Neal's Home Remodeling and Design Blog

Unless you were born with the ability to remember every single detail about the schedules, commitments and needs of each member of your family, the chances are high that you rely on shared calendars, and any number of other organizational tools to keep it all straight. These days, mobile apps go a long way to assisting us with the task of keeping up with the family, but there are plenty of bits and pieces in the physical world that should be tracked, displayed, or exchanged. This is the usefulness of a Family Communication Center in your home. The communication center or kitchen desk is a single dropping-point for all the various things your family needs to know and remember as you each go about your daily lives.

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The age and character of an old piece of wood is like it's own piece of art. Adding reclaimed wood to your home is a style statement, and has become a trend in recent years. A browse through Houzz for reclaimed wood photos provides hundreds of clever and beautiful installations. Reclaimed wood is a huge category, from raw beams and boards to old architectural pieces, so there are plenty of options for just about every project you have in mind. Before jumping on this design trend, however, there are some considerations surrounding the choice to include used wood in your home.

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Time and again we see that the kitchen is the heart of the home. So as we near the holiday party season, you may be looking at your kitchen and wondering how it can work better when you're the host. Entertaining comes with its own set of challenges and needs, and if you have guests over often, it may be worth while to adjust the form and function of your kitchen to account for a crowd rather than simply for your immediate family. The seven ideas below are some great things to consider. Read More

Over time, things stopped working in this kitchen. First, there were small inconveniences in the layout and inefficiencies in the work triangle. Then the cabinets started to fall apart. Eventually, it became difficult to keep up with the maintenance – too many little things. Until the oven stopped working. That was the last straw. This kitchen remodel was faced with the task of tackling a wish list compiled from over a decade of dealing with a dysfunctional space. Read on to find out how we did it.

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