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When considering home improvements, it is important to ask family members for their opinions. So, how do you evaluate the answers?

Typical Discoveries

Talking with family members about home improvements will lead to surprising answers. You and your husband each have times you need to be alone (computer work, business planning), and times you need to be alone together (initial discussions about family plans, a new job, the budget, travel, etc.). This varies by age of course, but children have similar needs for being alone, alone with friends and with the family. There are times you and your husband will decide the children need your supervision no matter what their preferences.

Decisions

After discussions and interviews with family members, you are ready to map out a plan for how the various areas of the house are to be used. Do the initial plan and then discuss it with your husband or wife. Don't discuss it with the children until the two of you are pretty much in agreement.

Obviously, tastes are specific to individual people. You and your husband must come to an agreement based on the following considerations:

1. Theme ' Are you going with a particular atmosphere or style?

2. Costs ' What do you want to do versus what can you afford?

3. Value ' How much will the improvements impact the value of your home?

Once you've hashed through these issues, you'll be ready to move forward with your plans. Then it's time for the two of you to go over it with the children.

Children obviously can have some outlandish ideas about what would look 'cool' in a home. While you may balk at such suggestions, it is important to include your kids in the process. A happy medium can be allowing children a lot of latitude when it comes to their rooms. In reality, their rooms are 'homes within homes' and they feel comfortably in them. Don't worry, you can paint them after the kids leave home or before you sell it.

Planning home improvements can be a bit bewildering. Make sure to include your family in the discussion so you get a result everyone feels good about.