Posts Tagged "Kitchen Remodel"

Kitchen Backsplash Options and Ideas for Your Fairfield County Home

March 16, 2015

Your kitchen is a genuinely unique place. On one hand, it’s designed to work, being carefully organized for efficiency and productivity. Ideally (not always, though), you know where each cup, ladle, measuring spoon, pot or pan is located, and meals can be created with relative ease.

On the other hand, your kitchen is also a place where you can showcase your own style, holding tremendous opportunity to customize, personalize, and create a truly breathtaking space.

Keith Gerety
fairfield county kitchen remodeling
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What Are the Benefits of a Granite Countertop? Remodeling Tips for Greenwich, CT

February 27, 2015

Countertops play a unique role in your home’s design. While architecture, paint color, and decor are all huge components of what makes your home your own, there is something special about a beautifully chosen countertop.

This might be because the material you choose ties your home to something that feels a little more wild and natural; there is a flavor of raw authenticity in a slab of stone or the smooth texture of cool, polished wood under your fingertips.

When you think of beautiful, classy countertops, what do you think of? As we said, there are certainly a wide variety to choose from, but the majority of people (maybe yourself included!) would say that granite is one of the first to come to mind.

Keith Gerety
granite counter maintenance
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Stone Tile Installation in Westchester, NY

January 30, 2015

When you think of ways to add style to your home, what comes to mind? Interior paint colors? Architecture? The quality of your kitchen cabinets, appliances, and fixtures? These are all good and valuable answers, but here’s another one to consider: stone tile.

Keith Gerety
Bathroom Remodeling
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A Walk through a Kitchen Remodel and Addition in Larchmont, NY (Part 2)

January 15, 2015

In our last entry we asked you to join us as we explored a kitchen remodel and expansion project in Larchmont. Specifically, we shared a few exterior pictures and discussed just how much of a difference can be made by even a relatively small addition, debunking the misconception that a life-improving change in your home can only come from a massive project. There is a quiet, valuable power in strategic planning and quality work.

As promised, let’s zoom in even closer now, throw open those beautiful French doors, and take a stroll through this custom kitchen.

A Total Kitchen Transformation

Below you’ll find a picture of the finished interior. Quite a difference!

 

Custom Cabinetry, Wood Floors, and so Much More

Our mission was to completely transform this part of the home. With this goal in mind, we started by demolishing the original kitchen and building the addition to provide the precious square-footage that the client needed.

The scope of the project included:

  • Custom cabinetry
  • Gorgeous wood floors
  • Window and skylight installation
  • French doors (to let in even more soft, natural light)
  • Granite countertops
  • Tile backsplash

We also installed custom lighting to help create the perfect soft, warm ambience, as well as spotlights for specific work areas in the kitchen.

As an additional valuable feature, we installed radiant heat. This is an incredibly comfortable heating system which, in addition to being extremely efficient, also keeps your feet warm as you make the morning coffee. What could be better?

 

What do you think of how it all turned out?

 

Kitchen Features and Amenities

This kitchen obviously boasts some good looks and quality finishing touches. It isn’t just a pretty face, however, but still needs to function as the day-to-day activity hub for this home. To answer the call, we included:

  • New appliances
  • A sub-zero refrigerator
  • A rugged, attractive, and timeless farm sink
  • Nickel hardware

Perhaps the best part of this project was the fact that not only did the addition and remodel turn out beautifully, but our client was absolutely thrilled with the result. After all, that’s what it’s all about! At Gerety Building and Restoration, we want to help you make your home everything that you dream it could be.

Do you have any questions about home building, construction, or remodeling? If so, we would love to hear from you and help however we can. Please feel free to contact us!

Keith Gerety
Kitchen Remodel

A Walk through a Kitchen Remodel and Addition in Larchmont, NY (Part 1)

December 31, 2014

Oftentimes when people think of building an addition, or remodeling, they assume that for a valuable difference to be made, a huge addition is required. And, depending on the specific goals you have and the objectives you need your new space to accomplish, a big change might just be in order.

On the other hand, you also could be surprised by how much of a transformation can be made possible by even a relatively small, but well-planned, project. 

Keith Gerety
Westchester NY
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Are You Looking for a Remodeling Expert Who is Also a Master Carpenter? Let’s Talk!

July 14, 2014

I was thinking about home remodeling today and realized that some of our most beautiful remodeling projects included elements of custom carpentry. Custom woodwork brings a room to life like nothing else can. You simply can’t buy that kind of workmanship from your local hardware. As I flip through our online portfolio and the custom carpentry gallery, I’m impressed all over again by the imagination of our clients and the talent of our in-house carpenters.

Kitchen Remodel with Custom Cabinets

Custom kitchen cabinets lost popularity with the big McMansion boom. Why purchase more expensive, albeit better quality, cabinetry when you could mass produce homes using materials easily available from the local hardware or home store? Today’s builders and homeowners are going back to custom elements like kitchen cabinets when remodeling an existing kitchen or building a new custom home.

Wine Cellar Design and Build with Custom Elements

Not every home houses a wine cellar. I love working on custom wine cellars because of the custom woodwork involved. All wine connoisseurs have two things in common – a love of wine and high quality workmanship. Some of the wine cellars we’ve built have display space for thousands of bottles while others are more intimate.

Built-in Bookshelves

Built-in bookshelves are another design element that lost popularity during the big building phase. There was no reason to take your time to build custom elements when you had potential homeowners hanging on your every move. Now, however, home buyers are on the lookout for specialty items such as custom woodwork.

Built-to-Fit Storage

Custom designed, built-to-fit storage is quickly gaining popularity in today’s housing market. Many homes are built with odd angles throughout the home. These spaces, like the space below the staircase, may be used for storage, bookshelves, or even pet houses.

Custom closets offer homeowners the ability to store more clothing more efficiently than a standard closet with only hanging space. Closet customization isn’t difficult at all when you stand back and look for the opportunity to build custom storage options based on the homeowner’s use of the closet. Adding shelves and drawer space, and expanding hanging space offers the homeowner a much more usable closet area.

Custom Porch Posts

Anyone can go to the local home store to buy porch railing, there’s nothing special about it. Simply install it, paint it, and you’re good to go. Custom porch railing, on the other hand, draws immediate attention because other homeowners stop to take a good look.

Custom Woodwork Throughout the Home

Don’t settle for ordinary when you can shoot for extraordinary. Yes, you can go to your local home store and purchase a pressboard bookshelf system that will serve a function. Next year you can go to the same store and buy a similar bookshelf because the last one fell apart under the load of books and breakables. Oops.

Custom woodwork built by Gerety’s master carpenters is high quality and built to last a lifetime. We don’t skimp on materials or use cheap alternatives to save money. We build, for example, a bed frame or a desk that will grow with your child through childhood, teen years, and into adulthood. We focus on quality workmanship that can eventually become an heirloom piece, passed from generation to generation.

Keith Gerety
custom cabinets westchester ny

Lighting Options for Your New Kitchen

March 20, 2014

Kitchen lighting options are plentiful. Knowing how to use each one is oftentimes tricky. Should you use track lighting or recessed? Should you choose a chandelier or single-bulb fixture in the center of the room? Know your options before you get started. Let’s go over some dos and don’ts where kitchen lighting is concerned.

Kitchen Lighting Dos

Recessed can lights evenly spaced along the ceiling offer general overall lighting for the kitchen. Task lights placed in strategic places increase the functionality of the kitchen. We’ll discuss that more in a moment.

Incorporate your personal design tastes into your new kitchen’s lighting. Consider functional metal sculptures that hang from the ceiling using standoffs and allow a variety of lighting options on a single artistic track.

Under-cabinet lighting is extremely useful for kitchens with a lot of hanging cabinet space. Hanging cabinets often get in the way of ceiling-mounted lights, creating more shadow. Under-cabinet lighting isn’t seen unless it is turned on, leaving a very clean look with no clutter.

Over-cabinet lighting creates a sense of spaciousness over top of cabinets that don’t reach the ceiling. Many people choose to use crown molding for that area, but over-cabinet lighting is a lovely way to address that space.

In-cabinet lighting brightens spaces with glass doors, creating a lovely, warm atmosphere in the kitchen. Showcase your favorite dishes, vases, bottles, or other special decor behind the glass doors to really personalize the look.

Lighted range hoods provide great task lighting over the stove. This is one of the most important places for task lighting because you always need to see what you’re cooking.

A decorative chandelier over the island provides just the right amount of task lighting for that area. If you use recessed lighting as we mentioned above, you still need better lighting over the island; especially if that area is used for food preparation or cleanup.

Kitchen Lighting Don’ts

Don’t rely on a single light installed in the center of your kitchen. Lighting is meant to illuminate the task at hand, not have you trying to dodge your own shadow while cutting up veggies for dinner. Even small kitchens need more than a single light source.

Don’t clutter your kitchen with small lamps that struggle to provide the right amount of lighting. Preparing food, then cleaning the surfaces of your kitchen requires good light sources so you can make sure foods are cooked well and surfaces are cleaned properly.Most importantly of all, don’t let your beautiful new kitchen suffer from lack of proper lighting. Don’t spend thousands building the kitchen you’ve always wanted, only to mar its beauty with inadequate lighting.

Our expert design build team will work with you to create your dream kitchen with the perfect amount of lighting. We invite you to view our kitchen remodeling portfolio, or to give us a call to discuss your ideas.

Keith Gerety
kitchen lighting

High End Kitchen Remodels Promise High Returns

August 31, 2012

The kitchen is the heart of most homes. If you love to cook and entertain, you probably spend a lot of time in the kitchen. This is the room where families and friends gather most often, especially if you like to entertain and cook at the same time. Why would you want to spend all that time in a drab, outdated room that lacks space, warmth, and modern design?

While there may be high initial costs, high end kitchens allow for function, great design, and will actually add value to your home. Working with a designer to figure out a plan that will suit your current needs, as well as meet any future needs, is the best way to do a high end remodel. They will steer you in the right direction in order to help you meet those current needs and contemplate what the next homeowner may find useful or off-putting should you sell your home in the future.

 

Even though high end kitchen remodels will cost more than your average do it yourself modifications, the knowledge that everything will be done properly and with care is priceless. When a buyer walks through a home that is for sale, a nice, modern kitchen is usually one of the top things on their list of must-haves. In other words, your kitchen remodel will definitely bring high returns and pay for itself as the value of your home increases over the years.

Even when working with a designer, a high end kitchen remodel does not have to empty your pockets completely. There are many ways to ensure that your money is spent and stretched while still assuring the best quality of workmanship, design, and products.

 

Some things to consider when remodeling a kitchen are custom cabinetry, contemporary lighting and task lighting, ample workspace and storage, and modern, appealing and energy-efficient appliances. Choose pieces that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. A lot of people look for stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and lots of storage.

When choosing a designer to help you with your kitchen remodel, do some research and find the one whose tastes fall in line with your own. Each and every piece of the remodel must be planned and approved, and you want to choose a designer who will not butt heads with you over details. You need a team who will work together to get the work finished in a timely manner.

Keith Gerety
Greenwich CT