If you are finding yourself pressed for space, you may be considering finishing your basement. You can take it from a dank, dark area that nobody wants to be in to a rec room, perfect for entertaining family and friends. This can be done instead of making an addition to the house if you find you are expecting another child or a mother in law.

If you`re interested in finishing off your basement, this could be the most important message you will ever read.

Thousands of families have successfully completed home remodeling projects and the number grows larger every year. Now`s the time to get started!

The problem is a universal one for, sad to say, most families are bursting out of their dwellings. Like never before, we now have the time and money for elaborate part time activities. All sorts of hobbies are booming. The paraphernalia that goes with them is starting to engulf us. When you add on the inevitable accumulation of odds and ends that seems to build up almost magically, half the households in this nation are about to explode through the front door.

Before you go hog wild at the lumber yard, take the time to do a decent job of planning the remodeling. Not only will you be able to lop a fat hunk of cash off the material bill, but you`ll wind up with a far nicer looking job. Like any big business enterprise, break the planning up into several stages, from dreams to decisions.

First, gather the entire family together and think big. Spare no expense, time or labor in your preliminary dreaming. Unleash your imagination, forget about money restrictions. Include all the various ideas that you have culled from friends` homes, the clips that you`ve saved from magazines, the ideas you`ve dreamed about. This freewheeling gambit serves a practical purpose. To an amazing degree many of these wild dreams can actually be included in the finished job. Scaled down or changed they may be, but the central idea and the satisfaction will remain

When you have gathered together this mass of notes, clippings, sketches and ideas, shift your imagination into lower gear. Now is the time to decide exactly what purpose the space will serve. If a portion of the room will be turned into a storage area, there`s no need for elaborate preparations, lighting, finishes, etc. All you really want here is dry, usable space. If part of the area will be a laundry, then you want better light, proper floor drainage, a nicer finish on the walls and simple but sturdy cabinets and counters

Carefully planned and conscientiously built, the basement should be as handsome, inviting and cozy as the rest of your house. This is not an idle philosophical thought. Turn out a lackadaisically planned, slap dash sort of job and you will wind up with little more for your efforts and expense than the same old useless area that merely boasts some ornate trim.

And now get down to the hard core planning. Scale down your ideas to fit family financing and available space. At the same time, make sure your ideas can be carried out without too much trouble and expense.