| home improvement

Making the decision to remodel your home is exciting. It’s easy to feel a little overwhelmed at first, so to help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of tips to ensure a stress-free remodel.

We buy a house because of the vision we have for it. We see ourselves living here. We see our family future here. Then slowly we begin to look at our house differently.

Twice per year I surround myself with a small group of individuals that represent the best and brightest of the national remodeling industry. We submit ourselves to a process of peer review, an exacting yet loving business community where we trust each other enough to help us become better people who happen to be professional remodelers. This act has enabled me to grow in large (easy to quantify) and more subtle ways. The bottom line, because of these people pouring into my life, I become more helpful to my clients. It is the process of perfecting my craft.

Move vs. Remodel when every room in your home is too small. Enlarging or even adding one or two rooms won't solve the problem. Remodel vs. Move when your kids leave the house. Reconfigure the bedroom wing of your house into the master suite. It's rebalancing your portfolio by making every square foot earn its keep.

Check out the latest edition of The Thompson Times! This month's issue offers valuable tips on mudroom organization. Here are just a few of the tips:

Okay, it's confession time. Do you see this photo of our beautiful living room/front entrance? Look down and to the left. There is a big piece of molding called baseboard and then there is a little piece of molding called shoe molding in front of it. We did this project a year ago, but I didn't install that little piece of shoe molding until Charlie, one of our fabulous Lead Carpenters, came to the house last Friday and knocked out three different carpentry items that were on my ToDo list for a looong time.

This weekend I was with a friend whose husband may take a job as a collegiate sports statistician. It got me thinking about a few relevant statistics. I have between 250-350 unique conversations with people like you about homes like yours on an annual basis. About 100-150 of those conversations are 20 minutes or less via phone, 75-100 are 90 minute consulations and the balance are somewhere inbetween. Add to that the 250+ annual calls Pat, Sandie & I field on the Newsradio WOOD 1300Home Improvement Show and that's about 170 hrs each year talking about homes like yours. Our mission: To help you Love Where You Live with information & advice or by directly helping the design-build remodeling clients of Thompson Remodeling. I make the time in my schedule to talk to people like you everyday so why not make it a conversation with YOU. 616-942-1866 is the office line.

Here are my notes from this morning's interview on Newsradio WOOD 1300's 'West Michigan Morning News."