Ikea kitchens can work in luxury homes and can be installed on a budget. If you want to be hands on! Some Rockridge home owners shared how they did it, on the 2026 Rockridge Kitchen Tour.
You’re in luck! The Rockridge Kitchen Tour is happening again in 2026! I love the Rockridge Kitchen Tour, not only because my own kitchen is desperately in need of updating. If you love going to open houses for remodeling ideas, you must come to the tour on September 27th. It’s like open houses on steroids!…
If you are thinking of selling a Berkeley 1-2 unit property that currently has natural gas any time soon, you may want to time any energy-efficiency upgrades based on the sale date. Why? Because Berkeley limit the number of years a home upgrade qualifies for points toward their energy efficiency program. As of this writing,…
The Getty Center and Getty Villa emerged from the 2025 Los Angeles fire disaster as examples of fire hardening best practices. Yes, they had staff to supplement all of the measures the Getty team took to stop fire approaching and stop smoke from penetrating the buildings. But they also meticulously followed best practices for fire hardening…
Imagine opening up your home to show off your remodeled kitchen. That’s what 8-10 Rockridge homeowners do every other year along with their builders, architects, and interior designers. Seeing these renovated and reimagined kitchens with the latest cabinetry, space-saving ideas, and glowing cabinet hardware is the ultimate inspiration to refresh your kitchen — especially if…
Thinking of a budget remodel to update or fix things about your house that you don’t like? Join the club! There’s nothing like living in a space for a while to figure out what you would like to change in layout or use of the space. That’s why I give my home buying clients a…
Does your house have the comfortable feel of an old shoe? Are you embarrassed to have people over? Or if you do, are you constantly apologizing and wondering what your guests think? Susie thinks: “check!” “check!” and “check!” A little known technique to re-invent your house is to do what real estate agents do when…
Home improvement website Houzz surveyed released a 2024 survey of home improvements home owners are making this year. #1 on the list is a “return to open spaces.” “Creating separation naturally became more popular during the COVID pandemic, with only 38% of homeowners opening up their kitchens to other interior spaces in 2022 versus 53%…
What if you could make not-too-expensive updates to the house you’ve loved for so many years to make it easier for you, and / or your loved ones, to age in place with accessible, safe features? AARP has put together what they call a “HomeFit” Guide to help you do just that. It’s a very…
Ikea kitchen planners can help you design a kitchen in 3D and choose your cabinet, counter, hardware…all the materials for your shiny new modern kitchen. You can also pay for an Ikea kitchen designer to come to your house (now $79) to make sure all of your kitchen measurements are accurate. The Ikea kitchen I…
