Kenneth Lewis Blog

Forget about the living room; the kitchen is the social hub of a home. Today's homeowners want their kitchens to reflect their personal tastes and accommodate their daily lives.

A dream kitchen is one that reflects the way you live. The best advice for anyone looking to remodel their kitchen is to think about how you use it, and how it affects your lifestyle. Do you need a new kitchen layout, or will newly refinished cabinets and countertops suit you fine?

Everyone uses the kitchen to prepare food, but many homeowners use their kitchen for entertaining, crafting, or just spending time with their families.  Often the existing kitchen cabinets are fine, just in need of a face lift with cabinet refinishing or cabinet refacing. This changes the whole look without a whole remodel.

Home Chefs
Food preparation and cooking are the primary functions of a kitchen, but creating an environment for gourmet cooking is a special treat for homeowners who consider themselves "at-home chefs."

Entertainers
For Most parties, everyone ends up in the kitchen. Homeowners who like to entertain should consider whether or not their kitchen is attractive for entertaining. There are several features that can help make the party successful.

A kitchen island helps make entertaining easier. Not only can an island provide extra seating and serving space, it can include great storage.

Open shelving  and glass doors on your cabinets also adds a great design element for a kitchen used for entertaining. These shelves allow the homeowner to display beautiful dishware and glasses; and guests can help themselves to a plate for appetizers or a glass for wine.

Moms
Moms know that having young children can make the kitchen a challenging space, but there are features to make this room more kid friendly. Soft-closing drawers and doors can protect against hurt hands.

Original article RSI Media

If you are deciding on whether or not to remodel your kitchen, remember you get the best bang your your buck if you choose to move forward. But you don’t need to spend a lot. That’s right, remodel your kitchen for less. How?

New countertops are often the best option when you want to change or remodel your kitchen. Replace your existing countertops with granite, corian, cambria quartz or other quality material and make big difference in your kitchen. If what your really need is a new look and feel, an update, new counters are the solution.

Kenneth C. Lewis Cabinetry can guide you in your selection of countertops. Contact us about replacing your existing countertop.

We all know that a kitchen make-over is money well spent. If you need a kitchen face lift, think about replacing your countertops. New counters can help revitalize an older kitchen, or give a kitchen a new look and feel.

Many homeowners just are not interested in a whole kitchen remodel because of the disruption to daily life. The solution is granite countertops. Kenneth Lewis spends an average of 3-4 days in your home.

Kenneth C. Lewis can offer alternative solutions to your kitchen remodeling project. Your entire kitchen can get a new look just by replacing the counters. If it is storage space or surface area that you need, add a kitchen island.

Countertop replacement is usually the best option when you want to totally change or remodel your kitchen. We can guide you in your selection of countertop including granite, corian, cambria quartz and other quality materials for replacing your existing countertops.
 
If you are interested in updating the look and feel of your kitchen with new countertops, contact Kenneth C. Lewis.

There are many homeowners that are hesitant to put their homes on the market today because they don’t feel as though they would get the asking price for it. Combine this with the lowest personal savings account interest rates in history and you have more people investing in their homes than ever. If you are going to keep your house, you may as well make it more comfortable while you’re there, and when you do sell it, the return you will get will most likely be higher than any interest rate.

One of the home improvement projects that do pay - Remodel the kitchen:

An average kitchen remodeling project takes nine months to plan and three months to build, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. You can improve the overall look and feel of a kitchen with a lot less work and money simply by refurbishing what you have. Some refurbishing options include refaced cabinets instead of new, resurfaced countertops or an added backsplash, updated flooring and under-cabinet task lighting.

Regardless of the project you plan to undertake, there are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most for your money.

• Establish a budget:
• Hire a qualified remodeler who is familiar with local building codes.
• Compare products and prices before you begin.
• Work with a contract.  

Countertop replacement is usually the best option when totally changing or remodeling your kitchen.

A beautiful countertop can really stand out in a kitchen. Consumer Reports tested 14 different countertop materials like granite and quartz, recycled glass, bamboo and soapstone. They applied things like tomato sauce and grape juice and let them sit overnight.

The bamboo surfaces stained badly.

They also tested the counters for heat, by placing a 400 degree pot on them: the bamboo counters scorched, and 2 recycled glass countertops cracked within 12 minutes.

When all the tests were done, quartz and granite countertops came out on top!

Kenneth C Lewis uses granite, corian, cambria quartz and other quality materials for replacing existing countertops.

If you are thinking of redoing your kitchen, you know you can spend thousands on new countertops. Kitchens are one of the biggest remodeling expenses, so how can you be sure that your counters will hold up over time?

You can double the price of a kitchen makeover by throwing in new countertops. So with that kind of money on the line it's important to get the right ones for your lifestyle.

A beautiful new kitchen countertop can really stand out. However, with so many different types to choose from, how do you know which is best? Consumer Reports tested 14 different countertop materials to find out.

"We checked out popular surfaces like granite and quartz. New to our tests we have recycled glass, bamboo, and soapstone," said Consumer Reports tester Chris Regan.

To see how well a countertop resists stains, Regan applied 20 common substances, like tomato sauce and grape juice, then let them sit overnight.

"We tested bamboo countertops with a mixture of a beeswax and mineral-oil finish. Both countertops looked great out of the box, but not so much after our tests," said Regan.

Both stained badly, even coffee and tea, which most other surfaces could handle - stained the bamboo.

Consumer Reports also tests to see if counters can take the heat - literally. Testers set a pot of 400-degree oil on the countertop for an hour. There were scorch marks left behind on each of these bamboo counters.

"We also found a problem with some of the recycled-glass countertops," said Regan.

One of the recycled glass countertops cracked within 12 minutes. But recycled-glass countertops from two other manufacturers did not crack. When all the tests were done, quartz countertops and as well as granite came out on top. And while either surface can chip, getting a rounded edge helps minimize this.

If you decide to go with natural stone, like granite or quartz, be aware their look can vary widely, even within the same slab. So pick out the sample you want and reserve it.

Original article on ABC local – Michael Finney

There is nothing stating that a kitchen remodeling project needs to be more than you can afford and let's face it; remodeling a kitchen can be an expensive endeavor. Appliances and paint to floors, cabinets and countertops, completely transforming a kitchen requires quite a bit of money and time. Often, doing the entire project at once is cost-prohibitive. But there are ways to transform your kitchen without spenging too much. How? Creative solutions to kitchen renovation, like countertop resurfacing. You can save a lot of money and hassle with countertop resurfacing as opposed to replacing them. Countertops are heavy and cling to everything, including the kitchen sink. By just resurfacing, you can avoid the labor and cost of completely removing them, let alone replacing them.

In resurfacing your countertop, one option is to remove the old laminate and replace it with new laminate. But, there are other options for countertop resurfacing as well. You can install ceramic tiles over the old countertops. You can also polish existing old stone or other solid material countertops to give them a brighter and fresher look. The countertops are a focal point for the eye when you enter a kitchen and they dramatically change the style of an area. Changing the countertop will allow you to carry through with the design you want while visually impacting the space with just one renovation. Countertop resurfacing can transform your kitchen into something cozier and more stylish without killing your home remodeling budget.

Kitchen renovations are among the most expensive home-improvement projects. However, it's possible to refresh a tired kitchen without feeling financial pain. For the most inexpensive yet still dramatic make over, walls can be painted, cabinets can be refinished and the cabinet hardware can be changed to freshen the look. An entirely new kitchen is possible with Cabinet Refinishing by Kenneth C Lewis. Kitchen cabinets can be dressed up, revitalizing an older kitchen, or giving a newer kitchen the look and feel you dreamed of.

The next level, still less expensive than a total remodel, but effective and dramatic, you can upgrade your appliances within the same footprint, which saves the expense and hassle of moving plumbing and electrical lines. Even investing in one great feature such as a granite countertop, a deep freeze refrigerator, or a pro grade range can have a big impact. A nice and well done cosmetic upgrade will more than pay for itself at resale time. So if changing styles or wear and tear has you in need of a kitchen face lift, consider a less expensive kitchen makeover through cabinet refinishing.

It is important to prepare a budget for your kitchen remodeling plan before you start implementing it. Without a complete and detailed budget prepared before the kitchen renovation begins, you may get swept into a spending spiral of un-budgeted extras.

Limit spending on the kitchen remodeling to about 15-percent of your home's value.

The cost of appliances, countertops, cabinets, flooring, and so on, will add up to one-half to two-thirds of the total cost of remodeling. Find out the prices for these items and plug those figures into the budget. Similarly, make provisions for the cost of labor, design, contracting services, and permit fees.

Consider cabinet refinishing or refacing rather than purchasing brand new cabinets. This will dramatically cut down on the expense, but even better, it will dramatically cut down on the mess, stress, and length of time of the project. Cabinet refinishing is perfect if your cabinets are in good shape but they have an out of date look. Cabinet refacing is a great option when you have custom built cabinets that were well made, but perhaps have damaged or out of date fronts. The door and drawer fronts will be remade and replaced, entirely changing the look of your kitchen in much less time, for much less money and much less stress.

When deciding on home remodeling projects, you get the most bang for your buck out of a kitchen remodel. You will get the most return on your investment in the way of home value and resale value if you have a new and updated kitchen. But what if the kitchen remodeling project is too costly? Or perhaps you are concerned with the disruption to your everyday life. There is a solution. Kenneth C. Lewis can help you with your kitchen remodeling project without breaking the bank, by offering alternative solutions. Did you know that your entire kitchen can get a new look just by replacing the counters? Perhaps you could add a kitchen island, to increase work space and home value. The average actual time we will spend in your home on a kitchen remodel is only 3-4 days with minimal interruption to your normal life.

Countertop replacement is usually the best option when you want to totally change or remodel your kitchen. We can guide you in your selection of countertop finishes. We use granite, corian, cambria quartz and other quality materials for replacing your existing countertops. If it is not a kitchen remodel you are after, but you are interested in updating the look and feel of your kitchen. Speak with us about refinishing your existing countertop. Let us help you revitalize an older kitchen, or give a newer kitchen the look and feel you dreamed of.