Hi all,

Now that the kids are off of the payroll, we're planning a major and long due redecoration project for much of the house. I am going to work with the assistance of a designer as I'm overwhelmed at the scope of the project and have a job outside of the home. We've lived here for 33 years, I designed the decor and we did a pretty thorough job, but some rooms haven't been more than painted or re-carpeted since then. We did redo the kitchen and powder room about 6 yrs ago and the master bedroom & bath about two years ago. They were huge projects.

Anyway, I need to come up with a reasonable target budget. Are there any resources to help me figure this out? My to-do list includes 8 rooms and all the hallways. Floors, smooth (no more popcorn!) ceilings, paint, window treatments, some furniture, lighting are needed in each room. There are two more bathrooms that need updating--new tile, countertops, fixtures and flooring and two rooms that need a total redesign--DH's study and our family room. We're trying to decide if we push out a wall in our long and narrow family room or deal with it and decorate around it as we've done all along. With 5-10 more feet of width it would be more comfortable and easier to design.

For those of you who don't know us, we're empty nesters with young grandsons who hang out a few times a month. We're a relatively small family in general and entertain usually in smaller groups.

We won't be doing any of the work by ourselves, we're willing to pay people to do it for us so budget is a big concern.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer!