Lighting can sometimes be an afterthought when designing a space.  After wading through endless material selections and making countless design decisions, sometimes homeowners are just out of steam.  Unfortunatey this can create a real missed opportunity to bring your renovation or new construction to life.

Lighting choices are one of those design decisions that need to be made fairly early in the construction process.  Right on the heals of your framing being completed, electricians are on their way to run wires and switches that will be covered with drywall, yet critical for completetion and installation of lighting.  Questions will come up early in this process.  How high off the floor would you like your sconces placed?  Would you like dimmers installed? Would you like a two switches to operate the same light, also know as a “three way switch”? Lighting can also be effected by the placement of ceiling joists. Nothing is worse than starting out to center a light in a room and finding new joists are laid in the spot you would like the fixture.  Any art you’d like to highlight? It is important to pick the type of fixture and place it the correct distance from the wall so the angle of the light hits the center of the artwork.  Sconces can create a warm presence in a room.  Mounted on either side of a mirror or wired onto a built-in bookcase, they can take a room from good to great.

Spend some time early in the design process thinking about lighting. The end results will be worth it.

Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles magazine has asked Home Rebuilder’s to design, build and install a bath display in their Luxury Living event at Phipps Plaza.  The catch for a challenge like this one is designing a bath to display a range of interesting products without the assistance of any physical walls and have it all done and ready in a few short weeks.  It was thrilling!

Our design staff began with concepting a space that was neither to slick and modern nor overly traditional.  We envisioned a clean, loft life space with a contemporary aesthetic coupled with some warm textures like a stained wood floor and painted horizontal planked walls elements.  We added some custom metal work in the form of vanities and a shelving unit as well as a shower door unit that evoked salvaged factory windows.  Some terrific local suppliers donated materials and products including cabinetry, lighting, mirrors and cabinetry.  Our friends at DogGoneHandy worked some incredible late-night hours to install this at Phipps Plaza.  Come by and take a look.

With so many options out there today the ability to make your home user friendly for the entire family, and for you as you age in your home, it is becoming easier and easier to keep universal design in mind when designing your home.  One economical way to do this is with updated cabinet door and drawer hardware.

When selecting new hardware for your kitchen cabinets be sure to keep a few things in mind.  First, make sure you are selecting hardware that feels good in your hand.  You don’t want to select a knob that is difficult to grab – or a drawer pull that is hard to get your fingers around.  Levers can be much easier to turn than knobs. Second, consider some of the new “hidden” hardware options that are available for cabinets these days.  There are soft-close mechanisms for both doors and drawers that keep them from slamming closed.  This eliminates the need to hold onto the cabinetry hardware as the doors and drawers close.  Third, if you want to update your home in a way that provides maximum usability for everyone – you may want to consider touch-latches.  This hardware choice allows you to just touch your cabinets to open or close the doors and drawers.

To ensure that you are taking every universal design opportunity into consideration when designing a new home, or renovating an existing space – make sure you have the right design/build team looking out for you and your family   Home ReBuilders will help you make the right decisions, choose the best selections, and will be there for you every step of the way to create the best experience and end product.