So you're outgrowing your house, or the kids are leaving you with an empty nest, or you wake up one morning and realize that your carpet and paint are twenty years old. You want to know what makes the most sense for you and your family - how do you decide whether to redecorate, remodel, build new, or move? When you start thinking about your home design, remodeling, or redecorating project, you'll probably find that everyone from your kids to your mailman has ideas about what you should or shouldn't do. Everybody just wants to help, but their opinions conflict and you're not sure who really knows what they're talking about. But you're eager for some advice, since the design process is new to you and you don't want to make mistakes.

A Little Market Research An experienced real estate agent is a great source of information as you begin to form the first thoughts about your project. If you're leaning towards remodeling, a good agent can tell you about neighborhood trends and clue you in to what's going on in your area - is money being spent on remodeling, or are people moving away? Maybe you live in a "hot" area and your house has appreciated dramatically - do you stay there or do you cash out?

If you're thinking you'd like to build a new home, a well-informed real estate agent can quickly narrow down your property choices, saving you a lot of time. He might also know about lots that haven't come on to the market yet - and might be just what you're looking for.

Most far-sighted agents will be happy to consult with you at this point whether or not you're planning on buying a house or a lot; be sure to choose someone who knows your area very well.

Get Organized Before you jump into the deep end of this pool, get organized - that's the key to sorting through the advice you're hearing, and to managing the hundreds of decisions you'll have to make for even a small redecorating project. A good place to start is with a design notebook, a three-ring binder filled with manila pocket folders, each one labeled with a room in the house or a design task you want to accomplish. Into these pockets go paint chips, magazine clippings, photos, and notes scribbled from conversations with friends. The design notebook becomes a record of your decisions and helps you explain to others what you're trying to do.

With your impeccably organized design notebook in hand, you'll find - as if by magic - that the advice of your confidants becomes much more focused and clear. Suddenly their comments will start to help you (rather than add to your confusion) and you'll be able to ask their opinions on specific choices you've made.

Making Plans Now you've got a pretty good idea what you need, but what form should it take? Your neighbors have suggested adding a room on the first floor; your uncle (the part-time carpenter) thinks you ought to tear off the roof and add a second floor; your boss insists that finishing off the basement is the cheapest way to go; your niece (who's taking evening classes in interior design) is sure that new furniture and window treatments will do the trick, and you'd like to look into building a new home. How do you make sense of all the possibilities?

The design process is all about making choices, often about subjects you're not very familiar with. Design professionals (architects and interior designers) are trained to help you organize your ideas and sort through all of your choices in addition to their "traditional" design tasks. They can review the factors that influence your decisions and show you what's possible and what's not. They'll document the design process through meeting notes and drawings. They'll show you more than one solution and help you to decide what fits you best, and the best pros will be able to help you accomplish all of this creatively. Design pros can help you choose a builder, and keep an eye on the construction process.

And you don't necessarily have to engage a design professional for a full range of services. Most will be happy to work up a few preliminary sketches for you, or even just consult with you for a couple of hours.

Before long, you'll find the whole process much less daunting, maybe even exciting. You'll be making informed decisions, and looking forward to construction. Your friends and family will be able to point out with pride the ideas of theirs that you found a way to incorporate into your design. Your kids will appreciate the rooms you designed just the way they wanted, and even the mailman will remind you of how he suggested the location for the mailbox.

Building codes are regulations that control almost every aspect of home design and construction. Every new home, remodeling project, or room addition must be designed and built in accordance with the codes that regulate the structural design, energy efficiency, construction quality, and overall safety of structures occupied by the public.

Codes dictate the size and configuration of stairs; the number and type of windows and glass; the amount of energy the house consumes; methods and materials of construction; the location of smoke detectors; and hundreds of other items.

A new homeowner may only be minimally aware of the impact of building codes on his home, since most code issues are addressed before he occupies it. But homeowners undertaking a remodeling or room addition are likely to become very familiar with how building codes affect the design, construction, and cost of their project.

That's because building codes often require work to be done to parts of the house that seem otherwise sound - it can be an unpleasant surprise to find that you've got to tear out the ceiling of a room in which you'd planned no significant work.

Below are a few of the larger code-related issues often encountered in home remodeling, and some suggestions on how you can plan for them.

More Power!

It should be assumed that any home more than thirty years old will require an update of the electrical system. Usually the culprit is too little power to serve the needs of modern life; current electrical codes require about three times the number of power outlets than a few decades ago.

These additional outlets will necessitate a larger electrical panel, which may in turn require a larger electrical service (more power!).

Unfortunately this is a hard problem to avoid. If you're planning to add on or remodel, be sure your contractor budgets for an electrical upgrade.

What's Holding You Up?

The older a home is the less it's likely to meet today's codes for structural strength. If work is done in an area of original construction, the structure will probably need some reinforcing - even if the structure's been standing solidly for years.

Any remodeling that exposes existing structure or changes the way loads are distributed on the floors and walls will require a review of the home's structure. Additions also often cause structural changes as existing supports are altered or removed to make way for the new work.

But reworking the structural elements of a home often plants a bigger (and more expensive) obstacle in the way - the necessary relocation of existing electrical wiring and ductwork that may be routed through the framing. It's part of what's called the "ripple effect" - a small change in one area ripples throughout the house. Whenever possible, minimize the ripple effect by designing an addition that doesn't disrupt the house's structure and by remodeling existing rooms without moving walls.

Where there's Smoke...

Smoke detectors are of two types, battery powered and "hard-wired". Hard-wired detectors are powered from the homes' electrical system, and are interconnected - when one goes off, they all go off. Residential codes require that all new homes have hard-wired detectors, and most jurisdictions require their installation throughout the home when any part of it is remodeled.

Carbon monoxide detectors are a new addition to many local codes. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. CO2 detectors are similar in appearance to the more familiar smoke detectors and cost about $40 retail.

Plan on being required to add both smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to any significant remodeling or addition project.

Watch Your Steps

Stairs are probably the single most dangerous part of any house. Accidental falls on stairs happen for many reasons (each year about 239,000 or 9% of all stair accidents happen to women in high heels and children). In the past several years, residential stair requirements have been gradually increasing to make stairs less steep and easier to negotiate.

The least restrictive stair geometry allows a maximum step height ("riser") of 8 ¼" and a minimum step depth ("tread") of 9". Code writers are in the process of decreasing the riser height to 7" and increasing the tread depth to 11", resulting in a much less steep stair and hopefully, improved stair safety.

But these safer stairs are also larger - be sure to know the stair codes in your area before you lay out the design of your project.

Good Help Isn't Hard To Find

Experienced architects, remodeling contractors, plan examiners, and building inspectors can help you to anticipate many of the potential code issues hidden in older homes. A little time and money invested in a qualified review of your ideas can help you to avoid expensive surprises later on.