Whew! I thought I was weird or something.

I do that for yards and gardens. What I'd take out, what I'd plant, what I'd move around.

Of course!

No, I don't have that talent. Envious of those of you that do!

Not so much with exteriors, but a lot with interiors...

I do it with houses and I also do it with hair and makeup.

Unfortunately yes. All the time, but more so with interiors. I have lots of graph paper that gets utilized a lot.

I will sheepishly admit, I just used graph paper to redesign the kitchen over lunch. I really don't feel alone after all the answers!

:)

I have two of those graph paper pads completely filled with all the drawings for our kitchen remodel. Various options, etc. Designs that I nixed for one reason or another. Then I draw the cabinetry, custom range hood and appliances as well so I can get a visual.

My husband would always ask me why I don't just buy some software, but I like to draw!

I have mine that I did from my last house remodel, both before and after. It's surprising how close we stuck to the plan?! Mostly, I couldn't believe I only had one iteration of the changes? But it's true!

I do this constantly with exteriors, interiors, and landscaping in commercial buildings and private homes. I just do it mentally though. Sometimes I feel bad when I redecorate a friend's house in my head. Luckily, I have the sense to keep it to myself unless asked for my opinion.

No, I build fantasy houses from scratch in my head instead. I've done this my whole life, and can describe half a dozen houses I've "built" off the top of my head. If I had better spatial and mechanical sense, I'd have gone into architecture or something.

I haven't done it with a real house, but redo plans all the time.

I've been redesigning my kitchen for 23 years...and I haven't owned that house for the last 20! I've re-done my neighbor's layout a dozen times in my head. So glad there's a support group here.

Like an AA group. :)

Hi! I'm Robin, and I'm a secret remodeler!

Hi Robin... secret remodelers or addicted remodelers is what we are. We don't want to Recover. Lol.

I've been doing this since I was a little girl. I truly wanted to be an architect. I carried my small and large graph paper pads and pens/pencils with me all the time. It went to visits at grandparents houses, too! I rearranged my own bedroom like every other month. Use to drive my mother crazy. Needless to say that I never became that architect. I have designed a few houses and have had draftsmen draw the plans up for us to build. lol

I had high hopes for my son to become one. I introduced him to his first graph paper pad. He spent most of his time designing cruise ships. :) During high school, he lost interest. :(

This leads me to a question. My sons bedroom has a couple of our full size house plans framed and hanging on the walls. The plans facing the south window have faded badly. Does anyone know where I can take the plans to be copied before they fade out entirely.

Nhb22, I wanted to be an architect , too, when I was a teenager. Unfortunately it never came to be. :(

Sorry, don't know where you get copies if they are very large.

nhb22; there are places which copy building and architectural plans; our local place has the word "reprographics" in it (I work for a real estate attorney and am always taking large format plats and zoning maps down there for copying). You can try googling that, or blueprint copying. If that fails, try calling a local builder or architect and ask them where they get their plans copied.

My local Staples office store says they can do it.

Kinko's does large copies as well.

I always see so much potential in those falling down little 1900s homes. If only they fixed the porch, painted it, maybe added a new roof! :)

I too am constantly decorating, remodeling and landscaping other people's rooms, houses and yards in my head. My favorite is picturing the small, early 50's house I grew up in and completely remodeling it. In my mind I create the perfect house for me. In reality, I'm sure it's much smaller than I remenber, and far from ideal.

Kinko's...we have one of those. Thank you. :)

I really thought I was the only one.

Well, of course! Wait, doesn't everybody have at least one graph paper pad on the night stand? I have gone through multiple pads of paper, not all graph paper, during the renovation of my new place, and draw out room arrangements, closet storage, kitchen plans and where everything will go, landscape plans, etc. For years, and until this house, I was always designing floor plans for new houses, too.

Doesn't everyone? Real house, imaginary houses, remodeling, redecorating, landscaping

Yes. All the time. My dream is to be a house rescuer with unlimited funds. I would buy all those poor neglected homes with tremendous potential, and make them beautiful again. It is so painful to me to see beautiful houses deteriorating, being ruined, and being remuddled. I look at real estate all the time, and it is just unbelievable to see what some people do to homes.

Yes. I'm constantly spending other people's money in my head. :)) what really gets my attention, though, is how I'd organize and clean their messes.

our contractor/carpenter refers to me as "a serial remodeler" his favourite type of homeowner

I actually got to do it in real life and what an experience. Inherited a house in which a dear friend had lived for 30 years. He was a hoarder and also had, literally, not done any maintenance or repairs in all the time he lived there. My husband wanted to 'stick a for sale sign in the yard and be done with it', but the house is in a great neighborhood and only a few blocks from where we live. So I took on a huge project to clean, fix, update and make the place livable.

And now it is a lovely, bright and supremely livable place. The experience taught me so much and the most important lesson was just how much you can make those lumps of coal shine if you find and work with good people and have the determination to do it.

I find myself changing people's bathrooms in my mind when I'm visiting, and using the throne... Sometimes however, I've seen good ideas for my own future bathrooms...

jlc, we must've been separated at birth. That too is my dream. If I won the lottery it'd be pay it all off, buy a new car and house, pass it along to friends and family, with a modest amount kept back for doing just that.

" I redo houses in my head for a hobby!!!"

Lol, grapefruit! Yes, it is a hobby for lots of us! I've loved houses with good design since I was a small child.

Wish I'd gone to architecture school too. My college had one. I could have transferred in, and I could have handled the math & engineering aspects, but didn't think I was artistic enough. Back then, I thought one had to be bursting with artistic creativity and originality to go to architecture school, whereas I was more interested in preserving or paying homage to historic styles. Little did I know back in the 70s that I could have forged a career in architectural preservation.

I also like to visit Realtor.com to look for houses, then copy the photos and play with them in Paintshop Pro or Paint.net. And I like to play with people's houses when they post here too. Imaging software is great to show whether an idea truly works or not, and it teaches new skills too. I think the rest of you ought to try digital imaging too! (I'd call it "photoshopping" but you don't need Adobe Photoshop)

I still remember, as a young kid, pouring endlessly over my mother's copies of her newest Sears and Penney catalogs. I would draw up the layout of every room in our home, and then "refurnish them" in my mind with things I found in those catalogs. And yes. I still redo rooms in my head, I just don't tell anyone that I do that to their rooms. Its not that I think the rooms are not designed well necessarily, it's just a fun creative exercise that I've always loved. I cannot remember a time in my life when I have not loved everything about interior design.

I've been an architect wanna-be all my life! When other girls bought fangirl and fashion magazines, I bought those thick house plan catalogs and dog-eared my favorite plans.

Having once bought a small, homely house that my husband and I deluded ourselves into thinking we could turn into a rustic charmer, no, I don't play that game anymore. We spent $5,000 making structural amends, $15,000 updating mechanical and electrical elements, and a big lump sum of $120,000 to build kitchen addition, porch, new floors and moldings, and new siding. In hind sight, it was a terrible decision.

We lived in the house long enough to recoup the money (15+ years), and we were grateful to have a roof over our heads, but it was with much relief and joy when we could finally sell it and buy a house that did a much better job of meeting our needs. Yes, we sacrificed "character," but got space, convenience, creature comforts, and luxury in exchange. I'll never do a "project home" again.

Yes it is expensive. That's why it's fun to do it in your head or on computer!

We currently live in our third fixer upper. We had a knack for being transferred to areas we couldn't quite afford, it seems. We couldn't afford the houses with space, convenience, creature comforts & luxury. Or we could, but the neighborhoods were too far from work, or treeless, or sitting amid the strip malls & highways, or the build quality was iffy. But also we could get some of those qualities if we bought a down-at-the-heels home in an old, established, nice neighborhood and were very patient.

After 20 years here, we are overhauling the family room finally. Still have one original bathroom to go. DH & I have a love for fixing up homes & gardens, more than we enjoy things or travel, I guess.

Aw, BB! I'm sorry it wasn't enjoyable. We actually had fun doing this, and I may get to do it again soon. It's really amazing when you envision it, plan how, then do it... and it turns out wonderfully. My son was truly disappointed at the first house we looked at it, and it needed nothing. It's probably why we didn't get it. People out bid us on the move-in ready home. I really agree with you awm. There is no way I'm going to get into the market without giving something up. We'll see how it goes this time.

Here you go. I've "Hamptonized" it with cedar shingle, white trim, & hydrangeas. It will fit right in with the multimillion dollar mansions in the Hamptons.

Awesome. Now if I just had the kind of money folks who live in the Hamptons have

:)