So you’ve finally found the house of your dreams. It has loads of character and a nice deep south-facing lot with a private driveway on a tree-lined street. It’s in walking distance to shops, restaurants, and good schools, and, as luck would have it, cuts 15 minutes off your daily commute to the office.

There’s so much about this house that’s right, but some areas are definitely lacking. You’re realistic about the flaws and recognize that despite its limitations, the house still has a wonderful sense of charm and warmth. With the right changes to the existing space, the possibilities for improvement are endless.

The question is where to begin. A good place to start is thinking about how you and your family are going carry out your day-to-day lives in your home. You can then pinpoint what areas of the house don’t work very well and work on the best solutions to those problems.

By examining your life and how you want to live in your home, you can look at the house from a new perspective. This will make identifying what needs to be done easier.

It’s important not to immediately assume that adding more space is the right solution. Often revitalizing and repurposing the existing space in your home can improve the balance and harmony of your home and is a simpler, more effective, and less expense way of updating a home. This is especially true with older homes.

There is so much about the feel of every home that is influenced by its balance and harmony — both of which are absolutely critical to a home’s overall comfort and livability.

Balance is determined by proportion and scale, while harmony reflects the seamlessness of a home’s transitions. From the relationship between ceiling heights and windows to the architectural detailing in each room, maintaining good balance and harmony will enhance the livability — and enjoyment — of your home.

A very common occurrence in older homes is that the main floor doesn’t really work very well with today’s modern lifestyle. To begin with, there may not be a main-floor powder room — a must for the amount of entertaining you do — while there are often two staircases leading to the second floor. The dining room or living room may be much larger than needed and have a fireplace that you’ll never use. And the small kitchen may be squeezed into a dark corner and only accessible from the dining room.

Without turning to a costly home addition, you could reconfigure the existing space by removing an unnecessary secondary staircase to the second floor to make room for a main-floor powder room. This is an easy solution.

How about removing a portion of the dining room — for example that fireplace that isn’t used — in order to widen the narrow kitchen. These changes will also allow for direct access to the kitchen from the main-floor hallway and allow more kitchen counter space, more cabinetry, and the added width in the kitchen could allow a centre island.

While improving the layout of your home may require some major structural work, the improvement to balance, harmony, and traffic flow are well worth the effort.