There is Hope

I was driving to a job in Midvale and passed by this little gem and luckily I had my camera.
Homes like this inspire me cause they remind me that it doesn't take a large home to
look amazing. I'm a huge fan of homes that have a more quaint and symmetrical look. Many homes are now built with a lot of wasted space. It's time to rethink floorplans
and be more efficient in our home designs. Besides think of all the energy you'll save...

Something Other Than Granite

I like granite countertops and so do the masses. In fact you can take a crappy house slap granite in the kitchen and all of a sudden people will take an interest in it. Granite is, however, not the only way to "put lipstick on a pig." I tried concrete and am happy with how it turned out. Like granite it's interesting, dramatic, and custom. Unlike granite, concrete can be industrial, contemporary, and you can do so much more with it. Also, concrete can be much less expensive than granite if you're willing to put in the time.


Concrete can be poured and then set, or poured in place. Keep in mind
that concrete is HEAVY.





Concrete can be colored by adding color as you mix or acid staining it
after it dries. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, it just
depends on the look you want to achieve.





There a so many awsome things you can do with concrete. Check out
Concrete Exchange for some pics.

Opening up your kitchen

This is like that crazy kitchen on Seinfeld, where it got so awkward leaning over and talking under the cabinets that they stopped hanging out at Jerry's. Taking out the middle suspended cabinets really opened up the space between the kitchen and dinning room. This made the kitchen less awkward and better for entertaining.

Kitchens have gotten a lot bigger in the last few years. That means for the older houses something relatively dramatic has to be done to open up the space. This can sometimes be done without tearing out and redoing a lot of cabinets, however, this is a great time to rearrange and do new cabinets. Don't let this intimidate you, cabinets really don't have to be that expensive. I'm not talking about those cheap Home Depot cabinets with the doors that never seem to sit straight, you can get solid alder or maple cabinets installed for about the same price. Also, you'd be amazed at what $.20 tile for a backsplash and under cabinet lights do.

The Vances:

The Wards:

Trim; So Underrated

One of the biggest and most noticeable differences between a track/starter home and a custom home are their trims and moldings. I find this is the last thing homeowners want to upgrade. I don't blame them since many builders charge a lot for this upgrade. Many homeowners end up repainting with colors, faux textures, and glazing to upgrade their home. While all these do wonders to a house finished in the standard builder's color (beige) they look tons better next to more dramatic moldings.

Before: Living Room/Dinning Room

After:

Before: Baby's Room


After:

Curb Appeal

You should never judge a book by it's cover, unless you live in a book that you mortgaged for 30 years. There are many simple ways that you can give a home a "facelift" from trim around windows to porch pop-outs. And remember you can paint just about anything, including brick.

Before:

After:

This was actually an easy remodel. Trim around the windows, porch pop out, new shingle siding on the gables, and paint (no offense white brick). I usually wouldn't recommend painting over brick since you can usually work with it, however, this house needed the color. We also added some can light in the eves and porch. It lights up the house great at night.

Vance's Home
Before:

After:

Their first porch had some issues as you can see. You couldn't even open the screen door all the way cause it would hit the overhang. Plus it was sagging and water damaged. So we cut it off and framed a simple one with thicker timber posts to give it better weight. There is nothing worse than a porch supported by toothpicks, it just looks silly.

This and a new paint job on their vinyl siding that was in fine shape and their house looks like new.