You look around your kitchen, and all you see are needed improvements. Scratched cabinets and floors require replacing, your faucets have water stains, and past-their-prime appliances rattle in protest every time they're in use. Whether you want to fix up your kitchen for your family — or future buyers — the number of possible kitchen upgrades is almost limitless. But the same isn't true for your wallet. So, you need to prioritize. 

Building an addition is one of the most significant home improvement projects you can undertake. Most of the time, you're adding everything new, from the walls and HVAC to the furniture and flooring. The good news is that big changes lead to big results. As such, you must ensure that everything about the addition supports your home and how you want to use it. Begin the process by considering why you want an addition to enlarge your home in the first place.

Modernizing a historic home is a delicate dance. You must strike a balance between bespoke period-accurate details and the design features that enable twenty-first-century living. We know because, in the Portland design and build industry, historic homes are everywhere. With patience, preservation, and practice, COOPER Design Build has learned the ins and outs of how to modernize an historic home's interior — view our historic homes portfolio pictures to see for yourself! Or keep reading for our tips on bringing your historic home into the modern-day. 

Outdoor living space is a luxury. It invites you to slow down, disconnect from the daily hustle, and tune into what matters — plus it adds to the size and value of your home. Many homeowners have already taken the first step and invested in an outdoor living space addition for these reasons. But what comes after that? 

Throughout life, what you need out of your home changes as you and your family grow. The problem is that your home doesn't change with you — at least not on its own. Only you, as the homeowner, have the power to update your home to fit your current and future needs. A remodel might do the job, but often reconfiguring your current space simply isn't enough; to achieve a home that truly meets your needs, you require more space.

Imagine yourself in a large, sumptuous spa. You’re soaking in a bubble-filled bath, maybe listening to music, and gazing out at your surroundings. Luxury features dot a spacious room; rivulets of black and gray run down a marble accent wall; moisture-loving plants sprawl up fixtures and peek around corners. It’s natural and serene, a man-made oasis of sorts. 

Normally, you might have to travel to a spa for this type of experience; but that’s changing in 2022 as bathroom trends center on creating this type of a spa-like environment in the home. 

While these trends are a great source of inspiration for your 2022 bathroom remodel, keep in mind your ultimate priority shouldn’t be to just keep up with the latest fads; it should be to adopt styles that fit your design preferences and enhance your bathroom long term. To help you with this, COOPER Design Build will break some of these trends down for you below and explain why they might be a valuable addition to your bathroom. And, of course, we’ll also touch on a few outdated bathroom trends you should leave behind in 2022.

Despite being a relatively new concept, design-build has risen to prominence in recent years and made a big splash in the construction industry. You’ve likely heard the term at one point or another, but how well do you understand it? Have you ever been given a progressive design- build definition or an explanation of the process? 

Feeling crowded in your small home? Dying to do something with that unfinished portion of your basement? The extra space and function offered by building an addition to your home might be the solution to your problem. Chances are, you’re already considering one. 

Technically, the only things you need in your bathroom are a toilet, sink, and a shower or tub, but what fun is that? You deserve — and most likely desire — a primary bathroom worthy of the name: something practical, yet elegant with a dash of luxury. These primary bathroom remodeling must-haves are just the touch you need!

When you’re planning an addition to your Portland, Oregon, home, it’s best to take a team approach to a job that has so many facets. Your team will include players such as your own family, financial professionals, city officials, architects, engineers, designers, builders, subcontractors, and more. Let’s consider where you should start.