Remodeling a room in your cabin home can feel intimidating at first, but if you take a step-by-step approach, it can be quite a bit easier. In this article I will lay out some simple steps to help make your remodeling experience a bit more pleasant, because I care about you!

First, define your intent. Do you want a full renovation complete with demolition, or just a partial remodel? Do you want to use your existing furniture, or do you want to buy new? Are you painting the walls and doing the floor, or leaving them alone? Once you define your intention for the room, it's easier to lay out your steps to accomplish that.

So, after you move all the furniture out of the room, you can begin. Depending on what type of remodel you are doing, chances are, you will paint the walls first, except if you are ripping out flooring too- you will do that before you paint. I speak from experience on this one. You can scratch your freshly painted walls while you're tearing it all out. The edges of carpet can be quite sharp. To tear out flooring, you'll need the proper tools to do so. This can make all the difference in getting the job done, versus throwing your hands up in the air and just hiring a contractor. If you do the latter, you will have to do it on their time frame, and may have to wait for several weeks, not to mention it costing way more money.

Painting should be done before any new flooring is put in, so you don't have to be careful about paint drips. Of course, prior to painting, you'll want to tape off anything not getting painted, using painters tape. You'll also want to carefully pull off all the trim, unless you're painting it all the same color as your walls. Something to think about is: are you good with color, or do you need someone to help you choose a good paint color for your room? Some people think that they like a certain color, but it is a horrible choice for walls. When you are choosing paint always think lighter than you normally would. For example, if you like a dark gray color, choose a lighter version of that gray, or you risk the room being too dark. You can always add a dark gray throw pillow or chair.

So, after painting, you can put in the new flooring, if that is part of your plan. Once old flooring is ripped up, putting in new flooring is quite a bit easier. I definitely recommend doing a little research with your specific type of flooring though, as even a slight variance in the type of flooring can require an entirely different installation process and tools necessary. Instruction videos can usually be found on You Tube and are extremely helpful, and they cover just about every type of DIY project known to man. And if you can't find a video for whatever you're doing, ask your local hardware or lumber store. They generally have knowledgeable staff on hand to answer all of your questions.

I hope this article has helped take some of the sting out of remodeling your cabin home. In a following article titled "After a Cabin Room Remodel - Now What?", I will talk about what comes next, after you’ve remodeled a room in your cabin home.