Neal's Home Remodeling and Design Blog

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.

Read More

Sometimes a kitchen can look like it is working just fine, but under the surface there are issues that the homeowner can easily detail for you. This was one such project. Under-utilized spaces, inefficient details, and dark cabinetry with no personality were just a few of the issues.

Read More

It's a definite in the design world that strict adherence to a single design style just won't work for some homes and some homeowners. It's these instances when the all-encompassing "eclectic" look is a great solution. Defined by not really being definable, the eclectic kitchen is one where styles intermingle. The difficultly with eclectic kitchens is that, without some boundaries, things can start to get out of hand. Without some guidelines, eclectic can easily turn into cluttered and uncomposed. To avoid that fate, here are 5 eclectic kitchen design ideas for creating balance in your kitchen. The kitchen featured here is a 2013 NARI Local Contractor of the Year Residential Kitchen winner. To see more photos of this project, click here.

Read More

Awkward rooms, weird hallways, odd spaces. We've all got them. From that out-of-the-blue angled wall, to the narrow room that isn't quite a room, but somehow doesn't qualify as a hallway either. In some homes, these spaces add character and charm, or possibly a sense of history or pedigree. But most of these types of spaces are throwbacks that don't quite mesh with the modern ways we live our lives and utilize our homes. Here, we've scoured our gallery of design work, and found four projects that tackled the design challenge of the awkward space in four very different ways.

Read More