New Year's Resolution Already Busted?

         What part of your home doesn't work for you?  How many times have you piled your guest’s coats on the bed or walked by the formal living room that you never go into? Do you have rooms in your house that are underutilized? Does the flow of your floor plan accommodate your current family’s lifestyle? Is your garage a shelter for your cars or a large toy closet?   Does your back yard allow you to easily entertain your friends?

These are only a few questions that you should answer to help you decide if it is time to remodel your home. We all make New Year’s resolutions every year. Most resolutions have to do with exercise or eating better or drinking less coffee or soda. These are generally radical lifestyle changes that we try to abruptly change. It works for a little while but something usually bumps us off track and we revert back to our normal comfortable routine. Why not make a New Year’s resolution that you can stick with?

Having an underperforming home will add unneeded stress in your life. Your home should be a sanctuary, a place to relax.  There are several things to look at that add stress. Is there enough storage in your home? Does the Kitchen flow properly for your preferred cooking style? Is your entertaining style formal or informal and does that match your current floor plan? Do you need a full home office or do you have one that you don’t use?  A common bone of contention with most homes it that the design is choppy and there are too many small rooms and hallways.  Most of these problems can be fixed by a good residential designer. The best thing about this New Year’s resolution is that you are transforming your house to fit your lifestyle and making life a little easier for yourself. Resolutions are easy to keep if you don’t have to change your natural habits.  

Whether it’s a new Kitchen, transforming a formal space into an informal space, changing the function of a small confined room, adding a small mud room area, or adding an outdoor entertainment area, the bottom line is to think about all of the things that bother you about your current situation and write them down. A specific list of the things that you like and dislike as well as the way that you currently work around the problems in your floor plan will be crucial in getting your house functioning to your needs. Every house can be fixed if you’re honest with yourself about the problems.

Don’t make the mistake of further compromising your home by not changing something because of the fear of “re-sale”. Most houses on the market are overly formal and our lifestyles have become very informal. Changing a home to be less formal is very desirable in today’s market. Spaces can still be luxurious without being overly formal.  You, your designer, and your builder should all be on the same page because if one is out of the loop, the project could be compromised or go grossly over budget. Make sure that you surround your project with a great team and don’t forget to dream big.

Come see us at www.KDHResidentialDesign.com and feel free to ask us any questions about how to begin your resolution or to have us consult on one that you have already stared.