Over the years, this 1935 brick Georgian home has been remodeled room by room to make the inside as interesting and authentic as the outside. But they figured they could live with the kitchen, as ripping it up would be inconvenient for the family of four. In September, the homeowners decided to make the kitchen conform to the style of the home by first replacing the kitchen cabinets.

Homeowners trying everything from tile warmers to televisions to unique custom cabinetry. The things people are putting in their bathrooms these days are amazing.

Closets come out of the closet! The hottest new trend in new home construction are custom-designed closets to the specifications and wardrobes of the owners. These systems feature wood-grain cabinetry, center islands, custom-size shoe shelves, multi-level rods and pull-out valet rods. Some owners consider them a showplace where guests are welcome.

When his den was transformed for a TV show, a once-skeptical Wilmington bachelor became a believer in the decorator's art that turned his sparsely furnished room into a minimalist media room with a sleek 60-inch flat-screen television and custom-made cabinetry, carpet and drapes.

The family motto hangs above the stairs in couples home: "Eat good food. Be kind. Tell the truth." So, when they worked with Nidus Homes to custom-build their Camas, Wash., house in 2002, the Joneses put their money where the mouths of their four boys most often are: in the kitchen.

It's time to remodel that kitchen . . . time to start tearing pictures out of magazines, calculating the budget, finding a design and picking a color scheme, right? Wrong, according to many designers, who say customers often dive right into the details of their remodels, before they stop to really know themselves, their needs or how they really use their kitchens.

Do modular cabinets offer the toughest finish?

Did you know that a design tool exists allowing you to create your own three dimensional rendering of your home renovation that allows you to drop cabinets and other home amenities into the design in seconds?