Outdoor spaces are somehow special, often because they’re different and they provide a change from our day-to-day routines. Remember sleep overs as kids? When you slept in the backyard with a friend it seemed special but why? It took more work to set up the tent, to carry sleeping bags outdoors and oh my, what an adventure if you had to go to the bathroom and couldn’t find your flashlight.

With warmer weather, we’re finding more ways to spend time outdoors enjoying the fresh air and a change of scenery. Maybe we feel a sense of freedom, shedding established rules for how we live indoors? Leaving our busy lives behind, we can almost imagine we’re on vacation when we venture outdoors and soak up the scenery. READ MORE

You don’t need knowledge about your home systems to hire professional help. What you need is communication skills. Finding the right company or professional person to hire isn’t rocket science. Using a referral from someone you know or trust has been the customary wisdom and it’s still good advice. Your local construction material supply house may have recommendations.

You’re looking for professionals who can perform quality work, at a fair price and on a mutually agreed to schedule. Make sure you communicate these requirements to the professionals you interview. Work to create a trustworthy and positive relationship with your trades’ people. Confrontational behavior has no place in your project. The carrot, not the stick is always the best method. READ MORE

Children are great at dreaming about the world the way they would like it to be.

Somehow we lose this freedom as we get older. We dream about our college major, which college we’ll go to, what our first job will be like and ultimately who we might marry. We dream about these things until they happen and then we let go of our dreams, like clouds moving in the wind.

We still know how to dream yet we transfer the dreams to what our children might do with their lives. So why do we stop dreaming about our own lives? Things change, and that’s one constant we can depend on: CHANGE! If we take a step back and look at the big picture: READ MORE

Maybe you’ve  been thinking about a new entry door since you bought your or you found a door you like, but have no idea where to find one like it? You love your old house and the front door tells a story but you’re afraid it might detract from your home’s curb appeal and you’d really like more sunlight in your entryway.

In many ways your front door represents your home’s personality, and your family. It’s important that your front door compliment and enhance the overall look of your home, and it should fit into the neighborhood too. Drive down your street and several others nearby, and write down the personality you feel is most represented by the houses. Do this again, and focus on the front door and see if they match. Now you’re ready to pick a new door for your home as you should easily know if it the style of the new door should be casual, traditional, formal or unique. READ MORE

It’s true that kitchens, bathrooms and the right number of bedrooms are key to buying a house. However, there are other features like decks, views and great landscaping that make a house stand out from the crowd and influence buyers. These features become even more critical when it’s a buyers market with more houses for sale than buyers.

We might not count decks in the square footage of a home’s living space today, but the concept of creating outdoor living spaces is gaining popularity. Maybe in the future outdoor living space will be included in house listings similar to the way unfinished/below level or basement space is included today. READ MORE

New products are introduced to your home professionals each year at their respective trade shows. Here’s a peak from the 2010 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Chicago, from Amy Hoak at Marketwatch. She does a nice job talking to many different exhibitors at the show who share their views including an emphasis on budget sensitive ways to upgrade your kitchen.

What’s fun is you’ll  feel like you’re right there at the show, talking directly to those home experts who were interviewed in the video.

You’ll learn that people are spending less on kitchen remodels and that’s a good thing. Remember too, that you don’t have to do everything all at once. You can replace your countertops this year, put new hardware on your cabinets next year and the year after, add a tile backsplash to give your kitchen a finished look. Any one of these updates will make it feel like a new kitchen, i.e. when we replaced one home owner’s countertops to get the house ready to sell, she felt like she had a new kitchen and wondered if she was making the right decision to move. READ MORE

Home ownership is rewarding and stressful. Home owners are always weighing the pros and cons of pursuing their dreams versus the family budget and affordability. Sometimes home owners will stretch their budget by doing some of their own home maintenance although replacing the siding on a house is large enough that most home owners will hire professionals.

Maintaining your home’s exterior is a challenge for any home owner so don’t think you’re alone. You can learn from one home owner’s experience as she considers residing her Victorian home with vinyl, all the way down to the Gingerbread details. READ MORE

Are front doors really sexy? Maybe. Front doors reflect the style of a home. Front doors also reflect the occupants and in some cases, you might consider a front door sexy, or modern, elegant, country … any type of adjective you could use to describe a house.

Now that I’ve got your attention, it’s true that reading (or writing) about doors isn’t a very sexy topic but it’s an important one. Doors provide protection to you and your family. Given that we seldom use our front doors in the US, we forget the front door of your home makes a statement about your home and your family.

Our homes provide shelter, and doors play a key role. Doors not only protect your home’s interior from the weather, they provide access to your home’s interior. Doors used to provide security, i.e. think back to Robin Hood and feudal times. In some ways we still use our doors to decide who to let into our homes, and our lives. Consider … READ MORE

Bathrooms are right behind kitchens in importance, so they are a great place to invest your remodeling dollars. Women especially spend quite a bit of time in the bathroom from our morning rituals to giving our kids a bath. One of my favorite memories is practicing multiplication tables with Ryan while he took a bath. Each time he got the right answer, I bounced a ball into the bathtub and it made a big splash.

Given the time we spend in the bathroom, there are lots of things we want to store there just in case we need it and somehow, there never seems to be enough storage space. That’s why updating a bathroom is so popular because you immediately benefit, and it helps when its time to sell your home. It’s wise to take time planning out your bathroom space in order to create more function, along with the look and feel you want. READ MORE

You love how the wood siding looks on your home but the cost to keep painting the house is getting out of control. Some of your neighbors have replaced their siding with vinyl but you’re still not sure what the best solution is for you … and your house.

For more than 20 years, Remodeling Magazine has surveyed the cost of various remodeling projects compared to the projected value (higher price) when the home is sold. For more than 5 years, vinyl siding has been among the top 10 projects. In the Cost vs Value Remodeling Report 2008-2009, the projected value for installing replacement siding was: READ MORE