Remodeling Trends That Add a Fresh, New Look to Homes

If you’re planning to renovate your home, you can tap some of the hottest trends showing up in new-home designs. Here are some new-home trends that offer strong returns on your time and money:

Creating a view

If your home has older windows, they’re likely not as energy efficient as newer options, so replacing them can improve your cooling efficiency. Window replacements typically provide a high return on investment at the time or resale, too — more than 73 percent for wood windows and 71 percent-plus for vinyl, according to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report.

While you’re replacing your windows, you also have the opportunity to open up your home more to outdoor views. Work with your architect or designer and contractor to determine where the best views are, and how much additional glass you can incorporate into your renovation to capitalize on those views.

Adding a bathroom

In existing homes, adding a bathroom can sometimes pose plumbing challenges. Up-flush plumbing can solve a lot of them. Up-flush systems pump waste and water from a toilet, sink or bathtub up and out, instead of into a below-floor sewage pit.

Up-flush toilets enable homeowners to easily and cost-effectively install a bathroom virtually anywhere without breaking through the floors — a special advantage when those floors are made of concrete. According to Saniflo, makers of up-flush plumbing products, adding a bathroom using this type of plumbing can cost about $5,000 less than one that uses conventional plumbing.

Defining the kitchen

Architects are fine-tuning the popular wide-open floor plan concept, and the change is showing up in the kitchen. Favored designs now open the kitchen on one side to an adjoining room, such as the family room, but enclose the other three walls to create a more defined space, as well as more storage and cabinet options.

Rather than ripping out three existing walls to create an entirely open flow, you can tap the latest kitchen design trend by opening up just a single wall in the kitchen. This leaves the space well-defined, but also adds the open, social feeling that is so appealing in many new home designs.

This article is courtesy of Brandpoint.