Before you buy materials or start swinging a hammer, make sure you have a plan in place for your new home addition. Consider working with a home addition contractor to make sure you’ve thought of everything. The following tips can help you pull together a plan for success. Think about why you’re adding a room. … Continue reading A Quick Guide To Planning A Home Addition

After a long day, the thought of retreating to the master bath has restorative powers. Creating a master bath oasis will not only improve your quality of life, it will add to your home’s resale value. To ensure you get the results you want, consider the following tips, then hire a professional bathroom remodeling contractor. … Continue reading Ideas For Remodeling Your Master Bathroom 

As the days grow shorter, the air feels brisker, and the leaves begin to turn, residents of cold-weather climes start to think about the toll snow, ice and freezing temperatures can take on their houses. Now is the time to protect and winterize your home. Take these steps to minimize the impact of Old Man … Continue reading Be Ready For The Cold: Winterize Your Home

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, an estimated 36.5 percent of U.S. households include dogs, while 30.4 percent include cats. Why not include these important members of the family in your home remodeling plans? Consider your pets’ needs in relation to your own when incorporating remodeling for pets into your renovation plans. Here are … Continue reading Ideas For Pet-Friendly Remodeling

For many people, building or remodeling a home is something they have to squeeze into their busy lives. From researching online for a few hurried minutes before bed, to making quick calls during a child’s soccer game, it can be difficult to find the time to find and interview contractors. When you’re pressed for time, … Continue reading Top 5 Mistakes When Hiring A Contractor

If your home is looking a bit dated or if it qualifies as a “fixer-upper,” expect it to take longer to sell and perhaps not fetch as much as a turn-key property. Tackling home remodeling projects can be off-putting to many busy people while others find it difficult to envision a home’s potential. For these … Continue reading Get Ready To Sell With Home Remodeling

A good way to save money on household expenses is to improve home energy efficiency. In some cases this will mean an initial investment, but in others, a bit of time and effort will pay dividends for years to come. Try these tips for increasing your home’s energy efficiency: Start with an energy audit: Check … Continue reading Tips To Improve Home Energy Efficiency

It’s exciting to imagine the end result of a home remodeling project, envisioning a fabulous new bathroom, lovely new floors, or a gleaming, modern kitchen. Getting to the end, however, can take some patience, savvy and planning. Depending upon the project, you may have to deal with everything from workmen arriving at the break of … Continue reading How To Survive Home Remodeling

If the phrase “kitchen remodel” was the prompt given while playing a word association game, no doubt many of us would respond with “expensive” or “cost-prohibitive.” It is, however, possible to create a beautiful, functional kitchen without breaking the bank. Here are six ways to keep your kitchen remodel affordable: Plan carefully. Developing a master … Continue reading Six Tips For An Affordable Kitchen Remodel

Whether a Queen Anne Victorian, a Craftsman bungalow or a New England saltbox, historic homes need special care and attention. When you have a historic home, you are more than a homeowner; you are the guardian of the house. Your family will be leaving its imprint on the history of the home, so any alterations … Continue reading What To Know About Historic Home Restoration

A room addition can add value to your home, alleviate the need for an expensive move, and increase your enjoyment of your living quarters. It’s a big project, with many moving parts, so it’s not a good candidate for a DIY project. The time and work required to handle every aspect of the project can … Continue reading Why Hire A General Contractor For Your Room Addition?

Spending money may actually save you money when you complete upgrades and projects that can help lower the costs of owning a home. These practical home improvements can pay for themselves over time by reducing the costs of energy and water, and even homeowners insurance. A sampling of money-saving home improvements include: Drought-resistant landscaping: With … Continue reading Money-Saving Home Improvements

High-density living often means going without a great deal of outdoor space. With some creativity, however, it is possible to carve out an exterior niche without major home remodeling. Adding to existing structures or making the most out of small outdoor spots you do have creates a way to connect with fresh air and sunshine. … Continue reading Short On Yard Space? You Can Still Enjoy The Outdoors At Home

Whether your home remodeling project is simple or complex, making some basic decisions in the beginning will go a long way toward ensuring you’ll be happy with the results. Use this home remodeling checklist as your starting point for your project. 1. Set the schedule Do you have a can’t-miss deadline, such as an important … Continue reading Home Remodeling Checklist: Start Your Project Right

With spring on its way, consider reinventing your outdoor space into one that encourages you to spend more time under the sun and stars. To create a comfortable, inviting area, you will need your plan to incorporate seating, a view, a shady spot for hot days, and privacy. You can decorate your exterior room much … Continue reading Ideas For Outdoor Living Spaces

In recent years, the average tax refund has been in the neighborhood of $2,600. If you’re anticipating money back or already have your refund in hand, one way to put it to good use is on home repairs or improvements. Whether you want to stay within the amount of your refund or use it to … Continue reading Spruce Up This Spring With Your Tax Refund

Small-scale or large, bathroom remodeling can pay great dividends. A small bathroom is the perfect canvas for adding a fresh look to your home. You can use the size limitations to your advantage, choosing higher-priced materials since you have less wall and floor space to cover. Powder rooms offer even greater opportunities to experiment with … Continue reading 6 Ideas For Remodeling Small Bathrooms

Painting your home’s exterior is one of the fastest, most affordable ways to make a high-impact change to its appearance. If it’s been years since you’ve done any exterior painting, you may be surprised by the new choices in modern coatings and tools. Some things haven’t changed, however, such as taking the time to do … Continue reading Tips for Exterior Painting

When you’re in the market for kitchen remodeling ideas, the most important thing, aside from functionality, is that your investment stands the test of time. Every era seems to have its own kitchen dos and don’ts, many of which can’t survive a decade. That’s a tremendous waste of your budget, not to mention a disappointment. … Continue reading 5 Kitchen Remodeling Ideas You’ll Love For Years

A contractor’s skills, experience and qualifications are the most important factors in the success of your home improvement project, but the relationship you have throughout the process matters as well. What factors count in a good relationship with your home improvement contractor? Great communication, a detailed contract and reasonable expectations are some of the keys. … Continue reading Keys To A Good Home Improvement Contractor Relationship

Looking for a smart way to gain more living space in your home? Remodeling your attic can add comfort and convenience without going to the expense of adding square footage your home. Your plans for an attic conversion must take into consideration your objectives for your space and your budget, of course, but with potential … Continue reading Tips For Remodeling Your Attic Space

Laundry rooms are no longer an afterthought, having come a long way since they were tucked away in dark basement corners or unfinished spaces. From home improvement sites to remodeling forums, laundry rooms are being discussed as far more than just functional necessities. They’re becoming attractive spaces that make doing the laundry more pleasant and … Continue reading Laundry Rooms Move Up in Home Remodeling Plans

Using eco-friendly or green materials and methods in home remodeling is growing in popularity. While it may not be feasible to create a completely green home when you’re remodeling rather than building new, there are many ways to make your plans more earth-friendly. Choose environmentally friendly materials. Research products that are certified as having a … Continue reading Tips For Green Home Remodeling

Your choice of windows not only has a great impact on the look of your home — it also can affect your comfort and even your household budget. If your windows are drafty or no longer protect your home from the elements as well as they should, include new windows in your home remodeling plan: … Continue reading All About Windows

If your home remodeling wish list includes bringing more light into your home, installing skylights may be the answer. Using skylights or solar tubes to increase natural light can bring the outdoors in and improve your sense of well being, even in the long days of winter. Unlike traditional windows, skylights let in light without … Continue reading Lighten Up! The Benefits of Installing Skylights

With real estate market conditions still sluggish in many areas of the country, homeowners who otherwise might sell their homes are choosing to invest in home remodeling instead. Home renovations offer the immediate benefit of having a more comfortable or functional home for yourself and your family, as well as the longer-term benefit of adding resale value.

Planning for your home remodeling project may be the task that’s most important to an outcome you’ll be pleased with. Working without a plan is likely to result in spending much more time and money that you expected, and ending up with a space that doesn’t align with your initial vision. Experienced DIYers and professional home remodeling contractors have at least one thing in common: They don’t lift a hammer without a well thought-out plan in place.

Home remodeling involves a long list of tasks, from drawing up plans to choosing a home renovation contractor. One important task, however, is easy to overlook: Making sure that the insurance on your home is updated along with your home. If you didn’t include your insurance agent in the planning phase, talk to them as early in the process as possible.