Home Design Tips for Surviving Philadelphia's Summer Heat

Another hot summer is upon us in Philadelphia and Bucks County. If you've been thinking about having some work done on your home, you may want to consider a few ways you can make it more of an escape from the summer heat. If you live in the Philadelphia area, kitchen remodel stores and contractors abound, and they can provide inspiration on how you can cool this room where you do all your cooking.  However, when Lang’s begins any project, you can expect care and quality from beginning to end!

There are other ideas that help cool your home overall. The following are just a few design tips that you can incorporate into a remodel you were already planning or that may inspire you to begin a new project.
 

Exposed Brick Kitchen or Bathroom

  • Being the place where your oven and stovetop are located, the kitchen is already the hottest room in the house. The refrigerator doesn't help with this either. It may be cool inside, but it accomplishes this with a motor and compressor that are emitting heat out into the rest of the room.

  • Brick is excellent for taking a long time to absorb heat and is slow to release it as well. Using it for the bathroom walls and can make any bathroom contribute far less sweat to your brow.

Exposed brick provides a cooling, industrial look to any bathroom!

Exposed brick provides a cooling, industrial look to any bathroom!

Window Blinds and Shades

  • We think of the temperature as being the main culprit when it comes to making our homes hot in the summer, and it certainly is. Another big contributor, though, is all that sunlight coming through your windows. Shades and blinds will do wonders to reduce your cooling bill in these hot months of the year.
     

LED Lighting

  • This type of lighting is already appreciated by the environmental crowd due to the fact that they use less electricity for a given amount of brightness emitted, and they last longer than older lighting technology. Another great benefit is that they emit less heat as well. If you're doing a remodel anyway, you may want to consider LED for any new light fixtures and putting LED bulbs in existing lights.

Light up your kitchen with eco-friendly LED lighting!

Light up your kitchen with eco-friendly LED lighting!

Marble Countertops

  • Marble is a hard, tough and yet attractive material, which makes it a favorite to use for countertops. Its weight and density also make it take a long time to absorb heat. If you know anyone with a marble countertop, you may find that its surface stays cool even on the hottest days. This material for your countertops, combined with the brick for the walls and backsplash, will make a large amount of your kitchen's surface area summer friendly.
     

Beverage Bar

  • When trying to come up with the ultimate treat for yourself to get through those dog days of summer, it's hard to beat the idea of a beverage bar. This should be near the kitchen, so you are close to water and the refrigerator. If you lack the room for one, then this may be an item that can be taken care of in a remodel.

 

Don't Let the Heat Get You Down

The above remodeling and decorating tips can help reduce your air conditioning bill in the summer. These are just a few ideas, and hopefully, they will provide you with inspiration to come up with others. For residents of Philadelphia, bathroom renovation ideas may inspire you to remake this room as well. Nothing says relief from the heat and cooling off like your shower and bathtub do.

Lang’s Kitchen & Bath is an excellent kitchen and bath remodeling company serving the people of Philadelphia and Bucks County. Whatever work you want done, an experienced contractor can get the job completed quickly and professionally, so you are living in a house that feels and looks cool.