Top 12 Remodeling Tips

1). Be consistent. Study your hardware. If you have chrome hinges and knobs on your outside doors, install chrome pulls, knobs, towel bars and hardware throughout the entire house. It is permissible to mix cool metals – like brushed nickel – with chrome, but please don't mix brass, antique brass and chrome together.

2). Buy major appliances in the same color, preferably white, if you have a white kitchen. White is a proven classic. Stainless steel refrigerators might look good to your eyes today, but how do you know they won't become the avocado green and turquoise of the future? Even better: Install a custom trim kit on a new counter-depth refrigerator and integrated dishwasher and insert matching cabinet door fronts – to make appliances blend invisibly into your cabinetry.

3). Get the most bang for your buck. If you like the layout of your kitchen, instead of replacing your cabinets, consider painting or re-facing the doors. Replace the cabinet hardware and install invisible hinges and full-extension drawer glides. Retrofit the corner cabinets with lazy Susans. Take the money you save and buy a new counter depth refrigerator, preferably with custom panels that match your new cabinet fronts. And buy a sleek dishwasher with hidden control panels, also trimmed with custom panels that match your new cabinet fronts and drawers.

4). Limit your flooring selections. In older homes, often there is a marble entry, a carpeted living room and dining room and a hardwood family room floor – all visible from the front door. Be consistent: if you like the entry floor but don't want it everywhere else, select one additional flooring for the other rooms, but commit. Just because previous owners had three floors off the entry doesn't mean you have to. Better yet, select just one flooring, entry included, to fully expand the sense of space and flow.

5). Just say no to installing wallpaper everywhere. Wallpaper is the first thing you change when you buy a house, so why install it in the first place? The powder room is one thing, but the bathrooms, kitchen and dining room, too? Wallpaper can be painted if it is not buckling. First, float the seams with joint compound. Sand, and repeat floats until the seam is buried. Next, prime with a special primer made for wallpaper. Then paint as usual.

6). Don't tear out the tub; refinish it. If your porcelain-coated, cast iron bathtub is worn, refinish it. Check the Yellow Pages for companies that will repaint your tub (and the dated tile and grout above it), and it will look like new and wear like iron. I had my tub refinished years ago, and it still shines like new.

7). Float out ugly ceiling texture. "Loud" ceiling texture can really date a house. Since the purpose of heavy texture is to hide inferior sheetrock work, bury the texture under several smooth floats of joint compound. Hold a bright work light at a severe angle near the ceiling to check the smoothing progress. Gently sand the floats as 'smooth as a baby's bottom' with a barely damp scrub sponge. Prime with latex wall primer and paint a pretty color.

8). Add wood trim for architectural interest. Many builder homes do not have any wood trim around windows or crown molding. Installing trim adds both style and resale value to your home.

9). Play it safe with big-ticket, "permanent" surfaces. Let's face it: replacing countertops, flooring and backsplashes is costly. For resale, don't get all crazy with wild primary colors on "permanent" surfaces that involve massive tear out to "fix". Select classic, neutral colors and fuel your desire for color in less "permanent" ways with art, window treatments, paint and accessories. A buyer probably will shy away from your magenta solid surfacing countertops and floor and buy the calmer house down the street instead.

10). Test- drive paint colors. We have all seen it. The "taupe" house that is actually mauve, or the "navy blue" shutters that are actually intense, royal blue .... right there on the street for neighbors to cringe at and passersby to laugh at. Many paint manufacturers now offer small "testers" that you can paint onto white poster board. Tape a sample to the wall and check the color in the morning, in full sunlight, on a rainy day, at dusk – before you paint the entire house. Stand way back – at the street – to look at the color, then move in and place it next to the brick and grout. This applies indoors to wall and ceiling colors as well. This tip will save you both time and costly mistakes.

11). Hire a professional for an overall plan. You wouldn't plan an extensive road trip without a map, so why would you invest thousands of dollars in a remodeling without an overall plan? An architect is necessary for major structural changes, and a design professional should be consulted for color and surface selections. A one-hour consultation is an affordably wise first step that will pay for itself in preventing unnecessary expenditures and costly mistakes.

12). Don't "overbuild" your neighborhood. Most Realtors agree that a well-executed kitchen, bath and laundry room remodeling will elevate your home's value. You probably will not get a full return on your investment by adding on a study with floor to ceiling bookcases, but a tasteful, professional remodeling in the "wet" areas of your home is a wise expenditure, particularly if you are savvy about what homes in your neighborhood are selling for. In other words, it probably would not be wise to plan a $70,000 kitchen remodeling if homes nearby are selling for $90,000.