Renovating your home takes courage. In the end though, like the big 'unveils' on TV, the end result can be well worth the angst that sometimes comes with the reality of renovations - as Rob and Denise from Timberlea found out.

It was a decision the couple didn't take lightly. With another baby on the way, the couple knew they needed more space. Up until that point their three bedroom home was comfortable, but had a few drawbacks - specifically the family room. Located in the basement, it was where they watched television and was the same room where all of their toddlers' toys were. As it was, it was overcrowded, and because the room was hard to heat, it had a tendency to be damp and uncomfortable. Another baby and all its paraphernalia would be just too much.

“We took a lot of time deciding whether or not we should buy a bigger house or renovate this one,” says Rob. "The neighbourhood is great for children I and we decided we really didn't want to move, so in “the end, we figured renovating was the way to go.”

After extensive meetings with Terry Muller, Project Manager with Muller Custom Renovations Ltd, a plan was put in place - a 400 square foot addition off the kitchen. A Cathedral ceiling and lots of windows take full advantage of the natural light as well as allowing the family to enjoy the wonderful view of the spacious treed backyard.

“The best thing about the new space is that I can be working in the kitchen and still see the children playing in the family room,” says Denise. “Initially with the new baby, I was a bit concerned that be renovation would be extremely disruptive, but the contractor made sure they kept reasonable hours. We were fortunate enough that the renovations didn't affect any of the other living spaces, so we didn’t have to move out when they tore the walls down at the back of the house.”

Liz Muller, president of Muller Custom Renovations says it's very important to maintain good with the client throughout the renovation process.

“There are always going to be challenges in the renovation process. With this project, for example, we started to put the foundation in and then we had tremendous rain for a week and a half. We lost a few days draining the excess water out," says Muller. "You have to expect there may be unforeseen delays or problems. If you can communicate effectively with your client, and you both are on the same page, things will run much more smoothly.”

One of the things Rob and Denise say they would have done differently is to have the contractor take care of everything.

“We thought we would save money by organizing the flooring ourselves,” he says. “We did end up getting a good deal on the ceramic and laminate, but things would have flowed much better if we would have let Terry handle it. It wasn't worth the little bit of money we saved.”

A cosy fireplace is in one corner of the room, baby Emily is crawling on the floor and in another corner three year old Michael is playing with his train tracks. It is a spacious, bright, comfortable room, and says the couple, well worth every penny they spent on it and the two months it took to build.