The empty property in the Avenues was dripping with potential and history. Adam Collings and his wife first saw the distressed 1880s home in 2011. The outside of the house resembled the Addam’s Family house before it was remodeled. Trina
Weekend projects that can boost home value
Sprucing up the front door can do wonders for curb appeal. Annie Schwemmer, Renovation Design Group Ultimately, a home’s true value is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it. When deciding whether to remodel
Renovation Solutions: The difference between design, decorating
Our company motto is “Making the world a better place, one home at a time.” We enjoy having a positive impact on our community and in our clients’ lives. We get an occasional “hot mess” to fix up, but more
Renovation Solutions: What a remodeling contractor says about architects
(before) This beautiful deck and pergola remodel was the result of a great collaborative effort between the architect, general contractor, and steel fabricator. (Kevin Bunnell, Renovation Design Group) Most people who don’t use an architect for a home remodeling
Renovation Solutions: Tricks to front porch additions
When clients come to us looking to enhance curb appeal, we often recommend a front porch addition or upgrade. A front porch can do wonders for the look and feel of a house. In addition to helping define the style,
Renovation Solutions: Whether home is a Cape Cod or California ranch, remodel to capitalize on home’s style
Editor’s note: Portions of this article have been previously published on the authors’ blog and on deseretnews.com. Understanding the history, style and architecture of your home — and the other homes in your neighborhood — is crucial in designing an
Renovation Solutions: Three renovation projects to make a home more energy-efficient
Before: To make their home more energy efficient and yet preserve some original charm, these clients sandwiched their original leaded-glass windows panes into new Pella Wiindows frames. A home remodeling project may have several goals. We want our finished project
Adding curb appeal to your house
Real estate professionals say it time and time again: Curb appeal (or the lack thereof) can make or break a deal. They say potential buyers form their opinions about a given property within the first 15 seconds of viewing a
Renovation Solutions: Planning the spring projects
By Ann Robinson & Annie V. Schwemmer The official groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted six more weeks of winter this year. Here along the Wasatch Front, however, we are wondering what winter? Well, whether or not Phil’s prediction will prove to
Renovation Solutions: Tips for a wooden deck addition
A wood deck addition is the second project with the highest return on investment in Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value report for 2013-14. The wooden deck is a common remodeling project, especially at this time of year. As the weather
Renovation Solutions: Tips to selecting a new front door
As part of our recent market analysis, we mentioned Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value report for 2013-2014. The top five national remodeling projects with the highest return on investment for this year are a new front door, a wood deck
Renovation Solutions: How to solve common remodeling problems
By Ann Robinson & Annie V. Schwemmer Adding more curb appeal to a house is one of the top client requests when they are considering a remodel. While some issues of deferred maintenance need to be addressed on a practical
Tricks to front porch additions
If you follow this column, you know that for the past month we have been covering house styles. We broke down the history, traditional elements, remodeling challenges and solutions for the Craftsman Bungalow, the Tudor Revival, the Cape Cod and
Renovation Solutions: An architect’s tale of the Frankenhouses
In honor of this ghoulish holiday, we want to resurrect a favorite scary tale: “The Story of the Frankenhouses.” Spooky decorations may add some Halloween flare to this recently remodeled porch, but nothing is scarier than An Architect’s Tale of
Tips on making remodeling less stressful
As difficult as remodeling is under the best of circumstances, imagine trying to complete a project on a house in a different city or state. For instance, a Utah family was transferred to Arizona. The family flew to the new
The key to successful remodeling, even if you do it yourself; Simple secret to a successful home remodel
We would like to preface this column by saying that we are not automatically opposed to do-it-yourself remodels. We have seen some beautiful homes remodeled by homeowners as the contractor and/or laborer. Granted, the homeowner who successfully does it himself
Renovation Solutions: Adding curb appeal with exterior upgrades
One of the common requests we get these days is for exterior updates. Sometimes the interior space is working but the exterior lacks curb appeal. Ultimately, we have found clients who want an exterior update are just trying to love
Family’s new garage finally functions like a garage
By Ann Robinson and Annie Schwemmer The Ashworth family came to us needing two things from their garage: a place to park their cars and some much-needed additional storage space. Though the existing 1920s garage was large, the doors were
Welcome spring with porch remodeling
By Ann Robinson and Annie Schwemmer It’s spring and our thoughts turn to outdoor living. We long for the days soon to come when we can sit on our back porch and relax outside, and our mouths are already watering
Spruce up your porch for summer
By Ann Robinson and Annie Vernon Porches are a great way to take advantage of beautiful spring and summer weather. Whether you have a small front porch with a single chair or a big back porch that spills into the
Get porch ready for summer
By Ann Robinson and Annie Vernon It’s spring and our thoughts turn to outdoor living. We long for the days soon to come where we can sit on our back porch and relax outside. And our mouths are already watering
Well-designed porch looks good and welcomes visitors
We have all had the unwelcoming experience of approaching a home without a porch. It’s raining and you hug as close as possible to the door to avoid the dripping rain from the eave. Balancing with one foot on the