Kitchen & Bathroom Design Blog

Here is a new blog post from a guest author contributing to
Lang’s Kitchen & Bath’s website.  We hope you find this topic helpful!

If you love your home’s location but have found its layout not to your tastes, then a first-floor renovation might be for you.

Few buyers find everything they need in a home, and compromise is often the order of the day. Maybe the kitchen is too small, but the rest of the house is picture-card perfect. Perhaps you have the schools, shops and parks close by, but really needed a downstairs office. If this is the case, then the best option is to remodel. You cannot change your location, but you can change your layout.

Statista suggests that 36% of homeowners who renovate are between the ages of 35 and 54 in the United States, which hints at it being something family oriented. They tend to be the prime ages that the family lives at home, and the demands placed on the property are at their highest level.

If you do want to renovate your first floor, we have a few ideas here which you might like to incorporate.

Insulation

Before you plan any sort of design at all, it is important to think about the fabric of the house from an environmental perspective. Many old homes may lack adequate insulation, which keeps your home warm in the winter. In their analysis of energy-saving tips around a property, HomeServe suggests about a third of all the heat lost in a home without insulation escapes through the walls, so a first floor remodel could include bulking up on your cavity wall protection. The US Government also reminds you to consider floors which are above cold spaces, such as vented crawl spaces and unheated basements.

Take Down Walls

If you wish to create an expansive and spacious feel, then taking down walls might be a good way to progress. This is not as straightforward as you heading to the basement for the sledgehammer, but with the right knowledge and some well-placed support beams, you can turn a muddled and pokey first floor into open-plan spaces that accommodate the whole family.

Add a Bathroom

To increase the functionality of the first floor, you may want to consider adding a new bathroom. With some stud walling and a keen eye for space, you can add a facility within the home which eases the burden elsewhere, especially if there is not space to add a master bath to a bedroom. This would be particularly useful in homes with multiple occupants such as children, or maybe those with elderly residents not comfortable with using stairs on a regular basis.

The Dream Kitchen

A kitchen is an aspiration aspect of your home and one you must take time in designing and specifying. Make sure the kitchen works for you because you will spend as much time in there as almost any other room. It has to be functional and fit your needs, which will differ from those of other families. Most of all, do not be tempted to cut corners or pinch a few dollars back here and there – it is counterproductive. You have to love your kitchen from the appliances to the overall design. As we examined in our article ‘Top Tile Trends for Kitchen or Bath Design’, bland walls, floors or countertops can be transformed with imaginative tiling in the latest styles. The remodel need not break the bank, even on a tighter budget, you can aspire to have your dream kitchen design.

New Flooring

One first floor remodel which you can carry out without too much fuss is new flooring. This is especially the case with wooden floors, where a new type of wood can give the whole house a dramatic new feel, without knocking down walls, tearing out kitchens or pulling boards off and putting insulation in. Changing from dark wood to light wood can make the whole first floor feel fresh and new, and whatever you do choose to do is likely to result in minimal disruption through the project.

Article specially written for langskitchens.com by Claire Davis