Our Blog Abington, PA

The paradox of the unlimited choices available through online search is that it’s almost impossible for anyone to make the best buying decision because of the nearly infinite number of options presented. If you searched on a Houzz.com, Pinterest or Instagram to get ideas for a new bathroom sink, you would be given tens of thousands of choices. How can you confidently make the best decision with so much sensory overload? The answer for most is that most times you can’t. The following is a guide to make the selection process easier for homeowners, designers and builders in Montgomery County, PA. 

The ability to convert dreams into reality is the number one reason why homeowners undertake a renovation project, found a recent survey of more than 142,000 homeowners conducted by Houzz.com. Of those, nearly half undertook a renovation project in 2018.

The reasons for all types of renovation projects parallel the reasons our clients in Abington, PA decide to renovate their homes. The other major reasons for renovating likely include:

There is no such thing as too much storage when it comes to a bathroom! A great place to get additional storage is with the use of a medicine cabinet. Storage needs, size of the bath, design and lifestyle preferences are the primary factors influencing a customer’s decision to place a medicine/mirrored cabinet in the bath. Homeowners in Abington, PA tend to choose medicine cabinets over wall-hung mirrors just for that reason. 

The medicine cabinets featured in our showroom are distinguished by both their functional superiority and innovative design. Cabinets can be made of wood, metal, polymers or just about any other material. They are differentiated by their shape, size and mirror design. They can be framed, frameless, arched, square or multisided, and can use beveled or nonbeveled glass. Shelving inside of the cabinet may be made from glass, plastic or metal, and the shelves may be adjustable or nonadjustable. 

You can’t watch a home improvement television show kitchen renovation without seeing an island become the focal point of the new space. Kitchen islands are one of our clients’ most requested features and for good reason. Islands serve multiple purposes as preparation areas, desks, dining tables, serving spaces and more. When our clients request an island, our starting point is to determine if their space is sufficient. Then we identify the best dimensions and orientation. Factors that we consider when planning an island include users and their age, desired uses, seating needs, room shape and dimensions, traffic flow and window locations.

Most kitchens are rectangular. Typically, in rectangular kitchens, we are likely to specify a rectangular-shaped island. If your kitchen is not rectangular, there are an endless array of island shapes and sizes that are viable. L-shaped kitchens may be best served with an L-shaped island. We’ve designed round, oval and curved islands.

We advise all of our clients in Abington, PA that home improvement television and websites are excellent sources of inspiration. While many great ideas, concepts and products are available on HGTV, DYI, Angie’s List, Houzz.com and the like, regrettably, those platforms are also the source of misinformation that creates unrealistic expectations when it comes to both timeline and budget.

Home improvement television does not produce documentaries. HGTV and others are in the entertainment business. That’s why there is a familiar pattern for each episode. There are homeowners who want to improve their lives by renovating their entire home or specific rooms. There is no mention of selecting designers and products or reviewing designs. The budgets quoted typically do not account for design services or labor. That’s why many homeowners in Montgomery County, PA don’t develop realistic budgets or timelines for their projects.

Space is a premium in most bathrooms that we remodel in Montgomery County, PA, and it’s essential to create realistic expectations for how to best use space. In tighter spaces, often is it not realistic or practical to include both a separate shower stall and a dedicated space for a tub. Some bathrooms would look crowded with a double vanity and double sinks. When thinking about a bath remodel consider the area and how much room you and your family need to maneuver after a shower or bath to prepare for the day or a night on the town.

In addition to adequate storage solutions, another functional criterion to consider when planning a new bath includes cleaning. The legs or base of the furniture placed in front of the baseboard might create a gap between the wall and the cabinet. This may not be a concern aesthetically, but it does create a challenge to clean the gap space. The issue may be addressed if the furniture has a solid base that can be notched around the baseboard to eliminate the gap or notch the baseboard to dead end into the base of the cabinet.

Almost all of our clients in Montgomery County spend months researching options for their new kitchen before making an appointment to visit our showroom. Most of the initial decisions made during the planning stages of a fabulous new kitchen involve the type, color, design and material for cabinetry, countertops, hardware, sinks, faucets and appliances. However, other more subtle decisions need to be made to obtain the kitchen of your dreams and avoid unpleasant surprises.

You should expect your kitchen designer to understand local building codes and explain how code compliance will affect your kitchen remodel. We had a client who simply wanted to replace a range only to find that the project was not so simple. The old appliance configuration was not up to current code. Replacing the range also required replacing the ventilation system and electrical configuration. Make sure that you ask about code requirements and actions you might have to take to ensure compliance. 

Bathrooms serve multiple utilitarian and personal purposes. Increasingly, homeowners in Abington, PA are designing their baths to serve as an in-home luxury spa where they can recharge their mind, body and spirit and wash away the stresses of the day. A key to creating a personal refuge is to take advantage of creative storage solutions and strategies that make your bath not only beautiful but wonderfully organized.

Step one: Pick your products judiciously. A well-designed bath is an organized bath. Countertops littered with makeup, toothpaste, grooming materials, hairdryers and curling irons make the bathroom looked unorganized, cluttered and frenetic. One of the first things we suggest to our clients in Jenkintown, PA is to inventory the products that they use most often in the bath. This exercise helps us design a space that can accommodate their needs without compromising the look, feel and functionality of the space. Closed storage is almost always the preferred option, but in space challenged baths, we also use open shelving systems that enable our clients to display their favorite or most frequently used items.