How to Solve Kitchen Peninsula Problems

After 20 years of living in their home, a Cary NC couple came to us with the hopes of remodeling their kitchen and making it “theirs” for their next 20 years.

Their old kitchen was like so many kitchens we’ve seen—old in look, feel and design. The small kitchen was designed with those very familiar color and features: brown wood cabinets and vinyl countertops. The kitchen had only one small window and was otherwise lit by large fluorescent tubes. It sat adjacent to a small dinette lit with the also familiar brass chandelier. The cabinetry consisted of one large U-shaped unit, positioned in such a way that one of the long arms of the U served as a separator between the kitchen and dinette. The refrigerator stood closely to the “legs” of the U shape. The combination of a large amount of brown, almost no natural lighting and the cabinet acting as a half wall made the kitchen/dinette areas feel dark and cramped.

Our goal was to give our clients a kitchen that was brighter, less cramped, more usable and more up to date, compatible with their changing lifestyle. In order to do this, we added more natural light by replacing the small window with a much larger one. We removed the one large fluorescent unit and installed high hat lighting and a more modern chandelier in the dinette. Other renovations included new cabinets, which came in a white wood and granite countertops that nicely complemented the new stainless steel appliances. The reconfigured layout of the cabinets to be set along the edges of the kitchen made for more of a streamlined effect, opening up more space, and creating a longer unified space.

To add to the usability of the kitchen, a granite-topped island was put in place. It was adjoined to a dining table set on the dinette’s floor, again adding to the streamlined look and feel. The redesigned kitchen and dinette was finished with the replacement of the linoleum floors with hardwood flooring adding to a smooth, modern feel. The new features give this kitchen more personality, more functionality, and more space for the homeowners and for entertaining.

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About Paradise Found Construction

At Paradise Found Construction, we're grateful and honored to be trusted with the homes of our clients in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs, Apex and beyond. We are dedicated to providing affordable custom remodels and new custom homes that fit your unique vision, while partnering with you to scale features to align with your budget. We promise to be transparent and reliable to help you along each step of the way.

Choosing custom construction allows you the flexibility to get everything you want — and nothing you don’t.

Our passion is to help you create your personal Paradise in your home. We work closely with you to understand your vision and bring it to life in a 3D visual design, and then turn it into your finished masterpiece.

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Thinking about upgrading your master bath, but aren’t sure what to do? A large portion of houses built within the last decade have a similar setup in their master baths: a large garden tub, a separate small shower enclosure and small vanities and cabinets. Though initially the garden tub is appealing to homeowners, over time it turns out that those tubs are rarely used, and ultimately become a waste of a large amount of space that could otherwise be more useful.

One of our recent remodeling clients had just this type of master bath setup. Though they wanted to retain a tub, they felt their garden tub took up too much floor space. They also wanted to redo the bathroom to have more of a retro-style look and feel. They liked the idea of the vintage claw-footed free-standing tub and a “subway tile.”

To accommodate the new tub, we removed the old garden tub, which gave us more floor space for which to expand and redo the existing shower area. The addition of new tile to the now larger shower enclosure, plus mosaic floor tiles, gave the bathroom an entirely new look.

To complement the new tile and bath setup, we installed a rich, dark wood vanity with a Carrera Marble counter top. Additional marble was installed on the top of the shower curb and on the half wall that separated the water closet from the main room.

The new custom design transformed our clients’ plain master bath into an inviting retro-style master bath that is not only more aesthetically pleasing but much more useful for them every day. Check out the BEFORE and AFTER photos of this Vintage Bathroom Remodel in Cary NC.

About Paradise Found Construction

Since 2009, our mission and passion has been to help our clients create their personal Paradise in their homes. We work closely with them to understand Their Vision, and leverage our vast experience in residential design to bring it to life in a 3D Color Visual Design before helping them Rediscover the Paradise in Their Home.

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A professional remodeling job typically costs more than homeowners imagined.

In this era of cable TV shows, where jaw-dropping results are achieved for a pittance in less than 60 minutes, it's not hard to see how one's expectations are typically out of line with the reality of costs.

Add to that the variability of labor and material costs between different regions and metros in the country and you start to get a sense of how dramatically prices and value for the same work can vary across the United States.

These annual reports provide the numbers you need on how much it really costs for a pro to do a typical remodeling project, as well as how much that project can be expected to bring in resale value.

The numbers come from RemodelMAX, an unbiased third-party research firm that keeps track of labor and product costs in markets nationwide. They report on how much it really costs for a professional to do a typical remodeling project, as well as how much a real estate pro believes that project will increase a home’s value if it’s sold within a year of when the work was completed. By dividing the project’s value into its cost, you get a sense of how much bang for the buck you’re generating as a result.

Unlike reporting services that claim to report average or typical costs for remodel jobs that were performed, Cost vs. Value bases its numbers on what it would cost to do any of 29 theoretical projects in each of 99 markets nationwide. They put the same amenities into the same-sized space, varying their price by market. Likewise, while they assume it takes the same amount of labor to do the work, they vary labor costs according to the local rate.

After that, they add the same corporate expenses: taxes, worker’s comp insurance, and general overhead items like the cost of having an office, a website, a phone number, utilities, company vehicles, and equipment. Finally, they add a reasonable profit.

We’re not talking about repainting some rooms or planting flowers.

Most Cost vs. Value projects range from difficult to impossible, not to mention dangerous, for a DIYer to do. And if you don’t plan to sell within several years of the project, ignore payback numbers. They are closely tied to the latest rises and falls in home prices, and we all know how quickly those can change within a few years.

In general, the hotter the market, the bigger the payback.

As you review the reports, note that in some cases there are two versions of a common job, such as renovating or adding a kitchen or bath. The baseline or standard version is called a midrange project and the higher-priced version is called an upscale project. The difference between them usually has to do with the scope of work and the complexity of the project. It also takes into account different quality standards for finishes: for instance, the midrange major kitchen remodel calls for a plastic laminate island countertop while the upscale version has a stone top.

A job that’s done by a pro rarely will pay back at resale a higher amount than was invested in it in the Short Term.

In general, work to replace items that are broken or need simple changes, like replacing a steel entry door or a vinyl window, score higher paybacks than more discretionary projects, such as constructing a two-store addition or updating a kitchen.

Below are two downloadable reports for the Raleigh NC metro and the Chapel Hill NC metro.

About Paradise Found Construction

Since 2008, our mission and passion has been to help our clients throughout the Triangle NC create their personal Paradise in their homes. We work closely with them to understand Their Vision, and leverage our vast experience in residential design to bring it to life in a 3D Color Visual Design before helping them Rediscover the Paradise in Their Home.

WE SPECIALIZE IN:

Pamper Yourself With a Spa Bathroom

Award Winning Spa Master Bath in Holly Springs, NC

Ann Marie and Mike loved their home and their neighborhood in Holly Springs NC. They had been living there for ten years, but their Master Bathroom had become outdated and uninspiring. They had a large Jacuzzi garden tub that was never used and took up a lot of floor space. Their shower was outdated and felt small and there was nowhere to put all of the shampoo bottles and shower accessories. They longed for a larger shower and a warm and inviting space.

The look and feel of a Spa Bathroom appealed to them, so we got to work.

We combined the space taken up by the old shower and tub and created a large continuous shower space, and added a half-wall tiled on both sides with several large “shampoo nooks” inside the shower to hold all of the shower accessories and keep them hidden from sight. A frame-less “Rain Glass” shower wall added a measure of privacy. We built a tiled seat just outside the shower enclosure that served as a “drying area”, and added a small tiled foot rest in one corner of the shower for ease of shaving. The multi-purpose shower fixtures included a large overhead “Rain Head”, and a hand-held shower head on a slide bar for showering or hand-held use.

For one of the most used pieces of furniture in the home, the bathroom vanity, we designed and installed a wall-mounted double vanity with a storage tower in the middle for storing and hiding every day accessories. The wall hung mirrors, ceiling can lights, and a pendant light over each sink rounded out the amenities. A special touch to the granite counter top was added to hold a hand or shower towel.

The warm rich tones of the porcelain tile with generous accents and the exquisite natural pebble shower floor added pizzazz and the “Wow” factor we were looking for. The earth tone color palette accented the rich dark wood of the vanity beautifully.

Ann Marie’s and Mike’s new Spa Bath is now a special space and luxurious retreat that they forward to using every day!

About Paradise Found Construction

Since 2009, our mission and passion has been to help our clients throughout the Triangle NC create their personal Paradise in their homes. We work closely with them to understand Their Vision, and leverage our vast experience in residential design to bring it to life in a 3D Color Visual Design before helping them Rediscover the Paradise in Their Home.

WE SPECIALIZE IN:

Apex NC Aging in Place Master Bedroom Suite Addition

Susan and Doug loved their two-story home set on a lovely large and secluded wooded lot in a quiet and centrally located neighborhood in Apex, NC.

They decided that they would retire in the home, but were aware of their need to transition to a first-floor fully accessible living environment as they aged so that they could remain in their home as long as possible. Our solution was to design and build a first-floor Master Bedroom Suite Home Addition that flows seamlessly into the other living areas on their first floor, and also serves to bring more of the “outdoors in”, allowing them to enjoy more of their lovely large wooded back yard and gardens.

The Aging in Place and Special Needs Accessible Master Bedroom Suite Addition transformed their two-story home into a fully accessible and functional 1st Floor retirement home, with guest suites on the 2^nd Floor!

The Master Suite Addition features a large master bedroom with generous windows that looks out on the lovely wooded back yard and creates a light and bright interior. The large master bathroom features an amazing tiled barrier-free shower, large closet, free-standing tub, and fully wheelchair accessible water closet.

Beautiful natural finish hardwood floors flow into the fully wheelchair accessible and barrio-free kitchen, dining room, and family room. The large wrap-around deck extends the living space into the large private back yard, and ties the master bedroom in with the screened porch.

Special Features:

Fully Aging in Place and Special Needs Accessible 1^st Floor Home.
Generous windows to bring in natural light and the lovely private and wooded back yard.
Energy efficient advanced building science techniques.
Amazing tiled barrier-free shower and master bath.
Integration of sentimental heirloom vanity and several hand-made pottery vessel sinks.
Beautiful natural finish hardwood floors.
Wrap-around deck that extends the barrier-free living spaces into the private back yard.

About Paradise Found Construction

WE SPECIALIZE IN: