The design, size, and style of a home is as individual as its owners. Features which were perfectly acceptable to the previous occupants may send you running back to the drawing boardor maybe for a chain saw and a sledge hammer. Remodeling is in our human programming. Put our DNA under a really powerful microscope and you'll find nucleic acid shaped like a tool box.    

We all bring ideas along when we move to a new home. Some call for a gourmet kitchen with nuclear-powered appliances and freezers so cold that NASA could use them to test their spacecraft. Other are as simple as replacing a 1940s bathroom. Your schemes and dreams should reflect your own needs, tastes, and budget, not the picture-perfect projects shown in high-end home design magazines.    

Older homes sometimes beg for remodeling, but even new houses can benefit from finished basements or the addition of a sun room. What do you see when you walk through your home? Two small, unused bedrooms might become a master suite. A utility room can be extended and converted into a home office. Enclose an old porch and the kids get a warm, cozy playroom.    

Don't worry if you don't know a roof rafter from white-water rafting. We'll walk the house, from the bottom up, so you'll know what you're looking at and how your home is put together. You'll learn how to make a plan and a budget, and realistically decide how much work you want to do yourself and how much you want to contract out. Most important, you'll learn the ins and outs of the remodeling process so you can control it, instead of having it control you!    

Many people tell remodeling horror stories of unforeseen structural repairs, skyrocketing costs, schedules that change weekly, and not-quite-old-world craftsmanship on the part of some contractors. This doesn't have to happen to you. Will you run into the unexpected? Of course, but, in some cases, you might be pleasantly surprised: A job might go faster than you expected, or the floor of an attic you're converting to living space may not need additional bracing after all. Some people have even torn walls open only to find a pair of the original sliding doors and hardware tucked away and waiting to be used again.            

Remodeling involves more than the work and materials themselves. A certain enlightenmentit's too noisy to be a Zen exercisecomes along with the process. Budget restraints, for instance, will compel you to come up with creative solutions and alternatives.    

Maintaining a sane family life assuming it wasn't already insane to begin withcan be a challenge. Your new second-story addition, along with its noisy and long work hours, can take on a life of its own, but don't let it separate you from your family and friends.

Projects can seem overwhelming, but breaking them down into doable tasks, and following a well-laid-out plan, can get you through with flying colors.    

Finally, you're looking for good, well-crafted results, not the perfection of the Hope Diamond. Your home is to be lived in, not treated like a museum exhibit kept under glass. Your improvements should add greater comfort and convenience to your life not just be for show!