home remodel

Three Ways to Celebrate National Family Fun Month with Highlight Homes

Highlight Homes Luxury Renovations
Three Ways to Celebrate National Family Fun Month with Highlight Homes

It’s true what they say… the family that plays together, stays together! In our everyday busy lives, it’s important to reserve some time to blow off steam and enjoy some good old-fashioned fun with the ones that we love. While we may make the time, we may not always have the dedicated space to enjoy family time beyond sharing a meal in the dining room or watching TV together in the family room. In the spirit of National Family Fun Month, Highlight Homes suggests three ways to CREATE the space where your family can make lasting memories and share countless good times together.

Let’s Take this Party Outside: Create a Family-Focused Outdoor Living Space – When you don’t have room for a family fun space INDOORS, you may have plenty of room to create a dedicated space OUTDOORS. Outdoor Living Space renovations continue to rein supreme in increasing your home’s curb appeal for prospective future homebuyers, but – more importantly – it can also increase the amount of time spent outside enjoying time with your family if designed properly. Is your family active? You may want to place an emphasis on recreation with the addition of a pool, playset, basketball court and/or trampoline. Does your family enjoy playing games? Landscaping surrounding a multi-purpose field for badminton, volleyball, cornhole and more is sure to see a lot of action. Do you have budding environmentalists in your family? A raised garden for planting their own fruits and veggies might make a great addition. Does food have a cohesive effect for your family? An outdoor kitchen and dining room where meals can be made and shared together might be ideal. And for when it’s time to wind down, a cozy seating area surrounding an outdoor hearth for roasting marshmallows and swapping stories will make this space one of your family’s favorite “rooms” of the house. Add a weather proof flat screen for football watching, tail-gating themed fun in the fall! The return on investment on the addition of a simple wood deck can be as high as 82.8%.

Room to Spread Out: Enhance Your Home’s Interior with a Room Addition – With a solid background in architecture and engineering, the team at Highlight Homes can assess your current layout and determine ways in which the flow can be improved. We can also create a seamless room addition that looks as though it was part of the original home design. A room addition can serve as a blank backdrop to become whatever you want it to be – depending on your family’s shared interests. From a craft or rec room to a home theater or game space, the possibilities are virtually endless. No room to increase your home’s footprint? Highlight Homes can “raise the roof”… literally. We can add a half or full floor above your existing home for a bonus room, additional bedroom, full bathroom and more. The addition of a new master suite and bathroom up there could pay off considerably when it comes time to sell – to the tune of a 55%+ return on investment.

Down to Earth: Finally Finish That Basement to Fit Your Family’s Fun Time – Another often overlooked option is to finish that basement that has served as a cobweb-infested storage space for far too long. It’s AMAZING what a little drywall, paint and carpet can do, but with the design talents of the Highlight Homes team on your side, you may find yourself wondering how your family ever lived without a finished basement in the past. This is another space that can serve as a blank backdrop to become anything you want it to be, and given the fact that it encompasses an entirely new floor of your home – it can serve a wide variety of purposes: playroom, media space, exercise room, party space for entertaining, sleepover headquarters – the list goes on and on! The return on investment for a finished basement is about 69%.

Highlight Homes can visit your home to determine which of the three options above might prove the best decision for expanding your home’s family FUN factor. To set an no-obligation consultation with a member of our team, call 678-873-9234, email us at info@highlighthomesga.com or fill out our convenient online contact form.  If you’d like to view our gallery for a peek inside past Highlight Homes’ projects, visit us at www.highlighthomesga.com.

Source: https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2018/ 

Room To Grow: Highlight Homes’ Guide to Home Additions

Highlight Homes Luxury Renovations
Room To Grow: Highlight Homes’ Guide to Home Additions

 

Modern families often face critical growth points – whether adding a baby or two, welcoming home a young adult after college graduation or inviting a parent to join the household. The option to move into a new home can be a daunting one for all involved – particularly if you love your current home, benefit from a great school system, have strong ties with your neighbors or share a fondness for the area as a whole. The great news is that many homes offer room to grow that you may not have previously considered. Through a reimagining of your current home, you could stay put while enjoying more spacious quarters in which to grow your family. Here are just a few that Highlight Homes suggests:

Finished Basement: Obviously, one of the easiest options is – in the event that your home is already equipped with a basement – to finish it to suit your needs. Adding a bedroom or two, plus a full bathroom and possibly even a full kitchen (a particularly great option for older parents) is like adding an entirely new floor to your home. Best of all, your parents or young adult child can enjoy the independence of having their own apartment with private entrance.

Room Addition: If a basement is not an option, it may be possible to add a room to your existing floor plan and potentially reconfigure some of the layout to make this addition seamless. The room addition could consist of a new secondary bedroom and full bath to accommodate an additional family member.

Floor Addition: Again, if a basement is not an option and a room addition would not provide you with enough space to accommodate the up-and-coming change to your living arrangements, all hope is not lost. Depending on an evaluation of your current home, a floor addition may be an option. This is particularly true of well-built ranch-style homes. Two story homes with an attic may offer an opportunity to finish a portion of that space to make it suitable for an additional secondary bedroom.

Separate Garage with In-Law Suite:  If you have a fair amount of land surrounding your home, you might want to consider a completely separate structure in which to house part of your growing family. An extremely viable option is to add a separate garage with an in-law suite built overhead. Not only will the garage accommodate additional cars that often come with multi-generational families, but the in-law suite can be customized to include a bedroom, storage, full bathroom and kitchen. Once again, this is an option that could provide your parents or young adult child with an ongoing sense of independence thanks to their own apartment with private entrance.

Highlight Homes welcomes the chance to explore all of the options listed above with you! We can evaluate your current home and determine which possibility might prove the best fit for both your family and your needs. To get started, simply call us at 678.873.9234, email us at info@highlighthomesga.com or fill out our convenient online contact form. To learn more about Highlight Homes and sneak a peek at some of our previous projects, please visit us at www.highlighthomesga.com.

Beautiful Bathrooms in Bloom

Highlight Homes Luxury Renovations
Beautiful Bathrooms in Bloom

Spring is NOT merely reserved for a week-long break at the beach, planting flowers, pulling out those white jeans and open-toes shoes, the return of pollen and the age-old practice of the big “Spring Clean.” Spring is a time of renewal – making it an excellent time to reimagine key areas of your home, whether for your own enjoyment or to increase its value and appeal to a potential buyer in the near future… or BOTH!

According to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report for 2018, a bathroom remodel and/or addition still brings a great return on investment. In addition to enjoying a newly revamped space in which to start and end each day, you can expect to recoup some of the money invested when it comes time to sell. If executed properly with lots of WOW factor, your bathroom remodel could serve as one of the major reasons a homebuyer may want to purchase your home. The Cost vs. Value Reports suggests that a midrange bathroom remodel costing about $19,134 can expect to see a return on investment of right around 70% or $13,422, whereas an upscale bathroom remodel costing about $61.662 can expect to see a return on investment of right around 56.2% or $34,633. In the event that a bathroom addition is required, the margins are a tad closer. A midrange project of $44,717 will likely see 59.9% ROI, and an upscale project of $83,869 will likely see 54.6% ROI.

Planning a bathroom remodel or hoping to make the master bathroom of your new custom home magazine-worthy? You might want to stay abreast of some of the latest trends. The design and construction team at Highlight Homes certainly is!  Here are our favorite Top 5 Trends in Bathrooms today:

1)      Natural Stone Elements – Granite and marble have long been the star of the show in bathroom counters, but more recently designers are really loving the look of natural elements throughout the bathroom – from the shower surround to the walls to the flooring. Not only are they naturally beautiful, but they’re incredibly durable.

2)      Smart Showers and Toilets – From futuristic steam showers with special controls and sensors, to toilets with flushing sensors, heated seats, self-cleaning nozzles, overflow control and smart flush technology for water savings, bathrooms are going more and more high-tech! Many homebuyers/renovating homeowners are also starting to incorporate wiring over the tub for a little TV viewing while you soak – the ultimate in relaxation!

3)      Barn Doors – Barn doors are NOT just for the barn anymore! Often featuring reclaimed wood (or the suggestions of such), these sliding doors have found their way from the outdoors to the indoors and are quickly becoming a hot commodity in bathroom décor.

4)      Subway Tile – Although subways are not always known for their cleanliness, the resurging trend towards the use of subway tile in bathrooms gives the sense of a sparkling clean space of tranquility. Many designers are adding darker grout which – in addition to helping hide any dirt and grime between cleanings – gives bathrooms an undeniable vintage feel.

5)      Sleek and Spa-Inspired – The overall theme for bathrooms these days is uncluttered, utterly refined and absolutely inviting. A blend of textures paired with soothing colors, it’s clear what was intended when the name “rest” room was first uttered.

Whether building a custom home from the ground up or renovating your current home, Highlight Homes welcomes the chance to help you incorporate all of the elements outlined above and so much more into your new master bathroom. To learn more about Highlight Homes and take a peek inside our gallery of projects, please visit us at www.highlighthomesga.com. When you’re ready to schedule a no-obligation consultation, reach out to us by phone at 678-873-9234, email us at info@highlighthomesga.com or fill out our online contact form and someone will be in touch with you shortly!