Beautiful Home

The basics of remodeling on a budget aren’t difficult; they’re just not used enough. A little planning can go a long way, while still allowing you to achieve your remodeling goals.

Creating Your Budget

The first step is to research costs by making a list of prices of the products you plan to install and/or purchase.  You can get the sample prices by looking on the Internet, or by contacting:

•  kitchen and bathroom showrooms
•  home improvement retailers
•  appliance stores

If you’re unsure of which products you might ultimately choose, write down the range of prices for those items.

Ask contractors for bids on the project based on your selection of products and finishes. Examine the bids to ensure they include enough details on items that can affect the cost. There should be a list of all the functional components — framing material, drywall, and plumbing and electrical systems, and details on what type of fixtures and appliances will be included.

Remodeling budgets fall into three general categories:

•  mechanical (electrical, plumbing and heating)
•  labor
•  materials

Each category typically accounts for 25 to 35 percent of the total budget. You also should set aside 10 to 20 percent of the total budget to cover unexpected construction costs, price increases for materials and project changes.

Once the bids are in place, then review your financial picture. Look at your finances for the past year to see if you had enough cash flow to meet expenses. If you are considering taking out a loan, can you make the payments without cutting into your routine expenses?

Staying On Your Budget

Once the project begins, keep track of budget changes and decide whether you will increase the total cost of the project or scale back on another area to stay within the budget. Consumers often exceed their budgets because they ask the contractor to add little projects that are outside of the bid estimate. Avoid using the words, “While you are here, you may as well….”

What are other ways to stay within your budget?

•  avoid the temptation to add “small” details to the project
•  do some of the work yourself, if you have the skills
•  divide the project into phases to spread out the cost over six months to a year.

Tags: remodelling,budget, basics of remodelling, home, home improvement

Although art deco interior design is often thought of as a design from the past, there was once a time where this was seen as a thing before its time and of extreme elegance. Between the years of 1920 and 1939, art deco interior design and architecture was at its most popular points in history. You could look just about anywhere and see this “ultra modern” design also being displayed in fashion, paintings, films, and in industrial design.

While a lot of different design movements have some sort of roots that lead back to some important political or even philosophical intentions, art deco interior design is not one of those movements. In fact, art deco interior design came about simply for decorative purposes with it’s popularity peaking in the roaring twenties.

While this is something that most people may already know, one fact that is not as widely known is where the term Art Deco comes from. It has been found that the term actually was derived from the year 1925 and its events, although the term was not actually coined until late in the 1960’s. And it was actually a book, by the man who coined the term that made it popular in 1968.

The End of Art Deco Popularity

It wasn’t until around World War II that art deco interior design and its popularity came to a temporary crashing halt. Once the West started mass producing art deco interior design items, people started to feel that it lost its appeal and that it no longer gave the image of luxury. This false image of luxury came about because everyone could have a part in art deco interior design. And if everyone can have it so easily, it is no longer luxurious.

There are currently offices and organizations that are working to improve and restore buildings from the Art Deco age as these are a part of our history in so many different ways. Many of these buildings are that of private homes, businesses, and hotels. There is also a lot of work being done to restore pieces of true art deco art, utensils, and furniture.

It is important to many people that the era of art deco interior design lives on into our lives now and in the future. While there have been many little rebirths of the art deco design and interest, there has never been a period so strong in the love of art deco as that of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Tags: art deco interior design, art decoration, interior design, interior art design