Decorating problems should be regarded as challenges to encourage sensible planning. Adhering yourself to a proper plan will go a long way toward solving problems. For starters, you can use the checklist below to guide you in your interior home design project:

a. What sort of home do you and your family want - formal or informal?

b. How long will you stay?

c. Do you have adequate storage space?

d. What are your family habits?

e. Will you be expecting a lot of visitors?

f. What are your preferences in styles and colors?

g. How much new furniture will you require?

h. What pieces of your old furniture can you use?

Remember to write down your all answers in a notebook. For now, do not let budgetary limits frighten you. Add more answers as they occur to you. Enumerate all the pieces of furniture you need (style, color, furnitures that need repair, etc.) List your needs against your wants such as: floor coverings, wall paints or paper, pictures, lamps, and other lighting and accessories. Include also ceilings, windows and other desired treatments.

Do not forget cleaning and maintenance work as you write down on your lists. Remember to be practical. If you’re really into the decorating process, you can orgnanize everything by using a filing system for each of your room - file articles and clippings, advertisements and brochures, catalogs and booklets. You can also request sample boards for paint colors, fabrics, floor coverings and wallpaper, and make a note for ones that you like.

Review all the datas your have - discard old or duplicate information. Try to get each of your family member’s opinion and have a general discussion. Remember home decorating is a family project after all.

Whether you make your own cabinets or buy them ready-made, you should count on getting the most out of all the available space. Here is a simple checklist to help you before proceeding with your kitchen project.

1. Does the plumbing and other utilities have to be altered to fit into the new kitchen plan?

2. Are there sufficient electrical outlets located at all work centers to carry the load?

3. Does your kitchen have adequate lighting?

4. Is it necessary to add wall switches, extra ceiling or wall fixtures?

5. Is there a kitchen window to provide you with ventilation? Does it also look attractive?

6. How about the walls? Are you going to paint them or will you put washable wallpaper instead?

7. Do the doors in the kitchen get in the way of cabinets?

8. Are the countertops durable and easy to clean?

9. Will your kitchen have space savers or built-ins?

10. What kind of floors will you install? Is it resistant enought to wear and tear?

Improving your existing kitchen is not a task that can be done overnight. It is best to make plans after studying the different space savers and other extras you can add in your kitchen. Then make a scale drawing of the floor area and see how the individual items fit together in the room. If all these seem overwhelming you can hire an architect to do the job for you.

In our previous article we talked about what a powder room is and what it does? We also discussed how putting in a powder room can add value to one’s home. Now we will pick the likeliest spots where we can put the half-baths.

In case you have a big or not so big home to locate a half-bath, you should consider rooms that are under used as prime candidates. In some cases, it may make sense to break through a hallway to borrow space from an adjacent room. Consider converting an underused closet to powder room space. Also, appropriating some garage space is still another possibility. If at all possible, try to limit the rearrangement of walls and doors to non-load bearing partitions since altering structural walls can be difficult and at the same time expensive.

If you can also plan a new powder room so it is above, below, or back to back with an existing bathroom, the cost and trouble of running the necessary piping will be kept to a minimum. Verify also with local codes standards for light and ventilation in bathrooms. Most codes stipulate that bath windows be operable and have a minimum of around 0.27 square meters of glass (roughly 600mm x 300mm). All bathrooms should be ventilated, if that is not possible consider installing an exhaust fan such as a “combination light-fan” fixture.

Access from a hallway is usually best, so you should consider traffic patterns within the house. Keeping them close to main living and entertainment areas will make them convenient for guests. Also when choosing a water closet, a siphon-flushing systems works best since they are generally the quietest.

Look at the illustration I have prepared above, the drawing shows a floor plan (ground) for a house with two full baths. The highlighted areas indicate possible powder room locations:

1. Replacing a hall closet and deepening it slightly yields a space for a toilet and lavatory. Hallway width is 1300 mm

2. Stealing some garage space and creating a new doorway in the hall makes for a possible powder room location. Verify that the two car garage should have a 30 square meter of space left.

3. Sacrificing den space and re-arranging the closet creates space for a toilet and lavatory off the foyer.

4. Space can be taken from a walk in closet to create a powder room with access from the foyer.

5. Space beneath the stairs can also accomodate a toilet and lavatory.

The notes above are mere guidelines; all it takes to put a powder room in most houses is a bit of imagination and ingenuity!

A house that seemed entirely adequate now, will shrink over with time - whether by additions to the family, changes in lifestyle or merely an expanded vision of the comforts of a home. Since most homes can grow with the owner’s needs, you can add a room, build on a second storey, and convert or transform the garage into living space.

By adding on rather than moving out, you get to keep the house, neighborhood, and schools you’re comfortable with, while increasing your living space and property’s value! If in the near future, you decide to sell your house, you can have a cost recovery of up to 75 percent for that specific expansion project.