real estate
Tips for Renovating Your Kitchen
Thinking of revamping a rustic kitchen? Here are 7 tips to modernize it.
Your old oak kitchen is totally outdated and you do not want to undertake heavy work to change it? Follow this guide for an express makeover. Do you see your 80s oak kitchen? It is time to react!
The kitchen is a living space for the whole family and it is important to feel good there. But rest assured, no need to invest a colossal amount to change it! Indeed, all you need is a good coat of paint to give a new life to your rustic kitchen, all at a lower cost!
How to revamp a rustic oak kitchen? How to transform a rustic kitchen into a modern kitchen? How to modernize a rustic kitchen without changing it? Rustic kitchens are completely old-fashioned today, but we have to admit that oak remains a quality material nonetheless. Indeed, solid and durable over time, these wooden kitchens that impose some still offer certain advantages. This is why it is better not to part with it, but rather to offer your kitchen a good makeover to rejuvenate it!
A full kitchen renovation can be costly and create a lot of disturbance. A big renovation may create a lot of construction debris, junk and old apparels and furniture to discard. You my even have to rent a dumpster to remove all this mess. And of course the budget is to take into consideration as well. Therefore it is often more logical to do a simpler kitchen renovation following the steps we list below.
Below we list 7 steps for an express makeover of a rustic cuisine. To effectively renovate your rustic kitchen, we apply the home staging technique. An economic operation which consists in renovating by touching only the decoration rather than undertaking heavy work.
1. Prepare the kitchen for its renovation
After emptying the cupboards and drawers, it’s time to prepare your kitchen for a makeover. Clean the furniture: use a mixture of a little detergent and lukewarm water to clean the cupboards and drawers. Dismantle furniture: remove drawers, cupboard doors and handles. Sand the furniture and dust it
2. Paint the furniture to remove the rustic effect
Use special paint for kitchen furniture to paint the wood and remove the rustic effect. Paint all of the furniture the same color for a nice look. Also paint the oak table and chairs and other rustic furniture in the room. The before/after the makeover of a rustic kitchen should be stunning.
3. Modernize the handles of doors and drawers
The knobs and handles that accompany the oak drawers and cupboards are nothing modern. Go to your favorite furniture store or DIY store to buy new ones!
4. Paint the credenza
The floral patterns on the tiling of your credenza no longer have a place in this kitchen! To give it a makeover, don’t hesitate to paint it with a special tile paint. Take the time to choose the right color by going to DIY stores.
5. Replace the sink
The sinks that accompany rustic kitchens are definitely too old to be kept in the event of a makeover. Your best option is to change it to a more modern one.
6. Lay out a new work plan
The worktop is undeniably the central element of the kitchen, both visually but also for the preparation of meals. To bring a real modern touch, changing this element is essential. Now there are many different models and material effects for a worktop: wood, quartz, granite worktops, etc. You choose !
7. Refreshing the floor and walls
It is not enough to pamper the kitchen furniture to modernize it, you have to take into account the room as a whole. Refresh your walls with a good coat of paint and change your floor if necessary.
How to Deal with a Home Inspector
Though the services of a home inspector are absolutely essential when it come to managing your real estate, you should be able to ask him the right questions before hiring him. This article will list out a few questions that you should ask a home inspector before hiring him.
1. Does your home inspector perform repairs?
Ask your home inspector if he does repairs or only provides home inspections. While a home inspector can check the house appliances, a general contractor only tells you about repairs that need to be done in the house. Thus, to get a true picture about the repairs and upgrades to be done, ask your home inspector upfront as to whether he gives advice about these things too, and then ask for a quote accordingly.
2. Is your home inspector insured?
Ask your home inspector if he has insurance and a workers’ compensation scheme, and whether he is insured against errors and omissions. If the inspector meets with an accident while working on your house, and if he doesn’t have insurance coverage, then it might lead to heavy litigation or create liens on the property. Thus, if you want to avoid being personally liable, then you must insist that your home inspector is insured.
3. Can your home inspector provide you with references?
You should ask your home inspector to provide you with references so that you can gauge if he is really up to the mark. Ask his previous clients if they are happy with his work, if he was punctual, courteous, efficient, and consistent and had inspected their house thoroughly. Or ask references from professionals in the real estate business, as real estate brokers often work with home inspectors.
If he was lazy or not punctual, then you can make a more informed decision regarding his suitability for the job, especially if you have a time crunch.
4. Will he take you along on the inspections
Make sure that your inspector allows you to be hands-on and takes you along for inspections. Make sure that he gives you the opportunity to walk around with him and you are at liberty to ask as many questions as you please. Ask him questions about electricity, the cooling and heating systems and see if he answers them comfortably.
5. The Details of the Inspection
You should also have a very clear idea about what inspection include. The inspection should be thorough and he should check out doors, windows, heating devices and all appliances for you so that you know what repairs are to be done. Ask the inspector to check out the irrigation systems, the swimming pools and so on, so that you do not have to spend too much on repairs. After you are done, ask the inspector to send you a detailed report of the inspection so that you can deliberate and make an informed decision.
6. Special skills of the Home Inspector
Make sure that the inspector knows what to do with special kind of properties like old or historic properties and he possesses the skills required for the same. Homes with swimming pools, free-standing home etc. need a lot of special skills so you need to watch out.
