にほんごで "make changes", なのといいますか
I want to use the the word change in a sentence - for instance use it in:

I am going to make changes to the house
I don't want to change my plans.

And I see that Japanese has many words - otsuri, utsuri, kawaru, henkou, henka
Could you please explain when to use those and which ones are appropriate for the two sentences I wanted to say (above)?

Thanks

Question

にほんごで "make changes", なのといいますか
I want to use the the word change in a sentence - for instance use it in:

I am going to make changes to the house
I don't want to change my plans.

And I see that Japanese has many words - otsuri, utsuri, kawaru, henkou, henka
Could you please explain when to use those and which ones are appropriate for the two sentences I wanted to say (above)?

Thanks

Answer

I am going to make changes to the house.
わたしはいえのもようがえをします。 / わたしはいえのもようがえをするつもりです。　
（私は家の模様替えをします（するつもりです）。）
in this case, my translation of the word, "make change", is もようがえ（模様替え）　　　　
     
I don't want to change my plans.
わたしはプランをかえたくありません。 / わたしはけいかくをかえたくありません。
（私はプラン/計画を変えたくありません。）
this time, かえる（変える）

some other examples of the translation of "make changes" : しゅうせいする　（修正する）、かいぜんする　（改善する）, etc.

I believe かえる is the most popular way to translate that phrase ...

Answer

↑　small change

when we change curtain = もようがえ
changing the position of sofa, bed, or any furniture that already existing = もようがえ
buying a few furniture = もようがえ
when we change wallpaper, or some pretty big furniture like system kitchen, but we have no plan to destroy any walls  = もようがえ or  かいそう　（改装）
when we destroy any walls of the house, or completely scrap houses or buildings once and rebuild= かいちく　（改築）

↓ big change

the basic meaning of 変更する（へんこうする） is same as 変える. 
you can find some examples of henkou here :

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1Q%CA%D1%B9%B9_1_

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