Sunrise Homes & Renovations, Inc.

A Quick and Easy Guide to Hiring the Best Contractor for Your Pre-sale Home Renovations

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A Quick and Easy Guide to Hiring the Best Contractor for Your Pre-sale Home RenosIf you’re planning to complete some renovations on your home before putting it on the market, you may be unsure of the best way to go about finding the right contractor for the job. While there are probably many contractors available who can do your renovations right, here’s how you can get to the bottom of who will work the best for you.

Make A Few Phone Calls

Once you’ve done some research and determined a short list of prospective contractors, you’ll want to call each contractor to determine that they can complete your project in good time and are the right candidate for the work required. If they’re not available or are cagey about your question, this can be an easy way to whittle down the list.

Arrange A Meeting In Person

While a phone interview should provide you with some good insights right off the bat, you’ll also want to meet your potential contractors face to face before making any final decisions. If you get along well with the contractor and they are able to answer the questions you ask with confidence, it’s a good sign that they may be the right pick for your project.

Check In On The References

Once you’ve decided between a few candidates, make sure you contact their former clients to determine how happy they were with the work and the contractor. Since you may have a date in mind for when you want to put your home on the market, it will be important to know if the job was completed in good time, as well as if any final issues were left hanging in the air unfinished.

Consider The Estimated Costs

Last but not least, you’ll want to have each contractor break down the project and provide a projected cost for labor and materials. You should be able to get a good sense of exactly what it’s going to cost and which bid is the most realistic. While it may be tempting to go for the lowest bid since you’ll probably be moving soon, you’ll want to strongly consider which contractor and which price will turn out the best in the end.

It can seem complicated to hire a contractor for your home renovations, but by conducting simple interviews and checking references you should be able to determine who the best person for the job is. If you’re curious about renovations and how they can impact the sales price of your home, you may want to contact your local real estate professional for more insights.

Green-ify Your Home with These 3 Easy Home Renovations

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Green-ify Your Home with These 3 Easy Home RenovationsThe concept of going green is often seen as an expensive process, and this can stop many people from taking the small steps needed to make their home more environmentally friendly. If you want to green-ify without any of the high costs, here are some simple things you can do that will easily improve the energy efficiency of your home.

Complete An Energy Audit

It can cost upwards of $400 to get a certified evaluator to take a look at your property and determine how energy is being wasted, but you can complete this type of evaluation on your own without all of the expenditure. Try the candle test and take a flame on a tour of your home, being aware of areas where the flame wavers and drafts may be coming in from outside. Once you’ve determined the problem areas, you can tackle the project of re-caulking which will seal up any openings that are leading to energy loss and more expensive heating costs.

Fix-Up Noticeable Insulation Issues

Completely overhauling your insulation is not among the easiest of fixes, but there are some simple ways you can improve its effectiveness without a lot of hard work. Instead of a comprehensive analysis, head up to the attic to take a peek at the insulation there. Using a mask and a pair of gloves, check the insulation and look for any spaces where air could be gaining access to your home. If you come across any vulnerable areas, add some extra insulation and seal the area with expanding insulation for a little added coverage.

Install A New Faucet

While heat conservation is one of the most important factors in energy efficiency, taking care of the water supply will also have a significant impact on your home’s environmental footprint. Instead of sticking with old-style faucets, head down to the hardware store for low-flow taps that will automatically cut down on water use without you or your family having to think twice. This type of fix is an easy enough installation and your water savings will be facilitated every time you turn on the tap.

There are a number of small changes you can make around your home to easily conserve energy and cut down on water waste. If you’re doing some small renovations because you’re preparing for a large move, you may want to contact one of our local real estate professionals for more information.

Accent Walls: 3 Easy Ways to Spice up Your Space

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Accent Walls: 3 Easy Ways to Spice up Your SpaceFor those who love to decorate and are always excited to test out the latest trends in design, the accent wall is a concept that’s become popular in recent years. If you’re not sure how to use this feature to twist any room on its side, here’s how to go about painting your very own and instantly dressing up the look of your favorite room.

Pick The Perfect Wall

When deciding on the ideal location for an accent wall, it’s important to consider which space in your home will benefit from a splash of color and still be complimented by this unique look. Whether you decide on a wall in your bedroom or living room, the location of your accent wall should be somewhere it can have a positive impact on the look of your room without overpowering its natural ambiance.

Decide On A Color You Can Live With

Once you’ve picked the perfect place for your paint, you’ll want to narrow down the list of color options to ones that will work best for the wall. It can be tempting to go from the most brilliant of colors to really indulge in accent, but think of this wall as a way to merely boost the look of a room you already enjoy. By choosing a color that is both vibrant and understated – and goes with your design aesthetic – you can use this wall to maximum, nuanced effect.

Any Additional Accents?

If you’re just wading into the water with home decorating, it’s entirely likely that an accent wall will be enough for now, but if you’re just beginning you may want to consider some other interesting design details as well. While you could choose more than one color to brighten things up or draw a makeshift frame around the border of each wall, if you’re interested in something funky you may want to use some stencils – like hearts or stars – to instantly add a whimsical effect!

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to home decorating, but if you’ve been considering an accent wall for a while you might want to test it out first before diving in with neon colors and funky stencils. If you’re making some changes to your home because you’re thinking of selling in the next few years, you may want to contact one of our local real estate professionals for more inside information.

3 Budget-friendly DIY Weekend Renovations to Step into Spring

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3 Budget-friendly DIY Weekend Renovations to Step into Spring The springtime is often the best time of the year for cleaning up and getting rid of old items, but with its proximity to the winter months it can still be hard to commit to large-scale renovations. If you’re looking for some small fixes to give your home a seasonal boost, here are a few options that won’t take up a lot of time.

Freshen Up The Window Frames

Paint can instantly enhance the brightness of any room, but deciding to repaint can be a job that takes more than just a weekend. Instead of committing to everything, paint your window frames for a task that is cheap and doesn’t require a huge expenditure of time. Since the eyes will naturally be drawn to the windows in any room, this will serve to improve your space without all the work that goes into sanding and taping everything.

Add An Accent With Wallpaper

A creative, striking way to upgrade the look of your home is a wallpaper accent that will be easy to install but add trendy appeal to your home’s aesthetic. Instead of going for the same old, choose a wallpaper with a funky design to the area of your choice. By placing it behind a mirror or another picture, you’ll add a lot of oomph without all of the effort that goes into completely repapering a wall. It’s just important to ensure you use an adhesive wallpaper that can be repositioned in the event your first attempt doesn’t work out.

Replace An Old Fixture

It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of legwork to easily revamp a stale space, so consider a light fixture that will instantly draw the eye and can serve as a high-impact piece that really sets the tone for your chosen space. While you’ll want to choose something that won’t completely contrast with the style already present, the right piece can really enhance and modernize what you already have. It’s just important to turn off the breakers before you start fiddling around with installation.

The idea of home renovations can make people think of large scale projects that consume a lot of time, but there are plenty of little things to be done that will make for big changes without an excess of effort. If you’re making some upgrades and are preparing to put your home on the market, you may want to contact one of our real estate professionals for more information.

Working from Home? Learn How to Create the Perfect Office with Any Spare Room

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Working from Home? Learn How to Create the Perfect Office with Any Spare RoomWith the increasing flexibility of the modern workplace, there are many more businesses offering their employees the opportunity to work from home. While this shift in the job market has created a bevy of new options for freelance workers, it can also be a good reason to turn a spare room into a spanking new office. If you’re working from home, here are some tips for a stylish transition.

Prime It With Paint

Outside of lighting, the color and upkeep of the walls is going to have a huge impact on the way your spare office will look. Before even considering placing furniture or putting up pictures, decide on the perfect shade of paint that will keep you inspired and will go with the rest of your house. This will easily brighten the room, and prep it for its future purpose.

Start With Good Lighting

There are few things that will change the ambiance of a room like light, so make sure the room your changing up has a great set of windows or the kind of fixture that will provide effective illumination. Since many people have a hard time focusing in the orange or bright light that can come in certain work settings, a well-lit place may make all of your work seem a little bit easier.

Decide On A Desk

Many people put any old clunker of a desk in their spare office since it will do the trick, but if you’re making the decision to renovate your spare room for work, it will be worth it to choose a desk you’ll want to work at. Before going desk shopping, measure out the length and width of your spare room so you can make a desk purchase that will work for your new office.

What’s On The Wall?

Beyond the supply of pens, paper and a computer, it might seem like the extras of your office situation can be kept out of the equation, but a few pictures can add a lot. While you may want to add some photos of family and friends, it might also be helpful for your work-time diligence to put up a picture that adds a shot of color and will inspire your best work.

There are a lot of great options for a spare room, but if you work from home an office can be the ideal renovation. If you happen to be sprucing up your spare room to sell your home, you may want to contact one of your local real estate agents for more information.

Smart Appliances Get Smarter: Here’s What We Saw at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show

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Smart Appliances Get Smarter: Here's What We Saw at the 2016 Consumer Electronics ShowWith technology advancing at a mile a minute, the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show is a great place to see what’s new to the market and what will be sure to turn heads in the year to come. If you couldn’t make it to the show yourself but are curious about the highlights of the event, here are some of the hottest items in technology that appeared in Las Vegas this year.

Make It Molecular With A Spectrometer

Designed by Consumers Physics, the SCiO is a modern, small-sized molecular sensor that can give you volumes of information about your food that you’ve never had before. Instead of consulting the nutritional information, you can easily obtain all of the products contained in your food (or any other product, really) by simply pointing it at the item in question. This information will then be transferred to the product’s associated app for you to review.

Forgot To Lock? Grab Your Phone!

We’ve all experienced the fear here and there of thinking we forgot to lock the door, but with the innovative Kwikset Premis door lock, you can easily put this former fear to rest. Instead of having to rush home with key in hand, the Kwikset allows you to easily control its locking mechanism with a PIN number using your smart phone. So, the next time you’ve think you’ve forgotten to lock the door behind you, you can instantly access your smartphone and put your mind at ease.

Wake Up To Your Favorite Scent

Waking up is often associated with the uncomfortable sensation of a beeping clock, but with the Sensorwake the first few minutes of the morning don’t have to seem like such a chore. Instead of beeping, you can insert an aroma module into your Sensorwake that will release the scent you choose, whether it happens to be espresso, croissant or peppermint. If you don’t think this will be enough to wake you up, you can also arrange for an audible alarm that will come on a little bit later.

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is one of the best events of the year for interesting, new technology, but if you missed it there are plenty of exciting gadgets that will soon be available on the market. If you happen to be looking for a new home that has all of the gadgets on the horizon, you may want to contact your local real estate agent for help in your search.