Tired of a remodeling project? Here's a neat idea!

Tired of a remodeling project? Here's a neat idea!

The most common problem with any type of remodeling / renovation  /updating and just basic work on your house seems to be TIME. You don't have enough time to do the work yourself, the person or crew that you hired has unexpected delays, there are weather emergencies, family complications, and other what have yous...

Here's an idea: HAVE A PARTY! 

No, I don't mean to forget about whole thing and open up a dance floor in your living room, since the furniture is out anyway. It is a possibility, yet after the project is completed. What I mean here, is inviting friends over to help you out a bit.

Now, we are not talking about dangerous tasks, or jobs that only qualified licensed professionals should do. W are talking about interior painting for example - walls, window trim, baseboards... It can be major clean up after all is done and well. It can be prep work for painting - applying masking tape and taking out furniture. 

Create an evite event, or email or call up some of your friends, tell them what the deal is and when the gathering will take place. 

Offer nice food to get everybody going. Depending on your crew and time of year, it can be pizza, chinese take out, barbeque... We often have wine and french cheese as a start up, but anything works, really!

Then explain to your friends what has to be done, evaluate proficiency level (or lack thereof - which is absolutely NOT a turn off), turn on some music and get to work! 

Once again, we are talking about simple tasks, that are relatively easy to do, we keep in mind work safety, we appreciate every effort, no matter how small, and we remember to tell our friends how much their help means to us. 

Every pair of hands counts! And if a certain person is not particularly crafty or skillful as a handyman or handywoman, he or she can be a great help in other ways. He or she can order more pizza - since he or she will be the only one with clean hands, and will not mess up a smart phone with paint or caulking. This person can also tell stories and jokes, sing songs, play guitar, do whatever to keep everybody in fun mood.  His or her presence will be priceless. 

If there are children in the house, or if your friends have children and it's safe projectwise to bring them over - it's smart to have a "dedicated children's entertainer" (babysitter just doesn't always sound fun enough in this situation - but you can call this assignment whatever you feel like, of course). This person's job will be to keep children occupied with appropriate activities (everybody will want to paint though...), and keep them safe. Maybe in a different part of the house, maybe take them to a playground, to an ice cream parlor... Most likely they would want to stick around though, so this person will look out that children are safe, and out of the way. 

Some people will be able to stay for  a couple of hours, others will come and go, but it doesn't matter - the flow is good! Doing a certain project together is a bonding experience, that will provide you with several stories to tell on many other gatherings for years to come. 

After couple of hours or so, take a break, have some more food, or coffee, and continue for little longer.

Don't exhaust your friends! They can leave when it is convenient for their schedule, or when they feel tired. Interestingly though, this party can go on for quite a while. 

At the end, thank your friends, talk about everyone's accomplishments, and assure them they can count on you if they ever needed anything.  

Anna Glebova

REALTOR®

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