Thinking about a new kitchen, an upgraded master bath, or a playroom addition? Before speeding down the renovation highway, pull over and take a look at this list of tips culled from our experts. With a little patience and time spent mapping your way, your renovation ride is sure to be a smooth one! Take the time to have several meetings with your potential design professional. It is vital that before you sign a contract, you feel completely comfortable with them. Make sure that they understand your aesthetic, knowledge base, budget, and personality, and you theirs. These folks will literally be in your closets, bedroom, and kitchen, so it's important that you have a connection with them.
Step 1: Dream a Little Dream
Before calling the contractors, sit down with your spouse, partner, and family—kids, too—and brainstorm. What would each family member like in the new kitchen or bath? What about a pull-out pantry fridge for your toddler "kitchen helpers?" If you adore cooking as well as entertaining in the kitchen, why not install an under lit wet bar with a freestanding wine fridge? Would a sauna in the master bath ease mommy's sore muscles? At this idea stage, dream your best dream, and don't let cost be your only guide. If you would adore a tumbled time kitchen floor, put it on your wish list. You may be surprised to find out that your design professional can find a way to make your dreams come true—within budget!
Step 2: Examine your Space
Examine your home and how your family lives in it. Write down what you adore and what you detest about your current space. Is the kitchen always a mess without a mudroom? Does your family spend hours in the kitchen, underfoot and making you crazy? Do you long for a kitchen counter for sipping coffee and reading the paper? Perhaps a kitchen office would allow for homework being done, bills being paid, and appointments being arranged while dinner gets put on the table. Are your little ones constantly swinging open the whole refrigerator just for one juice box? Would handmade sea glass tiles fill you with joy? How about a six-burner stove for all those dinner parties? Do you all cram in there at once, simultaneously using the shower, the sink, and the mirror? Would your frazzled, stay-at-home wife and mother enjoy the sanctuary of a glass-enclosed shower closet? What about a bidet? Remember . . . the sky's the limit at this stage!
Step 3: Get Educated
Set aside a chunk of time to bury your head in design magazines, books, articles, and the Internet. Print, tear, and note every single thing that speaks to you, even if you can't name it right away. It might be a color, a mood, the light, a tile, and a cook top. Learn about products, and notice trends. These scraps and tear sheets will be the beginnings of your Personal Renovation File, which will serve to guide you and your design professional down the roads to a renovation what works beautifully for your family and your budget.
Step 4: Know Thyself—and Thy Family
As you collect information on what you'd like, maintain an open and honest communication with your spouse, partner, and family. Determine what each of you can—and cannot—live without. Make sure that everyone is on the same page. You will waste a lot of time—and money—if you sit down with your architect, designer, and contractor only to find out that you've not yet come to agreement. Figure out what you want before meeting with a designer.
Step 5: Determine Your Budget
Well, the fun had to end somewhere! At this point, compare your dream list and your dollars. Ask your potential design professional to break down the cost for materials, labor, time table, and so on. Know what you are willing to pay for and what you are not. Can you take or leave the sauna tub? Prioritize your list. Once all of this is agreed upon, set up a payment schedule.
Step 6: Recruit the Professionals
When you feel ready to begin your search for a professional, word of mouth is the most reliable way to begin. Ask your friends and good neighbors for the names of the designers, architects, and contractors with whom they've worked. It's wise to have a few choices. After you have a list in place, make phone calls to each. Their manner over the phone will help narrow your search.
Step 7: Make the Connection
After you've selected a few professionals via telephone calls, it is of the utmost importance that you meet in person with your design professionals. Ask them for references, check their portfolio, and ask them how well they know their subcontractors (the specialists who your contractor hires to work on your tile, pipes, windows, etc.) If at all possible, visit your potential contractor's current project. Is it neat? Is the crew professional looking and polite? This is your chance to ask lots of questions about everything. Feel free to show them your Renovation Book.
Step 8: Be Specific
Before signing on the dotted line, be clear about your expectations. Are you looking for a hands-off consultant, or someone to hold your hand through each and every decision? Would you like to oversee each plumber, electrician, and craftsman to come into your home, or would you like a general contractor to coordinate and manage the subcontractors? Will your designer be accompanying you to every showroom? Will your architect be helping you choose tiles? Know what you need. If a certain design team cannot deliver, find another team.
Step 9: Sign on the Dotted Line
After you've met with your architect or designer and agreed on a plan, a budget, a style, and a timeline, get it all in writing. Home renovations are costly undertakings. Mid-stream changes, miscommunications, and a lack of clarity can cost you time, money, and, above all else, sanity!
Step 10: Have a Master Plan
Any contractor worth his salt will want to see a complete set of blueprints before agreeing to a project. An architect or designer can draw these up for you. Make sure you've got both the blueprints and your architect or designer with you when meeting with your contractor—they'll need to work together.
Step 11: Have a Design Center Contact Person
There are literally hundreds and hundred of tiles, countertops, sinks, and windows at today's design centers. Shopping for the one you want can be overwhelming. Connect with a representative at the design center where you'll be visiting and purchasing. That rep can steer you through the sea of design details with ease.
Step 12: Be Flexible
Even with the best-laid plans, something always comes up. Just like the rest of us, contractors have families, people get sick, orders don't come in on time, and tiles get cracked during shipping. Count on many bumps along the way in your renovation. With luck, and your careful pre-project planning, your design professional will be there every step of the way, literally living with you throughout the process. It's always smart to be prepared for glitches. Just think—when they don't occur you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Rainer
6,499
6,499
Katherine Waters-Clark
Innovative Strategies For Buyers and Sellers
Real Estate Resources
Recent Posts
The latest local news and information for WINCHESTER, ARLINGTON, WOBURN, LEXINGTON, MELROSE, WAKEFIELD AND STONEHAM!
Comments(0)