There’s a good chance you’ve spent more time at home this year. Perhaps you always knew you wanted to remodel. Or maybe being at home more has prompted you to reexamine some parts of your home for its functionality and purpose. Either way, it’s time for a remodel so now what? As someone who has gone through a huge home overhaul, I’m going to share some of my unconventional tips and lessons I’ve learned from our remodel. We purchased our home with the vision of what it could be and knew a remodel was in our future. Get prepared 🙂
1. Prepare your mind.
Most will tell you to prepare your budget. As a numbers person, I get this but numbers are black and white. The act of spending the money is not. The design and process of the remodel also is not black and white. Anyone that watches HGTV is probably familiar with the show Love it or List it. This show highlights the very real struggle in deciding what to fix in your home. For example, you budget $50,000 for your remodel. When the floor is removed, you find you have an issue with the subfloor. That must be fixed so now you have to determine what you must now scale back or not do it all together. That is why you need to prepare your mind.
Usually when we discuss remodels, it is talk about tangible items, floors, tiles, fixtures, and colors to name a few. When working with a designer, it is a bit more abstract in terms of creating a vision, feel, and flow to your home.
Growth
If you’re regular readers of the We Spot blog, you’re already aware that we are big proponents of personal growth and development. We must prepare our minds and wallets for a remodel in the same way we develop personally and in business.
My suggestion is to spend time with yourself, then with your spouse, and really take the time to design the feel of your new space. When we designed my new closet, I knew I wanted a sitting space. I had a vision for it AND I knew the feeling I wanted for that space was peace and refuge.
Consider the feelings you want to feel for your space.
Disagreement/Discussion
Prepare to not have the exact same ideas and vision as your spouse. Perhaps that goes as a no-brainer but when preparing for a remodel, that may get lost along the way. As I mentioned above, spend time first with yourself and encourage your spouse to do the same. This way you’re able to come together with a list of your most important items. When a disagreement comes up, you can look at your respective lists and have a better feel of negotiation.
2. Prepare your calendar.
When getting ready for a remodel, you consider the time it will take from start to completion. Plan around holidays, events, vacations, etc. Also add in time for any delays. Especially in 2020-2021 pandemic living, manufacturers are running at reduced capacity. Ask around, do research on timing for big items.
The two big things we ordered – a new range and a set of new couches – were delayed five to six months. We ordered our range in June and received it in November. We ordered our couches in August and have a tentative delivery date of February. Our new refrigerator arrived after two months, lucky us 🙂
That was the conventional wisdom. Here is my unconventional wisdom.
Prepare to take at least a month to reorganize, box up, strategize where to put ALL.THE.THINGS during the remodel. If you don’t take the time upfront, you’ll spend at least double that in time and frustration over the course of the remodel and at the end.
Here’s why —
- First, think six weeks isn’t that long to be without my organized bookshelf is not a big deal so I throw all the books in a box and send it to the basement.
- Then, two weeks into the remodel, I need to get that book. Now where did I put that box of books from that specific bookshelf? Proceed to dig through three boxes of books to find that one book.
- Turns out there was a construction delay so that six weeks is now twelve weeks. Week six comes and I need another book. I remember the box location from last time. But it’s not there. So look through two more boxes to locate it.
- Then imagine I did that at least ten times over the course of twelve weeks with ten different types of items. Now my basement is scattered with boxes from various rooms and types. Putting back all those scattered items is a nightmare.
Learn from my mistakes! Carefully consider what you may need and keep close by. The remaining items should be organized and boxed up together, labeled, and placed in an accessible spot.
3. Prepare your team.
Get your A-team ready by researching, getting references, asking around. You’ll want to consult with a few key players when you are doing a sizeable remodel.
- Architect – having a drawn up official plan is sooo helpful with getting quotes for labor and materials. Initially it may cost $500-$1500 but the time and headaches it will save you are priceless!! Be clear with your vision.
- Kitchen/Bathroom Designer – in addition to having a house plan, it is so important to consult with a designer. They have insider tips and tricks on how to make your space the most efficient. Be sure to be extra clear with them about your vision and budget. And get a copy of the design with notes!
- Contractor – even if you’re doing some of the work yourself, be sure to consult with a contractor. The right one will give you advice on how to do certain things and what to avoid. If you are thinking of moving any walls, you MUST discuss the possibility of load bearing and support beams!
**Side note — If you split it up into separate phases of remodeling, use the same contractor or at the minimum, the same design plans. This is key in keeping a uniform look and flow to your house.
Document it!
Take lots of pictures, before, during, and after. It’s so fun to see the changes that happen.
Write down ideas and tips during the process. That’s how I got here 🙂
Make a master list of materials, designs, specs, all the project details so you don’t have to keep searching for the same information over and over.
And lastly, have fun and enjoy it!!
