Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Woolley Home Solutions: Serving Essex, Somerset, Morris, & Union Counties

You know as well as we do that the summer heat and humidity in New Jersey can be brutal, particularly in urban areas.In fact, some of our highest record breaking temperatures rival more tropical climates. Providing cool comfort to your New Jersey home through air conditioner installation is one of our top priorities at Woolley Home Solutions.

Woolley Home Solutions has been providing home comfort to residents of Maplewood, New Jersey, and surrounding areas, for nine decades. First, through supplying our neighbors with heating fuel, beginning in 1924, and then adding to our expertise by installing and servicing HVAC systems, as well as plumbing, remodeling, and eventually becoming experts in the field of biofuel and green technology.Woolley Home Solutions has stayed in step with the needs of our New Jersey neighbors all along the way.

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Quality Air Conditioner Installation is Key

Purchasing a cooling system for your home is no small task.Determining the system which will suit your home, your family, and your budget requires careful thought and research.Getting the most for your money is your primary goal.You want the very best system you can afford and you want to be confident that your home cooling system will continue to provide comfort long after your air conditioner installation is complete.

Choosing the right system for your home, whether as a replacement for your current unit, or a brand new whole-house system, is simply the first step in air conditioner installation.Knowing your system is installed by experienced technicians is essential to the life of your air conditioner and the payoff for your investment.

Trust Your Air Conditioner Installation to Woolley Home Solutions

Woolley Home Solutions recognizes that even the best system available is only as good as the technicians who install it. Making sure your home cooling system is working properly from that first day forward is part of our air conditioner installation, and why Woolley Home Solutions is the most trusted name in home cooling sales, service and installation.

If youre in the Maplewood, New Jersey area and would like to know more about a new central cooling system, and air conditioner installation, you need Woolley Home Solutions. our comfort is important to us and we take your trust in our ability seriously. For 90 years, weve stood behind our work.Our job isnt finished until youre happy, and well be here for you when you need us, going forward.

ContactWoolley Home Solutionstoday at 973-762-7400to inquire about our professional air conditioner installation.Youll be glad you did.

Woolley Home Solutions Co. is an oil heating company providing service throughout the northern New Jersey area, including (but not limited to):

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Air Conditioner Installation Spring Special Save up to $850 with Woolley and Coleman - TAPinto.net

NAZARETH, Pa., May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Kitchen Magic of Nazareth, PA has two reasons to celebrate. For the fifth year running, the company was named a 2017 'Lehigh Valley's Top Workplace by a in the Morning Call and Workplace Dynamics annual survey, as announced at the Top Workplaces ceremony on March 8, 2017.

Additionally, the 2017 Top Leadership Award has, for the second time, gone to Brett Bacho, Kitchen Magic President, coinciding with his twenty fifth year with the company, 20 of which he has served as President.

The Top Workplaces annual lists are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by Workplace Dynamics, LLC, a leading research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement. Several aspects of workplace culture are measured, including alignment, execution, and connection, to name a few.

Bacho learned the business and direct sales at the side of his father-in-law, Joe and brought the first computer hardware and software to Kitchen Magic. As a mechanical engineer by trade, Bacho later developed the company's manufacturing operations. These combined disciplines have put the company in a unique position in the industry. As they approach forty years in business, the family owned sales, marketing and manufacturing organization has grown to serve eight states, and employ over 200 people.

"First, we have a talented, dedicated team of people. Just an awesome team. Ours is a pretty complicated business; a lot of people have to pull together to make it work. Clear communication is first. Then it's being accessible and sharing our vision and goals. Everyone should know where we are going and how we are doing along on the journey," Bacho said.

"We hope to be back next year and keep this run this tradition going! We'll keep doing the right things-- for our customers and employees," he added.

Kitchen Magic was founded in 1979 by Jost 'Joe' and Reine Fleck in Allentown, PA. The company focuses on kitchen remodeling-- primarily refacing-- as an affordable and permanent solution for homeowners wanting to update and transform their kitchen.

Kitchen Magic is indeed a family affair. Bacho runs the company with the three Fleck daughters, Lotte Bacho (his wife), Renate Sprung and Cindy Purcell. His brother Chad Bacho leads the IT arm of the company and nephew Josh Mamroud,- the first of the third generation of 'Kitchen Magic family' heads up Web Technology.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kitchen-magic-five-time-lehigh-valley-top-workplace-and-president-brett-bacho-twice-recognized-with-top-leadership-honors-300447895.html

SOURCE Kitchen Magic, Inc.

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Kitchen Magic: Five time Lehigh Valley Top Workplace and President Brett Bacho Twice Recognized with Top ... - Markets Insider

Samaritan House picked up another $80,000 for its plan to double capacity at its halfway house for substance abusers in Annapolis.

The nonpfrofit group said it raised $25,000 at its annual Burritos for Beds breakfast fundraiser Wednesday at Chevy's Fresh Mex, the same day the Annapolis Rotary Club announced it had presented a check for $55,000 from the club's annual Black Tie and Diamond's charity gala.

Lea Hurt, spokeswoman for Samaritan House, said the fundraising campaign is about 80 percent toward its goal of raising $1.8 million for the project.

Samaritan House is a state-licensed halfway house for men struggling with substance abuse, providing a continuum of care after medical detoxification. It provides individual and group counseling, case management, relapse prevention, life skills training, peer groups and family counseling, as well as career/vocational counseling.

Currently, there are 16 residential beds and an additional nine beds for transitional use. The would increase that number to 24 residential and 17 transitional beds; add a pavilion; upgrade the kitchen; and allow additional services.

Hurt said kitchen remodeling began Wednesday, the pavilion has been completed, construciton on the main portion of the expanded house could begin by late fall.

Samaritan House is located on 8 acres on Greenbriar Lane and received state certification in 1971.

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Samaritan House raises $80K toward expansion of Annapolis halfway house - CapitalGazette.com

Artists' rendering of remodeled Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter in Bend (Graphic: Bethlehem Inn)

Artists' rendering of remodeled Bethlehem Inn homeless shelter in Bend (Graphic: Bethlehem Inn)

BEND, Ore. - Bethlehem Inn announced on Tuesday that the city of Bend has granted the organization authorization to proceed with plans to construct its new 18,600-square-foot Family Residence and Service Hub on the site of its current shelter, a former motel on North Highway 97.

When completed in mid-2018, the new facility will double the Inn's capacity to shelter homeless families, replacing an aging five-family residence with space for 10 families at any given time.

"It will be the first facility in Central Oregon specifically designed to support families and individuals transitioning from homelessness to stability," the organization said in its announcement Wednesday, which continues below:

Construction will occur on the current Bethlehem Inn site at 3705 N. Highway 97, in Bend. SunWest Builders serves as the general contractor.

Executive Director Gwenn Wysling explained how the construction will take place without interfering with the Inns services to homeless families and individuals.

Before we start building the new Family Residence, we will install a portable structure that will allow our programs to continue operating during demolition and construction. Our goal is complete construction without interrupting or diminishing the critical services we provide every day.

Bethlehem Inn announced earlier that their Transforming Lives Together Capital Campaign has raised more than 90 percent of the funds needed to complete the new Family Residential and Service Hub facility, which has an estimated cost of $5.3 million.

Campaign Chair Heather Tennant Salvesen is spearheading the effort to complete funding, and also to launch a second phase of construction, currently in the planning stages.

According to Salvesen, Support for the capital campaign has been widespread. Our top supporter is a local couple who pledged $550,000. The Ford Family Foundation in Roseburg granted $500,000 because of our work with children and families. Local Rotary Clubs committed $200,000 to provide quality food in a suitable kitchen. For so many different reasons, our community is making this happen.

Asked why she gave to the campaign, Salvesen responded, "Families like mine are supporting the rebuilding of Bethlehem Inn because it puts a permanent stamp on our region as place of caring and compassion. When people go through a hard time in their lives and even lose their homes, there will always be a place to find a helping hand."

The Central Oregon Health Council is another major donor to the project, having committed $500,000 in 2016. Donna Mills, COHCexecutive director, explained the health impact of the project.

We acknowledge that food and shelter are some of the single most social determinants of health," Mills said."he Health Council's vision of Creating a Healthier Central Oregon is grounded in first things first. We appreciate the care and respect Bethlehem Inn affords the members of our region during their most vulnerable seasons of life."

With authorization to proceed starting this week, Bethlehem Inn anticipates being ready to open the new facility in about one year.

The building, designed by Ascent Architecture and Interiors, will house approximately 120 families per year, and provide a service hub serving as many as 1,150 adults and children. The service hub will include kitchen and dining facilities, classrooms and program space for services that help residents transition from homelessness to stability.

This project means Bethlehem Inn will be here for generations to come, saidWysling. Families and individuals do fall into situational homelessness, maybe because of an eviction, or a job loss, or a health crisis. Because our community cares, there will be a place to go to turn their lives around and get back on track.

For more information:https://bethleheminn.org/

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Bethlehem Inn shelter gets city OK for major remodeling - KTVZ - KTVZ

Forbes

Why Are New Office Buildings Using Concrete More Than Ever? Forbes Though steel has become somewhat synonymous with the modern, high-rise office building, concrete is making a comeback in a big way. 55 Hudson Yards may be the most high-profile office building under construction in New York City to use concrete, but ... and more »

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Why Are New Office Buildings Using Concrete More Than Ever? - Forbes

Wednesday, May 3, 9:57 AM EDT

by Karen Brune Mathis, Editor

It is part of the Shoppes and Office Pavilion at Flagler Center.

The one-story shops are fully leased and opening. Tenants include Planet Fitness, Premier Home Essentials, Revolution Chiropractic, Pita Pit and Brewz Craft Beer.

The 50,454-square-foot office building, at 12474 Flagler Center Blvd., will focus on medical and professional tenants.

Ash Construction LLC is building it. The architect is Rolland, DelValle & Bradley.

Ash Properties is starting to lease it now. Randall Whitfield is vice president.

The property is at Old St. Augustine Road and Flagler Center Boulevard near the 1,022-acre Flagler Center business park.

The area is between Interstate 95 and Philips Highway in south Jacksonville.

Hampton doing exterior facelift

The Hampton Inn Jacksonville Downtown at 1331 Prudential Drive is working on an outside upgrade.

The city is reviewing a permit application for a $300,000 exterior renovation at the 19-year-old property.

The five-story hotel has 118 guest rooms.

Jacksonville Hotel Property Co. LLC bought the property in June. The contact on the permit application is with the Lowe Enterprises real estate group in Los Angeles.

Graffiti Junktion lands permit

Graffiti Junktion landed a permit for renovating space at 9703 San Jose Blvd., the former spot for Steamin Jax.

PPD Construction Services is the contractor to renovate the 2,704-square-foot space at a project cost of $123,987. It includes a bar and patio seating.

Graffiti Junktion operates a Jacksonville Beach restaurant at 265 Fifth Ave. N.

It intends to take over space at 9703 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin.

Greg Peters, president of the Orlando-based venture, said previously he expects to open the San Jose location June 1 and would invest about $285,000 in renovations.

The site will be the companys 11th, with most in the Orlando area.

Graffiti Junktions tagline is American Burger Bar and features a menu heavy on build-your-own burgers.

Menu items include starters, salads, wings, wraps, sandwiches and more.

Peters said Graffiti Junktion offers music and trivia, geared to customers who like to have fun. He started the company in 2008 and opened in 2015 in Jacksonville Beach.

Peters said he wants to open another four locations in Jacksonville and then start finding sites in Georgia.

Food notes

The Cowford Chophouse could soon be showing signs. The city approved permits for three signs to go up on the Downtown steakhouse at East Bay and Ocean streets. Harbinger is the contractor for the project at 101 E. Bay St.

Starbucks Coffee is building-out at 4474 Town Center Parkway, No. 103, in the Town Center Promenade.

Memorial starts next phase of ER expansion

Memorial Hospital announced the next phase of its $23 million ER expansion and renovation project, which began early this year.

Construction crews have been working on the main ER to upgrade some of the patient care rooms and prepare the area for the next stage of construction. Work now begins on the outside of the main ER entrance.

This is a large step for us as we enter the heart of the project, said Chief Operating Officer Bobby McCullough.

Memorial said the main entrance of the ER is closed for construction.

Patients and visitors are accessing the ER through a temporary entrance on the east side of the building parallel to University Boulevard.

It said signage directs patients and visitors where to park and how to reach the ER entrance. The hospital has added free valet service at the new entrance for patients and visitors to the emergency department.

Project improvements include a 23,000-square-foot building addition; renovation of the existing main emergency department; construction of a rooftop helipad; reconfigured parking; and more work.

Memorial said it annually treats about 120,000 emergency room patients, 90,000 of whom are treated at its main campus.

kmathis@jaxdailyrecord.com

@MathisKb

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Ash Properties launches Flagler office pavilion - Jacksonville Daily Record

Great design should celebrate a projects connection to its place and provide an aesthetic that unifies the entire space. For Ascent Apartments, a luxury apartment complex in the epicenter of Californias Silicon Valley, the architecture firm responsible for the design was inspired by the sites unique role in the history of the Information Age.

The team at Architects Orange, based in Orange, Calif., formed an immediate connection with the 10.8-acre site in San Jose. The 332-acre parcel on which it is located is where IBM manufactured the worlds first hard disc drives in 1956. The design for the 650-unit complex was inspired by the information technology manufacturing facilities and mid-century office buildings that once covered the campus.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies acquired the entire property when it merged with IBM in 2002. The current owner of the Ascent site, Shea Properties, and Canadian investment partner Ivanho Cambridge have made the apartment complex an integral part of the 172-acre Cottle Transit Village, a transit-oriented development that encompasses two retail/commercial centers, green space and recreation areas, and more than 3,000 homes in adjacent neighborhoods. Last year, Ascent won a Gold award in the National Association of Home Builders Best in American Living Awards.

ASCENT APARTMENTS PROJECT TEAM Client: Shea Properties Architect: Architects Orange Interior designer: Style Interiors Structural engineer: Van Dorpe Chou Civil engineer: Carlson, Barbee & Gibson Inc. Mechanical engineer: LDI Mechanical Electrical engineer: IDS Group Plumbing engineer: Parks Mechanical Landscape architect: BrightView Design Group General contractor: Brown Construction

It has a clean architectural vocabulary that pays homage to the mid-century office buildings on the campus, says RC Alley, Lead Partner of the multifamily and mixed-use practice at Architects Orange.

The apartments, which range in size from 704 to 1,575 sf, are contemporary and upscale in design. Units feature nine-foot ceilings with abundant natural light and private patios or balconies. Wood-plank flooring flows throughout the units.

The Architects Orange team was shooting for a European feel, particularly for the kitchens. We designed a kitchen thats more compact, says Alley. A lot of people who live in these units dont do a lot of cooking, so why have a big, separate space?

Beyond the kitchen, the designers specified several elements that reimagine mid-century modern industrial style, notably metal mesh railings and the use of a recurring L-shape configuration that starts in the entryway and continues through various elements of the interior and exterior and act as a visual offset. Another mid-century touch: the illuminated vertical blades on the exterior, which serve as a unifying element and wayfinding tool, says Alley. The blades heighten the visibility of the complex from the adjacent freeway off-ramp.

Yet another feature that evokes the high-tech legacy of the site is a dramatic two-story reinforced fiber cement panel that dominates the leasing office lobby. The Architects Orange team took its inspiration for this feature from the iconic IBM punch (or punched) cards that early programmers used to encode data. The visual effect, says Alley, speaks to prospective tenants, many of whom work in high-tech jobs.

Ascents elevations benefit from a combination of materials: a smooth-finish exterior plaster, fiber siding, prefinished steel awnings that provide a horizontal element above the windows, and brick. We added the brick because it has a warm and textural feeling, but we tried to use it in a more contemporary manner, says Ed Cadavona, a Partner at Architects Orange.

Architects Orange used a variety of materials in the elevation, including stucco, brick, metal, and horizontal siding. Pops of color evoke the feel of a California resort. Note the eyebrows above the corner windows and stairwells, which add texture to the space. The offset panes in the windows pay tribute to the punch cards that were used at the dawn of the Information Age. Translucent, sand-blasted panels enhance privacy on the patios of this high-density project.

The use of wide composite windows and the incorporation of top-level loft apartments help vary the roof line to differentiate Ascent from nearby residential developments. The architects found an innovative way to achieve the corner windows that help define the mid-century modern style of the buildings.

Vinyl windows can get very expensive if you dont buy standard ones, says Alley. We had the manufacturer put them together so they read as one piece. It has a nice rhythm. It has the punch card look without making the windowpanes look too small. We used an asymmetrical approach so it doesnt look too plain. The designers used vinyl windows throughout, except in the leasing area, where they specified a storefront system.

CREATING A TRANSIT-ORIENTED RESORT Ascent Apartments is one of five projects designed by Architects Orange in Cottle Transit Village, Silicon Valleys largest mixed-use, transit-oriented infill project. Kaiser Hospital and IBM Research are nearby. The Blossom Hill stop provides Caltrain rush-hour service to Diridon Station in downtown San Jose, with links to Amtrak and San Jose International Airport. Cottle Light Rail offers service to downtown San Jose, with connections to Santa Clara, Mill Valley, and other Silicon Valley locales.

But this is still automobile-crazy California, and the site hugs a busy freeway off-ramp. To buffer the complex from the roadway, Architects Orange and landscape architect BrightView Design Group incorporated lush landscaping along the walled perimeter, created an extensive walking path, and used plant materials to dampen the noise. Smaller park areas provide quiet enclaves throughout the site. The designers created a sense of visual distancing with pops of vibrant color in everything from the outdoor seating to exterior wall panels.

The five-story mid-rise project is structured in two buildings that wrap around parking in the center, as opposed to the more standard podium design with residential components atop a parking structure. This design compressed the footprint and allowed the project to achieve a density of just over 60 units/acre.

The wrap form also provided the framework for Ascents two most dominant features. The first is the entryway, an opulent porte cochre with vehicular lobby that features an atrium that lets light come through as you proceed. Cadavona describes the effect: It transforms an ordinary parking structure into a grand sense of arrival for a resort feel.

The designers L-shape architectural motif is evident in both the overhead wood panels and the violet stripe that runs the length of the leasing office lobby. The dramatic two-story perforated white panel, made of reinforced fiber cement, is another homage to the 1960s-era IBM punch card.

That sense of opulence is consistent with the vision Shea Properties and Ivanho Cambridge had for the project. They wanted the look and feel of a high-end resort with a large amenity space, Alley says. It had to be unlike anything else in the area.

The second dominant component is a half-acre park dominated by a large, resort-style saltwater pool and spa. The park features an outdoor gaming area, a tot lot, a bark park, and fireplaces. The community offers study pods, workspaces, a bicycle kitchen where you can fix your bike, a fitness center, a residence caf, and a high-tech gaming room. All those amenities are clustered around this green space, says Cadavona.

We wanted a walking trail that would create a sense of community in a high-density project, Cadavona says. You come out of your unit and the grand open space is prevalent throughout.

A major gathering place of the central open space is the outdoor kitchen, which is supplied with grills, a pizza oven, and a fireplace, all located under a tensile structure with a large dining table and flat-screen TVs.

We wanted to tie in this resort feel, says Cadavona. The buildings are very modern, with hard edges, and then theres this soft tensile structure. Your eye kind of wanders around and goes to that structure.

Every element of the buildings design comes into play to give the project a distinctive look and feel, Cadavona says. All the texturesthe brick, the metal awnings, the landscapingall come into play to give it a unique character. The very horizontal building, lined up with palm trees, gives it that California casual but high-end feel.

Sophisticated architectural cabinetry and quartz countertops accent the kitchens. Recessed lighting fixtures in the kitchen are complemented by simple pendants above the islands and track lighting over the dining area. We wanted it to be consistent with the mid-century modern look and feel, says Architect Oranges RC Alley. Its a more subtle approach, and the recessed lights emphasize the openness of the floor plan.

Apartments at Ascent have a contemporary, European look and feel. Design elements include open floor plans with wood plank flooring throughout and simple light fixtures. Note how the refrigerator is framed by the wall, soffit, and cabinetry. Here, the kitchen cabinetry contrasts in color and style with the floating island.

Link:
Silicon Valley's high-tech oasis - Building Design + Construction (press release) (registration)

Craig S. Semon Telegram & Gazette Staff @CraigSemon

PAXTON - Town meeting voters rejected a Proposition 2 override of $190,092 to fund Paxtons $6,065,107 fiscal 2018 assessment for the Wachusett Regional School District.

The override failed in a 79-60 vote.

Paxton is the first of the five district towns to reject its share of the districts budget. Voters in Sterling, the only other town to act on Wachusett spending, approved the town's share of the budget Monday night.The other towns in the district are Holden, Princeton and Rutland. Four of the five district towns must approve assessments for the school budget to go forward.

The override for the school budget would have meant an additional 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed value onproperty taxes. Additional tax would be $111.58 for a house with an assessed value of $286,114, the average assessment in Paxton.

Voters did approve the town 2018 budget of $6,662,477, which does not include the regional school district budget.

The municipal budget is: $1,849,395 for general government; $2,065,037 for public safety; $796,876 for public services; $274,617 for sanitation and environment; $67,845 for human services; $204,903 for culture and recreation; $194,480 for central purchasing; and $1,169,324 for debt service.

In addition, voters approved a Proposition 2 debt exclusion (for five years), and a Proposition 2 capital expenditure exclusion (for one year), as well as a temporary marijuana moratorium and a bylaw allowing drive-thru service at fast-food restaurants.

The debt exclusion is for $150,000 to conduct site planning and initial design for a new Department of Public Works facility to replace the 62-year-old facility now being used. The estimated cost of the proposed 24,433-square-foot facility is $8.9 million, according to Weston and Sampson Engineers.

The five-year debt exclusion for the DPW translates to an additional 7 cents tax per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The capital expenditure exclusion is for $70,000 for exterior repairs to Town Hall.The one-year exclusion will mean an additional 14 cents tax for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

Voters also approved a Proposition 2 capital expenditure exclusion referendum for $120,000 toward window replacement and minor repairs for the John Bauer Senior Center.The one-year exclusion will mean an additional 25 cents tax for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

Voters also approved a Proposition 2 capital expenditure exclusion referendum for $41,910 for a new Ford Police Interceptor utility vehicle adding another9 cents on tax bills for each $1,000 of assessed property value.

The annual town election is Monday. Several ballot questions will determine whether the town can go ahead with the Proposition 2 exclusions for the DPW facility, the police vehicle, the Town Hall repairs and the Senior Center window replacement.

And even though it failed at town meeting, the Proposition 2 override for the school budget is on the ballot.

Although there are no contests on the ballot, Town Clerk Susan Stone reminds voters that there are two vacancies with no candidates: a three-year Wachusett Regional School District Committee seat and a three-year Recreation Commission seat. Absentee ballots are available until noon Friday at Town Hall.

Themoratorium on marijuana establishments, marijuana retailers, marijuana cultivators, marijuana testing facilities and marijuana product manufacturers will be in effect through Dec. 1, 2018. The drive-thru measure allows drive-thru window service at fast-food restaurants no larger than 2,000 square feet.

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Paxton voters defeat override for Wachusett school budget - Worcester Telegram

Patch.com

Stamford Mayor Joins Ross Solar for Commercial Installation ... Patch.com Stamford, CT - Con Edison Solutions subsidiary converted Bright Horizons Early Learning Center to a 100% solar-powered system. and more »

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Stamford Mayor Joins Ross Solar for Commercial Installation ... - Patch.com

Some home repair and renovation projects are inevitable pipes corrode, window trim warps, roof shingles buckle and curl. Others require more of a push, such as a living room addition to keep up with the space needs of a growing family, a new patio or deck to extend that area outdoors and even the installation of a home-entertainment system to bring it all together.

One of the most popular remodeling projects these days the kitchen is equal parts technical and functional.

Home-improvement spending is expected to grow 6% annually to $318.6 billion by the first quarter of 2018, according to the Joint Center For Housing Studies of Harvard University. And although DIYs popularity continues, owners in the millennial (76%), Gen-X (83%) and baby boomer (88%) generations overwhelmingly chose to work with a professional builder or remodeler in 2015, according to a recent Houzz user survey.

With remodeling spending on the rise, you can expect owners will continue to invest in their kitchens. The most common reasons for a kitchen renovation, Houzz found, are to refresh outdated designs and finishes and to upgrade appliances. Owners who renovated their kitchen in 2015 spent 12% more than they did the year before, averaging $50,700 for a major remodel of a kitchen greater than 200 square feet and $26,400 for a major remodel of a kitchen smaller than that.

Pros do more than construct the space. They serve as a sounding board and general guide for owners material and space decisions and thats not always easy when the likes of "House Hunters" and "Fixer Upper"skew projections of budget and timelines.

Consumers today are far more educated about the renovation process than they were even a few years ago, says Adrien Winger, a certified kitchen designer at Caruso Kitchens, in Lakewood, CO. With the prevalence of media brands like HGTV, social media websites like Pinterest and the general ease of searching for ideas on the internet, theyre very aware of what they want. They dont always understand the associated costs, however.

Thats where the pro comes in. In the Houzz user survey, respondents said they looked to home-improvement professionals for their ability to manage a project, keep it on-budget and help find the best products.

With more product choices available than ever before, helping customers weigh their options and make a selection is as important as the construction itself.

Regardless of budget and size, all kitchen remodels must start with understanding how the space will be used. Whether appliances will be upgraded or floors resurfaced should take a temporary backseat to determining how many people will typically be in the space at once, and for what purpose. Consider that space needs will be different for a person who enjoys cooking solo and for someone who likes entertaining large groups in their home.

Dedicated workstations can help keep messes to a minimum

Kitchen layouts have long used the work triangle concept, with the refrigerator, stove and sink located at the points to maximize efficiency. However, a popular design for todays kitchens, which tend to have more appliances than just a stove and a fridge is for separate work stations that dedicate space for food prep, assembly and cleaning up, according to HGTV.

Islands, on the other hand, remain a popular standby, according to HGTV, as they offer additional space for food prep and storage and can be fitted with electrical outlets, serving as a charging station for kitchens whose owners envision the space as the activity hub of the home. They can also double as seating for informal meals.

Kitchen islands can be fitted with appliances, storage and electrical outlets

Knowing how the space will be used can also help determine its lighting needs. San Franciscobased lighting designer Randall Whitehead told HGTV that a good lighting plan uses a combination of task, ambient, accent and decorative illumination. As for lamp type, LEDs are becoming more common in residential applications, with uses including along cabinet toe kicks for night lights or inside cabinets to make sorting through their contents easier or even concealed in crown molding to draw visitors eyes upward, according to HouseLogic.

Accessibility is also important, and it is getting more attention as baby boomers renovate their homes so they can age-in-place as their accessibility needs change. Features like side-opening ovens at counter height eliminate the need to reach up or bend down, as do under-counter microwave drawers, Gordon says.

At Design and Construction Week 2017, in Orlando, FL, Construction Dive made note that while kitchen products continue to get smarter, some of the most inventive upgrades of late have been unexpectedly low-tech. Consider Boschs redesigned dishwasher interior, complete with a third rack just for bowls, saucepans, long-utensils and other hard-to-fit kitchen tools.

The shared focus on analog improvements in an age when nearly everything can have an internet connection could be due to limited adoption of high-tech products. In a survey of 3,000 households, consulting firm McKinsey found that while connected devices exist for functions such as access control, energy efficiency and communication and will be installed in roughly 29 million homes as of 2017, uptake faces challenges from issues around product differentiation and compatibility, and how to use the data collected. According to the Census Bureau, there were 116.9 million households in the US from 2011 to 2015.

For the growing group of households that do have smart products, however, their features add value to more than just the general workflow. Using a companion app, occupants can tell their smart oven to preheat before they arrive home to make dinner, or even just double check that they remembered to turn the oven off.

Samsung's Family Hub 2.0 refrigerator

Refrigerators like Samsungs Family Hub(show above) have a built-in camera that connects with a companion app that occupants can use to check its contents while at the grocery store (or anywhere else)from their mobile device. Gordon notes that having an extra fridge at counter height can be useful for storing produce in the prep area or allowing kids to have easy access to pre-approved snacks.

Another example is GEs line of internet-connected appliances, which syncs with the free online service IFTTT (If This Then That) for functions such as sending a Twitter message when the oven is preheated. IFTTT uses an ifthenstatement to preset conditions. The appliances have a companion app through which users can set timers, start cycles and turn the device on and off. Additionally, dishwashing detergent pods can be automatically reordered, and hot water can be scheduled ahead of time for a morning cup of coffee. (Thats because GE also offers a refrigerator with an integrated Keurig machine.)

Continued growth in the touch-activated kitchen faucets market is giving consumers more options for products that improve workflow efficiency when cooking or cleaning up with messy hands. And Carusos Winger points out a popular hands-free garbage can that opens and closes when lightly touched.

For cabinets, Winger says, while there are many more styles and colors to choose from today than in the past, white is still popular. However, grays and other neutral hues are also becoming more prominent, especially in open-plan spaces where the kitchen is also part of the living area and is a primary entertainment space.

Frameless cabinetry has been trending for years, and it isnt showing signs of going away, says Angela ONeill, director of marketing and advertising for Ashland, AL-based cabinet-maker Wellborn Cabinet. ONeill notes a shift in consumer preference between painted and stained wood. Our current sales are trending upward of 50% for painted options, with white continuing to hold the majority, she says.

Grays and colorful pastels are trending again for kitchen cabinets

Decorative laminate veneer is also growing in popularity as a cabinet material because it offers a smoother surface for paint and a blank canvas for some of the more contemporary styles, she says.

According to Winger, kitchen design has simplified in the last five to seven years. She sees more homeowners shedding traditional design for a contemporary look. While many of Wingers clients trimmed details from projects during and after the recession to lower their costs, people are picking back up with what they want to live with, and not just what they need for resale value.

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What's cooking: The trends shaping kitchen design today - Construction Dive