Some Things to Think About When Considering Home Improvements by Christine Brun on Creators.com

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Some Things to Think About When Considering Home Improvements

There's a time and place for investing in custom cabinets. You're guaranteed maximum use of odd space when you seek the help of a professional to design specially made cabinetry. Whether that means you go to a local kitchen-and-bath center or engage the services of an architect or interior designer, people who are trained to see space three-dimensionally can lend an expert hand. Those who design kitchens and baths and closets for a living can offer you unique solutions that are out-of-the-box.

We see useful storage, even if it's just a recess in a bathroom wall of 4 to 5 inches deep. With a custom approach to cabinets, you might go up and over a doorway with very shallow shelves that would be perfect for paperback books, a tea cup collection or a prized folk art assemblage of small objects from Africa or Indonesia. Of course, it's less expensive to buy the "off-the-shelf," standard sizes of cabinets, but in the interest of stretching all available space, consider the idea of custom.

It might be the case that you have specific areas in your home that would be better suited for custom, but know that you don't have to use specially fitted products for the entire house.

It's perfectly acceptable to blend custom and standard in a home. In fact, we see more and more people combining two or more colors or wood species in kitchens these days. Just use common sense and don't put a very inexpensive item right next to something that's obviously of better quality. That doesn't create visual harmony.

When you decide to stay put and remodel, it's quite likely that you may end up with some odd space challenges that beg for a custom solution. In the pictured 1940s Cape included in Duo Dickinson's new book, "Staying Put," we see one result of careful design planning and custom cabinetry. It was a challenge to increase storage in a cramped and undersized kitchen without enlarging the footprint. Before the remodel, a heater sat below the important window.

By relocating the heat source for this room, the designer was able to introduce a small window seat and cabinets to craft more storage.

There are over 80 million single-family homes in America today, and it's estimated that some 18 million of these are "underwater" — the mortgage is larger than the value of the house. For many families, the only option is to sit tight and wait it out. According to the National Home Builders Association, the remodeling business is very healthy right now, and many people see the wisdom of simply staying in the home that they already own.

If you intend to invest money in improvement projects, I strongly suggest that you also invest in the service of a professional architect. Dickinson tells us how important it is to work with what you've already got. Instead of feeling trapped in a house that doesn't work for you, consider making it better from the inside out.

My husband and I bought our home a year after marrying in 1991. The market immediately fell, and suddenly, our house was worth much less than what we paid. We spent a long 10 to 12 years waiting for the value to climb back up. During the 20 years that we've owned this house, we've performed a total remodel that started with a cracked slab and a burst pipe. With each discovery of new damage, the project grew until the entire house was revamped.

We've never been sorry that we did a good-quality job, commensurate with the neighborhood prices, and our family has been able to enjoy the results for years. There's no greater satisfaction than having a place for everything. When rooms are uncluttered and filled with light, the spirit is also lifted.

Keep finishes and materials simple and straightforward to save money instead of eliminating the services of a professional, who can maximize the available space.

Christine Brun, ASID, is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Small Space Living." Send questions and comments to her by email at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net. To find out more about Christine Brun and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.