The Beauty of Today’s Awnings

Adding an awning to your backyard patio is attractive and practical. It not only adds ‘curb appeal’ it adds living space and value to your home. Local manufacturers will build you a custom awning with your choice of color, fabric and size. Awnings are great for year round protection for your patio furniture and your patio itself. Protection from rain, hail, snow and sun. If you add side awnings, you can enjoy the extra space all year.

An awning can reduce your energy consumption by 25% in the summer and keep your back door free of snow in the winter. Your air conditioning system won’t have to work as hard, since the awning keeps the sun away from the windows.

Most heating and cooling is lost through windows. When the sun heats up the outside of the window, that heat is transferred into your house. An awning blocks direct sunlight, keeping your windows approximately twenty degrees cooler.

Benefits of adding an awning:

• Beauty: Today’s awnings are much more attractive and durable than they used to be. Manufacturers are using more imagination, different types of fabrics and a wide variety of colors in their designs and you can choose and create an awning to suit your taste. Since your awning is custom made, you choose the exact design and the color scheme you need.
• Savings and Protection: You won’t have to replace or refinish your outdoor furniture or your patio tiles nearly as often. Plus you will save approximately 25% on your energy bill.
• Affordable: Local manufacturers will custom build an awning for you at a fraction of the cost of adding a sun room, but with all of the benefits. Since you are buying directly from the manufacturer, you will get a beautiful awning at incredible savings. Installation is quick and easy, but if you prefer, there are many contractors more than willing to help.
• Additional living space: Adding an awning makes your patio more bearable in the summer. With side panels it is like adding another room. Add the convenience of a remote controlled retractable awning, and you can adjust the ‘room’ any way you like, easily with the push of a button, no more cranking as with the older models.

Today’s awnings are not like the awnings of yesterday, they are a masterpiece of modern design. Locally manufactured and custom built with the added convenience of a remote control.

Make Sure Your Kitchen truly is the Heart of Your Home

The kitchen is the heart of our home, or so we’ve always been told. It’s definitely the place we spend a large amount of time throughout the day cooking, eating, cleaning or just making a quick snack. Your kitchen table may even be used for paying bills or getting homework done. If this room really is that important, shouldn’t it be a warm and comfy place with those extra special touches that make it “home”? Remodeling your kitchen can be a lot of fun and can be done very inexpensively if you follow these few tips.

Making your Kitchen Green

Make your kitchen green and no, I’m not talking about painting all the walls green. Green means energy efficient and eco-friendly. There are methods of making your kitchen green including proper ventilation, natural lighting, energy-efficient appliances, low-toxicity finishing and surfaces and countertops that are easily cleaned, durable while still being aesthetically appealing to the eye. Whether it’s online or at your local home building supply store, you can get some great ideas on how to green your kitchen yourself if you happen to be a DIY person.

Countertops

Countertops really do take up more of our kitchen than we realize yet they can be very inexpensive to replace in terms of overall remodeling costs. Consider an eco-friendly countertop such as wood (renewable), bamboo or cork. Cork is very durable, attractive and sustainable. It is also your best choice when it comes to workability, aesthetics and cost. It repels microbes, withstands moisture, and resists heat damage and scratches. It’s perfect for areas next to the sink that are frequently wet. Its fire resistant qualities make it great for next to the stove. Cork may not be your only choice, but it’s one of the beset.

Appliances

There is nothing quite like the look of new appliances in your kitchen. Appliances, however, are a large expense so make wise choices. The more energy efficient your appliances are, the more you’ll save money on energy costs. If your children are grown and gone, do you really need that large refrigerator or freezer?

Do you need that supersize microwave? The larger appliances you have, the more energy they’ll use and the more space they’ll take up – space that could be used for cute knick knacks or pictures of the grandkids!

Lighting

If you’re going all out with your remodeling, why not put in some large windows to let the sunshine in each day? There is not quite like natural lighting. It’s great for your plants and will lessen the time you need your lights on in your kitchen. It provides you with some great solar energy as well.