Remodeling Your Kitchen Tips

The most time a homeowner spends in a home either is in the living room or the kitchen rather than the bedroom. It is for this reason that remodelling kitchen is more taxing than bathroom remodelling, basement remodelling or remodelling any other parts of the house. It is true that remodelling kitchen may take months, sometimes years of planning but the investment of time and money is worth at the end of it. A good remodelled kitchen will fetch you more money for the overall price of the house and hence your investment will be recovered completely. Moreover, morally it gives you a good relaxing environment where the entire family can spend quality meal time.

You can start on kitchen remodelling by simply talking to friends and relatives or by searching online on places like BlogSpot and word press that provide abundant blogs with required information about remodelling kitchen space. Once you have acquired fair idea about what you want your kitchen space to look like, you may consult a home remodelling contractor in order to get an expert review and determine the necessary budget. You would then need to weigh out your options of having cabinets to drawers or having wooden furniture to thermo foil. You can also choose the colour schemes of the kitchen and decide on areas required for storage. Many homeowners prefer their appliances to stand out as pieces of furniture just like you would have in your living rooms so make sure that the appliances blend well with the surroundings.

'Led'ing the way – LED’s origin

The idea first came to him while he was watching television at home. Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGATE Corporation, noticed that LED TVs had brighter and whiter light but consumed less energy. This thought led him down a path to do something that probably no one else in the world has dared—use light emitting diodes (LED) to light the office space and conserve energy. Once convinced it was possible, Murthy moved quickly and invested Rs 37 lakh to light 57,000 sq. ft of office space at iGATE’s new development centre inside the DLF SEZ at Manapakkam, Chennai. The benefit: reduction in carbon emission by 78 tonnes annually!
Though LED has been used to backlight flat televisions, digital advertising hoardings, street/passage lightings and in basement car parks, it has not yet been considered for office lighting on a global scale. Says Ashok Shah, Chief Technology Officer, Illumitron International Inc., which engineers LED solutions: “At best…there are a few office floors in Korea and Japan which are LED-lit but none the size of iGATE.’’
“When technology has come into the living room, I thought that we should implement it as part of our Project Green, in our offices,” says Murthy. “After all, we complain so much about lack of power, but we lack the determination to do our bit to bring down power consumption.”
Teething Problems
Being a first mover, Murthy did face many challenges. “We experimented on the solution for one year. We put up some panels, evaluated the effect. There were many failures and delays. At times I had misgivings on account of the time the experimentation was taking. The international environment and Indian environment are completely different. Problems crop up because of voltage cycles and even dust,’’ explains Murthy. But the delays did not deter him. “I made it clear that there would be no pulling out of the project at any cost and that LED would have to be implemented,” he says, underscoring the importance of the top management’s involvement in such initiatives.
The lighting project is not the only way that Murthy will reduce his company’s carbon footprint. Air-conditioners account for about 50 per cent of power consumption in iGATE offices, so the company has connected employees’ entry cards to the cooling system. The cards “activate the air-conditioners only in the sector they work and only after they walk in”, he says. “LED usage will help optimise this as the light is ‘cool’ and dissipates lesser heat.” While AC requirements are down by 11 to 12 per cent, the load will come down further because of LED by 4-5 per cent.
While LED is environmentally beneficial, it’s also costly (especially up front). Typically, a 15-watt LED tubelight can replace the 4-ft. 40-watt tubelight, but a LED tubelight would cost Rs 2,000-3,000 against Rs 50-100 for the ordinary one. However, prices are bound to move southwards soon as LED production has been given a major fillip in countries such as Taiwan, USA and Japan. About two years down the line, prices would be far more affordable with economies of scale, says Kumar Ramachandran, CEO, Vignani Technologies, which implemented the LED lighting at iGATE’s Chennai facility.
Experts say that LED may not be the best bet for retrofits, owing to capital costs incurred for the original fixture and again for the replacement, unless a company is bent on growing green. Murthy says his company will watch how the LED systems work for 3-6 months then retrofit its existing facilities—Bangalore (4,60,000 sq. ft), Hyderabad (1,00,000 sq. ft), Chennai (50,000 sq. ft), and Noida (70,000 sq. ft). The overall cost is likely to be around Rs 3.5 crore.
Another problem with LED technology is its highly pointed nature of lighting. Explains C.B. Raghunandan, GM (Operations), Wipro: “One is not all that comfortable while reading or working under an LED lamp. Just below the lamp the lumination is good but a few feet away the light is bad. It has to be effectively diffused.’’ But not many in the world have the required technology to make sure the lighting works well in an office setting. “LED is not a light that can just replace another light—it is a technology by itself, which is evolving and needs to be perfected over time,’’ says Ramachandran.
Increasing Viability
LED lighting is expensive up front, but in the long-term, Murthy and others like him anticipate a real financial payback apart from the environmental impact. iGATE is expecting a payback in just 30 months. It is using just 17 kilowatts to light the entire facility as against 57 kilowatts required for either CFL or tubelighting. According to Ramachandran, “For a 2,000-fixture LED-lit facility (like that of iGATE in Chennai) working 72 hours a week, the energy savings a year would be Rs 25 lakh and even considering an incremental initial cost, the payback period is 2.5 years.’’
The LED lights also last longer than CFL or tubelighting, according to Wipro’s Raghunandan: “The life of an LED lamp is 5 years, and 2-3 years more than a conventional lamp.” In the future, companies won’t have to spend so much money replacing lamps as they do with traditional lighting, and Raghunandan predicts that prices will fall as the technology develops.
Others are indeed taking to LED lighting slowly but steadily. Set up last year, Wipro’s Eco Energy Division, which offers holistic lighting solutions, already serves more than half a dozen clients. Wipro, which so far has used LED lighting only in the garden and basement at a few of its campuses, plans to use it extensively at upcoming and future software centres. Others like IIT Madras’ IC&SR building had its CFL passage light replaced with LED apart from its sodium vapour street lamps. Velan Hospital at Karur in Tamil Nadu is also going for an LED lighting solution for 10,000 sq. ft of space.
Murthy is also moving this technology forward into iGATE’s future spaces. He is all set to inaugurate a new development facility in Bangalore next month complete with LED lighting (inside, outside and basement). In fact, the facility will be one notch greener than Chennai as its 2,10,000 sq. ft of underground parking and 1,14,000 sq. ft of working area will not only be lit by LED lights but also powered by solar energy.
Feel free to browse our selection of LED lights here: http://www.greenlightfixture.com/

Selecting Kitchen Cabinetry- what to look for

If you have just thought about remodelling your kitchen, there will definitely be a need for you to look around for kitchen cabinets that will suit your new kitchen style. This activity is quite tedious and will require you to take into account many factors as discussed here. Remember that buying and installing kitchen cabinets will take up most part of your budget so make a wise choice using the tips discussed. Take into account the lifestyle and family habits that you are used to by now and accordingly decide the layout of your kitchen. Consult remodelling contractors about the projects they may have done in the past for a similar space. Browse through home improvement magazines and brochures online and check if they have kitchen cabinets available for your new remodelled kitchen. Look out for the dimensions of the cabinets available as it would take a lot more of your budget if you are ordering to build a customized cabinet than the ones available with the distributor or at furniture stores.

Determine the type of finishing that you would prefer in your kitchen. It could be a traditional wooden finishing or you may make use of thermo foil to reduce the cost. Moreover, always stress on the sturdiness of your cabinets since you are investing into remodelling to last over a period of time and would require the furniture to be long lasting. Analyze completely the wooden cabinet that you want to order for as many stores only provide hardwood finishing on the outside but consist of plywood within.

Tile Be There For You!

We carry a tremendous amount of stone and tile including many lines of porcelain and ceramic tiles, stone, mosaics, glass, metal, decorative, leather, wood and other exotic surfaces (there's even tile made of coconut). Come to our showroom and check out our enormous selection.

We can supply any tile for any project and can help you with design if you need it. Please send Jan an email at Jan@MyHomeMyPlanet.com or call 914 2449499 x 304 or visit our Mt. Kisco showroom to see how we can help you with your project.
To browse the tile section of our site, simply click http://myhomemyplanet.com/products/tile

virtual kitchen showroom

In the past, to find that perfect kitchen design for you that matched your interior design required you to visit numerous shops, manually and collect details regarding their products and services. This process was cumbersome and time consuming since, you had to visit shops with insignificant products, too during the endeavor. Today, you can purchase kitchen items and components online from various online companies to remodel a kitchen or build a new one, after visiting the virtual kitchen showroom of the firm concerned. Virtual kitchen showroom of companies has great benefits like,

● Convenient shopping

You can browse through websites that offer kitchen design ideas, remodeling ideas and low priced kitchens and watch their online videos on their exclusive showrooms, within a few clicks, from the comfort of your homes. You can make your choices online depending on your budget, personal style and tastes from the gamut of kitchen designs and items that are provided on the internet.

● Ease of use

Invariably, earlier you had to visit the showrooms to know more about a company’s kitchen products and even when you found their products to be expensive or of bad quality, time and effort had to be spent. In the present times, virtual kitchen showroom allows you to visit many stores and if you are not satisfied all you have to do is close the specific browser. You can visit the showrooms of companies like MyhomeMyplanet at http://www.myhomemyplanet.com/about/showroom and view their wide range of products like European cabinets, Leicht cabinets, PVC products and kitchen accessories.

How to Choose Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets determine the style and look of a kitchen. Cabinets for kitchens are manufactured in a wide array of colors, finishes, styles and prices. While determining which cabinets to choose may seem overwhelming, there are several methods to narrow down your choices.

Instructions:

1. Calculate your budget for the cabinets. If you are renovating or installing an entire kitchen, expect the budget for the cabinets to be approximately half of your entire budget. Write down the most you can spend and write down what you would ideally like to spend on the cabinets.
1. Measure the total area of your kitchen as well as the area where you would like your new cabinets. The area of your kitchen will be necessary to determine how many cabinets are needed.
2. Determine which type of cabinetry best fits your budget. For a low budget, off-the-shelf, stock cabinetry will be the cheapest option. For high-end budgets, custom cabinetry is a feasible option. Custom cabinets can be specially designed and made to fit within your space. Semi-custom cabinets are a mid-range option that can include ready- made cabinets in addition to custom touches, for a mid-range budget.

1. Choose cabinets that meet your lifestyle needs. Deep cabinets provide extra storage for families, while a shallow streamlined cabinet may be perfect if you don't cook at home frequently.

5.
Look around your home to determine what style, color and finish would work best in your home. Choose a finish and color that complements your home and your current or future color scheme.

6.
Select the type of material for your cabinets. Hardwood cabinets, such as those made from oak or cherry, will have a higher price tag than cabinets made from particle board with a laminate finish. Hardwood will hold up better in the long run, whereas a laminate may be a good choice for a short-term renovation, perhaps if you're fixing up to sell your house.

Remodel your kitchen without any stress

To remodel a kitchen, generally an exorbitant amount of money is spent. Apart from the expenses incurred, it also leads to a lot of stress owing to different aspects like selecting kitchen design ideas that are in sync with your home design and trying kitchen remodeling within a stipulated budget. A few tips to do the same without any kind of stress are,

●      Meticulous planning

Devise a plan and stick to it, till the remodeling process is over. Be organized and brainstorm regarding the possible problems and find ways to troubleshoot them. Try Do it yourself kit or hire a contractor for doing your job, depending on your budget. A disorganized building venture can cost you dearly and give way to more stress. 

●      Engage in research

Do some research regarding the rates, choices and services provided by companies, prior to making a final decision that suits your needs and budget restrictions, to avoid stress. Extensive research will help you find the ideal service provider and get a worthy bargain.

●      Hire professionals

To remodel the kitchen and make it a splendid asset, you must seek professional help since, they pay attention to detail and are aware of the best brands and practices available. Seek expert advice on the choice of materials, accessories, appliances and style of your kitchen.

Companies like MyhomeMyplanet http://www.myhomemyplanet.com/index.php offer you plenty to choose, from their array of Leicht cabinets, European cabinets and different products http://www.myhomemyplanet.com/products  that are extremely essential to a stress free kitchen remodel endeavor at affordable prices.