Making Your Sacramento Home Feel Larger

Making Your Sacramento Home Feel Larger

Increase Your Living Space without Increasing Your Living Space

For many of us, space is an issue.  We wish our homes were larger, but the obvious solutions – to build an addition or move into a larger home – require a large investment of time and money.  When you crave more space on a limited budget there are options that will increase your living space without increasing the size of your home.

• You can make small and inexpensive touches that will give the illusion of spaciousness:  Adding mirrors in a room reflects light and makes the room appear larger.  Place them across from openings such as a doorways and windows to increase the effect.

• Color will quickly change the feeling in a room.  The darker the paint color, the more intimate the room will feel; lighter colors open up the space.  If a room is bisected by architectural details such as chair rails, use a darker color in the lower section and a lighter color above to give the feeling of greater room height.

• Clutter is a space stealer – get organized and it will quickly seem as if you have more space.  And think vertically – most homes have a fair amount of unused vertical space: install shelves floor to ceiling on one wall and gather together those knick knacks and picture frames that are scattered throughout the house.  The end result will produce a designed, modern look and other areas will be clutter-free.

One of the most effective ways to create an open and spacious feeling in your home is to integrate indoor and outdoor living areas.  Newer homes are often designed with elements to convey that sensibility, but in older homes the indoor and outdoor spaces are generally separated.  Whatever the layout of your home, these updates will give the feeling of more space and increase the value of your property:

• Add or enlarge windows. Large windows or groups of windows let in more natural light.  And the extended view of your landscaping brings that aesthetic into your home.  If you don’t have much room for additional windows, consider adding smaller vertical windows beside an existing one.

• Sliding glass doors provide a nice connection to the outdoors and bring floor to ceiling light into the room.  By making the transition more accessible you encourage people to move freely between the indoors and outdoors, making both an integral part of your living experience.

• Open up the sliding doors onto an inviting outdoor space such as a deck, patio, or porch, and you’ve increased your living and dining areas.  With a roof or screened enclosure you can enjoy these spaces into the cooler months.  Although the initial construction can be costly, you might recoup that investment with reduced lawn and landscaping care and increased home resale value.

Look around your home for ways to use your space better and to work with what you have.  With the right renovations you’ll get more enjoyment from your home and get lasting value for your money.

Upgrading Your Sacramento Electrical Service

Upgrading Your Sacramento Electrical Service

Upgrading Your Sacramento Electrical Service
Power Your Home to Fit Your Lifestyle

The modern Sacramento home is filled with products that run on electricity, many that pull large amounts of power. However, older Sacramento homes often have fuse systems or wiring that cannot handle these growing electrical needs. Obvious issues, such as fuses blowing when using multiple appliances or lights flickering, call for a review of your electrical panel, as do major renovations such as kitchen remodels. And the evaluation of the electrical service is a standard part of the inspection before buying a new house. When you upgrade your electrical service – whether for a home purchase, a renovation project, or to address wattage problems – think beyond those immediate needs to other capabilities that you (or a future owner) might want to add someday. A little forethought now can save time and money in the future and ensure that your home can support your lifestyle.

Appliances

Refrigerators are getting larger, double ovens are increasingly popular, and the standard coffee machine is being replaced with the professional quality espresso machine. The contemporary kitchen needs several outlets to support the wide array of large and small kitchen appliances.

Home Entertainment

Family room, playroom, bedroom, recreation room – modern homes have cable or satellite television in most or all of those rooms. If you want to create a home theater effect – such as connecting the flat screen, the DVD player, and the gaming system to the surround sound stereo, you need to prepare the space to carry all that wattage.

Computers

With dad bringing work home, mom running her own business, and the kids having school projects due each week, each member of the family often has their own computer. At any given time some or all of the computers in your household can be running at once.

Ceiling fans

Ceiling fans reduce utility costs and give additional lighting options. With added wiring you can control the lights and fans separately to adjust the fan speed and turn off the light while letting the fan run.

Basement/Garage/Workshop

These spaces, once only storage and work areas, have also become additional living and entertainment rooms (think “Man Cave”). If you have to unplug the extra freezer to run your power drill, then it’s time to upgrade your service and reduce the chances of overloading your circuits.

Outdoor Areas

Adding outdoor features such as a spa, automatic sprinklers, or outdoor lighting will require more electricity.

Security system

Many insurance companies make security systems more affordable with significant policy discounts. If you take advantage of this opportunity make sure your system can handle the increased load.

Surge protection

The commonly used surge protection strips (multi-plug power strips) protect against small, daily surges to help your equipment work better and last longer. You can protect your entire house (including switches, outlets, and the circuit breaker box) against large surges with a whole house surge arrestor at the electrical panel.

Get Organized

Get Organized
First Steps to Getting Your Home in Order

It’s mid-winter and everyone is spending a little more time indoors. Take this opportunity to tackle one of the most gratifying home projects – getting organized.

Having your space and belongings well-organized pays off in many ways. When you have a clear picture of where your things are you can put those items to better use and eliminate unnecessary spending. And think about the time you spend looking for your car keys, the checkbook, your child’s favorite shirt. When everyone in the family knows where to put the mail, hang their coats, and keep their school bags, it makes for a peaceful household.

Getting organized will take some time. Begin with one or two areas you are confident you can organize; working on even a few drawers is a good start. Many areas – clothes and linen closets, pantries, home offices – will benefit from efficient organization.

To design a useful and lasting organizational system, consider your personal needs. Do you forget about some of the things you own unless you can see them? Do you make better use of your belongings when things are visibly available? Or does it put you at ease when things are out of sight behind closed doors and in drawers? Answering these questions first will help you decide how you will use the space in your home. Storage spaces generally fall into two categories: “accessible or remote” and “open or closed.”

Accessible storage such as linen closets and kitchen pantries keep supplies close at hand for everyday use. Remote storage makes use of areas that are removed from living space. Attics and basements are common areas that hold things you only use occasionally such as holiday decorations, seasonal sports gear, and family memorabilia.

Open storage, including bookcases, shelves, and wall hooks, keeps things in site and easily identifiable. This option works well for keepsakes you want to display or things you reach for often such as cooking utensils. Closed storage clears the clutter of loose items such as clothes, shoes, and office supplies. In addition to traditional spaces like closets and cabinets, you can create additional closed storage with boxes under the bed or small containers placed under covered tables.

Note the different spaces available in your home and take a detailed inventory of the area you are organizing. This is the point at which you might discover some forgotten supplies (all those light bulbs you bought on sale and put in the linen closet because the pantry was full) or realize that you have unnecessary duplicate items (seven similar blue shirts in different places in your closet). Armed with content lists for drawers, shelves, closets, and cabinets, you’re ready to tackle the next step in the process – the actual sorting. You’ll find most items will fall into three categories: things to be displayed, to be used, and to be packed away. There are several organizational techniques and systems to meet every need. Look for upcoming articles on smart storage ideas for each area of your home.

Easy Bathroom Makeovers

Easy Bathroom Makeovers
DIY Projects Spruce Things Up

Bathroom remodels give homeowners a great return on their investment, both monetarily, when selling or refinancing a home, and in increased comfort and aesthetic value. Large-scale bathroom remodels require extensive planning, and costs can soar into the thousands of dollars. When you are looking to spruce up your bathroom quickly on a limited budget there are some small upgrades that can give you big bang for your buck. And most homeowners can complete these relatively inexpensive projects themselves in little time.

Vanity Makeover

As one of the largest and most visible bathroom pieces, the vanity can set an overall tone in the bathroom. Sand and repaint a tired-looking vanity to give it new life.

Hardware

Replace that outdated or broken cabinet hardware with new pulls or knobs. Stainless steel and nickel finishes give a contemporary feel. You can also paint old wooden knobs and pulls to match new décor.

Storage

To clear clutter and give the impression of a larger space get items off of the floor and into hanging storage options. Small vanities are often installed on the wall above the toilet. Larger étagère units also make good storage use of the space over the toilet.

Toilet Seat

Install a new toilet lid and seat. Replacing that cracked or worn seat with a shiny new one brightens the bathroom in a subtle way, and the installation process is fairly simple.

Paint

With bathroom walls covered by tile, mirrors, showers, and bathtubs, there are only a few square feet of exposed wall to paint. If you have outdated color patterns on tiles and fixtures, try matching those colors in contemporary pairs – for example, use chocolate brown paint with pink or peach tile and fixtures.

Porcelain Paint

Porcelain paint is a great way to spruce up tired, worn porcelain tubs and sinks. Touch-up kits are available online and at home centers and hardware stores.

Tile Stencils

Dressing up bathroom tiles is a fun way to showcase your style and an easy alternative to completely replacing the tile. Decorative tile stencils come in a variety of designs to complement many themes. Choose random tiles to paint or run the stencil design in a row around the shower or the top edge of the walls to give a line of visual interest.

The Little Things

Look around your bathroom for small ways to make it appear roomier. Use small throw rugs or get rid of them altogether – those swatches of color break up the floor space and give the illusion that the room is smaller than it actually is. Mirrors will reflect the room, making it look larger, and will also bounce light around the room, making it seem airy. Fold towels on small or double bars rather than using larger single ones. Coordinate accessories such as the toilet paper holder, wastebasket, toothbrush holder, and towel bars. Use a clear shower curtain or glass door to open up the room.