Remodel Your Home

What to do with all that house? (Part 2)

It has finally happened - all your children are out of the house and now you find yourself with more rooms than people to occupy them. So what's next? Should you move to a smaller home with fewer rooms, or does it make sense to redesign and repurpose the children's bedrooms? The professionals at Coldwell Banker Northwest Group offer you the following tips on how to make your house more homey in this next stage of your life:

If You Choose to Remodel:

If you want the emotional comfort of staying in your home, you are a good candidate for remodeling. Now that the nest is empty, you can:

• Create your own private office space, a library or an exercise room by combining the kids' bedrooms. However, before you make any big changes, make sure you don't have boomerang kids who expect to come back for a few years!
• Increase the value of the property by reorganizing the empty space - expand your bathroom to install a Jacuzzi for example, or build a bathroom spa.
• Overhaul a guest room or a den into a media room / entertainment center with a high end plasma TV, sound system and comfortable seating.
• For the more adventuresome, consider converting your home into an owner-operated bed & breakfast and use the money to cover education loan payments, or pay into your retirement plans.