Sometimes some ‘zhuzhing’ can do the trick!

In the realm of home design, the principle of less is more can be a great start to finding your home’s style and really help you get rid of that ‘junk’. We know it’s not junk, but is it what you want around your home? Do you want to look at it every day? Embracing this ethos, the art of zhuzhing introduces a minimalist approach that can completely change the look and feel of your home. By decluttering and carefully curating furnishings and décor, a sense of serenity pervades, promoting mental well-being and relaxation. Simple yet stylish pieces take center stage, showcasing individuality and personality without overwhelming the senses. Functionality merges seamlessly with form, with sleek furniture and strategic lighting enhancing the aesthetic appeal. In essence, through the subtle refinement of said zhuzhing, homes attain a harmonious balance where every element contributes to a sophisticated ambiance, proving that sometimes, all it takes is a minimalist touch to achieve timeless elegance.

Does all this happen with simple zhuzhing? No, but it’s a great start. To truly reach your goal of a Refined Home is to reach out to us here at Refined Renovations!

With passion, experience and drive, we take pride in our unofficial ‘soup to nuts’ catch phrase. We tend to receive inquiries with no plans or general concepts, just that they don’t have enough space and they don’t want to move. Honestly, that excites everyone here at Refined. It allows us to get creative and thoroughly explore different design concepts by bouncing ideas back and forth with the clients to truly encapsulate their dream space. Once our renderings leave our clients speechless, we proceed to the build phase.

Though, this all doesn’t just happen on it’s own. What makes us unique is each Refined team member and their ability to constantly pull their weight, work together and unite as a strong team. Everyone working together, collaborating on strengths and assisting with weaknesses, they pull each other up and make sure everything is running smoothly.

From conceptual designs to pushing in chairs and fluffing the pillows, Refined designers works with their clients to get their wants and needs down onto paper, bringing them to life through conceptual designs in Chief Architect, and then carry them through to the build phase with our in house build team.

So how can we help you?

Well, lets get chatting! We can help you set your design sails and set your course. Think about these things:

• Where do you spend the most time?

• What tends to become the most cluttered space?

• What do you feel like you’re lacking?

• What would you have in your dream house that you don’t have now?

• Is your family still growing? Are you looking for more bedrooms or more living space?

• If you take ONE glimpse at your Pinterest board, what one color jumps out at you?

Once you have some answers in mind, fill out our new client inquiry on our contact us page. We look forward to chatting with you!

Refined’s Jim and Matt’s Debut on Love it or List it (totally legit & not photoshopped)

Have you ever seen HGTV’s Love it or List it? While one person is ready to stick a for-sale sign in the front lawn, the other is saying they’re being buried next to Bailey their beloved late golden retriever by the oak tree out back. But in February, we all only think about love and compromises… RIGHT?

Let’s reflect. What in your current home brings you the most joy? Where were your favorite memories made? Where do you spend the most time? But now, what drives you crazy? What about your home makes you want to move and never look at it again?

Love where you live. People spend most of their lives making money to afford a house. Once you have that house, time passes, memories are made, and it becomes your home. The home then becomes another member of the family that some people just aren’t ready to leave behind as their lives continue to grow. That’s when additions and renovations come into play. Don’t grow out of your home, let your home grow with you. You laid your roots, so let’s let them grow.

That’s where we come in. We work with you by hearing you out. By listening to your pros and cons, we mediate design and build options, and provide alternatives to compromise for the entire family. We work together to refine your home and make it suit your lifestyle. It could be as simple as repurposing spaces, rearranging furniture, adding color, or removing texture.

What we do to help. Through conceptual design meetings, we render design options for you to review. This helps visualize actual furnishings, to scale, within your space. People say online shopping is so annoying because there’s no guarantee it’ll fit, the return process is annoying, yatty yatty yatta. We’ll they’re not wrong, it is! But here at Refined our designers are excellent at Chief Architect - on which, to scale, they model your home and layout fixtures and furnishings that are guaranteed to fit your home. So time isn’t wasted with will this fit? will that fit? We have the dimensions of what we are working with and we get designing.

Don’t know where to start? We specialize in new construction, renovations, additions, remodels, and interior design. With showrooms in Wilmington, MA and Wellesley, MA, we service all of Greater Boston and around. A few towns we work in are: Andover, North Andover, Burlington, Winchester, Lexington, Concord, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Brookline, Cambridge, South Boston, Somerville, Arlington, Sudbury, Haverhill, and more. We’re a one stop shop here with an in-house design and build team who project manage and over see your entire project from start to finish. From full blown conceptual designs, to sourcing finishes, to framing additions and custom millwork, we have you covered. Soup to nuts.

So are you still singing, ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ call us this Valentine’s Day to talk your feelings out. We usually have chocolates and delicious lattes right in our showroom. Contact us today and let’s get your home Refined!

Christina Coakley - Refined Renovations

More often than not, our “We’ll get to it”’s tend to remain on our New Years Resolution lists year after year. But what’s really stopping us? Is it not having enough time? Not having the funds? or even having the funds but not prioritizing? We’re all right there with you! Don’t think you’re the only one with 10+ year ‘temporary’ carpet or furniture that you once said when touring the home that that would be first to go. So what is it? Personally, I think it’s committing to the right design, finish, fixture, etc. Why? Well, it’s difficult! Even just a simple search of “modern light fixture” brings up thousands of items that can be purchased in just 2 clicks.

But those two clicks tend to lead to a return process that requires having to get a box, go out in public, ugh, and actually set up a return. All in all, you end up spending so much time trying to live your life and not focus much on your house tasks. You just want to go home at the end of the day and kick back, and I don’t blame you! The joy of working with a design & build team is that we take all that stress away from you. Your task is simply work with us so we understand your vision, then you trust the process. Your house will transform into a home right in front of your eyes.

A house is truly one of the most financially difficult and scariest assets to own. So to put money into your house, you want to make sure it is truly every single itty bitty little thing you want down to the nails. And that’s what Refined makes possible. What you want, we create. What you are unsure of, we guide you to see all your options. What your mind is set on, we will still offer numerous possibilities. What’s nice is , and not to brag (bragging), our design team is killer in Chief Architect; so visualization is never a problem. What would the house look like with different color sidings? or what is we wanted to paint the bricks? Boom. Our project team comes out for the initial project walk-through, take all measurements and photos from all angles. Our designers then spend days and days on building these models to scale and as accurate as possible to truly make this as real as possible. Then comes the fun stuff; making it pretty. Whether meeting at our Wilmington or Wellesley showrooms, our materials libraries will have you in awe with all the materials and finishes. If we don’t have it in hand, we access to get samples of hand curated materials for your project.

All in all, we’ll get to it for you. We’d be happy to discuss your to-do list and make your house a home. Contact us to get started, visit one of our showrooms in Wilmington or Wellesley, or view our projects on insta to get some inspiration!

Christina Coakley - Refined Renovations