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Many times it's possible to rearrange spaces within an existing house and make it work so much better than before. By opening up floor plans, moving stairs, even moving bedrooms and living spaces, it's possible to create a plan that is appropriate for today's living. Here are some things to consider:

Let go of Preconceived Ideas

By letting go of preconceived ideas of how rooms should be arranged, you may be able to arrive at a solution that you couldn't imagine before. That may mean that the master bedroom needs to go where the living room is. Or moving the kitchen may solve many layout problems. While the project is still early in the design phase it's easy to test bold ideas, so do this early on to arrive at the best solution for your project.

Move the Stairs and Get Rid of the Fireplaces

It seems more often than not that stairs and fireplaces are just in the wrong spot. Stairs are often too tight and dangerous to navigate. By moving the stair, it can often be designed to better connect different floor levels and also be a more comfortable dimension to make the stair safer to use.

Old masonry fireplaces are often located where it would be much nicer to have large windows or french doors to the outside. Or they are just much more massive than they need to be, taking up valuable floor space. With the advent of modern prefabricated metal fireplaces, it's possible to remove an old masonry fireplace, and replace it (possibly in a new location) with a smaller and more efficient unit.

Get Rid of Hallways

Look at turning hallways into part of the space of the adjacent rooms. This is not always possible, but hallways don't generally make a house feel larger or more expansive. They generally are perceived as being wasted space. By connecting rooms to each other without hallways, you'll end up with a space that feels larger and flows better.

Consider Green Materials

A large portion of a whole house remodel is new finishes. Consider green materials such as low VOC paints, sustainably harvested wood floors, natural carpets, and other materials that do not off-gas. Use the remodel as an opportunity to incorporate as many green materials as possible. This will result in a better interior living environment with less chemicals off-gassing, and it is better overall for the environment.

Don't Forget the Outside

While the interior of many homes needs a major overhaul, often the exterior does as well. Consider new paint colors, new windows, doors, roof, and siding. When adding new doors and windows, don't be constrained by existing openings. It can be easy to lower sill heights or even add french doors where a window was once located. Also consider adding architectural features such as dormers or an interesting entry canopy.

A whole house remodel is an exciting project to undertake because the result is often a new, fresh design that doesn't have any resemblance to the old design. By making bold design moves, rearranging spaces, and upgrading and renewing materials, an old house can be given new purpose and extend its useful life many years.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/remodeling-articles/the-whole-house-remodel-878362.html

Author: Nazim Nice

About the Author:

Nazim Nice is a Seattle Architect at Motionspace Architecture + Design PLLC and has over 12 years of experience designing residential and commercial projects. He is also the founder of Lumen ID, a company that produces custom engraved architectural products including custom engraved switchplate labels. Visit his blog: The (Un)common House.

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The "green movement" which encourages us to think of environmentally conscious ways we can go about our everyday lives has taken hold in a new way in the last decade.  The motto of "think globally, live locally" is a beautiful way for us to implement green living principles because in truth we can only really make a difference in the daily decisions we make each day.  So when the time comes to put together a remodeling project, if you can integrate green principles even in how you go about planning to renovate your home, you can do your part to save the planet.

At a procurement level, we all can look for ways to buy green technology materials or materials that were made with recycled materials.  This is especially important if you are rebuilding walls because if you can use recycled materials rather than freshly produced lumber or wallboard, that cuts down on the amount of manufacturing work that has to be done to make building materials from scratch.  It also reduces how much the lumber industry has to kill trees to provide for our building needs which reduces our carbon footprint just one more step.  And step by step is how we win this battle to save our environment.

If you are thinking about way to make your home environmentally friendly during the planning phase for your remodel, that is an excellent point in time to begin to integrate new technologies into your daily life.  The simple step of putting solar panels in the roof while you are having your roof redone gives you the ability to go solar.  In doing so you reduce the amount of energy you have to pull from power companies who are producing that energy by burning fossil fuels or gas.  On top of that benefit, by producing your own energy, you save money because you become more self-sufficient.  In fact, many homes that produce solar energy make so much electricity that it is more than is needed for one home so they sell that energy back to the power company.  Yes, going green can even make you money.

When you have your walls or ceiling tore up during a remodeling project, this is a perfect time to put in extra insulation as well.  This one step can reduce the use of energy to heat or cool your home noticeably.  Your utilities bills will fall which is money in your pocket.  But more than that, your lower utility bill means you are using less energy to take care of your home, which means you are doing a good job of going green.  By being on the look out for the many ways you can use green technology in the design of your home renovation, you can make a huge leap into the future by starting to live green locally to benefit the earth globally.

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