shower remodeling Archives - Inspired Remodels

General Contractors Guide to Surviving Home Remodeling

Renovation length varies depending on the scope of the project. Painting may take from a few days to a couple of weeks. But a major kitchen or bathroom remodel can take from one to four months. If your home remodeling project involves adding a room, plan on disruption lasting up to six months. How can you survive a home remodeling project that disrupts home life for weeks to months? Follow along as Orange County general contractors share tips for surviving the process.

Pick the Right Time

Things like contractor availability and budget often drive the timing of your home renovation. But, before signing on, consider the time of year and the season of your life.

Holidays disrupt schedules, home remodeling throws them out the window! Consider if you have the fortitude to renovate during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year holidays.

If your kids play sports on traveling teams, you might want to wait for the season to wind down.

Picking the right time helps reduce that overwhelming feeling that often kicks in before the project is completed.

Communicate and Plan with Your General Contractor

Keep abreast of what is happening and when to reduce that chaotic feeling. When interviewing, find out if you will be provided with a dedicated point of contact for communication. As a design-build general contractor, Inspired Remodels assigns a team member to be your communication point. You should expect no less from any professional contractor. Forewarned is forearmed.

For example, demolition creates lots of noise, dust, and mess. Know when and how long demo will last. Those will be the best days to be out of the home all day.

If you work from home, knowing what happens on what days helps you know the days it’s best to take that video call at the library.

For bathroom and kitchen remodels, follow these specific tips for setting up alternative cooking and bathing spaces during construction.

Knowing what will happen each day helps you create a schedule that works for your sanity and allows the contractors to get their work done, too.

Protect Valuables

Invest in storage during the remodeling project. Whether you get a storage pod dropped off at the house or use off-site storage, get your stuff out of the way.

This protects your items from demolition and construction dust and debris. If it is not on site, workers can’t break it.

In addition, removing clutter reduces the feeling of chaos that can take over during extensive remodeling.

general contrators after kitchen remodeling

Keep Your Eye On the Outcome

Keep Expectations Realistic

Be prepared for things to go wrong and be prepared to move forward. This is the time to lower your standards temporarily.

You may eschew dining out and cook every night. Understand that a kitchen remodel makes this exceedingly difficult. Especially if the space is stripped to the walls. Cook in a temporary kitchen in the garage or eat out. Accept it.

Come to terms with bathing and dressing in a secondary bath until the primary en suite of your dreams comes to life.

Being prepared for disruption makes it easier to get through extensive home remodeling unscathed.

Bathroom Remodel Features Earth Tones & Minimalism in Orange County

By Inspired Remodels / Bathroom Remodel / Comments Off

Bathroom remodels remain a popular way to update the look of your home in Orange County. The use of earth tones and minimalist style dominates the most stylish remodels.

Why Choose Earth Tones?

If you want to create a space that invites unwinding and relaxation, incorporate earth tones in your bathroom remodel. Colors such as warm beige, soft taupe, natural clay or terracotta, and muted greens such as sage create a sense of harmony between the bathroom and the Orange County environment. This biophilic design creates a spa-like vibe in the shower and the entire bathroom.

Additionally, earth tones are a timeless choice! If you remodel your bathroom now and this isn’t your forever home, you need to choose colors that appeal to the masses. Earth tones fit the bill perfectly.

The Beauty of Minimalism

Do some spaces leave you feeling anxious? Have you ever felt a space not only looks cluttered but feels that way as well? Minimalism in design vanquishes the anxiety and claustrophobia generated by busy designs. When designing your new shower and bathroom, focus on simplicity. Incorporate clean lines and more functionality throughout the space.

Incorporate one or more of these elements in the bathroom design to add a touch of minimalism:

Floating Vanities with Concealed Storage

Clear the countertops from clutter and stuff by incorporating storage options with the power to conceal. Enjoy having plenty of room for everything and having them handy while still tucked out of sight.

Medicine Cabinets with Mirrors

Instead of plain mirrors, opt for medicine cabinets. Bonus points for mirrored cabinets that incorporate LED lights. For the ultimate minimalist design, choose recessed units that install flush with the wall to minimize protrusion. Some medicine cabinet options feature electrical outlets inside allowing you to store the electric shaver and/or electric toothbrush neatly out of sight.

Frameless Glass Shower Enclosures

Traditional shower glass doors utilize frames made of aluminum or other metals. Current bathrooms designs trends in Orange County lean heavily into frameless designs. Whether it is a frameless, all-glass shower enclosure or a glass and tile Roman Shower design, frameless showers eschew metal to create a more elegant feel.

How Earth Tones and Minimalism Work Together

Many traditional minimalist designs feel cold and stark. When poorly designed, minimalism leads to spaces with a sterile and uninviting vibe. But when you use earth tones in a minimalist design for a shower or bathroom remodel, you create a space that’s calm, tranquil, and peaceful.

Use these elements to incorporate earth tones and minimalism in your bathroom design:

Minimalist Wood Tone Vanity

Not all vanities must be floating. It’s okay to use a standard vanity as long as it features clean lines. Stay away from cabinets with heavy detailing and instead opt for slab fronts or skinny Shaker designs to incorporate the minimalist feel. Complement the wood tones with simplistic drawer pulls and doorknobs

Use Natural Materials

Bring earth tones into your bathroom remodel by opting for a natural pebble tile for your shower floor. Complement a frameless shower with flooring tiles in terracotta tones. Select faucets and fixtures that highlight minimalist style with their clean lines and neutral colors

Add Plants

If your bathroom offers abundant natural light, use plants as décor elements. There’s no better way to bring earth tones to the room than incorporating real, natural green. Use plants native to Orange County and make a real biophilic design splash. Even if you have low light, you can still grow Spathiphyllum. They call it the closet plant for a reason; it requires minimal light.

Orange County Shower Remodeling Inspiration

Need more bathroom or shower remodel inspiration? Check out these recent projects in our portfolio of Orange County bathroom remodels.

Surely you’ll find something to inspire you here.

Lake Forest Remodel

Trabuco Canyon Remodel

Laguna Niguel Remodel

Shower Remodeling Ideas for Walk-in Showers

By Inspired Remodels / Bathroom Remodel / Comments Off

Shower remodeling is tricky. The shower sets the tone for the entire bathroom. Get the shower wrong and the entire bathroom looks like a disaster. Here’s a little practical advice and some ideas to get you thinking about your next shower remodeling project.

Space Determines Shape in Shower Remodeling

Your walk-in shower size is determined by the space available. Think outside the box to make the most of the space you have. Showers can be curved, rectangular, square, and can tuck into many unlikely places. In the photo above, the shower was placed in the area between the door to the room and the vanity. Not the traditional space but it works perfectly to create the traditional rectangular shower space.

On the other hand, this space saving walk-in shower makes use of a corner. With a walk-in shower, you aren’t constrained by the size of a traditional tub. This corner shower is spacious and makes most of the room available. Using clear glass for the enclosure make the space look larger too. When you install light tile on the shower walls you visually make the room appear larger as well. The contrasting accent tile on the wall and shower floor provide texture and visual appeal.

Corner showers and curved showers make the most of a small space. So think outside the box when looking at the shape and size of the room.

Splurge on Shower Heads

Take your time selecting your shower head. First think about the finish. Brushed nickel, chrome, and rubbed bronze are all popular finishes. Select a finish that complements the tile color or provides a dash of contrast. Structurally, shower heads designs are categorized as vintage, modern, or industrial. Consider the finish and style of other bathroom fixtures when selecting the shower head. One walk-in shower doesn’t mean one shower head. Splurge on a rainfall shower head for those spa-like showers and a removable shower head for when you need to get down to business. The walk-in shower to the left may be small in size but it packs a punch with multiple shower heads. Use one at a time or all at once.

If you plan to use multiple shower heads, talk to the shower remodeling contractor before work begins. You may need to increase the size of the pipes coming into the shower to provide enough water flow.

Extras to Elevate Your Shower Remodeling Project

Elevate your shower with windows, benches, and niches. Incorporate any of these in almost any shower design. Niches provide storage for in-shower grooming products and benches provide a space to sit and enjoy them.

Niches and windows also provide an avenue to customize your shower as well. Frosted glass contrasts with clear. Contrasting tile shapes and colors adorn niches. As you enjoy the rainfall spray or sit and give yourself a good scrub you’ll be glad you took the time to add those little extras to your project.

Rely on the Shower Remodeling Experts

Rely on the shower remodeling experts at Inspired Remodels to craft the walk-in shower of your dreams. From the largest ensuite master bathroom to the smallest guest bath, Inspired Remodels designs and builds custom walk-in showers, bathrooms, kitchens and more. Call (949) 716-1938 and schedule your shower remodeling consultation today.