BY DONNA VICKROY dvickroy@southtownstar.com February 2, 2012 6:52PM

Firefighter Paramedic Aaron Rutter points out where repair work to the wall had to be made after replacing their old stove with a donated one at Palos Fire Protection District Station 1 in Palos Park, Illinois, Thursday, February, 2, 2012. The station is one of five finalists in the IKEA Firehouse Kitchen Remodeling Contest. The cabinet drawer on the countertop in the foreground broke Thursday morning. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

storyidforme: 25080484
tmspicid: 9175937
fileheaderid: 4188770

Vote online

You can vote daily at http://www.rescueremodel.com.

Updated: February 3, 2012 2:08AM

Marianne DeHaan made a distress call to Ikea last month to rescue the kitchen at the Palos Park firehouse where she’s worked for 10 years.

“The kitchen is currently on advanced life support and the firefighters/paramedics are performing CPR (Cabinet Partial Removal) when necessary,” DeHaan wrote in her entry essay for the Ikea Firehouse Kitchen Remodeling contest.

It worked. The Palos Fire Protection District station at 8815 W. 123rd St. is one of three finalists in the online voting competition that continues through Feb. 28.

“We’re asking everyone we know to vote, daily, for our station,” said DeHaan, the fire district’s administrative assistant. “As you can see, we need a new kitchen. But it’s not going to be in the budget, that’s for sure.”

If they get the most votes — beating out stations in Yonkers, N.Y., and Oregon — they will receive a $25,000 kitchen makeover, complete with new cabinets, countertops, appliances and tile work.

A win for the financially strapped fire district not only would improve cooking efficiency and time, it would be a morale boost for a staff that recently saw six fellow firefighters laid off due to budget constraints, Capt. Jim Graben said.

There is no money to replace the chipped tile, a faulty faucet and cabinets that are duct-taped together.

“This is a way to get these guys a nice, decent kitchen without costing taxpayers a cent,” DeHaan said.

Asked what bugged them most about the current kitchen, firefighter Aaron Rutter said the sink, while colleague Joe Lenzen pointed to the fridge.

For the past week, Palos has led the online voting.

“But that could change at any moment,” Graben said. On Thursday, Yonkers was gaining on them.

DeHaan said a win for Palos would bring regional bragging rights, as well.

“It would be great for the Midwest for a Chicago-area fire department to win,” DeHaan said. “All firefighters are wonderful, but this is local.”

The district has 29 full-time and six part-time employees. The kitchen at Station No. 1 is used daily by six to nine firefighters.

The district — which is seeking a property tax rate increase via a referendum in the March 20 primary to address its financial woes — has two stations, but one is sometimes closed because of the reduced staffing.

DeHaan said the firefighters have done considerable repair work in the kitchen on their own time with their own money. They’ve patched holes in a wall to accommodate a vent after a used stove was donated to the department. They’ve even built shelving units out of 2-by-4s.

“The station is their second home,” DeHaan said. “They deserve a nice place where they can gather and enjoy a meal together.”

More:
Palos firehouse a finalist in kitchen makeover contest

16-01-2011 23:33 http://www.Konon.us http

View post:
Interior Design Ideas, Kitchens - Red - Video

After more than 32 years providing homeowners with basement, bathroom, and kitchen remodeling and redesign, Interior Excellence LLC announces the launch of a new website and new opportunities for NJ residents.

Bridgewater, NJ (PRWEB) January 31, 2012

Interior Excellence LLC recently announced the launch of their new website and is changing the way home remodeling is done in New Jersey.

In these difficult times one thing remains constant: owning a home requires ongoing maintenance. Despite the rhetoric of foreclosures and financial difficulties in the world, most people are well managed and in stable condition (financially).

If a home is allowed to enter a state of disrepair, it can lead to many snowballing problems. An example may be a broken down bathroom which can cause water leakage to lower floors and even cause fires when coming in contact with electrical wires. Remodeling or renovating problem area's within a house not only solve existing issues with your home, but provide additional space for your family to socialize.

Interior Excellence takes a different approach to home remodeling than most companies. Myles Albert, the owner of Interior Excellence, has more than thirty two years of experience which helps keep the remodeling process quick, clean, and easy to understand for his clients. As Interior Excellence also provides design services included in the project, the entire remodeling process is streamlined compared to traditional contractors and provides a "one-stop shopping" solution.

One concern amongst most homeowners is the time it takes for a typical remodeling project to finish. Instead of juggling multiple jobs and leaving your home half-finished, Myles only works on one project at a time.

This keeps your project quick, and the inconvenience to your family at a minimum. As the dust and dirt from a construction project can easily spread throughout a house, Myles takes the time vacuum and clean up the workspace after each day.

Clients are also encouraged to get involved in the selection of materials to be used in the project. Using deep discounts that Interior Excellence has acquired throughout various New Jersey remodeling stores, customers receive savings on project materials that many home remodeling services keep to themselves.

In an effort to help his customers better understand what kind of service he offers, Myles recently redesigned and launched a new website in order to showcase the work he's been providing for all these years. In addition to providing a portfolio of past work (http://interiorexcellencellc.com/newjersey/portfolio/), Myles also maintains a blog which is updated regularly with industry news and articles.

New Jersey residents looking to reach out to Myles are encouraged to call 908-218-0200 or visit his website at http://www.interiorexcellencellc.com.

# # #

Myles Albert
Interior Excellence LLC
908-218-0200
Email Information

The rest is here:
New Jersey Home Remodeling Company Interior Excellence Launches New Website - Interior Excellence LLC

A soft economy prompted some homeowners to take a new look at their
existing footprint. Even as housing-market conditions turn a
little brighter, many homeowners
still opt to stay put and update their current quarters
instead of selling at lower prices.

The numbers prove it. Remodeling industry sentiment, as
tracked by the National Association of Home Builders'
Remodeling Market
Index (RMI), hit a five-year high in the fourth quarter.

[See the
5 Best (and Worst) Home Remodeling Projects.]

In many cases, these decisions are fiscally motivated and
reflective of the times, but the following remodeling trends
may be here to stay:

Suite spot of the market. Builders and
remodelers are finding more demand for in-law apartments
(typically called mother-in-law suites whether mom is the sole
resident or not) as part of new additions or basement
makeovers. The first waves of baby boomers have reached their
golden years and families are
getting creative with longer-term care solutions. For some
families, this is ultimately a lower-cost option than
assisted-living or nursing home care.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, 62
percent of builders surveyed were working on a
home modification related to aging in 2010. About 1 in 5
builders added an entry-level bedroom. AARP is working with
builders on a designation for Certified Aging in Place
Specialists, who are trained in designing and modifying
buildings for the elderly. About 3,000 builders, contractors,
remodelers and architects have been certified.

[See
Will This Home Renovation Pay Off?]

There's another shift among the generations in some households.
A soft job market has occasionally landed grown children (and
their families) back at mom and dad's place, too. Lengthy stays
often lead to a call to a contractor. Given demographic trends,
these remodels have resale potential and are no longer seen as
a design burden and deal-breaker for prospective buyers.
Remember to follow municipal building codes.

Backyard haven. Booming economic times led to
luxury outdoor living--pricy natural stone hardscapes, gourmet
grilling kitchens, and major electrical upgrades. The recession
may have dinged this corner of the remodeling industry, but the
concept survives. In fact,
investing in outdoor living spaces (and installing
additional windows and doors for better inside-to-outside flow)
has been a major part of even budget-minded upgrades within
existing home footprints. Consumers may be scaling back their
wish list, but they're not cutting back on outdoor entertaining
and family time. After all, if families are traveling less,
they're playing more at home.

[In Pictures:
The Home of the Future.]

Smarter kitchens. Smarter doesn't mean the
kitchen does the cooking for you, but it can mean you're in and
out of there in less time. The peak of the construction surge
featured token real estate words like "granite," "high-end
appliances," pre-packaged cabinet "suites," and more. It's not
that people now want low-quality kitchens, they're just moving
toward more customization. Some are putting more money in
pantries and utility rooms that keep the "guts" of the
operation undercover. They're giving up dedicated food-prep
square footage in favor of larger eating and family room areas.
They're opting for open shelving and islands that do a lot of
the heavy lifting, with loads of storage. Kitchens are and will
continue to look less like a work area and more like an
extension of the living area.

Twitter:
@USNewsMoney

More From US News & World Report

See the rest here:
3 Recession Home Remodeling Trends Likely to Stick Around

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire -01/30/12)- San Diego-based
remodeling firm, winner of the 2011 Better Business Bureau
Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, Jackson Design &
Remodeling (JDR) today announced a call for nominations for
its third annual "JDR
Industry Blogger Awards," which recognize the nation's
best blogs in the design and remodeling industry.

Nominations for the 2012 awards will be accepted online
through Friday, February 17. Blogs may be submitted in one of
five categories: Architecture, Green, Construction Business,
Interior Design and Remodeling.

"We started these awards three years ago as a fun and unique
way to recognize the best blogs in our industry," said

Todd Jackson, President and CEO of
JDR. "Since then, each year we've received a larger and
larger response and they've become the premier awards program
for remodeling and design industry blogs across the country.
More and more businesses in the industry are seeing the
importance of communicating with consumers through new media
and are providing important information, news, tips and ideas
to help consumers make informed decisions and offer
inspiration for projects of all sizes."

Voting for the 2012 Industry Blogger Awards will begin on
Feb. 27 and end at 2 p.m. PST on April 13. The five winners
will be announced April 18. The blog that receives the most
votes in each category will be the winner of that category.
Each winning blogger will receive $500 cash and a 2012
Industry Blogger Award Winner badge for display on their
website.

About Jackson Design and Remodeling
Jackson Design
and Remodeling has been serving the San Diego community for
more than 20 years with high-end
bathroom remodeling,
kitchen remodeling,
room additions, and other home redesign projects. Todd
Jackson, President and CEO, has established an enduring
tradition of quality and service in the remodeling industry.
Jackson and his team have won numerous awards for their work,
including over 40 COTY awards, dozens of Chrysalis, ASID,
NKBA and Master Design Awards as well as three consecutive
Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics.
For more information, visit
http://www.jacksondesignandremodeling.com, call (619) 442-6125
or follow us on
Facebook and
Twitter.

Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1869397

More here:
Jackson Design & Remodeling Announces Call for Nominations in Third Annual Industry Blogger Awards

25-07-2011 18:12 http://www.KitchenRemodelingBergenCountyNJ.com Call 973-665-6363 Need a kitchen remodeling and installation expert at affordable price?

Read the original:
Kitchen Remodeling Bergen County NJ 973-665-6363 - Video

20-07-2010 14:17 Watch Chicago designer Tom Marquardt demonstrate how to think outside the traditional kitchen plan and make a big statement in a small footprint.

More:
Small Kitchen Design Video - Video

20-05-2010 20:50 books.gregvan.com Which are looking at in this video, is the finished floor. Home remodeling professional Greg Vanden Berge provides us with an excellent finished stone floor

Originally posted here:
Before Grouting Kitchen Tile Floor - Expert Home Remodeling Advice - Video

31-05-2011 16:15 Matthew North shows off some examples of effective small kitchen designs. For more residential design videos visit: http://www.slowhomestudio.com

View post:
How to Design a Small Kitchen - Video

29-10-2010 16:37 http://www.homewyse.com presents the results of its designer survey for 2011. Top kitchen ideas and trends for kitchen design and kitchen remodeling.

Follow this link:
Kitchen Design Ideas 2011 - Video