Kitchen is considered the heart of a house. It should be appealing to the eye and somewhere you enjoy working. If you are tired of your old kitchen and want something new, make little efforts and bring in a trendy kitchen.
Fitted kitchens have their own advantages. Top of the list is it elevates the overall look of your home.
You do not need to employ a professional for kitchen fitting job. Homeowners certainly can do it themselves. It might be a time consuming and expensive job but you will find it an exciting experience.
How you design it is completely your choice, but you need to consider a few important things. Fitting a kitchen requires a lot of skills including plumbing, carpentry, tiling and electrical work. To do it perfectly, read on the following points.
Take Measurements
Before planning the whole layout, you need to take the appropriate measurement of the kitchen area. Once you have your exact measurements, plan a proper layout. Decide the places of everything in your plan. It would save you from future problems.
Decide your Items
For your convenience, make a list of types of items you will like to have in your new kitchen. There are varieties of choices like for surface you have solid wood, granite and laminate options available. Every option has its advantage and disadvantages and chooses what suits your kitchen.
To be certain about your liking, have a glance at your old kitchen. Decide whether you want integrated or freestanding appliances. Other items that you need to have done the job include:
Drill Bits
Electrical Screwdrivers
Gloves
Cabinet Accessories
Cabinets
Claw Hammer
Basin Spanner
Bolster Chisel
Safety Goggles
Saw
Silicone Sealant
Crow Bar
Doors
Drill
Pliers
Pump Pliers
PVA Wood Glue
Hammer
Handles
Kitchen Sink
Kitchen Taps
Masking Tape
Measuring Tape
Screwdriver
Slotted Screwdriver
Spanners
Spirit Level
Wire Pipe and Power Detector
Worktops
Plus, add power tools in your list. You might already have these devices at your home. If not, then buy them especially RCD (Residual Current Device) for the job.
Decide your Budget
Things can easily get out of the hand of not decided before everything. Go through the options of items like drawers, cabinets etc. available in the market.
Kitchen appliances are not cheap and determine the cost and save you from shelling out extra bucks.
Safety Comes First
Fitting a kitchen is not a risk-free job. It is a dangerous mixture of gas, electricity and water which requires to handled carefully. If drilling holes, check water pipes and electrical cables. It is better to turn off main water, gas and electricity valves before starting removing old kitchen. Use safety equipment like gloves and goggles while drilling.
Before you engage any professional contractor for your home or office space improvement project it’s very crucial for you to do your due diligence because not all contractors are the same. It will therefore be in your best interest to be able to identify the kind of contractor who has a proven track record of quality work as this type of person will guarantee you success in your own project.
In this article we are going to share with you the 4 top traits of a good professional contractor.
1 The contractor must have a good reputation
Generally speaking, a contractor’s reputation will be determined by the collective reviews of his/her past and present clients. This therefore means that any professional contractor you come across who has a good reputation is a reflection of the quality of their work. The same can be said for a contractor with a bad reputation as this is an indication that they will not give you a good job.
2 The contractor must have sufficient experience
Professionals will usually get better and better the more they get to practice their trade and this is especially true for contractors. This therefore means that a contractor with plenty of experience is more likely to produce for you a good job when compared with one with minimal experience because the former has gotten an opportunity to practice and hone their skills. It’s therefore a good idea for you to prioritize experience and ensure that it’s experience doing good work.
3 The contractor should be a very good listener
It’s common for contractors to have their own ideas and biases when it comes to how they do their work and in some cases, these biases may creep in as they are doing your work because they were not paying full attention as you were giving them instructions. As you are interviewing professional contractors, it’s always a good idea to ensure that they are good listeners as this will ensure that there’s minimal breakdown in communication between you and him/her during the course of doing your project.
4 The contractor should have integrity
It’s very important to work with a professional contractor who has the utmost respect for his/her profession and also respect for you as their client. This therefore requires the contractor to have a lot of integrity as it’s this quality that will ensure that they respect their end of the contract, they charge you fairly, and are always willing to own up to their mistakes and correct them.
The best way to ensure that you end up with a contractor with these traits is focusing on your due diligence and most of this will entail getting reviews from their past and present clients.
If your long term plan as a home owner is to eventually sell your property then, it’s a high time you started thinking of home improvement ideas that will help increase the value of your home. These ideas will often go beyond construction and may even involve just some subtle changes in your home’s exterior environment.
In this article we are going to share with you 3 simple tips on how to increase the value of your home.
1 Make the house more efficient
Today, home owners are looking for homes that will cut their cost of maintenance therefore part of the improvement you can do is the construction of amenities that help make the home more efficient and less costly to maintain. Some of these amenities can be solar heaters, underground water storage tanks, water filtration systems, and biogas systems amongst others. This will help in the reduction of utility bills thus increase the value of your home.
2 Adopt low maintenance landscaping
Any home owner who has a lawn will fully understand how expensive it is to maintain one. The time, money and energy required to keep it looking beautiful can be a lot. It’s therefore a good idea to adopt a low maintenance landscaping and this can include replacing your lawn with a flower garden that has plants that are originally from the region. These will require very low maintenance thereby bringing down costs and essentially raising the value of your home.
3 Do some tree planting on your compound
Trees not only increase curb appeal but will also have added benefits such as ensuring you have a good environment in your home and also some much needed shade. This essentially will bring some tranquility to your home and this is something home owners will be willing to pay extra for because it’s very rare to find.
These are very doable things and the beauty is the long term payout will be way higher than the investment cost.
Before planning the whole layout, you need to take the appropriate measurement of the kitchen area. Once you have your exact measurements, plan a proper layout. Decide the places of everything in your plan. It would save you from future problems.
Generally speaking, a contractor’s reputation will be determined by the collective reviews of his/her past and present clients. This therefore means that any professional contractor you come across who has a good reputation is a reflection of the quality of their work. The same can be said for a contractor with a bad reputation as this is an indication that they will not give you a good job.
Professionals will usually get better and better the more they get to practice their trade and this is especially true for contractors. This therefore means that a contractor with plenty of experience is more likely to produce for you a good job when compared with one with minimal experience because the former has gotten an opportunity to practice and hone their skills. It’s therefore a good idea for you to prioritize experience and ensure that it’s experience doing good work.
It’s common for contractors to have their own ideas and biases when it comes to how they do their work and in some cases, these biases may creep in as they are doing your work because they were not paying full attention as you were giving them instructions. As you are interviewing professional contractors, it’s always a good idea to ensure that they are good listeners as this will ensure that there’s minimal breakdown in communication between you and him/her during the course of doing your project.
It’s very important to work with a professional contractor who has the utmost respect for his/her profession and also respect for you as their client. This therefore requires the contractor to have a lot of integrity as it’s this quality that will ensure that they respect their end of the contract, they charge you fairly, and are always willing to own up to their mistakes and correct them.
The best way to ensure that you end up with a contractor with these traits is focusing on your due diligence and most of this will entail getting reviews from their past and present clients. 
Today, home owners are looking for homes that will cut their cost of maintenance therefore part of the improvement you can do is the construction of amenities that help make the home more efficient and less costly to maintain. Some of these amenities can be solar heaters, underground water storage tanks, water filtration systems, and biogas systems amongst others. This will help in the reduction of utility bills thus increase the value of your home.
Any home owner who has a lawn will fully understand how expensive it is to maintain one. The time, money and energy required to keep it looking beautiful can be a lot. It’s therefore a good idea to adopt a low maintenance landscaping and this can include replacing your lawn with a flower garden that has plants that are originally from the region. These will require very low maintenance thereby bringing down costs and essentially raising the value of your home.
Trees not only increase curb appeal but will also have added benefits such as ensuring you have a good environment in your home and also some much needed shade. This essentially will bring some tranquility to your home and this is something home owners will be willing to pay extra for because it’s very rare to find.
These are very doable things and the beauty is the long term payout will be way higher than the investment cost.