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.
