Home Renovation Tip - Why Renovate

Lifestyle projects usually happen because people need a change. You could be tired of living with the same old layout and feel that it's time to bring that room into fashion. Maybe you're looking to improve your home or way of life, such as installing a skylight for more clarity in your rooms. Gutting out the attic to create a whole extra floor and more living space could be another reason, or maybe you're tired of the tacky vinyl in your kitchen and you want to install Mexican tile that would be perfect for your decor. There's no rhyme or reason for project ideas, other than you want them, and that's reason enough, sometimes.

Home upgrade, or retrofit, innovations are about the "mechanics" of your home. Installing more insulation to reduce heating and cooling costs is one example. Putting in dual-pane glass or solar panels can also help with the electric or gas bills. Maybe it's time to replace the furnace since it's been contrary lately and the warranty has expired. Focusing on the "shell" of your home in this manner, you'll find that annual maintenance isn't necessary. But the longer you stay in your home, the more these things become issues.

Renovations that involve maintenance and essentials repairs shouldn't be put off; this is part of the annual maintenance your home requires. If you're a smart homeowner, protecting your home investment is essential. For example, look at the calking around your windows and your roof shingles. Maintenance renovations stop problems before they start; small problems that could easily turn into catastrophes!

Regardless of your reasons for renovating your home, this can be done within the budget you can afford. If you're planning to remain in your home for the long-haul, all three above-mentioned reasons are quite valid. If you plan to sell your home in the future, the right renovations will improve its value and selling price.

Author Steven Gaines takes us from New York's most expensive condominiums and co-ops to the offices of its most powerful real estate brokers to reveal the outlandish displays of ego, bad behavior, and status hunger that come into play when the best addresses in the city are on the line.

With his signature elan, Gaines weaves a gossipy tapestry of brokers, buyers, co-op boards, and eccentric landlords and tells of the apartment hunting and renovating adventures of many celebrities - from Tommy Hilfiger to Donna Karan, from Jerry Seinfeld to Steven Spielberg, from Barbra Streisand to Madonna.

Here, too, is a fascinating chronicle of the changes in Manhattan's residential skyline, from the slums of the nineteenth century to the advent of the luxury building. Gaines describes how living in boxes stacked on boxes came to be seen as the ultimate in status, and how the co-operative apartment, originally conceived as a form of housing for the poor, came to be used as a legal means of blackballing undesirable neighbors.

A social history told through brick and mortar, The Sky's the Limit is the ultimate look inside one of the most exclusive and expensive enclaves in the world, and at the lengths to which people will go to get in.

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