A main level remodel changes the kitchen, dining and living areas on your home’s primary floor, while a whole home remodel extends that same design plan to the upper level, lower level, and often an addition, so every part of the house works together instead of one renovated floor sitting next to untouched ones. The right choice depends on how the rest of your home is holding up, not just your budget for the kitchen.
What Is Included in a Main Level Remodel?
A main level remodel typically reworks the kitchen, opens sightlines into the dining and living rooms, and updates flooring, lighting and trim so the whole floor reads as one connected space. It is the most common starting point for homeowners in established Twin Cities suburbs whose 1980s or 1990s layout still has walled-off rooms and a kitchen that was never built for how people actually gather now.
This scope makes sense when the upper level bedrooms and bathrooms are already in good shape, and the lower level either does not need work or can wait. Many of our South Metro clients in Burnsville, Lakeville and Eagan choose this path first and revisit the lower level or primary suite in a later phase.
What Is Included in a Whole Home Remodel?
A whole home remodel carries the same design language, cabinetry, flooring and finish decisions through the main level, upper level, and lower level, and frequently includes a home addition to gain square footage the existing footprint cannot provide. It is the right scope when multiple areas of the house need attention at once, or when a homeowner wants the entire home to feel like one cohesive project rather than a series of disconnected updates completed years apart.
City Stewards restoring a 1920s to 1950s home in Minneapolis or St. Paul often land here, since preserving the character of the house while updating how it functions usually cannot be solved one room at a time.
Main Level vs. Whole Home: Which One Fits Your House?
| Main Level Remodel | Whole Home Remodel | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Kitchen, dining, living on one floor | Every floor, often plus an addition |
| Best for | One floor is dated, the rest is fine | Multiple floors need attention together |
| Timeline | Shorter, single-phase project | Longer, sometimes phased over multiple projects |
| Design continuity | Limited to the remodeled floor | Consistent design across the whole house |
| Common next step | Primary suite or lower level in a later phase | Usually the final phase of a multi-year plan |
How Do You Decide Between the Two?
Start with an honest look at every floor, not just the one that bothers you most. If the upper level bedrooms and bathrooms are functional and only the main level feels dated or cramped, a main level remodel solves the actual problem without paying to touch spaces that do not need it. If more than one floor has issues, or your family has outgrown the footprint entirely, a whole home remodel avoids the cost and disruption of doing the same house in three separate projects over several years.
New Spaces starts every project with our Needs, Wants and Wishes® process specifically to answer this question before design begins, since the right scope is rarely obvious from the outside and depends on how you actually use the house.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a main level remodel become a whole home remodel later?
Yes, and it is common. Many clients complete a main level project first, then return for the primary suite, lower level or an addition once they see how the design plan comes together. Design-build continuity from the first project makes the second phase smoother.
Does a whole home remodel always include an addition?
No. Some whole home remodels stay within the existing footprint and simply update every floor. An addition comes into play when the family genuinely needs more square footage, not as a default part of the scope.
Which option has a shorter timeline?
A main level remodel is typically the shorter, single-phase project. A whole home remodel takes longer and is sometimes broken into phases, especially when an addition is part of the plan.
Is a main level remodel a good starting point for an older home?
Often yes, particularly for 1980s and 1990s suburban homes where the main level layout feels the most outdated. For homes with historic character, like Southwest Minneapolis bungalows, a broader whole home approach can better preserve continuity between floors.
Planning Your Next Step
Whether your home needs a focused main level remodel or a full whole home plan, the process starts the same way: understanding how your family actually lives in the house before any design decisions get made. Our design-first process walks through exactly this, and our whole home remodeling and kitchen remodeling teams work from the same plan whether the project covers one floor or the whole house. You can also see completed main level and whole home projects across the Twin Cities in our project gallery. According to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, whole-house projects that maintain design consistency across phases tend to hold resale value better than piecemeal updates completed independently. If you are not sure which scope fits your home, reach out to our team for a Needs, Wants and Wishes® conversation before you decide, or call us at (952) 898-5300.