5 Ways to Save Money Remodeling Your Kitchen
So, you're thinking of remodeling your kitchen.
It's a smart move if your motivation is to improve the value of your home.
(It's a smart move if you just want a better kitchen for yourself too.)
This is because kitchens are the most important room in the house for most prospective home buyers.
If you're currently doing your cooking and food preparation in a room that's dated, dingy, or dilapidated (or all three), it can seriously affect the amount of money people are willing to offer when it's time to sell your home.
Unfortunately, it's easy to spend tons of money on a kitchen remodel.
Stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, dedicated pot-filling faucets, double ovens, professional cook tops, etc. etc. etc.
If you want to buy all that stuff, you can expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
Some people even spend six figure sums on their kitchens.
Fortunately, it's possible to update your kitchen and make it look a lot better without spending an arm and a leg.
Let's take a peek at some of the ways you can increase the value of your kitchen without spending a lot of money:
Paint or refinish your cabinets instead of replacing them.
Before you decide you need to completely gut and replace your cabinets, take a good look at them.
Are they sound?
Are they made of good wood?
(If you live in an older home, chances are the cabinets are made from solid wood and of a higher quality than you'll get today--most of today's low to mid-end cabinets are made from particleboard with maple/oak/beech "veneers".)
If they're basically in good shape, all your cabinets may need is a little low-cost TLC.
A paint job is the cheapest way to give them a new look.
New door and drawer hardware (knobs and hinges) can help bring your kitchen into the 21st century as well, and it won't cost a lot.
You might also consider just refinishing the fronts and getting new cabinet doors.
Install granite tiles instead of solid granite countertops.
If you want the classy, upscale look of granite, you can achieve it with granite tiles, which are less expensive than solid granite.
They can also be installed by the average do-it-yourself homeowner, whereas solid granite countertops need to be cut to fit and installed by a professional.
If you want to save even more money, you can get laminate countertops that are made to look like granite, marble, or other stones.
(These won't likely fool prospective home buyers though.)
Choose laminate flooring instead of hardwood
Wood flooring is popular in kitchens right now, and it'll cost you a pretty penny to get it installed.
However, you can buy laminate flooring that looks a lot like the real deal for about half the price.
Laminate is also more forgiving of spills (wood can be damaged over time if repeatedly exposed to moisture), and it's very easy to keep clean.
Don't spend a fortune on appliances.
If you want stainless steel, you don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money on Aga or Viking.
Many of the low to mid-end brands are putting out high-end look-alike appliances.
GE, for examples, offers stainless steel ovens and refrigerators.
True, they won't fool kitchen snobs, but let's face it: the people looking to buy your house are more likely to be average Joes, who just want stainless steel and granite because that's what everybody says is in right now.
Buy new lighting.
Nothing makes a kitchen look dark and dingy like a single overhead ceiling fixture.
Lighting is a relatively inexpensive improvement, but it goes a long ways in brightening up the kitchen and making it look good.
Make sure to buy modern fixtures.
Pendant lighting over eating counters is popular, and under-counter task lighting is smart for brightening up food preparation areas.
To save on lighting, visit stores like Ikea, or consider doing your shopping online.
Sites like Nextag.com make it easy to compare prices on lamps and just about anything else.
Hopefully these tips have given you some ideas on how to make your kitchen look like its worth a lot without actually spending a ton of money..
Mashita Electronics Adds Exclusive Online Distributor, "Solutions" for Watt-Minder, Appliance Cost and Current Meter
Mashita Electronics announces the selection of "Solutions?" online retailer as the newest distributor of the "Watt-Minder" Appliance Cost & Current Meter. Vickie Desofi, Manager of Catalog, and Internet Sales for Mashita Electronics lauded the venture as an important step in the introduction of a new product into the consumer market. Solutions? is currently the exclusive online retailer for the Watt-Minder 90100G."The Watt-Minder is an innovative product", says Desofi, and it requires a trusted marketer like Solutions to carry this type of product to the consumer. The Watt-Minder measures the consumption of electrical appliances and presents the cost by the hour, month, and year.
"The potential benefits are two-fold", explains Desofi first, the consumer can get an understanding of the cost of appliance operation using variables such as timer settings, temperature settings, and over all appliance efficiency.
Secondly, as consumers set, use, and replace appliances the combined...
Mashita Electronics Adds Exclusive Online Distributor, "Solutions" for Watt-Minder, Appliance Cost and Current Meter
Appliances > Mashita Electronics Adds Exclusive Online Distributor, "Solutions" for Watt-Minder, Appliance Cost and Current Meter
nAble and Sensatronics,two High Growth Companies Align to Expand Offerings for Customers
Bow, NH (ContentDesk) April 25, 2004 -- N-able Technologies?, a leading provider of service management software that manages information technology and security services from a business perspective and Sensatronics, an industry leader in environmental monitoring appliances are partnering in a strategic agreement to further increase the record growth of both companies.Sensatronics appliances will be made available to N-able's global partner base of system integrators, outsourcers and value-added resellers, so they may offer environmental monitoring services to their clients and increase the revenue associated with this growing services segment. N-able's product line, including N-central? and N-vision?, delivers availability, performance reporting, security event and business service management to multiple customers or locations through a central Web console.
Adding Sensatronics capabilities in environmental monitoring will offer a new dimension of service and provide N-able partners...
Appliances > nAble and Sensatronics,two High Growth Companies Align to Expand Offerings for Customers
Fastora and NorthSeas Form Alliance to Provide Cost-Effective Email Archiving Solutions
City of Industry, Calif. (ContentDesk) July 27, 2005 -- NorthSeas AMT (NorthSeas), pioneer of the email archiving appliance, is pleased to announce a new strategic alliance with FASTORA, a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of scalable and affordable storage solutions for business and vertical markets.
The alliance integrates
NorthSeas' powerful archiving technology, including its flagship product called the NorthSeas Guard E/N (pronounced Guardian), a vendor neutral email archiving appliance, into FASTORA's wide range of network attached storage (NAS) appliances, transforming them into vendor neutral email archiving and storage appliances. "We are excited about the alliance with NorthSeas. Our already versatile storage products become powerful turn-key vendor-neutral email archiving solutions that negate the need for customers to buy third-party applications and the hassle of piecing together a workable solution" said Kit Chui, FASTORA Sales director. ...
Appliances > Fastora and NorthSeas Form Alliance to Provide Cost-Effective Email Archiving Solutions
Quality Of The Air We Breathe At Home Or In The Workplace
How would you rate the quality of air in your workplace? More importantly what factors are you considering when rating it?Your home or work environment may be causing you additional health risks without you realizing it. On average, Canadians spend about 80-90 percent of their time indoors, thus the quality of indoor air is very important. Ask yourself a few questions:Does fresh, outside air flow into the room or office you are usually in?Is the room humid?Are there any gas-fired appliances?Is your furniture composed of particle board or wood laminents?These questions need to be addressed when determining the quality of air in our home or workplace. Here are the reasons why.Does fresh, outside air flow into the room or office you are usually in? Better insulation can save on heating costs, but it limits the amount of fresh air that enters and leaves your house or office.As a lot of water vapour is produced from normal human activities, fresh air is necessary to get rid of this extra...
Quality Of The Air We Breathe At Home Or In The Workplace
Appliances > Quality Of The Air We Breathe At Home Or In The Workplace
Emergency Generators
The disruption of power for substantial lengths of time can occur at any time due to hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, snowfall and other natural calamities. Having emergency backup power in such situations is not only essential for hospitals and commercial establishments but also in homes to run critical appliances like lights, refrigerators, heaters and medical equipment.
There are basically two types of generators that can be used in an emergency: portable and permanent standby generators. The main difference between the two is their output power and price.
In times of emergencies, portable generators provide the most economical way of supplying back up power. Appliances are directly plugged into the generator using the recommended extension cord or alternatively are connected to the home wiring system using a transfer switch.
The generators come with an electric start or a pull start and loaded with many other features including the GFCI receptacles.
Appliances > Emergency Generators
My Beighbor Got A New Car
MY NEIGHBOR GOT A NEW CAR I don't know what kind it is, but I saw iton TV running full speed along the shore (I don'tlive near the shore) throwing up spray or maybeit was that one climbing up the steep mountaintrail thru the mud, rocks and snow. Veryexciting. (I don't live near the mountainseither.) WOW! Just what I need. But there are a few obstacles. It costs about $28,000.
(That's close to theaverage annual wage.) I have perfect credit andthey'll give it to me for no money down. All...
My Beighbor Got A New Car
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