Timothy’s Finds: Kitchen Backsplash

INSPIRATION

Decisions…decisions. Long gone are the days of just throwing butcher block or formica on your counters and calling it a day. In essence, your backsplash is an extension of the countertop. They and range in height from just a few inches to literally the ceiling. During my early career, I spent many years working for homebuilders that didn’t include a backsplash as a standard feature or an optional upgrade. From a design perspective, this is a missed opportunity to had design value in your kitchen.

I do have a a pet peeve. It is painful to witness people with outdated poorly design kitchens, think that a bold colorful backsplash alone will make their kitchen—attractive and pleasing. No. This is highly unlikely.

If you are building a custom home or planning a kitchen renovation, just as much though should go into your backsplash, as your cabinetry, countertops, lighting, and appliance. I know—this can be overwhelming. As an interior designer that was been involved in the designing and planning of thousands of new builds—I wanted to share a few of my current favorite ideas for modern, fresh, and transitional kitchen backsplash selections.

May this post leave you inspired and ready to continue with your current design projects.

I love the (2) marble stones mixed with gold metal. Winning!

Simple yet bold patterns can be classy without being cheesy.

I love a simple gray subway tile any day. The texture adds so much richness.

This is a wine for me. Blue, gray and white? So many options for counters, cabinet paint, and hardware.

Simple—pencil glass tile. This calls for a a simple modern yet classy cabinet.

I love the 3-D look, the rich darkness, and graphic presentation here. You can’t say—is it leather?

Black can almost go with anything. I love the grooves and texture. So many possiblities.

Black and gold. Marble and metal again for the win!

As you can see, I like a lot of different types of tiles for kitchen backsplash. I am honestly in love with soft grays, blues, whites, and the boldness of black. It is very rare that I encourage my clients to jump for bright colors when selecting a backsplash.

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Timothy’s Finds: Cabinet Hardware

INSPIRATION

If you are knee deep in designing a custom home or renovation you are knee deep in making selections. Trust me. I get it. No matter how excited you may be about designing and building a new home at some point you will become overwhelmed.

No worries! I am here yet again for more solutions. There are millions of options. In this blog posts, I wanted to share a few tips to help guide you in the right direction and share the most common styles and shape that currently on trend.

I hope this posts help you make strong and confident decisions as you plan and build an amazing custom home for your family.

Tip #1 Choose between pulls and knobs. There is no hard rule here, but I would say in my design practice we typically encourage our clients to up knobs on the upper cabinets and pulls on the base cabinets

Tip #2 Consider the finish. There are usually several different finish options for each product for every vendor you choose to consider. We are about creating elevated design today. Everything should not and does not have to matter. When making your selections, consider the metal finishes you will have throughout the kitchen. Let’s remember the metal on the lighting, appliances, sink, faucets and even window hardware. They should compliment but not match.

Just as with lighting, cabinet hardware is a great way to add style and personality into your kitchen. I highly encourage you reach beyond what is on display at your local hardware store. There are many many great vendors at various price points.

Don’t miss this chance to make great selections that will elevate your kitchen!

I love the graphic nature of the pull. I can imagine it beautifully added to white or blue base cabinets. Simply Magical!

This handle is masculine yet whimsical. In addition, I love how metal an walnut is mixed in one great piece. Talk about high style!

This handle is simple and function. There are times when the basics will do just fine. If you backsplash is super busy—tone it down with the hardware!

This piece is hand painted but I love how it mimics stone. Couldn’t you see this in a kitchen in a Bahamian inspired coastal design?

Remember, I am all about mixing materials. Lucite made a come back a few years ago—it’s still here!

This piece is simple clean and industrious. The backplate adds additional detail to what could otherwise be seen as a basic piece. Would you install vertically or horizontally?

There you have it! Aren’t these options fun and exciting? I certainly hope that after reading this post you feel inspired to be creative. Even if you aren’t building a new home cabinet hardware is an amazing way to spruce up your kitchen.

I hope you found this article interesting and helpful.  Wanna keep in touch? Consider joining my weekly newsletter. A weekly newsletter keeping you up to date on the latest of all things real estate, interiors, renovations, and custom home building.

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5 Unexpected expenses when building a custom home.

EDUCATION

I hope that you are doing well!  I wanted to take a moment to address a few budget items that you will need to keep in mind.  Your builder or lender may not address these thoroughly.  These items can totally wreck your budget if you don’t plan for them.  I encourage my clients to be realistic about their numbers while setting clear expectations during your build.  If you have been following me for any amount of time, you know that I feel most people end up with a home that doesn’t meet their expectations simply because of poor planning.  Please include these hidden items in your overall budget when building your home.

Land Prep  You will need land to build your home on.  If you are buying your own land or already own it free and clear, it is probable that you will need to prepare the site for construction.  You will be responsible for excavating and clearing the lot.  If there are trees that need to be taken down--you will have to pay for it.  Existing structures that need to be torn down--more money.  In addition, and any debris removal and fill in dirt that will be needed to prep the land, you will have to cover the cost.  Thinking of a basement? That will be more money.  Plan accordingly ahead of time.

Landscaping  When you build a new home your lot will be a blank slate.  Depending on the type of lot there may be tree stumps that need to be removed or even if there was grass prior to construction--months of trucks driving over will destroy it.    If you are building in a community with an HOA, keep in mind that you will most likely be required to finish the homesite to the standards of the community prior to moving in.  I always recommend budgeting for sod over seed.  It can take 3 full years for seeds to fully mature and over proper coverage.  Please don’t skimp here.  In addition, mature palm and myrtle trees are very expensive.   Trees can easily cost hundreds  and thousands of dollars. You will need mulch, lighting, hardscapes, and various plants and trees for a polished finished look.  Don’t underestimate how much it will cost.  Don’t forget the driveway!  I have seen many people end up with a dirt drive away or gravel when they dreamed of pavers or textured concrete.  Why?  Well, they didn’t know that a long winding driveway would cost thousands of dollars.  

Window Treatments  Many people have no ideas how much coverings and treatments can cost.  I am not speaking of draperies and panels but starting with the basic coverings that will create privacy and limit harsh sun rays from entering the home.  When you build custom plans, often with custom windows, that will require custom sized window treatments.  While mini blind and 2” faux wood blinds may have worked in your apartment or product built home--these solutions will not work in all cases.  There are many highly decorative and functional treatment options that should be considered.  They will cost money!  Even if they are included in the build price, you can easily add $10,000 to $30,000 to an entry level custom home price.

Furniture  Everyone wants a basement on the east coast.   Guess what, you gotta finish it..  That’s money.  Everyone wants a large living room and master bedroom.  Media rooms and craft rooms while they are great to have….you have to furnish them in order to use them.  Most people have know idea just how much money it can cost to furnish a house.  Even if you buy everything from Pottery Barn--which is not high end furniture you can easily spend $15000 on a guest bedroom.  On average, quality well curated furniture can start around 20% of your home purchase or build price.  Spend 1 million dollars and you can expect to spend around $200,000 on furnishing alone.  This is a rule of thumb not a requirement.  Work the number, show and work with a talented designer.  You will quickly see how much furniture cost.

Moving Costs  Don’t underestimate how much it will cost to move!  Even a short local move or cross country move will need coordination planning and scheduling.  Will you do the packing yourself?  Do you have tons of small accessories that will need care and protection?  Do you have large pieces of furniture and pianos?  It is important to research, seek referral and estimates from various companies well in advance.  I hate to be the voice of bad news, if you are moving from one larger home to another prepare to spend thousands of dollars.  Please include moving costs into your soft cost that will be covered out of pocket.  Wouldn’t you hate to have your dream home completed and have to wait 30 days before you move simply because you are short on cash?  Not a good look.

I hope you found this article interesting and helpful.  Wanna keep in touch? Consider joining my weekly newsletter. A weekly newsletter keeping you up to date on the latest of all things real estate, interiors, renovations, and custom home building.

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How to prepare your finances to build a custom home.

EDUCATION

It is very easy to get caught up in the fun and creative parts of planning to build your new home.  You can spend hours a day watching videos, glued to pinterest and various magazines.  One of the most important impacts on how much home you can afford and much much you can will get for your money--will be your finances.  I highly recommend that everyone invest a certain amount of time working on the numbers.  Have you heard the expression, “the numbers don’t lie?”   Well, it is true.  

I have created a list of 5 areas that are related to the numbers...the money...the cash.

Credit  It is important to understand your credit.  If you are not currently monitoring your credit on a weekly or monthly basis, I highly recommend that you start.  You want to make sure your credit utilization is under 30% and your middle credit score is well over 720.  This will allow you to access the best loan products and interest rates.  In addition, your monthly payments will impact how much money you can borrow.  Keep your balances low and payments made on time.   Finally, you don’t want negative items to creep up when you are in the process of applying or closing on your mortgage.  This could be a deal killer. If you have unsettled debts no matter how small, make sure you reach out to the creditors before it’s too late.  Did you switch cable providers, cell phone companies or even recent apartment complex that you vacated?  Make sure you have no outstanding debts that may post to your credit report when you least expect it.

Cash Reserves Money makes the world go around.  You will need cash in order to build a custom home.  Even if you own the land and plan on rolling your closing costs into your mortgage.  It is common in some cases to cover soft costs like permits, electrical and water hookups in advance.  Furthermore, you will have to pay your architect, designer, and additional services upfront.  There are cases where you can roll these into your loan, but many of the soft costs incurred prior to the first draw dispersal will have to come from you.  If you are basically buying a home from the builder, the numbers will vary.  As a rule of thumb, I suggest that you have a minimum of your 6 month emergency fund to live your normal life and 5% of the total budget of your project in cash ready to access.  These funds should not be one in the same.  Your lender may require additional cash reserves to close on your loan.  

Prequalify and research loan programs in your area.  It is important that you spend some time learning about all the options that are available in your area.  Every bank may not have the same product.  There are many programs and grants within rural communities and urban areas to encourage growth and development.  These programs may impact where you want to build and how much you spend.  When you have a clear understanding of all the loan programs that are available, you are prepared to make the best financial decisions.

Research the cost of options and upgrades  It is important to understand what things cost.  I encourage people to visit new construction model homes.  Get copies of their price sheets and updates if possible.  You can also visit kitchen and bathroom showrooms, tile and slab yards, and lighting gallery for additional intel.  You want to have an idea what things cost, you will be prepared to understand your allowances and proposed budgets that will come from your builder.  If you have a clear understanding of the cost of the types of vanities you want in the master bathroom, but your builder is pricing out 4 bathrooms for what you know 1 bathroom will cost...you are ahead of the game.  You can address these discrepancies before the construction begins.  I have a great blog post about allowances.  I encourage you to read more by clicking here.

Research your local real estate market  While everyone wants a house that is unique to their taste and lifestyle--it is important to understand trends and sales records in your area.  Even if you think this will be your forever home, you don’t want to create a house that is so off the mark for your market that no one would be interested in purchasing should you need to sell.  Also consider architectural style, size, finishes, in addition to the prices.  You might think twice about a cape cod in the high desert of Scottsdale Arizona.

I hope you found this article interesting and helpful.  Wanna keep in touch? Consider joining my weekly newsletter. A weekly newsletter keeping you up to date on the latest of all things real estate, interiors, renovations, and custom home building.

Join our community of over 5000 readers and receive a well curated mix of inspiration, education, and resources on all things related to curating the home of your dreams.

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