Our home improvement goals for the New Year

This is the time of year for making new goals, resolving to improve yourself and your life.

Some 100 million Americans each year resolve to lose weight, stop smoking, de-stress and enjoy life more.

Home improvement goals for 2012 knock out at least two of those common resolutions — namely de-stressing and enjoying life more (at least once the project is completed).

We always emphasize the necessity of creating a master plan with each client. Once equipped with a master plan, they can determine how they want to execute the plan.

We understand many factors determine how, when, why and what home improvements you undertake and in what order. We understand this because we each have homes, too.

Remember the story of the shoemaker's shoeless children?

Even as architects specializing in home remodels, we have homes that are less than gorgeous, along with dreams we hope to accomplish someday. As with our clients, many circumstances are influencing if and when we can embark on our various projects.

One of our co-owners, Jared Bulloch, recently finished Phase One of his home remodel, but his life circumstance has put a hold on the next phase.

He finishes his MBA in June and has some loans to pay off.

"Finishing school will delay the house projects for awhile," he says. "We just redid the main level two years ago and we are enjoying that right now."

Jared's project included creating a master suite by reconfiguring the bedroom wing. He moved his master bedroom across the hall to the bedroom adjacent to the bathroom.

By adding a door into the bathroom and moving a wall, he created a much more spacious and private master bedroom without adding square footage.

The addition of a cantilevered window seat added needed seating as well as additional volume to the room.

He also updated the bathroom finishes and turned the other main floor bedroom into a laundry room. In the more public space, he opened the top half of the wall between the kitchen and the living room to strengthen the connection between the two spaces, but he hasn't touched the kitchen yet.

The kitchen redo will be a future phase. Jared didn't add any square footage in Phase One, but the space is more comfortable and functions better now for his family.