Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations was recently featured in the San Antonio Business Journal’s Executive Home Guide in an article by Susan C. Saporito – Home improvement: Remodeling puts the dazzle back into residences. The article details important tips from how to hire a contractor to how to get started on your remodeling project.

Included in the article are photos of a remodeled kitchen that we completed last fall along with a master bathroom that we won “Best Bathroom” from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

“Remodeling can be a fun experience. You get to create your dream room or home and learn a little about design and building along the way. All you need to do is ask questions. Questions that, according to NARI members, remodelers don’t be- lieve they are hearing enough. So tap into your curiosity and ask away.” – excerpt from the Executive Home Guide

Download a copy of the article here: Executive Home Guide

The NKBA Texas South Plains Chapter presents: The Art of Design Spring 2012 Fashion Show took place on April 5th, 2012 and was a huge success. Light by Design hosted this wonderful event that benefited The Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas. Through donations and a silent auction, the design and remodeling community raised money for this wonderful organization who’s sole purpose is to foster healing for grieving youth, their families and the community through peer support programs, counseling, training, education, and outreach.

The premise of the fashion show was for designers, remodelers, and industry vendors to model outfits that are inspired by kitchen and bath designs. Each model had to submit a project their company had completed along with coordinating an ensemble for the runway. Several of the top designers and remodelers in San Antonio strutted their stuff on stage at the beautiful showroom of Light by Design.

Lone Star Remodeling And Renovation’s owner, Justin Bravo, was Winner of ‘Audience Choice’ for the Art of Design Fashion Show.

“2011 Best Room Addition from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry”

With this home addition, Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations has created a unique space that is truly versatile. The vaulted ceilings, multiple wood windows, and an extended bar create the feeling of an outdoor living space with the added comforts of a luxury family room.  Our client needed additional space in her home for both entertaining and as a space for relaxation. In the rear of her home there was a large brick fireplace that spanned across the entire back wall of the room. We elected to remove the fireplace to open a view into the addition from the newly formed breakfast area.

Spanning 410 square feet, the addition enables the homeowner to have a sunken den with large windows that emphasize the neighboring wildlife and scenery. The beautiful wood windows are truly the highlight of this addition. The level at which the addition was poured along with the plentiful windows, gives the feeling of being in a treehouse – as you look over the treetops.

Outside, the addition has a brick exterior and hardie siding to match the home. Due to the size of the new addition, we had to modify an existing deck to accommodate both the level and footprint of the addition. A winding sidewalk connects the deck to the front of the home. Along the sidewalk are gardens, ponds, and water fountains to highlight the tranquil setting.

Inside, an existing fireplace is replaced with a small stairway that leads into the home addition, while hand scraped hardwood flooring is utilized for the stairs and for a walk-way to the patio door. Finally, luxury carpeting drapes the den area. By removing a fireplace that was rarely used, the homeowners expanded the view of their lovely property and enhanced the value of their home. 

Our client desired a space that would be functional, sleek and tranquil; an area of retreat they could escape to that would catch their eye and at the same time put it at ease. Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations fulfilled their requirements by remodeling the master bathroom with a new shower area, flooring, countertops, sinks, faucets, and tub.

The design commenced with the removal of the existing shower; pan, tile, furdown and existing walls to accommodate a new shower. We have built a new shower curb along with a new tub deck to extend into the shower area. These changes accommodated new tile floors, new frameless glass in the shower, the installation of a new toilet as well as new shower fixtures. By making the tub deck to be at the existing window elevation, we were able to give it a sleek clean look by utilizing Giallo Napoleon granite, a white Kohler Soaker bath, and a Kohler deck mount faucet in oil rubbed bronze. In the shower we have followed the alternative to travertine tile from the floor, a stone basket weave tile accent with oil rubbed bronze Kohler body sprays and mud guard and a Tuscan bronze Price Pfister Raincan shower head. In the existing vanities we removed the countertops and installed the Giallo Napoleon granite to match the tub deck.

Installed a white Kohler Under Counter Lavatory in the his and her vanities, Kohler wide spread faucets in oil rubbed bronze to continue the look throughout the bath. Although we did not install new cabinetry, we added a gloss finish to the existing white cabinets to match the tub façade we had created and added a custom frame to the existing mirrors to give them a sleek and clean updated look as the client desired.

Our team is proud to have transformed the original outdated bath into one with better functionality and flow, an updated design, and a tranquil retreat for our clients.

Our head space designer at Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations, Jonathan Rodriquez, was asked by the National Kitchen and Bath Association to give a seminar at the 2012 San Antonio Home and Garden Show. Jonathan is an award-winning kitchen and bath designer and we are very happy to have him on our design team here at Lone Star.

If you have aspirations of remodeling your kitchen or bath and are inspired by HGTV programming, this seminar is for you. Jonathan discusses how to go through the process of remodeling your kitchen and bath. From knowing your style, going through the design stage, and to actually selecting a contractor – empower yourself with the knowledge necessary to take on the challenge of enhancing your space!

Come join us at the Spring San Antonio Home and Garden Show February 24th thru the 26th! We will have representatives at the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) booth and at the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) booth. Come visit us and learn more about these great organizations and also more about our team at Lone Star.

We will be passing out free copies of Symmetry Central Texas Magazine – a publication with informative and entertaining articles from local members of NARI. Symmetry also has a Remodeling Resource Guide located in the back with the top remodeling industry professionals in the San Antonio and Austin area.

Our space designer, Jonathan Rodriquez, will be giving two seminars for the National Kitchen and Bath Association on the NKBA Stage. If you have aspirations of remodeling your kitchen or bath and are inspired by HGTV programming, this seminar is for you. Jonathan will be discussing how to go through the process of remodeling your kitchen and bath. From knowing your style, going through the design stage, and to actually selecting a contractor – empower yourself with the knowledge necessary to take on the challenge of enhancing your space!

See Jonathan on the NKBA stage Saturday the 25th at 5:00 and Sunday the 26th at 4:00!

Don’t forget to print your San Antonio Home and Garden Show Coupons here!

A contemporary design offers the homeowner the opportunity to make their home an individual project that sets apart from the rest. “Contemporary design is like a work of art” says Nicole Michaud, Designer for Lone Star Remodeling and Renovations, “with its clean sleek lines it creates a space with minimal distraction to the eye, which also creates [a space] of tranquility.”

By following the dictum “form follows function” by Louis Sullivan, you can make a space not only clutter free and efficient, but also make it a high end project by adding a contemporary touch. Through the use of stainless steel, nickel or chrome in your fixtures, you are able to give the space a touch of elegance and sleekness. By adding frosted or clear glass in your shower, you draw the eye to all the small details and make those the main capture of attention. If trying to add some contemporary feel through the use of tile, try something besides a neutral color; example: perhaps a gray tone instead of beige. If you feel this reaches too outside of your comfort zone, once again focus on the small details, these can either kill a space or make it shine! With neutral tones, add perhaps a jade green basket weave as your trim or try something more daring such as a pattern of vertical strips with hints of metallic running down the tile.

From the smallest of steps to the more daring ones, contemporary design gives you the freedom to be an artist so take your comfort box and step outside of it.

To develop in taste, quality, and personality one is obliged to respect the past, accept the present, and look with enthusiasm toward the future.
-Eleanor Brown, The Finest Rooms by America’s Great Decorators

The entire crew of Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations will be at the 13th Annual Wrappin with Jack event Tuesday, December 13th at Northside Ford from 7pm till 9pm. This is a wonderful event, hosted by Jack Riccardi of KTSA radio, that benefits Family Services Association in wrapping gifts for the less fortunate in San Antonio.

Please consider joining us at this amazing event and if you can, bring a couple unwrapped gifts to donate to Family Services Association. Hope to see you there!

Suggested new items to donate:

Pots and pans
Blankets
Bedding
Small kitchen appliances such as toasters, blenders, coffee pots
Unwrapped toys
Radios
Alarm clocks
Children’s books, games and toys
Walmart or HEB gift cards $25 increments (for groceries)

This year Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations won awards for both Best Bathroom ($60,000+) and Best Room Addition ($100,000-). Many hours went into both the design and layout of these projects and we are very happy to be honored by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Also Justin Bravo, owner of Lone Star Remodeling And Renovations, was honored with a President’s Award for his work within the local chapter of NARI. In 2011 he chaired several committees within the organization along with being a board member for most the year. During the Awards Gala, Justin was also installed as the 2012 President of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Best Bathroom $60,000+

Best Room Addition $100,000-

Pay close attention to the little issues that often accompany excess traffic in your home. Two areas that typically get little use throughout the year but are fully occupied during the holidays, are guest baths and spare bedrooms. Rarely will your guests actually use the bath tub, so a common remodel for a guest bath includes a bath tub to shower conversion.

If you are the preparer of holiday meals, now is the perfect time to evaluate your kitchen. So often homeowners focus on the aesthetics and gathering aspects of their kitchen, that they don’t take the time to fully evaluate how their kitchen could be more efficient for cooking. Make sure you analyze your food preparation areas along with your food serving surfaces. When it’s time to design your new counters, you can take these into consideration so that preparing a holiday meal can be done with ease.

If you will not be at home during the holidays and instead will be visiting family or friends, take notes on what aspects of their home works well for their guests and what areas could use some work. You will be able to use these evaluations when considering new designs for your home.

Take a few moments during the holidays and your remodeling project’s design will be better for it.