Home Improvement

Is your bathroom looking dingy, but still functional so you feel like you should just bear with it until something really goes wrong? Paint peeling perhaps, or broken fixtures, water damage or maybe stained flooring. It's okay to remodel your bathroom simply for esthetic reasons. An old worn, but still function pair of shoes might be so comfy you can't give it up. They have a certain value as long as you don't wear them to a business meeting. But a bathroom? Nah.

What would you like? Larger bathrooms are very popular now. If you can afford it, and if there's room for it, why not expand a few feet. Years ago many bathrooms were built with barely enough room to turn around. But that's not what today's busy people want now. Think sanctuary.

Maybe you've got just a small window too. Why not enlarge the window along with the room, and add more lighting, and more variety in the lighting. If you're settling in for a bath (in your new sunken tub, instance) you might want dim, relaxing light. But if you're shaving, well you know you need something brighter. It's your room, so go ahead and enlarge your options along with the size of the room.

Are your cabinets worth keeping? If they are, simply refinishing them in a lighter color will give them new life. And if you top them with custom-cut marble, you're going to smile every time you walk into the room. So will your guests.

Another thing you can do to transform your bathroom is install radiant heat, the kind that radiates up from the floor. It'll cost you to install, certainly, but once you've gotten past that initial hurdle, it's very efficient and will save you money. Imagine being able to walk around barefoot on your warm bathroom floor. And, if the floor's warm, that means the rest of the room is too.

Doesn't this make you want to get started on your bathroom remodel right away? Before you begin though, do some window shopping at home improvement store displays. Take note of what you like and what you don't like. Read through several home improvement magazines for inspiration. Then, when you start interviewing prospective contractors you'll know some of the terminology and be able to give guidance to the pros you hire right from the beginning.

Let your imagination go wild, pull in a professional recommended by someone you know preferably. Absent that hire a firm that has a Diamond Certified rating, and you most likely will be satisfied.