeds, loose leaves and litter from the property. Put up a fence or replace an old one in disrepair. Today’s attractively priced vinyl fencing is one option that is easy to install, easy to care for and looks good for years. New styles and darker colors give you a wealth of options.

Inspect your home’s siding. Is it chipping, staining or rotting? Your siding may just need a power wash or it may need to be replaced. If it’s the latter, talk with your local contractor about low-maintenance vinyl and fiber cement siding options. New styles, such as CertainTeed’s Board and Batten vertical vinyl siding, mimic the look of traditional siding and come in a wide range of colors.

Look at the roof. Asphalt shingles can last many years depending on the quality of the shingle, the slope of the roof and proper ventilation. To be sure your roof is in tip-top shape, use binoculars to look for missing, cracked, curling or decaying shingles. If any are spotted, it may be time to replace your roof. Consider asphalt shingles as new styles can add dimensional appeal to your home. They’re long lasting and feature a Class A fire rating.

Picture your home online. Home improvements are also home investments. If you want to see how your chosen fence, cladding, roofing or other selection fits on your house, go to http://www.certainteed picturemyhome.com to give your home a virtual makeover.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements That Pay Off

Word Count:
515

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Though remodeling your home can add some pampering and luxury to your life, most home improvements don’t recoup the money spent on them. This article takes a look at some improvements that can significantly increase the value of your house.


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There are two main reasons people take on home improvement projects: for their own pleasure and in hopes of increasing the resale value of their homes. As long as you spend time and money for the first reason, you’ll be okay. It’s when you start thinking more about the second reason that you may be in for a disappointment. Even if improvements add value to your home, few recoup the money they cost. For example, a swimming pool, which costs tens of thousands of dollars to install, adds little to no resale value to a home. People are turned off by the maintenance aspect, and parents with small children will worry about safety issues.

So, what improvements do add enough value that you’ll come close to making back what you spend? It’s the highly visible improvements that will help most. Unfortunately, the less visible ones don’t impress. Replacing the roof or furnace, while they may need doing, won’t convince a home buyer to pay more. Likewise, new energy-efficient doors and windows are not likely to recoup the cost of installation (However, if you are going to continue living in your home for the next few years, $1,000 spent on insulation and caulking existing windows and doors can help you save on your energy bills).

The biggest home improvement you can do to impress homebuyers (and make them want to pay more) is one of the cheapest. Paint. As long as you pick colors that will appeal to a wide audience–and you do it right before you list (before it has time to get mucked up)–you’ll increase appeal. Likewise crown molding is relatively inexpensive to install but adds the wow factor to otherwise regular rooms.

So, what else is worth doing? You may have heard that kitchens and bathrooms are what sell a house, and this is true, but don’t think you have to spend tens of thousands on a whole-room remodel. Getting rid of outdated wallpaper or paint will help tremendously. Also sand and paint/stain old cabinet doors to make them look new. Switch out the dated cabinet hardware for something stylish and modern.

Any time you can take dead space (i.e. an attic or basement) and turn it into functional space (i.e. bedroom, office, media room), you stand a good chance of recouping much of the money you invest in the project (85% of the cost returned at resale is the national average).

If your house only has one bathroom, you can recoup about 90% of the cost by adding a second. (Adding a third gets you back less).

Landscaping can also improve curb appeal and salability of a home, but don’t spend thousands on hiring a professional (it won’t increase the value anywhere near that much). Tackle landscaping projects you can do yourself instead.

Keep this advice in mind before you open your pocketbook to hire contracts and buy materials for massive remodeling projects. If you’re going to spend a lot, make sure it’s–first and foremost–for you and your family, with resale of the house a distant second consideration.

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Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements – The Fun Stuff

Word Count:
572

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Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!


home improvements, practical stuff, planning home improvements, bedroom area, home improvements, practical stuff, planning home improvements, bedroom area,

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Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don t like. They have things that interest them and things that don t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests. A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it reads as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the rule while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don t tend to look good if they re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they re up near the ceiling (unless they re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I ll bet she ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.

Categories
Paving Wexford

DDWex Home Improvements – Questions and Answers

Word Count:
363

For the best Paving Wexford company, call Davitt Driveways Wexford.

When considering home improvements, it is important to ask family members for their opinions. So, how do you evaluate the answers?


home improvements, planning, family, budget, family members, business planning

To find the best Paving Wexford company, click here for Davitt Driveways.
When considering home improvements, it is important to ask family members for their opinions. So, how do you evaluate the answers?

Typical Discoveries

Talking with family members about home improvements will lead to surprising answers. You and your husband each have times you need to be alone (computer work, business planning), and times you need to be alone together (initial discussions about family plans, a new job, the budget, travel, etc.). This varies by age of course, but children have similar needs for being alone, alone with friends and with the family. There are times you and your husband will decide the children need your supervision no matter what their preferences.

Decisions

After discussions and interviews with family members, you are ready to map out a plan for how the various areas of the house are to be used. Do the initial plan and then discuss it with your husband or wife. Don t discuss it with the children until the two of you are pretty much in agreement.

Obviously, tastes are specific to individual people. You and your husband must come to an agreement based on the following considerations:

1. Theme Are you going with a particular atmosphere or style?

2. Costs What do you want to do versus what can you afford?

3. Value How much will the improvements impact the value of your home?

Once you ve hashed through these issues, you ll be ready to move forward with your plans. Then it s time for the two of you to go over it with the children.

Children obviously can have some outlandish ideas about what would look cool in a home. While you may balk at such suggestions, it is important to include your kids in the process. A happy medium can be allowing children a lot of latitude when it comes to their rooms. In reality, their rooms are homes within homes and they feel comfortably in them. Don t worry, you can paint them after the kids leave home or before you sell it.

Planning home improvements can be a bit bewildering. Make sure to include your family in the discussion so you get a result everyone feels good about.