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© Jeremy Levine Design

A home renovation guide for your kitchen and bathroom design can help homeowners to refresh their outdated kitchens, but especially if you are trying to stick to a tight budget you must begin by identifying the top priorities and devising creative solutions.

Those who do not have the space or budget to enlarge their kitchens should focus on how to make the most of the space they have. It's wise to live in a new home for a while before launching a major kitchen renovation, because this will allow you to assess which needs are a top priority. A good renovation can make even a small kitchen into a functional and beautiful space. One easy and affordable option for updating your kitchen walls is to cover them with paintable, pre-pasted vinyl wallpaper over a beadboard wainscot.

© NickNguyen

Sometimes opportunities are around the corner…we just don't know it. But if we stay open and alert, things can sometimes happen by serendipity. I'm going to say more about that word because I find it fascinating, but first I've got a good example of what I mean. Some of my family members and I got together to have our grandparents' bathroom redone for them. Among us was a cousin who's been looking for a job. We had Empire Today do the floors, and as my cousin was talking with the installers, they mentioned Empire Today Careers. Turns out my cousin found a job with them! So besides this being a good example of staying open to opportunities, it's also a chance to talk about this fabulous word: serendipity. While the modern use of the word focuses mainly on an unexpected discovery of a good thing, the original meaning included also an aspect of "sagacity," or wisdom. This meant, then, also having the wisdom to recognize the unexpected good thing, to realize it for what it offers. So the accidental happening, and the wisdom to know it, is the full meaning of the word. Well, I think I can say that my cousin, while helping our grandparents, and recognizing an unexpected opportunity, demonstrated the full meaning of "serendipity!" Here's wishing each of us whatever incidence of serendipity would best suit us!…may that also include a lovely renovated bathroom!

© Sarah M Stewart

Ideas for bathroom renovations can update an old, dowdy bathroom into something much more modern and functional. This doesn't necessarily require gutting the old bathroom, as things like the sink and tub can remain if they are in good shape.

Working with the existing plumbing when possible is a great way to lower costs of a bathroom renovation. Some simple cosmetic changes can make a huge difference in most cases. For example, one innovative idea for the bathroom walls is to use decoupaged maps which are glued and sealed in place of standard wall paper for a fun and sophisticated look. You can paint boarding for wainscoting and use patterned tiles for flooring, and perhaps build a simple tile box to hide plumbing if you are installing a shower fixture in an old bathroom which lacked one.