Charlie Nail

Home Remodeling Ideas can be separated into needs, wants, wishes and why fors. Charlie Nail, home remodeling guru here, I know that your first brainstorming session was exhausting, but you are doing great. Once you get through this session you will be very clear about your projects.

Group Your Projects

First, group all of the similar home remodeling ideas together. For example, list everything related to your kitchen under the kitchen heading. Same for the bathroom and other rooms in your house. If you have exterior projects, put them under appropriate headings.

Second step is to either create your own table or go to the Home Remodeling Plan Workbook where you will find one prepared for you. If doing it yourself, make 5 columns and label them Description, Needs, Wants, Wishes and Why.

Now, put each group of tasks into the description column. Repeat this until you have gotten all of your home improvement projects/tasks listed. For planning purposes, we are going to talk about projects or groups of tasks. If you need to know how to do a specific task, hop on over to the How to Remodel Workshop.

Take this new list of home remodeling ideas - and check off if they are needs, wants, wishes and why fors. Wait, wait, how do you tell which column to check? How do you define this?

Define Needs, Wants, Wishes and Why fors

It is easier for me to explain by example. You have a group of tasks labeled “hall bathroom upgrade”. It is a typical full bath in a typical home, and it has outlived all of its pieces and parts. Not only that, it is downright ugly.

Behind the shower curtain we see that there is duct tape at the seam between wall tile and tub. This is trying to serve the purpose of the missing silicone caulk. It does not appear to be working, as is evident by the curling vinyl flooring at the edge of the tub where these 2 things meet. A lovely rust streak slides down the tile under the shower head. This indicates a long standing unresolved leak and might indicate more. Despite this obvious problem, that rust is definitely not matching the rest of the decor.

The rest of the decor has always made you crazy. The 1970’s dark brown vanity and matching medicine cabinet, the cracked sink in the chipped formica countertop, those tacky looking towel racks, they have to go! And you don’t know what you will do if blinded by that single light bulb above the sink one more time!

Ok, ok, breathe! You can fix these things. Remember the new list you are working on, home remodeling ideas - needs, wants, wishes and why-fors? Let’s get back to this.

Needs

The missing silicone caulk has created a huge need. This has created the need to remove the tub and check for subfloor damage. This damage will need to be fixed. Chances are that water has wicked up into the drywall behind the tile. This will need to be removed and replaced. Since you will have the tile and wall surface removed, you need to replace the old leaking shower valve. Stop! You didn’t have any of these things on your list at all! You just wanted to get rid of the duct tape and funky rust stains. How are you ever going to get through this project if you don’t even know what steps to take?

We will help you as we have countless other homeowners, read about us to get comfortable with our experience level and then lets forge ahead, we all have work to do!

Because you have removed almost everything in this bathroom, we can see its glorious underbelly(can you believe how gross it looks!- you had no idea what was behind that tile!).

There are 2 other things you need to have done. A licensed electrician and plumber need to take a look at this bathroom to make sure it is safe and will pass local code requirements.
While doing this inspection, get prices and check their schedules on actually being able to do the upgrades that you need and want. Don’t worry, when ready for this step, we will explain how to hire these professionals.

Need or a Want

There is really only one item that could be a need or a want. The pro’s will tell you to get a shower door, that it helps control water flow and possible future damage. Many people don’t like the aesthetics of a door, preferring that mobility and space creator that only a shower curtain can give. Analyze if you and family members will be able to develop the good maintenance habits that allow for the curtain. Otherwise, plan on installing a shower door.

Wants

You have always wanted different lighting over the sink and you have always wanted an extra outlet. You have always wanted to replace that dark vanity and medicine cabinet with a lighter color and a few more drawers. You always wanted your sink and shower faucets to match. Oh, yes, you don’t really care about the stye of the toilet, but, you will need to replace that old one. You want it to look good next to the new tub.

Wishes

Out of all your home remodeling ideas, the one you really wish you could have is the solid surface countertop with integral sink that you saw at the local home improvement store(what the heck is solid surface! You want that corian top! Synonymous, we will cover this later). You really wish you could get that set of towel bars that match the faucets perfectly. You found the greatest color chip and you wish you could paint it that color! It would go so well with the tile you wanted for the shower and floor.

Now you’re on a roll! Keep going with this process of defining your home remodeling ideas - needs, wants, wishes and why fors. Oops, we forgot the why fors!
Why fors

This column is for keeping track of why you are doing each thing. Remember your first brainstorming session home improvement remodeling - why are you thinking about this? Go to this first list to see why you are thinking about these specific home remodeling ideas.

To continue with our example, the missing silicone caulk has created a repair that leads to other projects. Any time you upgrade a bathroom you will positively impact the ability to resell your home more quickly. All of these home remodeling ideas will make it look and feel more like you. The wishes column will help you make your dream home improvement remodeling ideas come true.

Now you can finish your list and when you do it is time to take it over to home remodeling costs, to get some average ballpark numbers. Until then, have a great time defining your home remodeling ideas - needs, wants, wishes and why fors!