Most of us immediately thinks of home improvement as having to do with things like walls, floors, counters, windows, etc. We don't often think to, for instance, compare electricity prices as an aspect of home improvement. Yet, in my estimation it is. Functionality, efficiency-including cost efficiency-are part of home improvement. Energy use is a fundamental part of a the functioning of a home, and this can be in need of upgrading as much as kitchen appliances! Speaking of which, at a friend's home recently, several of us friends got together to admire her new kitchen. She chose a quartz counter top and we all loved it. That got us talking about how great a similar installation would be for the bathroom vanities, and even for refacing the fireplace. By the end of the evening, we had planned the remodeling of the rest of her place! It was all good fun and since it is, in fact, a fixer-upper, we weren't offending her. She appreciated some of our ideas and we had such great fun coming up with possibilities. As all this was happening, we realized is that it's good to write ideas down. My friend said it would help her later sort things out in her mind and facilitate revisiting the different possibilities we came up with as she walks around the place to envision them.