Blog

Creating a great outdoor living space can have a big impact on how you enjoy your home. How great it will be depends largely on thoughtful planning. Along with many other things, careful design considers privacy and accenting the best views. Sometimes it means minimizing or screening a less desirable view. Here are some examples of screening for privacy or blocking views:

A beautiful new sunroom has replaced a rarely used deck in this North Raleigh home. This room for all seasons features a gas fireplace faced with stone and large windows to enjoy the view. The use of natural elements extends to the ceiling with stained wood beadboard and tile flooring. There’s plenty of light even on rainy days with both recessed lights and the fanlight. A mini-split heating and cooling system keep the room comfortable throughout the year.

Raleigh is experiencing growth as never before. It’s a seller’s market and listings move fast. House hunters are finding that the once passed over split-level is now a way to get into desirable neighborhoods. Mostly built in the 1970s, split-levels feature desirable square footage with a slightly lower price tag as compared to other styles. The downside: they often come with outdated looks and a choppy floor plan. That’s where we come in. Homeowners are turning to Wood Wise to bring their split-levels up to 2021 esthetics and style of living. The most often request is to open up the…

WW designer Kathy Walker has designed hundreds of kitchens in her 14 years at Wood Wise. She is the cabinet specialist and resident expert for our two cabinet lines: Waypoint and KraftMaid. For each kitchen design, she creates drawings showing the layout of cabinets, drawers, and islands/peninsulas. These drawings show the views from various angles so homeowners can see different perspectives. Wood Wise clients enjoy Kathy’s expertise and guidance through the all-important cabinet decisions of door styles, finishes, storage options, and optimal placement for convenience and looks. Here are the drawings for an actual Wood Wise kitchen:  

“More light!” is a request we continue to hear from homeowners remodeling their kitchens. Hank and Kathy have several tools they use in their designs to provide better lighting: Recessed lights are the #1 tool used to increase the lighting and are spaced out to cover the whole area. Under-cabinet Xenon puck or strip lights are fully dimmable and give warm lighting to work areas. Island lighting can include pendants, chandeliers, or other kinds of decorative lights. Solar-tubes and skylights bring in natural light. Enlarging windows or adding transoms over existing windows can dramatically improve the lighting. Removing the wall…

Remodeling, especially kitchen remodeling, is a lot of work. That reality became real for me this spring. Setting up a temporary kitchen required moving the refrigerator and microwave along with setting up shelving, prep table and kitchen essentials away from dust and work areas. Plus, cleaning out every drawer and cabinet kept me up late and moving furniture was physically tiring. My role at Wood Wise, helping all our clients with showroom selections, took away the uncertainty about how to do it, but the “big decision” mental drama in making so many key selections felt stressful. Now that my kitchen…

Remodeling contractors have it better now than new home builders since interior remodeling requires less of scarce, expensive lumber. However, shortages of essential materials and busy subcontractors have reduced our schedulling efficiency. For years, we had it easy and took it all for granted. Isn’t that how it is? Despite the new challenges and cost increases, Triangle area property values are likely to continue increasing with FUJIFILM and APPLE bringing more high-paying jobs. Your house is worth more than it was two years ago. Remodeling your home is a great investment, likely to make your life better right away. My…

Sometimes you just know it when you find your “forever” home. This family of five knew they had found theirs: a nice house that has the wonderful combination of a desirable location and a big child-friendly yard. The house was well-built but needed modifications to work better with their lifestyle. Wood Wise helped the homeowners with changes that improve all areas of their lives. At the heart of this first floor renovation, the kitchen has been enlarged and given a new more convenient layout. New KraftMaid cabinets, tile backsplash, and granite countertops are beautiful and easy upkeep. The dining room…

Creating a unified kitchen and living area ranks high on most homeowners’ remodeling project lists. Widening existing doors or completely removing walls are popular for bringing in more light and allow for better traffic flow. Prior to a full renovation, the existing kitchen of this home was isolated from the living area. Wood Wise removed two walls and created a new layout. KraftMaid cabinets, granite countertops, and improved lighting now improve not only the kitchen but the opened up dining and living areas.  

With the beautiful spring like we have been enjoying this year, most of us want better ways to enjoy being outside at home. These homeowners had a beautiful backyard but had not made the most of it. So they contacted Wood Wise to design and build a combination of outdoor spaces. The multi-level deck is now accessible from different rooms in the house. Better steps that are more easily navigated lead to a small patio and on to a larger one. Gently curved stone walls define the patio and also provide plenty of seating for larger groups. The pond rounds…