Mountainwood Homes Helps Homeowners Love Their Homes Again
With a combined industry experience of more than 800 years, the design-build team at Mountainwood Homes has remodeled homes and built custom homes all over the Portland metropolitan area from Vancouver and Camas, Washington down to the Aurora area.
The company’s years of working with homeowners in all aspects of home design and construction have resulted in a keen understanding of creative ways to work with homeowners to get the most out of their budgets. When mortgage rates were extremely low, the trend was for homeowners to trade up to larger homes and larger remodeling projects. Today, many homeowners are taking a second look at their current home. They may love the neighborhood and once loved the house, but they’re frustrated that it no longer fits their needs.
Whether considering simple updates or more extensive remodeling, the Mountainwood Homes team can help homeowners focus on getting the most impact for their dollars.
Five Ways to Make Your Home Feel Brand New
Here are Mountainwood Homes’ top five cost-effective ways to make your home feel brand new, ranging from a simple refresh to a more extensive remodel.
1. Update areas with the most visual impact
Refreshing the living/dining areas and entries can include refinishing hardwood floors, painting, and adding new millwork and hardware.
"There's no better value than a fresh coat of interior paint," says Heather Wood, Owner and Designer at Mountainwood Homes. "It greatly impacts your environment, and you can create different ambiances and moods with paint.” A remodel might include new flooring, entry staircase, and a new front door.
2. Upgrade lighting
Lighting changes are central to enhancing the overall style of a home. Swapping outdated lighting fixtures can radically transform a space. If you need more lighting, there are many remodeling options, such as adding windows, enlarging a window or patio door, adding recessed lighting, and decorative lighting under cabinets. LED technology is widespread and provides great energy efficiency.
A Camas couple transformed their dark, dated 2002 home into a light, airy retreat. Matte black lighting fixtures and other upgrades create their dream home in a neighborhood they had grown to love.
3. Update the Kitchen
Kitchens and baths are every home’s most high-use rooms, and updates here will make the entire home feel more functional and beautiful.
For a basic refresh, outdated kitchens can be “made new” with new countertops/backsplash, dishwasher and stove/oven, and freshly painted cabinets with new hardware, sink, and faucet.
If the layout in these rooms isn’t truly functional, or the space is cramped, says Vicki Enger, Mountainwood Homes Designer, a remodel can include moving walls, extending the space to nearby rooms such as a great room or dining room, and installing new cabinetry, countertops, and gourmet appliances.
This kitchen remodel was part of a whole home remodel to lighten and brighten this 1996 traditional home in Northwest Portland.
4. Update the Bath
Bathrooms can easily be refreshed with newly painted cabinets, updated countertops, light fixtures, and hardware.
Mountainwood Designer Sarah Peek recently worked with a client in Northwest Portland to update all five bathrooms in their home. To stretch their budget, “We ended up painting the existing vanity cabinets for all bathrooms and replacing the countertops in the primary bathroom. This was enough to make each space feel fresh.”
Before: This Northwest Heights primary bathroom, built in 2000, had a large bathtub tub surround and lacked personality.
The primary bathroom renovation gave an instant style upgrade, mixing fashion-forward tiles and colors.
Remodeling can include changing the layout, moving walls, and adding windows to take advantage of natural views. Many homeowners are repurposing the rarely used tub area for a more oversized shower or more functional vanity space. Replacing outdated fixtures and upgrading materials can create a calming and luxurious space.
5. Gain more space
Repurposing a spare bedroom into a walk-in closet or work-from-home office or completing an unfinished basement or attic can yield enough additional space to make the entire home more functional.
Mountainwood Homes remodeled this 1936 home in Northeast Portland to open the space and create a gourmet kitchen with a better layout to cook and entertain.
Looking at each home with fresh eyes
The Mountainwood Homes team is experienced in looking at each home with fresh eyes, often gaining space in creative ways. Hardy recently worked with a client who wanted an addition on top of her small 1954 home. “We cleared out the unused garage, then fit in two bedrooms, one bath, a laundry room, and a separate entrance. It increased the home’s square footage by 50% for less than the cost of building an addition.”
There are many options to transform a home, and Mountainwood Homes can help guide each homeowner to the best solutions at every budget level, to help them fall in love with their home again.
“A homeowner benefits from utilizing a design/build company because of their expertise in design and construction within the same consultation,” says Robert Wood, Owner and President of Mountainwood Homes.
To learn more and start the Refresh/Remodel process, visit mountainwoodhomes.com
