Category Archives for Blogs
How Much Does It Cost to Build an ADU in California?
With housing more important than ever, backyard cottages and adding in-law suites are on the minds of many homeowners. Many counties in California have adopted encouraging laws to make adding ADUs easier. If you need a dedicated home office, a place for Mom, or additional rental income a backyard home could be the answer. Here are some common questions we get when clients are thinking about adding an ADU. Continue reading
How Are Architect’s Fees Calculated?
Are you wondering how much it will cost to hire an architecture firm for your home remodel or new construction? It’s important to set a budget and know the projected costs ahead of time. This will set you up for success throughout the design and construction phases. While the exact fees will depend onContinue reading
What Services Do Interior Designers Provide?
Are you searching for an interior designer? Before you get started, it is important to know exactly what an interior designer does. Interior designers are different from interior decorators.Continue reading
Introducing Drafting Cafe Architects’ Design Packages
Is your home working for you? It may have suited you perfectly in the past, but your life and needs may have since changed, or your style has evolved. You may have purchased your home knowing that it would require updates and changes to become the home of your dreams.Continue reading
The Benefits of Backyard Homes
ADUs – also called in-law units, granny flats, or backyard homes – are a growing trend in California. A small living space on your property comes with a host of functionalities and benefits!
Now that California has relaxed its laws on ADUs, it is simpler than ever to add one to your property. Whether you are upgrading a garage or building a whole new unit on your property, you may find that it is more cost-effective, quicker, and easier than you think. Zoning laws have been loosened, so getting a permit is easy in many neighborhoods.
Making the Most Out of Your Property
· Guest House
An ADU can become a guest house if you enjoy having friends and family stay with you. With a detached space, you and your guests can both have plenty of privacy while still being close.
· Space for Family
As the names “in-law unit” and “granny flat” suggest, ADUs are frequently used for family. It’s a great, cost-effective place for aging parents to live because they can be close to you while still having their own privacy and independence. Similarly, ADUs are a cost-effective and helpful transition for young adult children who are just starting out on their own.
· Downsize Onsite
In some cases, empty nesters may not use their big house, but don’t want to give it up. With high real estate prices, young families often can’t afford to buy in the neighborhood where they grew up. For these reasons, some parents are choosing to downsize on their own property and allow their son or daughter take over the big house with their growing family.
· Work or Hobbies
If you work from home, you can use your backyard unit as an office or studio. It can become a quiet place to get work done and maintain your work/life balance. Or, it can be a private exercise or artist studio.
· Rent it Out
Your ADU can even become an additional source of income if you decide to rent it out. Depending on the laws in your city you may be able to rent your ADU on Airbnb, VRBO, or another short-term rental platform. Or, you can rent it long-term. You will be right on the property, so you’ll be able to manage your rental unit easily.
Adding a Backyard Home With Ease
If you are looking to invest less time and money into building a backyard home, there are beautiful design plans that are functional and include all that you need. At Drafting Cafe, we offer three affordable, quality plan options ranging from compact to spacious. Our pre-designed ADUs pack as much functionality and privacy as possible into a limited amount of space. They come with different exterior and interior finish options to choose from so you can customize them to your taste. We make it simple to get the ADU of your dreams built right in your backyard!
Of course, if you want a unique, fully custom design, our team can design your ADU down to the last detail. While this takes longer and is more expensive, it’s worth it to many homeowners who want a custom approach. We look forward to working with you on your new backyard home!
5 Things You Need to Tell Your Architectural Designer
When you’re making changes to your home, the last thing you want are subpar results. When you communicate well with your architectural designer, you can eliminate costly mistakes and help the entire process go smoothly. You will end up with a beautiful space that fills all your needs. Here are a few of the things to discuss with your architectural designer to ensure a great result.Continue reading
7 Outdoor Home Remodeling Ideas to Explore
Outdoor living spaces are becoming more popular, and for good reason! Outdoor rooms add comfort and luxury to your life. You’ll get more fresh air, you’ll be able to relax and hang out outside, and you might even be inspired to entertain friends and family more often.Continue reading
Interior Design vs. Interior Decorating: What’s the Difference?
Interior designers and interior decorators are both professionals who can make positive changes to your home, making it a better, more beautiful and comfortable place to live. Both can help you create the home of your dreams! Good interior designers and decorators are aware that there is no “one size fits all.” They are mindful of trends, but their main goal is to create a space that reflects your one-of-a-kind needs.
Sometimes, there’s overlap between the two professions. Some interior designers will also provide decorating services to meet your needs.
Interior Designers: Focusing on Function & Fixtures
Interior designers work closely with contractors and architects to create and execute plans for a functional, beautiful space. They work on all the permanent features of your home renovation. A good interior design will help you:
- Work closely with architects to make layout decisions
- Select cabinets, countertops, and other finishes
- Choose hardware, tile, lighting, appliances, and fixtures
- Suggest functionalities for your family while retaining your personal style
Home renovations are difficult and expensive to reverse if you make the wrong interior design choices. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to have a professional interior designer working with you. They can eliminate a lot of headaches and save you money in the long run.
An interior designer will work with you to understand what you want and need from your remodel. They will work with your architect to make sure the architectural design incorporates it. Your designer will narrow down your choices allowing you to pick from a reasonable number of items. Otherwise, you would be swimming in industry catalogs!
Interior Decorators: Focusing on the Final Touches
An interior decorator will help make your home a more beautiful place to live by making aesthetic changes, not structural ones. They are great at making furniture and decor decisions to give your home a unique style. Unlike interior designers, their work begins after the structural work ends.
An interior decorator can help you:
- Choose color schemes and style for your home
- Suggest wallpaper, paint colors, and other finishes
- Shop for furniture and decor that looks great and meets your family’s needs
- Arrange the furniture, art, and accessories
- Align the overall aesthetics of a space
Your interior decorator’s goal is to give you an aesthetically beautiful home that reflects your personal taste and needs. It’s the finishing touches – rugs, artwork, pillows, furniture, window treatments – that make a house feel like home.
Do You Need a Designer, a Decorator, or Both?
It’s rare that one firm provides both services, so the answer may be – Both! First, you’ll need an Interior Designer to help you wade through the many choices of tile, cabinetry, lighting, windows, handles, knobs, faucets…well, you get the idea. In addition to our Interior Design services, our staff also provides Interior Decorating services. Get started by checking out our interior design services.
5 Tips for Making Your Kitchen More Functional for Everyday Life
If you’re dreaming of a kitchen remodel, you probably have some ideas in mind for how you want your kitchen to look. You are obsessing over a certain backsplash tile, or perhaps you know for sure that you want white cabinets and a farmhouse sink.
But there’s one thing you should never underestimate: the power of a great kitchen layout. The most gorgeous kitchen in the world will frustrate you every single day if the layout isn’t functional for your lifestyle. So, here are 5 tips for making your kitchen more functional when cooking meals and living your life at home!
1. Don’t Be Afraid to Rearrange
Make sure you have a simple, clear path throughout your kitchen. The stove, the refrigerator, and the sink should be easily accessible: there should not be any obstructions getting in the way. Do you usually have 2 or more people cooking in the kitchen? Make sure there’s room to maneuver. And if there are any obstacles – like an ill-placed window or a dishwasher in a bad spot – one of the best things you can do is make room in the budget to rearrange for a functional layout. It is possible to move just about anything: windows, appliances, doors, sometimes even walls.
2. Task Lighting is Key
Your kitchen won’t be functional if you can’t see what you’re cooking! If you just have overhead lights, you may be blocking the counter or stove top with your own shadow while cooking. Consider all the places where you need task lighting. Under cabinet lights are hidden and functional. Pendants over the island or sink are popular choices, and you can choose rustic farmhouse style pendants, or sleek modern ones to make your preferred design style. Wall sconces are very decorative if you don’t have upper cabinets on a wall. Your beautiful new light fixtures might just end up being your favorite part of your kitchen remodel!
3. What’s Your Preferred Storage?
Lately, there has been a trend towards incorporating more drawers, not doors, into lower cabinetry. You know how it’s easy to lose things in the dark depths of lower cabinets? Drawers are so much simpler to access and organize, since you can pull them out and see every corner with ease. Many people have found that they love having everything in drawers: flatware, dishware, utensils, spices, even pots and pans!
4. Think About Smart Seating
Whether it is a kitchen table or bar stools at an island, seating is a great way to add more life to the heart of your home. Do you have kids who like to sit in the kitchen while you cook? Do you like to have friends and family over for dinner? If so, it is important that you have seating in a place where people won’t get in the way of your path between the sink and the refrigerator, or even worse, where you risk burning someone.
5. Incorporate Functional Decor
In the kitchen, filling open shelves, walls, and countertops with purely decorative objects is wasted space Instead, display beautiful cutting boards, mixing bowls, salt and pepper shakers, pretty linens, or any other items that you use on a regular basis. It will keep your drawers and cabinets free for other things, makes frequently used items easy to access, and it looks beautiful!
Thinking of these functional elements now, will help your architectural design evolve from plans on paper to the gorgeous kitchen of your dreams.
Common DIY Remodeling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Are you considering attempting a “do it yourself” project for your home? Professionals are in high demand for these types of projects because often time’s homeowners get in over their head, or forget Continue reading