Remolding 101

We have done a lot of remolding over the years both on our own and by hiring someone so I though I would start offering some advice if you are looking to do some yourself.

So we have decided to do some remolding on our new place to make it fit our family better and make some improvements.

So how do we start all this....
1. Figure out what you need to do?
      To do this find the major problems in your house.  Do you have draft windows that are letting cold or warm air in around them?  Do you have any insulation in the walls or attic?  How do the pipes look?  Is there corrosion around them? How is your roof and siding?

These are some areas that should be address first. These are areas that will give the structure of your house the security and support that will allow you to make the cosmetic improvements that you want to make in the future.

2. Figure out what you want to do?
      How can you improve this house and make it your own?  Does the flooring need to be change?  Is the carpet or flooring bad?  Do the rooms need to be remodeled or repainted?  What else do you want to change?  Is there walls you want to remove or add? Is the kitchen or bathroom how you want it?

The second ones are all decisions that can be made to make your house your home.  Once you have the bones of your house secure you can change it and make cosmetic improvements.  This is when you get to play.

3. Once you have figured out what needs and what you want to do it's time to either figure out if you can do it yourself or if you need to hire someone to do it.

4. If you are going to hire someone to do it, it is best to find some people to interview and give you bids on the work that you want done.  When we have someone do work for us we usually get at least 3 different bids so we have a general idea of how much it will cost and what we can do for what price.  Usually we ask friends that have had work done and been happy with it to suggest someone.  Another good way to find someone to do the work for you is to stop by a lumberyard or hardware store and get some suggestions from them.  If they are a good one they will only suggest people that will do a good job and that they would personally use.

A new house and a plan to make it a home.

Now that we have a new house it's my job to make it our home.  I hope that this is something that I am able to do.  I also want to make a this home a nice organized place where things get put back where they belong.
We hope to be moved in soon before school starts.  But because of this I want to try to get my girls room done as much as possible. I think it would be the best thing for them to help them feel secure.  I'm not sure if this is going to be possible however.  We are planning on doing some remolding and I was hoping it was going to be done at least in their room before we got in.  But now it doesn't look like that is going to happen.  It looks like the remolding is going to be starting shortly after we get in.  At least I hope most of it can get done as soon as possible.

Thanks to Pinterest I hope to be able to get this house organized.  This site is a great place to get some really good ideas of organizing ideas that have worked for other people and that can be adapted to work for your family.

Since we hope to start our remolding upstairs first I hope to start my organizing in the kitchen.  This is a great place to start since it's one of the most used rooms in the house.  I hope to set up a launch pad for the family just inside of our door.  This will be a place where all the stuff that comes and goes with us everyday can be held.  A place for everything and everything in it's place right?  Well we'll see.  I'm going to try to take what we have and adapt it to our family.  I'll keep you up to date on how it looks and what is working and not working for us.

So now I ask you...where is your launch pad and how do you keep it organized so you don't lose the daily essentials for each day? Also please feel free to share your best organizing ideas for your kitchen.  As I get the kitchen done I will share what I have done.