Neal's Home Remodeling and Design Blog

Remodeling a lower level allows you to add extra or specialty spaces that can appeal to the whole family without needing to change what exists on other floors. For this reason, lower level renovations often focus on areas designed expressly for entertaining, playing, working out, or simply hanging out, making these common basement prerequisites for today's households. We got the lowdown on how to get the most out of lower lever remodel from Neal’s Designer Christina Temple. Read on to hear how she approaches the design of these all-purpose spaces.

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Looking at “before” images of kitchens, one thing often stands out as always needing a better solution in kitchens that need an update- the lighting scheme. How well a space is lit is often one of the more overlooked components of a design, so we spoke with Neal’s Designer Lauren Donges about how professional designers address kitchen lighting. She highlights several key considerations for a nicely-illuminated kitchen.

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Tastes change over time and what we liked in our home a decade ago may not be what we like now. Our lifestyles change as the things we use and need on a regular basis change. Consider, for example, that 10 years ago, the first iPad had just been released, Instagram was still a newborn social media platform, and the Roomba was brand new on the market. As our world evolves with the new, so too do our lifestyles and environments. Our kitchens are no exception. We spoke with Neal’s Designer Cyndi Kohler, who has been designing Cincinnati area kitchens for more than two decades, to discover the big and little design choices that make a kitchen feel new now. Here are 12 features she highlighted to achieve a current design in your kitchen in 2023.

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Most people would agree that it’s better to use your time to enjoy your home than spend all your time maintaining it. “Designers have a few ways they can help you cut back on cleaning time to give you more time to enjoy your beautiful home,” Neal’s Designer Laura Webster explains. Here are eight design solutions Laura asks clients to consider that may make it easier to keep up with cleaning and long-term maintenance at home.

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