Perhaps you have looked around your house as you thought about the future and realized that you need to do some remodeling.  It’s a good idea to give your home a good face lift every ten years or so to bring it up to date and make it look snappy and new.  Its fun to do as a family project and when the renovation is done, you will be proud to bring in family and friends to entertain because your home will look wonderful again.

But before you begin to lay out what you want to do with your remodeling budget, it’s a good idea to spend some time on getting ideas for what can be done and what is commonly being done in other homes in your community.  This is especially important if you are going to do the remodeling of your home to prepare it to go on the market for sale.  It is worth spending a few thousand dollars fixing up your place so it conforms to contemporary design and décor ideas so that when people come to look at your house with an eye for buying a new home, they will see a contemporary residence ready to be moved into.

So where do you go to get those up to date ideas for what to include in your remodeling program?  We already touched on one great source of ideas and that is what has been done in other homes in your community.  By discussing with your spouse the need to gather ideas for your upcoming remodeling, both spouses can be mindful as you visit other people's homes of how your contemporaries and neighbors have decorated their homes.  This is not to say you want to copy them.  But if you like how their bathrooms look or there are aspects of their kitchen décor that appeal to you, it is worth noting those design ideas and keeping them in your mind or you "ideas for remodeling" notebook to incorporate their ideas into your new renovation plans.

It isn’t hard to find ideas by turning to the media.  A few years ago, there was a TV show that took us into the homes of the Rich and Famous.  And we have seen shows come and go that let us see the "cribs" of famous musicians or entertainers.  While you probably don’t want the same bathroom that Julia Roberts has and you won't be copying Bono's interior decorating ideas, these shows are good places to pick up general design ideas to put in your notebook for when you put together your own remodeling plans.

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When the time comes to remodel your bathroom or bathrooms, the range of skills needed to get the job done are diverse.  For such a small room, you may need to have a contractor who is capable of renovating the tiling, the lighting, the plumbing and the electrical organization of the room.  You may look for your remodeling contractor to replace the shower, the toilet and/or the countertops to take an ordinary bathroom and make it look extraordinary.

If you have decided to bring on a contractor to partner with you to create a stunning new bathroom, that is a costly relationship but one that improves your chances of getting a good job done in that small space.  You may have to interview a number of contractors, however, to find one who has both the technical skills and the ability to catch your vision for a new look and feel to your bathroom.  Your remodel is about more than just making the bathroom more attractive.  You are creating mood and communicating to your guests messages about your style and outlook in that room.  Your contractor should understand what you are trying to say in your new décor and help you get that message across loud and clear.

You don't want to have to interview dozens and dozens of random contractors for this important job.  So one of your first priorities is to start out with a short list of qualified contractors to bring in to discuss the project and then to select the perfect one from that list who can get the job done right.  One way to get the right contractors is to find out who has done similar projects as the one you have in mind.  If you see a particularly well done bathroom in the home of a friend, find out if they used a contractor and get a reference from them.  If they were happy with the work, they will be eager to share that contractor with you.

Experience is everything when it comes to knowing how to do a good job in remodeling our bathroom.  When you finally do narrow down the candidates for the job, get more references from each of them.  It is not uncommon to "check out" the work of each contractor before you even invite them to bid on the project.  By examining the "before and after" pictures of what they have done with other bathrooms, it is easy to see if their skills are up to the task you have in mind for that contractor.

Naturally you should also check out if the contractor does honest business, has the right education, insurance, bonding and certification and if he brings workers to the project that are also well trained for the jobs they are being paid to do.  If you find that kind of high caliber contractor, he will be able to transform your bathroom to fit that vision you have for it and do it on time and under budget.

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In the parts of the country where basements are common elements of home construction, that underground floor to the house too often gets underutilized.  How often have you walked into a home and looked down the stairways that leads to the basement and got the impression that the basement is more of a dungeon than a usable space for the family?  That is why with a little bit of remodeling, you can turn your basement into a series of rooms that may be the most popular place in the house.

If you have a basement that is basically an underground version of your attic, you are missing a golden opportunity to create family friendly spaces down that stairwell.  There is something unique about basements that actually make them better living spaces than even the upstairs floors.  Because basements are well fortified with concrete and brick and are surrounded by the earth, basements are almost always cooler in the summertime and warmer in the winter.  One reason for that is that there is no leakage of heating or cooling through the walls.  So if you air condition or heat basement rooms, they stay that way.

The first and most important step to turning your basement into expanded living space is to improve the lighting and the make sure the stairs going down to the lower level are safe and inviting.  By putting in bright and safe lighting on the stairwells and on the rooms in the basement, you eliminate the intimidating feel that an underground space can suggest especially to the younger members of your household. 

Also, take a look at the stairs leading down to the basement.  If they are narrow and do not feel perfectly secure, that is an important first step in making that lower level more inviting and safe for the family to use.  It might take some structural work to make those stairs inviting and safe for the whole family.  But it is perhaps the most important step in your remodeling.

The basement is a great location for bedrooms for the kids, for an exercise room, for an expanded and well equipped laundry area or even for a second family room where the family can go to watch TV and stay cozy on those cold winter nights.  Take a look at the walls down there because you may already have the rooms in place that will just take a little wall paper or a paneling to turn into great places for people to use.  Then you just add in some carpet and a splash of decorating and you have a wonderful new level in your home that may be space that is going unused today.

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Have you ever walked into someone's bathroom when you are a guest in someone's home and just said "Wow"?  Now ask yourself if you think people get that "Wow" feeling in your bathroom.  If not, you may be able to put some real pizzazz into your bathroom with a few simple changes that can change the nature of the room entirely. 

If you think you might be able to take on a major overhaul to the bathroom, there is nothing like coordinating the tile, the shower and the sink area in one striking color combination.  You could go with black tile and shower and a black marble look to the counter tops combined with a pure white porcelain sink for offset to really make a guest take notice when they walk into that room.  You add some red towels and throw rugs and that bathroom becomes a real visual treat to the eye.

Many times guest bathrooms can look very closed in and small so anything you can do to open up the room is a great step in your remodeling plans.  If there is an exterior wall that you can use to add a window to allow sunlight to flood in during the day, that can make that bathroom look twice as big with just one simple improvement.  But if you then follow that change with the addition of a sunlight up above, that little bathroom will seem open to all of Mother Nature.  That bathroom will have a completely different feel about it with just those two changes.

Another great way to completely change the nature of a bathroom is to transform it from a humdrum bathroom into a spa with a couple remodeling steps that will not only make the bathroom look great but make it lots more luxurious for you and your family.  If the bathroom is small but there is some space in an adjoining room you can annex, you can transform that tiny restroom into a place people will want to linger.  The things to change include…

.    Double or triple the floor space of the bathroom by taking out a wall and expanding the pluming to accommodate the new improvements.
.    Take out that tiny bathtub and put in a Jacuzzi sized tub instead.
.    Add a hot tub or steam room.
.    Add lots of lights, floor space and mirrors so there is plenty of room to have a luxury bath time in that room.

While most of these changes will be used by you and your family, the look of that expanded bathroom will be truly impressive.  Don’t be surprised if people disappear into that bathroom and don’t come back for a while.  When they are impressed by your bathroom, they may want to soak up the atmosphere themselves.

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