Even as sales of existing homes improve, the market for single-family new homes remains weak. The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on December 23 that new-home sales were 11.3 percent below the October 2009 rate and 9 percent below the figure for November 2008.

If you’ve recently moved into a new home or are planning to in the coming months, you’re probably planning at least some remodeling, even it it’s simply trading the avocado green in the kitchen for Coral, Mineral Grey, or one of the other hues that made the Paint Quality Institute’s list of hottest color trends for 2010.

Use the expert advice in our Kitchen-Planning Guide and Home Improvement Guide interactive and follow the tips here to make the right choices and help your projects go more smoothly:

Get in on the appliance deals while they last. If you’re planning to take advantage of the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, check our regularly updated cash for clunkers for appliances hub and refer to our state-by-state map.Focus on performance and style. Built-in refrigerators and pro-style ranges might have some allure when you’re scouting houses or shopping for new appliances, but neither is a star when it comes to performance in our tests. Consider a top-freezer refrigerator for top space efficiency and value, a French-door bottom-freezer model for maximum convenience. Whether you buy an electric or gas range, look for six or more oven-rack positions and elements sized by power. And if it’s a busy kitchen, consider plastic-laminate flooring over real wood for its easy installation and its ability to fend off wear and tear.

Design wisely. Sure, a shiny stainless SUV of a fridge can be sexy, but it’ll quickly lose its appeal if you can’t open its door without hitting the counter opposite it. Before picking products, consult the planning guidelines from the National Kitchen & Bath Association for tips on designing a functional layout.

In the bathroom, choose good looks that last. Choose a model with physical vapor deposition, or PVD, finish for the faucet; this super-tough plating process can mimic a variety of finishes and resists wear well. (In the kitchen, save on stainless-steel sink by choosing thinner stainless, which can resist dents and damage as well as the thicker stuff.)

Using a low-flow showerhead can save water and save you money. One American Standard model we tested for our latest report on showerheads delivered a stimulating shower and uses only 2 gallons per minute. And several toilets we tested for our August 2009 report on toilets provided powerful flushes while meeting the 1.28-gallon-per-fllush limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program.

When painting, save work and money—and the planet. Manufacturers have longed struggled to make paints cover better and last longer with fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have been linked to air pollution and respiratory issues. In our March 2009 report on interior paints, several covered well in one coat while meeting or exceeding federal VOC limits. For our upcoming March 2010 report on interior paints, all top-scoring finishes meet those limits and provide impressive one-coat hiding in our tests.

For roofing, 3-D shingles are the better buy. Also called architectural shingles, laminated asphalt shingles look much more like real slate than flatter three-tab shingles, outperformed them overall in the tests for our June 2009 report on shingles, and often cost less.

With siding, vinyl gets stylish. Stiffer construction and deeper profiles that cast wider shadows help the best vinyl products we tested for our June 2009 report on siding look more like wood for as little as $125 per 100 square feet.

Fiber-cement siding looks even more realistic but our weathering and abuse tests found that some fiber cement can be fragile. This blend of cement, sand, and cellulose is insect-proof and comes primed or prepainted.
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—Bob Markovich