A few years ago, during the real estate boom, we added a second floor to our home and then remodeled the first floor (which was in dire need). After living with the results of the remodel for a couple of years, I will share what I have learned about our decisions while remodeling.
1. Make sure you have a linen closet in your bathrooms, or at the very least, outside the bathroom. We have none.
2. Do not have a rolled edge on your counter. Every bit of liquid will go over the edge and end up in your drawers.
3. Be sure to put a recessed light over your bathtub or shower. We have one in the master but not the other bath, and I regret it. With the light, it's like taking a shower in a hotel. Love it!
4. Do not use laminate flooring if you have animals. They tell you it is water resistant, but a couple of puddles and the edges lift up.
5. Put pull-out drawers in your bottom cabinets in the kitchen, otherwise you will spend a lot of time on your knees searching the back of the cabinet for items.
6. Use corian for counters. We have a granite island and corian counters around the sink. I hardly ever do any chopping or put anything liquid on the granite. I spoil it and treat it like a baby. The corian is so easy to keep clean and even though it is a light color, stains come right off with a little scrubbing.
7. Try not to have light painted cabinets. They look pretty and cottage-y, but boy, do they have a lot of splatters and drips. They are hard to keep clean. Wood-toned cabinets hide a lot more.
8. Be careful where you put your light switches. We thought we put ours in great places, but some of ours are really inconvenient. For example, put the closet switch right near the handle side of the door, not the other side. Same thing in the bathroom. We have to go around the door to get to the switch.
9. Make sure you have plenty of lighting in your walk-in closet. We have one recessed light in ours, and I can't see anything in the bottom racks of the closet as the top racks shadow them.
10. Be sure to have a nice range hood over your stove, rather than a microwave hood. We originally had a hood, but now have the micro hood. I really miss the hood as it removed so much more of the cooking odors and smoke, plus the bottom of the micro hood is too low and gets really greasy.
11. (OK, it's supposed to be ten, but I can't forget this: Be sure to have a clause in your contract that penalizes the contractor dollars per day for going past the time when the project was supposed to be finished. It will light a fire under them, trust me!)
I hope these ten tips will help you in any remodeling you might be in the middle of or considering.
If you can add to my tips, please comment below. Just think how many mistakes can be prevented if you share your experiences!
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