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4 Kitchen Remodeler Tips for Picking the Right Granite

By Inspired Remodels / Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off

Kitchen remodeling involves making many decisions. When it comes to picking the right granite for your countertops, follow these 4 tips from a professional kitchen remodeler. These suggestions help by reducing the options.

Consider Overall Design and Décor

Take into account the overall decor and color scheme of the kitchen remodel project. Countertop granite should enhance your color scheme. A warm-toned granite countertop unifies the space and creates harmony when your walls, flooring, and cabinets are also warm tones. Likewise, a cool-toned granite countertop performs the same magic if you are seeking cool tones.

Consider the overall home design and style as well. A neutral-toned granite countertop makes a great choice for a traditional or classic home. Save bold colors for modern or contemporary homes. Pick granite that accentuates instead of competing.

Pick a Granite Family

A savvy kitchen remodeler knows granite (like all of us) has a family. Picking your granite starts with picking the family.

This goes hand in hand with considering your color scheme. The three primary granite families are: cool, warm, and neutral.

Neutral granite countertops include white, gray, and beige. These colors go well with many different décor styles and produce a timeless, classic appeal.

Warm granite countertops include cream, gold, and brown tones that make your kitchen feel cozier.

Blue, green, and black granite countertops create a sleek, contemporary design with their cool tones.

Pick a family and start narrowing down the possibilities.

Think About Light and Contrast

Determine the amount of natural and artificial light in the kitchen. Rooms with abundant lighting easily handle bold and dark-colored granite. But, with dim lighting, the dark granite contributes to a dull look you certainly want to avoid.

How much contrast do you want? When creating a bold look, opt for more contrast. Pick granite that stands out and screams look at me! Select granite in a color very different from the cabinets and flooring.

If you prefer subtle contrast, choose a granite color like the cabinets and flooring.

The Best Granite Might Not Be Granite

An experienced kitchen remodeler knows the best granite for your remodel might not be granite at all. Is your kitchen home to a busy family? Does ease of maintenance factor into your decisions?

If the answer is yes to either of these questions, a kitchen remodeler that takes into account how a space is used might recommend you opt for quartz countertops instead of granite.

Quartz provides superior moisture resistance, so you spend less time and money sealing the stone. The best granite countertop for you might be a quartz countertop.

Trust Your Kitchen Remodeler

If you can’t trust your kitchen remodeler to help you pick the right granite, you need to work with a different contractor.

Inspired Remodels offers full design and build services. From initial design to finish selection, demolition to construction, and down to the final clean-up, Inspired Remodels works with you. Enjoy a single point of contact and expert project management too.

Orange County Flooring Contactor Sheds Light On Common DIY Flooring Mistakes

By Inspired Remodels / Home Improvement / Comments Off

Are you thinking about installing new flooring in your home? It’s tempting to take the DIY route to save a few bucks. But before you dive in, consider this: DIY flooring projects often end up costing more in the long run. Why? Because without the proper know-how, you’re bound to make easily avoidable mistakes. Ask any seasoned Orange County flooring contractor about common DIY mistakes. You will hear about these common mistakes.

Not Understanding the Importance of Preparation

DIYers often underestimate the importance of preparation. Skipping crucial steps like proper subfloor preparation or moisture testing leads to flooring disasters. Without a level surface or proper moisture protection, failure waits in the wings. The flooring fails sooner rather than later.

For example, that fabulous wood flooring that’s all the rage now requires acclimation. Whether installed by a DIY’er or a pro, wood flooring material needs time to acclimate to the environment before installation. Pros know how to open and stack flooring planks and understand how long the acclimation process takes.

Many DIY enthusiasts overlook this critical step. Their floors warp or buckle over time and only then do they call in a pro.

Orange County flooring contractor uses wood-look tile to create spa feeling with white marble walls and white soaking tub

Wood-look tile offers a waterproof alternative to wood in the bathroom

Picking the Wrong Flooring

Selecting the right flooring material for your space is crucial for both aesthetics and functionality. However, many DIYers make the mistake of choosing based solely on appearance, without considering factors like durability, maintenance requirements, or suitability for the room’s purpose. They end up with great flooring in the wrong room or the wrong house. Environment and lifestyle matter.

When you work with an Orange County flooring contractor, they serve as advisors as well as installers. These pros won’t put wood floors in the bathroom, they’ll advise you to pick wood-look porcelain or ceramic.

Pros know what flooring stands up to high foot traffic from people and pets. DIYers lack this expertise.

Flooring contractor after picture: Hardwood flooring on stairs and landing

Stair flooring is not a DIY project

Poor Measuring and Installing Tools

Every flooring pro knows the maxim “Measure twice, cut once”. Unfortunately, many DIYers fail to heed this advice. This equals wasted materials, material shortages, and a patchy appearance to the final product.

Even a small measurement error can result in gaps, uneven seams, or misaligned tiles or planks. Even if they measure correctly, DIYers often lack the skills, precision, and attention to detail required for proper installation. Complex techniques like pattern matching, seam sealing, or proper adhesive application require practice.

Poorly measured and installed flooring looks amateurish and fails to stand up to wear and tear.

after bathroom remodel flooring contractor shows grey and white pattern tile flooring and blue vanity

This tile pattern is no problem for an Orange County flooring contractor

Go With a Seasoned Orange County Flooring Contractor

Sure, the allure of DIY seems appealing. But, tackling a flooring project without the necessary expertise leads to costly and unattractive mistakes. From improper preparation and measurement errors to poor installation techniques and material selection, the risks far outweigh the potential savings.

Avoid these risks. Work with a professional Orange County flooring contractor like Inspired Remodeling. These pros bring the knowledge, skills, and tools to get the job done right the first time.

Local Home Remodeling Contractors Make a Big Difference With Little Touches

Inspired Remodels, the local home remodeling contractors you love to follow on Instagram make a big difference in home remodeling with little touches. Because indeed, little things matter. Check out the latest and be sure to follow on Facebook and Instagram too!

Plumbing Fixtures and Cabinet Hardware

Your plumbing fixtures and cabinetry hardware act like fashion accessories for your room. Think of them as jewelry for bathrooms and kitchens.

The clean lines and finish coordinate perfectly with the cabinet hardware. Both choices bring together the contrasting countertops and cabinets harmoniously. The ensemble is complete from top to bottom.

You enjoy the same finished feel even if you pick completely different finishes.

In this kitchen, a black faucet with a brass spray nozzle brings together the cabinet hardware finish with the sink. The choice of cabinet hardware with warm tones picks up the subtle gold tones in the backsplash tile without giving that dreaded gauche appearance.

As you see, two similar kitchen set-ups where cabinetry hardware and plumbing fixture choices add the finishing touches to well-appointed kitchens.

Local Home Remodeling Contractors Eschew Matchy Matchy Looks

Eclectic never looked so good. In the hands of Inspired Remodels, instead of every detail matching, every detail comes together in a symphony. Who wants to listen to one-note music? No one, ever. So why does every inch of a room match?

These local home remodeling contractors know how to bring together complementing elements to harmonize without every inch matching.

In the kitchen, no rule says the island and other countertops must match. If there is a rule, Inspired Remodels breaks it.

Look at how these two quartz countertops work together to create a room where everything works together, even when they aren’t the same material.

You get all business with the kitchen countertops. But when it comes to the island, why not have a little fun? The veining adds visual interest to the island material while the more traditional quartz countertop works perfectly with the backsplash.

Kitchens and countertops aren’t the only places Inspired Remodels breaks the matchy matchy rule.

In the bathroom, three different tile designs add bold visual drama to the updated design. The six-sided tile on the floor with contrasting grout couldn’t be more different than the subway tile on the walls. The shower floor tile also uses a multi-sided round shape, but the shape and color are different.

Taken together, it’s a masterpiece! And how easy it would have been to select the same color and shape tile for the walls and floors. But Orange County homeowners deserve inspired remodels, not easy remodels. Inspired Remodels delivers!

Author: Inspired Remodels