Custom Kitchen Remodels by Rufty Homes

As a homeowner, it’s exciting to think about new projects to update your home. But, before taking on any new project, whether it’s a DIY effort or a professional remodeling project, it’s worth doing some research to see how it will impact your home’s value. 

Of course, if you really want to add a new kitchen island or paint a funky accent wall, you should do it! Ultimately, home projects should be about you, the homeowner, and your lifestyle, but it doesn’t hurt to consider how your home value will be affected as a result. 

Here’s an overview of some popular home remodeling projects and how they might impact your home value. 

Major Remodeling Projects That Can Increase Your Home’s Value

Bathrooms

Potential homebuyers love an upgraded bathroom. And, it doesn’t even have to be a large scale renovation to make an impact. Small bathroom updates, like updated countertops, sinks, and fixtures can equal a big return. 

Likewise, larger bathroom remodels, like changing out the bathtub or shower can have a high ROI. In fact, a midrange bathroom remodel boasts an average 64% return on investment

Kitchens

An upgraded kitchen is also attractive to homebuyers, and may even be the determining factor in whether they buy one house over another. As a result, most kitchen remodels offer a high ROI, with the average rate of return on a mid-range, a major kitchen remodel hovering around 59%

If you’re not sure where to begin when upgrading your kitchen, the possibilities are nearly endless. You can start by replacing your appliances with upgraded, energy-efficient models. You might also replace the countertops or cabinets for a refreshed look. And, for a simple, cost-effective change that makes an impact, consider replacing the hardware on your cabinetry. You can also consider having home appliance insurance from one of the top providers that will protect your home from unwanted and costly appliance maintenance.

If you’re willing to take on a larger project, you might want to open up the space between your kitchen and living areas to give your home an open-concept floor plan, which appeals to most buyers. By doing so, you can make your home feel bigger and allow more natural light to shine in while increasing your home’s value in the process. 

Entryways

The exterior of your home is essentially the first impression your home makes to your friends who come to visit and the neighbors who pass by every day. What kind of first impression is your home giving off right now?

Your front door and entryway can make a big impact on your home’s curb appeal, so it’s worth considering different ways to upgrade the space. You could replace your front door with a more energy-efficient and visually appealing option. Or if you have a front porch area, you might want to freshen up that space as well. Then, if you do decide to sell your home one day, it will stand out to buyers at first glance. 

Basements

While traditionally, basements were only a fixture of homes in the north, they are becoming more and more popular here in North Carolina. High-income buyers, with a household income of $150,000+, tend to look for homes with basements, so this feature might help you earn a higher asking price when putting your home on the market. 

In fact, studies show that a finished, well-done basement upgrade can carry a return on investment as high as 69%

Smaller Projects That Can Make a Big Impact

Investing in Solar Energy

Trends show that “going green” is becoming more important than ever before. Consider exploring solar energy options for your home to save some green while practicing green energy efforts. 

Whether you add a full solar energy solution to your home or something smaller like a solar water heater, you can enjoy the energy- and money-saving rewards and increase your home’s value while you do it. 

Replacing Windows

Are your windows energy efficient? If not, it might be time to consider replacing them. Not only will you notice a difference in your monthly energy bill, but you’ll be positively impacting your home’s value as well. 

In fact, if you replace double-hung windows with insulated vinyl windows instead, you can expect to recover about 74% of the initial cost

Why Regular Maintenance is Also Important

You can increase your home’s value not just by taking on major remodeling projects or making energy-efficient replacements. Regular maintenance is also key to helping increase your home’s value. 

But don’t just take our word for it. Mack Strickland, a professional appraiser, and real estate agent agrees, saying, “If a house is in worn condition and shows a lack of preventative maintenance, the property could easily lose 10% of its appraised value.”

Here are a few maintenance tasks to complete to help keep your house looking great. 

Update Your Paint

Chipped, fading paint will decrease home values over time. Your best bet is to repaint as needed and to choose paint colors that are clean and natural, especially if you’re preparing to put your house on the market. 

Keep a Well-Manicured Lawn

Messy lawns and landscaping create a bad first impression and can make your house seem older and more outdated than it really is. Replace patchy pieces of your lawn with fresh new sod and keep it watered and cut so your home gives off a great first impression. 

Replace an Outdated Garage Door

Is your garage door looking worn? Consider replacing it with a fresh new door, or simply upgrade it with new fixtures for a cost-effective refresh. 

Pressure Wash the Exterior

Try to pressure wash your home at least once a year to keep it looking clean and new. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, remember to clean brick exteriors, your driveway, and the sidewalks on your property. 

Replace Worn Carpets

Over time, carpets and rugs can become worn down, even with regular vacuuming and steam cleaning. Replacing your carpet and area rugs can go a long way in helping your house looking newer and retain its value, especially if you’re thinking of putting it up for sale. 

Update Outdated Light Fixtures

One of the easiest ways to see a house’s age is to look at the light fixtures. Since lighting trends can change quickly, old light fixtures date your home and can make it unattractive to buyers. Luckily, replacing outdated fixtures is a relatively simple project that can make a big impact. 

Resurface Cracked Concrete Surfaces

Cracked concrete, particularly in your driveway can make your home look unkempt. By resurfacing these areas, your home will look refreshed and appeal to more buyers. 

Hear from the Experts

We talked to some of the Rufty Homes team for their expert advice on what to consider when updating your home. Here’s what they had to say:

“When building an addition to your home, make sure you don’t add too much space that will place you out of the neighborhood due to square footage averages.”

“The most important things to consider before planning home upgrades are design and functionality. Don’t just think about what looks pretty and is in style right now. Instead, think about how you’ll use the space over the next 5 to 10 years. And, if you plan to sell your home one day, who will your target market be? Keep ‘big-ticket items’ like countertops and flooring more classic and timeless and instead, incorporate trendy design through smaller pieces like rugs, throw pillows, bedding, and paint colors, which will be easier to change out as trends change over time.”

“Home renovations can be stressful, but keep your eye on the prize as you are living through weeks of mess and dust. Your hard work will pay off and you will be so proud of what you have accomplished. Be prepared for surprises and open to alternatives if needed. Have selections made and items in possession before you need them as to not hold up construction and make the process run smoothly.”

Are You Ready to Upgrade Your Home?

If this has you daydreaming about all the ways you want to update your home, we’re here to help! Browse through our photo gallery to get some inspiration for your own home or contact us if you’d like to talk about your project ideas. 

See the latest updates from Rufty Homes by checking out our April email newsletter! You'll be able to see a stunning modern transformation, read our spring cleaning checklist blog post, learn about our spring cleaning challenge, view a new property available in Apex, and check out our feature in Triangle Home Design & Decor.

Read the latest here.>>

Rufty Homes teamed up with JSF Designs to turn a traditional 1980s home into a modern, 21st-century dream.

When Jenn Frost, owner of JSF Designs first walked into this traditional home in Cary, she knew she’d have quite the task at hand to transform it into a clean, modern space that fit the new homeowners’ aesthetic. And, on a tight deadline, she knew that there was little room for error. 

While Jenn had worked with Rufty Homes on new construction projects in the past, this was her first full renovation project, and she was excited about the new opportunity. She says, “I’ve done some smaller renovations before, focusing on a few rooms at a time, but I knew that while there would be a bit of a learning curve doing a full-home renovation, working with the Rufty team would make this a fun and exciting new experience.”

Sure enough, Jenn and Harry Grube, the Rufty Project Manager, developed a great rapport with the homeowners and got into a good rhythm transforming the traditional elements of the home into a more modern space. 

Jenn says, “The homeowner wanted a ‘less is more’ approach, so I put together design packages for each room, with a focus on unique elements to update the home with clean lines and interesting finishes, then Harry helped bring those visions to life.”

One of the most stunning changes was taking out the traditional staircase, which was up against the foyer wall with a landing at the top and replacing it with an eye-catching, curved stairway with glass walls. “We wanted to give the entryway almost a museum-like element and that did the trick. I also used the curvature of the stairs to add a nice softness to the new modern design,” Jenn explains. 

Jenn and Harry also completely overhauled the family room, replacing the original small windows with large picture windows to let in the view of the golf course behind the home. Now, with more natural light shining in, the star of the room is the beautiful two-story fireplace, made of a new building material called Dekton. Jenn elaborates, “We chose that material specifically because it’s virtually indestructible and it looks great. Then, we removed the wall between the family room and the kitchen to open it up and let the light coming in brighten up the whole space.”

While Jenn loves the final finished design, the new kitchen space, with its sleek cabinets and waterfall-edge island is her personal favorite. “It truly is the heart of their home and opening it up as we did makes the space much more functional for their family. I love knowing that it’s a place they’ll use and enjoy every single day,” she says. 

Now that Jenn has tackled a full remodeling project, she ready for the next one and would love to team up with Rufty Homes again. She says, “We just had such a great time, bouncing ideas off of each other and bringing the homeowners’ vision to reality. We all worked so well together and became one perfectly meshed team. I can’t wait until we can do it again!”

See the full project photo gallery, including the before and after pictures, here.

Are you planning to participate in our Spring Cleaning Challenge on Facebook? If you like the idea of sprucing up your home, but you’re not sure where to begin, we’ve got you covered with this list of 10 ideas for spring cleaning. 

Even just completing one or two items off this checklist can make your home feel brighter and happier!

1. Organize your closets

With the weather starting to warm up, now is a great time to put away your winter clothes. You can either store them away in your attic or just move them to the back of the closet, so your spring and summer clothes are easier to access.

And, if you want to get a good idea of whether it’s time to donate some of your clothes, try this organizing hack: hang all of your clothes up with the hanger hook facing the front of your closet, then change the direction of the hanger after you wear an item and hang it back up. After 6 months or so, look through your clothes to see which hangers were never turned back and consider donating those items!

2. Deep clean your kitchen appliances

It’s easy to wipe down your stovetop and counters on a regular basis, but when’s the last time you did a deep clean on your appliances? Consider cleaning the inside of your oven, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator to get out the grime the builds up from regular use. 

If you have smaller appliances like a toaster or air fryer, this is the perfect time to give them a good scrub as well. 

3. Go through your junk drawer

Are you guilty of having a “catch-all” drawer for everything that doesn’t have a place? (It’s ok, we are too!) Spend 30 minutes going through it, throwing out the things you no longer need and organizing everything else. 

You might even buy a few small drawer caddies to help keep everything a bit more organized in the future. 

4. Get rid of old paper documents

It’s natural to keep some documents around, but after a few years, you can probably get rid of most of them. Go through your various paperwork deciding what to keep and what you can recycle. 

If you have a scanner, keep digital copies of the most important documents so you can access them when needed. Just remember to shred anything with sensitive personal information before you dispose of it. 

5. Tackle the area under your kitchen sink

The cabinets under a kitchen sink can easily get piled up with cleaners, rags, and anything else that doesn’t seem to have a spot of its own. Go through everything and get rid of old dirty rags and try organizing cleaning supplies by their purpose. 

For example, put all floor cleaners together, all furniture cleaners, countertop cleaners, etc. so everything is easy to find going forward. 

6. Organize your bookshelves

Have your bookshelves become a bit of a mess? Use this as an opportunity to dust off your books, select items to donate, and maybe rearrange your book collection while you’re at it. 

You can organize your books by genre, alphabetically by title, or even add a little happiness to your home and order them by color!

7. Do some painting

A little paint can brighten up your space with very little effort. Go through your home and paint your baseboards and the trim around your windows and doors for a fresh, clean look. 

Or, give your home a whole new look by painting your front door or adding an accent wall to one of your rooms. 

8. Go through your garage

What started as a place to store you car can easily become a catch-all for yard equipment, tools, bikes, and other outdoor equipment. Organize your garage space to make it more functional and efficient (and so that it’s easier to park your car!)

If you’re feeling ambitious, you might even hang shelves or build your own to make a workspace area in the garage to store your tools. 

9. Organize your pantry

We’re all guilty of letting things sit in the pantry a little too long. Go through your shelf-stable items and look at expiration dates, then organize everything by type of food. 

If you know all of your canned vegetables are together and your pasta is in one place, it will be easier to see what you need to use and what you should get the next time you buy groceries. 

10. Wash your curtains

Curtains are one of the most overlooked items in your home because it’s easy to hang them up and never think about them again. But, they can attract dirt and hair over time, and need to be washed a few times per year. 

Be sure to double-check your fabric to see how it needs to be cleaned first, so you don’t ruin or shrink your drapes. 

Share your spring cleaning pictures

Feeling inspired to start cleaning and organizing your home? Don’t forget to share your spring cleaning transformation pictures on our Facebook page with #RuftySpringCleaningChallenge. We can’t wait to see how you update your home!

While we’re all inside our homes practicing social distancing, why not take this time to do a little spring cleaning? Whether you’re clearing out your junk drawer, painting your front door, finally organizing your pantry, or just doing some old fashioned cleaning, we want to see your transformations!

Between April 15-30, join our Spring Cleaning Challenge by sprucing up an area of your home and sharing your before and after photos with #RuftySpringCleaningChallenge on our Facebook page. Your form of spring cleaning can be whatever you want, as long as you post a before and after photo of a space in your home that you’ve shown some love.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be sharing some inspiration photos to get you in the spring cleaning mood. And, of course, we’ll be sharing some of your before and after photos as well. And, don't forget to spread the word about your transformation, because the photo with the most likes will win a prize at the end of the challenge!

We’ll make it through this crazy time together. Until then, let’s share some positivity in the form of spring cleaning inspiration! Start sharing your photos here. There’s no limit to how many transformations you can share!

We’re excited to announce that once again, we’ve signed up as a sponsor for this year’s St. Jude Walk/Run Triangle event! We hope you’ll consider joining or donating to our team to help us support St. Jude and the incredible work they’re doing in the fight to end childhood cancer.

Just like we did last year, we’ll be hosting a fun photo booth at the event, with different props so you can take photos and capture the memories you make while supporting a great cause. 

Stay tuned for more information over the next few weeks, including details about a fun kickoff event that’s in the works. We’re looking into virtual options for the event so that we can practice safe social distancing if stay-at-home policies are still in place at that time.

In the meantime, consider joining our team or donating today here

Thanks in advance for your continued support of this important cause!

© 2024 Rufty Homes Inc. All rights reserved
© 2024 Rufty Homes Inc. All rights reserved
chevron-up