Seattle Real Estate News

These tips will help you keep your garage organized for good: 

1. Think like an organizer.  Go through your belongings  and decide what you want and need to keep. Be homes with yourself and ruthlessly pare down what you don't need. De-cluttering is a liberating process and freeing up some space in your garage. 

2. Prioritizing by size.  The biggest stuff should receive the most consideration. Freezer, secondary refrigerator and lawn mower/tractor take up the most space and are hardest to move. Determine where the big stuff foes and work around it from there. 

3. Maximize wall spaceHang trimmers, extension cords, long-handled tools and even bikes on simple hooks to free floor space and assign each item a dedicated place. Mount a peg board on the wall to neatly store tools. 

4. Raise the roof.  Use overhead storage to make the most of otherwise wasted space. Many garages have built-in attics that lend themselves perfectly to skyward storage. Many off-the-shelf storage solutions can stash your entire family's bicycle collection, camping gear or holiday decorations all above your parking space. 

5. Spring for shelves. Deep shelves are a must whether they are custom-built cabinets or a simple stand-alone rack. Ideally garage shelves should be at least 24 inches deep and strong enough to hold the weight of your stored belongings and more. Keep the items you use infrequently in the back and the tools and equipment you use most frequently in the front for easy access.

6. Put safety first. Store hazardous items like engine oil, paints and household cleaners safely and out of reach of little hands. Dispose of them property and check with your local municipality regarding rules for potentially toxic waste. 

 







 
Posted in:Remodeling, Garage and tagged: RemodelingGarage
Posted by Sam Kader on January 8th, 2023 7:39 PM
Tips for choosing front door colors: 

Yellow to boost the homeowner's goal to boost the mood of anyone who sees the home. Yellow adds a feeling of life to the house's exterior. A yellow door works well with facade colors like gray, light green, beige or white. 
Soft Purple can add whimsy and polish to the exterior of a home when paired with white or cream. 
Orange for cozy feeling when paired with cream and beige. It feels familiar and warm and welcoming. 
Blue to make a subtle statement perfect for bungalows, Craftsman-type homes and cottages paired with green or cobalt blue. 
Green to make modern approach.
Grey for neutral approach and sophisticated appeal. 
Black for that classical approach paired with traditional brick home. It gives a classical vibe and a refined tone for that instant curb appeal. 
Blush for that feminine flair such as blush pink paired with white, yellow or green for an expected playful statement without overdoing it. This color is perfect for summer homes, farm houses and cottages. 






Posted in:Remodeling and tagged: Remodeling
Posted by Sam Kader on January 8th, 2023 7:35 PM
Painting walls a new and exciting color is a quick and affordable way to update a space and give it a fresh look. Here are some secrets to help you with the process: 

1. Do not pick your color in the paint store. Finding the right color is all about context: the shape of the room, the amount and quality of the light and how it all plays with other objects in the room. Always test a color in the space you are painting. 

2. Do not look at the color sample at an arbitrary angle. Color is all about how the light hits it. If you are painting walls, hold the sample vertically; if its the ceiling hold it up above your head. This will give you a more accurate indication of what the color will really look like in the end. 

3. Test against a white background. Because colors influence one another it is best to test the new color against a white background. Simply use a large piece of white paper to blank out the old color. 

4. Do not rely on small paint sample. A large sample will reveal the true undertones of the color to test against the undertones of other elements in the room. 

5. Do not paint your sample on the wall. If you cannot get a large color sample, get a sample of the actual paint and paint it on a poster board NOT directly on your wall. This way you will be able to text your colors on different walls and even in different rooms. 

6. Move it around. With your large sample boards, you can put some poster putty on the back and stick them on your walls to get an idea of how colors will look and to see how the light affects the color at different times of the day. 

7. Find the bossy fixture. If you are working with existing finishes, find the one that is the most prominent in the room; it might be the carpet, the counter top or even a a large piece of furniture. The undertone of that fixture will influence what colors work best for the room.  

Using color, we can create a home that relaxes, energizes and focuses us where and when we need it most. Depending on which parts of the house: 

Bedrooms. 
For the bedroom, it's best to choose peaceful, relaxing colors that will help you get a good night's sleep. The color blue evokes a sense of calm, relaxing and said to bring down blood pressure, respiration rate and anxiety levels. Light greens are said to make people feel serene, comforted and refreshed. 

Kitchen.
The kitchen is a place for happiness and community. Choose a color that will inspire you to cook for and spend quality time with loved ones. Yellow kitchens tend to make people feel happy optimistic and inspired. Yellow is said to activate the metabolism and make people hungry. Browns which emulate the color of the earth which can be associated with the fresh food we eat. Crisps whites will help your kitchen a clean airy feel. 

Bathrooms.
Your bathroom is a place for self-care and self-love. Go with colors that make you feel relaxed, refreshed and confident. The calming effect of light green and blue make them great choices for the bedroom as well as the bathroom. 

Office.
The office is meant to make you feel productive and undistracted. Gray tones are
detached and steady which may help you feel less distracted and more organized. Green is considered to be a color of concentration as well as one of the bet colors to look at over a long period of time. Green also represents tranquility. 

Paint Vs. Primer. 
Primers are designed to to adhere to to surfaces and form a binding layer that is better prepared to receive the paint. Paint in turn is the colored substance that is spread over a surface that is spread over a surface to dry and leave a thin decorative and protective coating. Paint primer products don't do either of those things well and they tend to thicken more quickly and dry much too fast for a smooth overall appearance. Primer and paints should be used separately as they we meant to be applied. 

Oil or Latex/Acrylics. 
Oil-based paints dry to form an inflexible coating that blocks moisture and they tend to become brittle and yellow over tie. Oils paints are great for metal and steel and are used as primer to cover very heavy stained areas. Oil paints also tend to get rancid and attract mold easier and need turpentine or paint thinner to clean up, fewer color choices than latex and more expensive to buy. 
Latex paint is water based product based on vinyl and acrylics and can be cleaned up with water, Latex paint is also more elastic and allows water vapor generated inside the house to pass through the paint film and latex offers more colors and is cheaper to buy. Oil is solvent-based while latex is water-based and contains low or no VOC material.  

Spray Vs. Brush Exteriors. 
Spraying is a fast-application process that can achieve single-coat coverage, offers a smooth finish that is free of brush and roller marks and can get hard-to-reach areas. Spraying requires more technical skill as well as longer prep and cleanup times. It produces uneven coverage unless you back-roll it used more paint overall and is not conducive to windy day application. 

Brushing you have excellent control, very good adhesion, uniform coverage and get into nooks and crannies better, The downside is that brushing is slow and laborious and can require two or more coats and can leave brush marks and obstructions on surfaces making for difficult applications. 

Make rooms pop with these off-the-wall color combos. 
Turquoise and Orange. It may sound like an off pairing, but the color combination can be quite inviting especially for those looking to create a modern decor. The blend of turquoise often viewed as a warm-season color and a more traditional orange can appear timeless and modern. 

Black, White and Red. It is one of the most popular color combination in both fashion and home decor. Add a pop of red, and you have the recipe for color success. Fun, crisp and clean, this color combination can be used in living spaces or in a kitchen. 

Yellow and charcoal. Whether it is mustard, lemon or chartreuse, yellow is an innovative, modern and creatively dynamic color when paired with a cool color such as gray, whether it is a light gray or a deeper shade such as a charcoal. 

Dark blue and charcoal. This is an instance when the two cool colors work well together. With the shade of blue, don't be afraid to go with rich and bright tones as these shades will create an inviting contract when paired with gray.

Dark blue and black. This color combination works well in fashion and home decor.  

Gray is a sneaky color but it is a favorite for painting interiors. Grays have
undertones of blue, purple or green and yo want to make sure the undertones are compatible with surrounding tile, furnishing and fabrics. For a real smack-in-the-middle gray - try Repose Gray. It goes great with pink and creates a neutral background.  Amazing Gray has a greener undertone, while Passive is cooler with more blue. 




Steer clear of Gray with purple undertones and stick with true warms and true
cools and the middle ground Gray often referred to as French
grays. 

Some of Benjamin's Moore's popular grays are: 
Gray Owl  Balboa Mist 
Coventry Gray  Stonington Gray 
Revere Pewter with gray cast warm and liveable  
Thunder 






















 


Posted in:Remodeling, Paint and tagged: RemodelingPaint
Posted by Sam Kader on July 21st, 2018 2:54 PM
A lot more homeowners nowadays are staying put and are sprucing up current homes rather than moving  up to a larger place as their family grew or the home became outdated. They are also eager to hold onto the ultra-low mortgage-interest rates  they obtained after the crash.  Homeowners are expected to stay put for 15 years instead of 5 years traditionally.  The trend is so pronounced that it changed the dynamics of the housing market. It's fueling brisk sales in the remodeling business and at home-improvements stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot but it's leaving very few homes available for sale and causing prices to jump due to short supply. 

Posted by Sam Kader on February 4th, 2018 9:27 AM

Timeless design is a bend of how your home looks, feels and functions (instead of trying to keep up with the latest trends).  As we move into 2018, here are some tips on commonly remodeled parts of the house: the kitchen and the bathroom as predicted by Houzz:

Countertops: It appears that Quartz might be the new favorites replacing granite due to its fresh look and numerous finish options.

Sinks: While porcelain will continue to be popular in bathrooms, there is a strong movement towards stone sinks in bathrooms. In the kitchen, stainless sinks appear to be on their way out. Expect to see more kitchen sinks made of stone, concrete and even copper. There will be more concrete, stone, copper and granite composite sinks in darker hues of gray, bronze or black. It brings back a feeling of simpler times that can be calming in a home environment.

Different colored kitchen cabinets: The trend is toward having upper cabinets in one color with lower cabinets in a contracting or complementary color (often tied together with the backsplash).  

Tile: White subway tiles appears to be headed underground but tiles with intriguing designs, colors and patterns are in.

Kitchen Lighting: Kitchen lighting choices will vary depending on the style of kitchen. However, vintage style pendant light seems to be increasingly popular. Vintage light fixtures such as sconces, lanterns, pendants and chandeliers are making a come back as a crafty home do-it-yourselfers outfit retro fixtures with new technology.

More color in kitchens. Although white will always be a classic color for kitchen design, homeowners are shying away from bland hues and injecting rich colors such as warm wood tones - mahogany and neutrals - grays and blues.

Rich colors throughout the home. Warm grays paired with camel, rust, tobacco and brown-blacks as well as earthy reds and yellows are expected to edge out cooler neutrals in the coming year. These colors are rich, moody and work well in home environments where you want a soothing diverse mix of colors and textures.

Trough or bucket sinks. Deep, wide and durable trough and bucket sinks will continue to be popular in the new year. These long, narrow and low-maintenance sinks can help create a rustic aesthetic and maximize minimal space.

Casual and calm modern bedrooms. Instead of bold and busy colors, soothing, neutral color palettes are expected to reign supreme along with soft fabrics and simple furniture pieces.

Wallpaper-like backsplash. Consider contemporary tiles that look like wood, concrete, resin, fabric or even wallpaper.

Concrete accents and Millwork feature walls and detailing.




Posted in:Remodeling and tagged: Remodeling
Posted by Sam Kader on January 1st, 2018 10:06 AM
When it comes to remodeling - kitchen upgrade remains at the top of the list. Questions prior to remodeling:

What features do I need in my kitchen?
  1. What do I like/don't like about my current kitchen?
  2. What is my current budget?
  3. If I had a dream kitchen, what would it look like?

Connected or smart appliances are becoming more popular and user-friendly that simplify routine chores like cleaning and doing laundry in addition to bringing in higher value.

a) Ovens - A connected oven allows you to control functionality using smartphone. Another tech innovation is convection which allows multiple items to bake at the same time without sacrificing consistent quality.

b) Refrigerators - You can verbally instruct the fridge to fill the ice machine and raise or lower the temperature and self-diagnose issues and alert you when replacement part is needed.

c) Hands-free faucets - Reduce the spread of germs and messes with hands-free and single-touch faucets. They also include a unique sensor and water-flow mechanism. Simply touching any part of the faucets or placing objects directly under the faucet heard turns the flow of water on and off.

Have a precise plan in place. Planning with the help of a designer will help prevent a number of mistakes. An in-house designer at a kitchen showroom is cheaper. During the planning phase, take this opportunity to shop for the latest products on the market, account for adequate traffic flow and seating to ensure the most efficient and comfortable use of your kitchen. Plenty of cabinets nearby to allow for easy access to every possible utensil and pan. Don't forget to locate your waste receptacle (and compost for food waste) near the sink in a dedicated pull-out cabinet. 

Blend aesthetics and practicality. Counter-tops allow you to put your personal style on display as well as landing spaces for hot dishes, groceries and corded appliances. Consider rounding corners or adding 45-degree corner cuts to avoid any safety hazards. Consider adding an island to include additional cabinets, a breakfast bar or shelving. 

There are four types of lighting. Task lighting helps eliminate a special work area. Ambient light softens the room by eliminating sharp lines and shadows. Accent lighting highlights a specific item or detail. Decorative lighting is the focal lighting attraction such as a chandelier. 

Maximize function while maintaining safety. Today's cabinets can be ordered to exact specifications to maximize drawer and shelf space. Keep in mind the door swings of cabinets and appliances as do not block access to something critical to a specific task. An adequate number of electrical outlets must be considered when remodeling your kitchen. 

Next is to hire a contractor to help with renovation. An affordable option may also be use to a contractor recommend by a kitchen showroom or a big box store. Obtain bids from at least three contractors. Don't necessarily take the lowest bid; the lowest price doesn't automatically make it the best choice. Pay close attention to the services the contractor is providing, as well as how the project will be managed along the various phases of your renovation.

Several ideas where to hire contractors:

  • Pro - Input specific project ideas and instant price estimated.
  • Porch - Locate contractors and view past projects.
  • Red beacon - Receive bids from multiple contractors (HomeDepot).
  • Zillow Digs - Share photos of design and remodeling projects with price estimated.


Posted in:Remodeling and tagged: Remodeling
Posted by Sam Kader on June 18th, 2016 12:04 PM

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