Neal's Home Remodeling and Design Blog

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.

The family of this Loveland remodel needed more than just a new kitchen. They needed a space to gather and connect as a family, while still gaining efficiency with their daily household routines. A brighter space with a rustic-chic style fit the family's taste, while special attention to layout, scale and storage addressed their functional needs. The new kitchen feels like a part of the first floor's family room, encouraging family togetherness through all hours of the day.

In a previous fireplace design blog post, we reported that outdoor fireplaces and firepits were in hot demand in Greater Cincinnati, and we can state now that this shows no signs of stopping. Having a fire element in your home's outdoor spaces allows you to extend to their use earlier in the spring and further into the summer (and depending on the type of winter we're having, even during the holidays).  Whether you opt for a wood-burning or natural gas option will largely depend on how you wish to use it (and whether obtaining and storing wood is a possibility for you), but either of these choices can be designed in such a way to fit the character of your landscape and the needs surrounding it.

The homeowners were looking for a pub-inspired room, with casual, rustic finishes. They desired a space in which “peanut shells could fall on the floor, and they wouldn’t look out of place.” They wanted the room to feel masculine, and were looking to create a unique space within the home. A room at the corner of their home, originally an office space with no character, was the candidate for the transformation. They also wanted to convert the low ceiling to something with a grander design in keeping with the architecture of the house and the look they hoped to achieve in the new space. This project is a National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) 2016 Local & Regional Contractor of the Year Residential Interior Winner.