5 Outrageous Ideas for Home Remodeling

Most people who are planning to remodel their homes want something fairly conservative. According to a National Association of Home Builders survey taken in 2018, the most common types of remodeling projects focus on the bathroom or the kitchen, with whole house remodeling taking third place.

Nothing outrageous there.

But some people are driven to do something a little more … shall we say, extravagant with their properties. They may have a singular artistic vision in mind, or a function that no normal remodeling project could ever achieve. And what they achieve is often incredible!

Can you take some inspiration from these five outrageous ideas for home remodeling? Or are you content to know that some other nut already did it, and would rather just focus on new kitchen cabinets? Let's take a look!

Kitty Cat Paradise Video 

You could say that Californian homebuilder Peter Cohen is a cat man. His 15 rescue cats (each named something precious like "Chocolate," "Nutter," "Butter," and "Donut") have total run of his house. Yet Peter wasn't content to let his kitties only climb the curtains and shed prodigious amounts of fur every day. He wanted his mousers to live in a home built just for them.

Every room in Peter's house is connected by a vast series of walkways – a system of bridges, spirals and steps which he estimates cost up to $50,000 to install. The cat appreciator also added 22 litter boxes, a koi pond filled with what must be very apprehensive fish, and five busy Roomba vacuum cleaners. When it comes to remodeling, Peter isn't kitten around!

The Ultimate Doghouse Video

Sometimes sleeping in the doghouse isn't necessarily a bad thing – especially if you're Teddy, one exceptionally pampered golden retriever living in South Carolina. His master dropped $5,000 transforming a once drab closet into the ultimate indoor doggy den, complete with a stone facade, sofa, flatscreen TV and electric fireplace.

Forget About Popcorn Ceilings – Meringue Is Where It’s At Image

Hoteliers Greg Henderson and Joseph Massa met while working together in the New York City theater scene. The couple escaped to upstate where they founded The Roxbury – a luxury hotel where every room screams a theme. We love Fred's Lair, which feels just like you're walking into a rambler in Bedrock, as well as The Final Frontier, a faithful nod to Star Trek.

But no remodeling project at The Roxbury is more outrageous than the ceiling of the Mary Ann's Coconut Cream Pie suite. Big, gooey peaks of meringue drip down from the plafond, so lying in bed feels like you're perpetually about to get pelted in the kisser by an enormous, room-sized pie. Doesn't that just take the cake?

Where No Man Has Gone Before Video

"I'm a big Star Trek fan," says Todd Spann of Indiana. "When I got [my] house, the basement was completely unfinished, and I wanted a theater and a computer room and everything, so I just went a little weird and created this idea because I wanted something different."

"Something different" is right. The Trekkie outdid the owners of The Roxbury tenfold by remodeling his basement into a faithful recreation of the bridge of the USS Enterprise. Not content to transform his basement into just one tribute to nerdom, Spann also spent over three years remodeling the other half of the floor into a Dr. Who themed lair.

The MD-80 Makeover Video

Joe Axline of Texas always dreamed of converting a commercial jet into a home. After his divorce in 2011, no one was left to keep his head out of the clouds!

Axline purchased property in a community of runway homes outside of Houston, shipped in an old Midwest Airlines MD-80, and spent seven years converting the fuselage into a cozy three-bedroom home. His newly remodeled home has water, sewer and electric, as well as overhead storage for towels and a fully intact cockpit.

What do you think? Is Axline's unique idea going to take off with other homeowners around the country? Or is it just plane crazy?

You're probably not considering turning your home into a cat bonanza or an homage to a TV show from the 1960s, but even the most sensible remodeling projects can use a little expert help. Whether you have something outrageous in mind or would rather just update your Twin Cities home's kitchen or bathroom, you've always got Proficient Construction on your side. We hope you'll contact us with your ideas today!