Making Life Easier:  The Inside

making life easier: features we chose for our remodel

With entertaining in mind, we added a second kitchen to the lake house.  There is a main kitchen which has a refrigerator, a stove, one wall oven, a convection microwave, a regular microwave and a dishwasher.  

 

The back kitchen, also called a butler’s kitchen, has 2 more wall ovens, another dishwasher and another refrigerator.  There is also a separate sink and garbage disposal.  This makes clean-up a breeze and allows for food and drink overflow.

I am not sure why I can’t find a finished picture of this area but I will update it as soon as I get a chance.

making life easier: features we chose for our remodel

Walk-In Pantry.  The last thing you want to happen when you are entertaining at the lake is to run out of food right? Having a place to store extra food, paper towels, etc was important to us so we weren’t having to go to the store all of the time.

Because three of the four bedrooms are on the second level, we added a laundry room upstairs. This feature doesn’t make doing laundry more fun, but it definitely makes it easier to keep up on the clean sheets and towels during holiday weekends at the lake.

We installed 2 water heaters to keep up with the demand of hosting multiple families at one time. This allows us to take multiple showers, wash clothes and run the dishwasher all at the same time.

The Rheem water heaters we installed are self-cleaning and are equipped with an audible alarm and leak detection sensor.

We installed the Rheem EcoNet system, the first integrated system for your home’s heating, cooling and water heating equipment.  This works with our Rheem EcoNet-enabled HVAC and water heaters and allows us to have complete control of our home’s comfort on the go.  Using the EcoNet app on my smartphone, I can get the house ready for guests before I even jump in the car to head to the lake.

We chose engineered quartz countertops for our remodel because they are stain, acid, scratch, heat and impact resistant and, thanks to their non-porous surface, don’t need to be sealed like natural stone countertops.

 

making life easier: features we chose for our remodelWe installed two 200-amp breaker boxes so that we don’t have to worry about blowing fuses when entertaining large groups of people.

making life easier: features we chose for our remodelWe chose Panasonic WhisperGreen customizable exhaust fans which offer a modules that can be purchased separately to customize and automate your fan.  We chose the SmartAction motion sensor which means the fan automatically comes on when you enter the room and then automatically shuts off in 20 minutes.  

making life easier: features we chose for our remodel
We added a ductless mini-split air conditioner heat pump to our game room/man cave to allow us to heat/cool it separately from the rest of house when the glass garage door is open.

making life easier: features we chose for our remodel

We chose Schlage Connect entry locks because it pairs with our home automation system.  This allows us to lock and unlock remotely using our smartphones.  We can also store up to 30 codes to use and share.making life easier: features we chose for our remodelWe installed a whole home mini-pleat hepa air cleaner. This is perfect for families like mine with Asthma, Allergies, and other Respiratory Issues because it filters 100% of the indoor air every time it passes through the system.

Last but certainly not least, we also added whole-house automation including a security system and a state of the art sound system.  

All of these features have made such a difference in our quality of life.  I can’t begin to tell you which of these features are my favorites be bottom line…each and every one of them are making life easier for our family.

making life easier: the features of our remodel

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