With home sales moving slower than ever, homeowners are staying in their homes longer. Some are choosing to personalize their projects, others are finally in their dream home and want to reflect their personal style. Owners are also returning to viewing their houses as homes rather than purely as investments. And this trend makes remodeling work more interesting. “We don’t subscribe to making buildings that are generic,” says Chuck Schwartz of Reader & Swartz Architects, in Winchester, Va. The projects shown here demonstrate how a designer or contractor can guide a client’s desire for personalization so the house feels like “them” but retains its resale appeal.
—Kathy Price-Robinson, a longtime remodeling writer and videographer, maintains Kathy’s Remodeling Blog
