two-basin undermount kitchen sink

Choosing the Right Kitchen Sink

There are many aspects to consider when choosing a new kitchen sink. If you spend a lot of time in your kitchen, then it’s best to choose a sink that supports your needs and not just one that suits a certain style.
Read more

Smart Kitchens: Time To Get Connected?

Everywhere you turn these days are ads for refrigerators so smart they can tell you when you’re low on eggs (and some even allow you to order more). Understandably, such high-end appliances aren’t within everyone’s reach. Smart kitchen technology isn’t just for the rich, however. There are gadgets for every price point. Smart kitchen tools offer convenience, increased safety, and let’s face it… they’re kinda fun!
Read more

Is Open Shelving Right For Your Kitchen?

Open shelving in kitchens has been a design trend for years, and it’s not slowing down in popularity. But choosing a new feature for your kitchen is not all about style – you should consider function, too. Are open shelves practical? They’re not right for everyone. If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, here are some aspects of open shelving that you should mull over. Read more

Is a Kitchen Remodel Worth It?

Remodeling your kitchen may seem like a big investment, but it also has many advantages. For most families, the kitchen is their hub of activity. It’s a meeting place. A common ground. And for many, it’s the Grand Central Station of the home. Everyone uses it. Most of us pass through there to start our day, and it’s often the last place we visit at night. Family dinners, special events, around-the-clock snacks, hot or cold drinks, treats of all kinds – even notes on the fridge – it’s all there. So upgrading the kitchen can make a big difference for everyone, bringing something special to every member of the family.

Benefits

The benefits of remodeling your kitchen are plentiful. First, it can provide your family with new, fancy features. Upgraded appliances, preparation areas, and cooking enhancements. Gorgeous new walls, floors, and counters. Expanded cabinets, work islands, and conveniences. Enhanced ventilation and cooling options. And, above it all, a perfectly-tuned lighting scheme to brighten every area and set the mood to festive for any occasion.
Investing in your kitchen can give your entire home a new look and feel. It can also increase the financial value of your home and property. In many cases, the expense of remodeling adds to your equity and actually increases the value of your overall real estate investment.

Goals

Determining whether to remodel your kitchen and deciding how much to spend starts by setting your goals. Are you upgrading for long-term use by your family, or are you planning to sell the home? If you are looking to expand your kitchen for your family to enjoy, it’s really just a matter of how far you want to go. Investing in the kitchen is a universal, highly-beneficial decision that everyone will appreciate, so going out on a limb and stretching that budget can reap big benefits for all. Family memories can’t be bought, but creating a beautiful environment for interaction can help set the stage for some great times together.

If you’re thinking of selling the home, the decision becomes more complicated. The investment you make can increase your home’s value, but it’s also possible to overspend and not recoup all that you put into it. Discussing the options with an experienced real estate broker can help you decide what is best for your local market, and help you choose the best level of upgrade for your home’s value.

Getting Started

No matter what your goals and desires are, getting a quote from Scott Hall Remodeling is the first step. We can help you discover your options, recommend upgrades and improvements, and help you select the best enhancements to give your kitchen a new life and a great future. Contact us today.

How will your existing kitchen stand up to the Holidays?

Ah, the holidays. Those wonderful days of families, festivities and feasting. A time when we all come together and count our blessings, celebrate our abundance and rejoice in how our families have grown. Such sweet times, and great gatherings.

The gatherings can get a little crowded, however, when your burgeoning family begins to outgrow your humble home. Your kitchen seems to be shrinking. Preparing the feast for that crowd is now one of your biggest challenges. Have you thought about what kitchen remodeling could do for you, and how it could give your holidays new life?

Imagine The Possibilities

Think about your present kitchen, and how it could be turned into a whole new family adventure. Where would you like to begin?

Workspace

Do you quickly run out of counter space, and end up jockeying for position with that cousin making deviled eggs? How about some big, new countertops, some new bottom cabinets along that other wall, or that workstation island in the middle that you always wanted?

Appliances

Is there a line forming at your oven, with casseroles and desserts lined up for cooking time? Or endless pans of vegetables waiting for a space on your stovetop? Imagine a new self-cleaning, programmable double-stacked oven, inset into a wall, ready to rack in all those baking dishes with room to spare. Or a new, wider countertop range with extra burners. It only takes a few extra inches of counter space, but it gives you so much more cooking room. What about your fridge – is it ready for the leftovers from two turkeys, a ham and all those sides? Upgrade to a deep, efficient side-by-side with enough cold storage for all of that plus your uncle’s giant bottle of soda.

Ventilation

Do you wonder sometimes who’s getting cooked, you or the food? Your kitchen may be hotter than a sauna, and twice as sticky. Maybe some new ventilation would do the trick. Strategically placed to extract heat from the hottest spots, a few exhaust fans, hoods and circulation units could make you feel fresher and keep your niece’s makeup in place.

Lighting

There’s nothing as frustrating as trying to work in a dark corner. With better lighting, that crazy aunt might have read the recipe correctly and used a pinch of salt instead of a cup. Save the green beans, and think about how some flexible new lighting would brighten things up all around.

Pantry and Cabinet Space

Be better prepared for the holiday cooking madness with organized storage. Add a cabinet or pantry, and stockpile your necessities. Plan your shopping ahead, and avoid that last-minute rush to the store down the street.

Make It Happen

The holidays are rapidly approaching, so why not make these changes a reality? For kitchen remodelers in Columbus Ohio, contact Scott Hall Remodeling. Our design team can take your ideas from concept to completion, and give you the kitchen remodel of your dreams.

5 Questions to Ask When Planning a Kitchen Remodel

Planning out a kitchen remodel can be a daunting process. There are several steps you can take to make the process far easier, however. Here are five questions you should ask yourself in the planning stages of your project.

1. What is Your Remodeling Budget?

Obviously, your remodeling budget is the most important element in any kitchen remodels. If you have a very limited budget, it’s important to identify only your most important needs. A great kitchen designer will be able to work within even the most seemingly minuscule budgets and help you to make some significant changes without breaking the bank. A truly exceptional designer may even show you how to reuse existing elements of your existing kitchen in a considerable redesign. Depending on your situation, budgets can be stretched a lot further than some people think. So choosing an exceptional designer is the best way to maximize your existing budget.

2. Are Your Cabinets Still Good?

It’s important to understand the difference between minor and major kitchen remodels. Essentially, the difference between the two is whether or not you replace your entire cabinets. Many homeowners elect to simply keep existing cabinet boxes, replacing the doors, and repainting them. If your current kitchen layout is decent and your cabinets are functional, you can save a lot by simply re-facing and repainting your cabinets. This will likely leave you plenty of budget room left to replace everything else. Gutting your entire kitchen and starting from complete scratch can cost three times or more than a minor remodel.

You will want to ask your designer if your cabinets are still worth keeping. Some are, and some aren’t, depending on their construction and materials. Obviously, the more you can reuse the better, as some kitchen cabinets can be shuffled around if there are some layout changes. Cabinetry, and the resulting labor associated with their installation (and/or removal of old cabinets), is one of the most expensive elements of any kitchen remodel. So it’s important to know what you can and can’t work within a kitchen makeover.

3. Do You Have Laminate or Dirty Countertops?

Besides the costs of updating or replacing cabinetry and labor costs, the other important component to any kitchen remodel, minor and major alike, is the countertops. Granite has become very trendy again for countertops recently, although they do tend to require considerable maintenance. However, engineered stone products and quartz countertops have also become quite popular due to their price point. In most kitchen remodels, it is laminate countertops being replaced for other materials. If you already have nice granite or other countertops that are perfectly fine, but the cabinets are an issue, you can find ways to recycle the countertops and save a ton of money.

If the countertops are not high-quality, they should go. But if they’re old and stained laminates, refinishing them is a possibility, too, especially if they may be nice enough to keep if they look like new. While this is not typically seen as an option, it can be a way to save tons of money in a kitchen remodeling budget if you had nicer laminates to begin with. Ask your designer what the best choices for your situation may be. Laminates do not tend to be anywhere as durable as granite or engineered stone options, but if you’re on a tight shoestring budget, there are ways to save what others may think should simply go. Your designer should do everything to save whatever he or she can.

4. Is Your Kitchen’s Worst Deficiency Design, Functionality, or Both?

While cabinets and countertops are the key parts that make up a kitchen, the most important components to any kitchen are its design and functionality. The design is more about emotional and aesthetic value, but the kitchen needs to be a homey and comfortable place. It is so often the center of activity in many homes and so you want it to be one of the most attractive rooms in the house. Who wants to have an ugly kitchen? But design oftentimes is far less expensive to change when the parts of the kitchen are functional.

The major question you must ask yourself is if your current kitchen functions as well as you’d like. Is it too cramped? Are things not set up optimally? Some of the things a good kitchen designer will ask you are your work habits, how much company you tend to have in your home, and the level of traffic in the kitchen. Some people don’t cook very often and the kitchen tends to be more of a hang-out area than a chef’s haven. But many chefs find themselves with kitchens that are not well-optimized for cooking activities. In any case, you should have a kitchen that fulfills as many potential roles as it can. Even if you don’t cook a lot, you may have a time where a talented cook comes into your home, and why not make him or her feel welcome?
This is where the idea of universal design comes in. While it’s not always possible with a minor kitchen design, if you’re starting from scratch, it’s good to redesign the kitchen in a way that not only is suited to your needs for now, but those that you or future homeowners may have decades from now.

5. Who Do I Choose As A Designer?

After asking these first four questions to yourself, you should be in a much better position to know where your current kitchen stands and what it is you need to have improved upon in it. Be sure that when you speak to a designer that they are design-first and not product-first. No matter what your budget, you want to have someone that will make the most of every penny.
Also, it is best to find a remodeling firm with a design-build project structure. This means that the remodeler is responsible for the labor costs, as well. We at Scott Hall Remodeling are one such company. Because design and building are under one roof, we can help you understand the true cost of your kitchen remodel beyond the products. Some firms can be highly product-focused, due to quotas that they must reach to maintain sweet deals with certain manufacturers.

Scott Hall Remodeling is purely focused on design and customer satisfaction. We give you a wide array of product selections so that you can be fully in charge of the choices that are made. That’s what you want in a kitchen remodeling project: complete control over what goes into your home. It also gives you peace of mind knowing that those that helped you with the design process are of the same company that will end up building it for you.

Whatever your decision, we hope that we have informed you greatly in your decision making process about your next kitchen remodel. If you have any questions about kitchen remodeling, always feel free to contact us!