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So your house doesn’t work for you, and you think your only options are to move or renovate completely. But you can’t really afford or don’t want to do either right now, so you feel…. stuck. You blame your house for everything: the shoes by the door, the boxes in the family room, the mail piled up on the counter, the lacrosse stick you keep tripping over. It would all be fine if you just had a different house.
Oh wait. That’s me. Or at least it was a few years ago. I blamed my house for everything. But then I had an epiphany. Maybe it wasn’t the house at all. Maybe it was the way my family was living in the house.
When the kids were 5, 4, and 1, the house actually worked pretty well for us. But times have changed. The kids are bigger, they don’t want to share everything anymore, and we all need more personal space. The demands we make on our house have changed completely, but the house hasn’t changed at all. That’s the problem. My house needs to be remastered.
Maybe you don’t feel quite as stuck as I did, but there are things you would change about your house if you had the time and money. I guarantee that there are projects you could tackle right now to make your home function better for you immediately. All you need is a plan and a little courage to start. I’m here to help.
What does remastering mean anyway?
Remastering is the process of making a new and improved master from an old one. Usually it refers to images, movies or audio files, but in this case it refers to your home. When we remaster a home we evaluate the entire house to identify what’s working and what’s not. Then we optimize every space to meet our current needs, not our needs from 10 years ago. For a more detailed explanation, read my article Remaster Your Home: How to Create a Functional Home You Can Love.
Meet Virtual Kate
Kate has a lot of problems with her house, but her dining room causes her the most stress because it’s the first room people see when they come into her house and it’s a mess. Watch below to see how we remaster her dining room and fix another HUGE problem at the same time. Now imagine if she could do this to the whole house!
You can do this!
The hardest part is getting started. I know this can be overwhelming, but you are not alone. I really want to help you. And once you get started, you’ll wonder why it took you so long.
STEP 1: PLAN
Everything is easier with a plan. Whether it’s starting a business, training for a marathon, or remastering a home, a cohesive plan provides the framework necessary for confident, decisive action and a positive outcome. Learn about the importance of having a remaster plan here.
STEP 2: IMAGINE
Most people have a really hard time seeing anything differently than what’s right in front of them. Good solutions to your everyday house problems can be extra challenging. Visit the Imagine section to see solutions to common problems and learn how to come up with new ideas on your own.
STEP 3: LEARN
Want to try DIY, but you’ve never touched a hammer and don’t know what different tools are even used for? Not a problem! I teach skills down to the most basic levels in the Learn section. I also offer general advice about home ownership here.
STEP 4: DO
So you have the courage to try a DIY project, but you don’t know the steps or where to start. Hop on over to Do and follow my how-to guides on projects I’ve completed in my own home. Feel free to tweak these plans to create the perfect solution for your house. I’ll be adding to these over time as I tackle one project after another.
STEP 5: BRAG
This is definitely the most important step. Once you’ve completed a project, show us what you’ve done! There’s a good chance someone else is having the same problem you had, and seeing your solution could be all the inspiration she needs to complete a project of her own. You’ll be able to submit photos of your solutions soon, and I’ll post them to our Brag Board.