Neal's Home Remodeling and Design Blog

A bonus room can be a great addition to any home. This extra space can add a personal touch to any living area. There are plenty of options when it comes to designing a bonus room. Before beginning your remodel, think about which type of space is best for you so that you can make the right choices to suit the final room. Here are some ideas from Neal's past projects.

This Indian Hill remodel focused on improving the quality and style of the master bathroom to better reflect the owner's love of chic country design. Treating the two bathroom spaces as one and removing the dated elements helped to create a new space that will suit the home and owners for a long time to come.

Going into the kitchen remodel of this classic row house in Newport, already more than 100 years old, it was clear that the entire space would be completely reworked, and the back of the home’s brick fireplace would be exposed. Using that as a springboard for the remodel, the small kitchen was redesigned with the type of charm and timelessness suitable to the home’s pedigree.

The classic American rec room has been a staple of the home nearly since the invention of the finished basement. Since then, a space in the house dedicated to recreation has been a common feature on the wishlist of homeowners. Luckily, the days are gone that the rec room and a musky, wood paneled basement automatically go hand-in-hand. These days, such spaces can be found in all manner of locations, and with all manner of features. Here are a few rec room ideas to consider.

With an open and spacious back yard, the original outdoor space behind this White Oak home seemed disproportionately small and close to the home. With no real room to do much more than grill out, the homeowners wanted to take advantage of their space by creating a sheltered area that would work for a variety of outdoor activities, and expand the landscaping outward to ensure that their outdoor entertaining didn't feel stuck to the side of the house. The new outdoor living room and patio combination is a spacious addition that's ready for anything.

We've talked in the past about the elements that make for a functional home bar. Storage for beverages, a work surface, and storage for your barware. While these things can get you to either the most minimal of home bar solutions or the most decked out version, these pointers are really just the basics. In order to make your home bar the perfect solution for you, consider the basics, but also consider the style, the features, and the location. Keep reading to find out how our team of designers plan and design home bars.

While perfectly serviceable, the original kitchen in this kitchen renovation in Indian Hill lacked one important thing- the homeowners’ taste. Looking to create a kitchen that would then inform the design of the rest of their home, this project focused on reworking the space into a modernly-design traditional kitchen that was as beautiful as it was efficient. This project is a 2017 NARI Contractor of the Year Local and Regional Residential Kitchen winner.

Original Post 12/8/2015 Updated 12/20/2016

Today, a fireplace can be added to almost any room of the house where you want warmth, comfort and ambiance. Wood, gas or electric fueled fireplaces are versatile in size and structure and can make a design statement. Here are several fireplace design ideas from our portfolio of remodeling projects for homeowners in the Greater Cincinnati area.

The existing space in the lower level of this Indian Hill home was an odd room that was originally intented to be used as an exercise room. With outdated materials and a footprint that was significantly more than the homeowners required for their home gym needs, the space was repurposed to house a new bar area and wine cellar. The project focused on creating a solution that would allow this space to handle a range of hosting options. The remodel also focused on aesthetic choices that would update the look, and tie it into the updated style of the rest of the home.

When the temperature starts to drop, our thoughts inevitably move to thinking about living the next few months cozy inside. If your home has a basement, this is the perfect space inside the home for hanging out with family and friends. Here, we'll take a look at the five most common areas of lower levels for a well-rounded basement that will keep you entertained long into the dark of winter.