What I know for sure is that the fundamentals of any successful home project remain the same - early planning, organization, budgeting and hiring a strong, reliable team - and not necessarily in that order.
Renovating or restoring a home (or parts of it) is no small feat. No mater how big or small your project, there are many aspects to taking on a task of this magnitude and while every home renovation project is unique, there will always be a few basic rules that you can follow to help make the process a little less scary.
In most of the conversations that I've had with friends and others in my social media community that have been following along with my renovation journey, the biggest topic of discussion is - where or how to start. I'm still in the middle of my home reno, I just completed a large renovation project in Maryland and I'm in the early stages of planning for an upcoming project this fall and what I know for sure is that the fundamentals of any successful home project remain the same - early planning, organization, budgeting and hiring a strong, reliable team - and not necessarily in that order.
Planning and organization before your start your project will allow you to gain some understanding about what will really be involved in your project. Ask yourself what is your timeframe to have the project done? Will you be living in the space while the work is being done?
PLAN & ORGANIZE
Being inspired by home improvement shows and beautiful accounts online is great, but inspiration is the seedling that needs to be watered by a lot of planning and strategizing to bring your vision to life. It's important to be clear on exactly what it is that you want to do within your home. Are you planning a small refresh of the kitchen and bathroom? Will you be removing walls for a more open floor plan? Are you relocating plumbing or gas lines to accommodate your new floor plan? Being able to answer all of these questions is important because the answers will determine everything else - your budget, your time-frame and what type of home professionals you need to hire.
Additionally, planning and organization before your start your project will allow you to gain some understanding about what will really be involved in your project. Ask yourself what is your timeframe to have the project done? Will you be living in the space while the work is being done? How long will the building permits take? When do you update your neighbors about the upcoming work? What appliances are you interested in using? Are they in-stock or do they have long lead-times? Supply chains are still being affected by the ongoing pandemic, which has meant that many people who've chosen to do home improvements over the past 19 months (myself included) have experiences extensive delivery delays, multiple out of stock items and price increases.
Knowing what you want to do in your home before you start your project will allow you to plan around issues like extended waits for building permits or long lead-times and will require either earlier order placements to compensate for out-of-stock or delayed items or give you an opportunity to select other things that would work instead and still make you happy. For instance, I had my eye on an extremely beautiful, high end professional range for my new kitchen for years, but when I did some early research and sourcing, the estimated delivery date was 9 months out at the time (possibly longer). The timing wasn't something that would work for me and I selected another brand and model that I ended up loving just as much. Fortunately, I ordered and pre-ordered quite a few important items early on in my project and I was only able to get everything on time because I took the time to make a plan.
HIRE A STRONG TEAM
Once you've done the planning and have an understanding of the scope of your project, the next step is selecting strong (and reliable) professionals to help you realize that plan. Are you planning a gut renovation? An architect who can help pull floor plans and file building permits for the work is essential. Are you opening up a back wall or want to give yourself more headroom in the basement by excavating? A structural engineer is essential. A general contractor usually works with other sub-contractors who are licensed electricians, plumbers and carpenters who can help you manage almost everything else. Will you be able to manage all of the organizing, site visits, and constant day-to-day communication, follow up and problem solving with all of the professionals? If the answer is "no", then a project manager will be another person that you'll need on your team.
Let me say, that DIY is a great way to save money, but I think doing things yourself is better suited for smaller cosmetic projects unless someone in your home is an actual professional.
I didn't need to work with an architect, structural engineer or interior designer on my renovation project because the scope of my project didn't require it. I'm working with a highly competent, reliable and licensed full service general contractor that also manages building permits and because of my production and sourcing, supply chain and design background, I am the project manager on my renovation. Having a project manager who understands home renovation, understands your needs, can clearly communicate and coordinate with all of the professionals on the project and will do all of the things that you don't have the time or capacity to do on a daily basis and ensure that your project is completed as agreed is priceless. A project manager may also in some cases bring their own roster of reliable home reno professionals to the table if you don't have references of your own.
My advice will always be to hire a project manager, however, whether you do or not, it is always important when looking for home professionals to do your homework. Ask around for referrals, do online research, read client reviews, talk to a few different professionals, do free at-home consultations and ask for references if you've found professionals that you want to work with. Your team will be the biggest piece of your puzzle and a good team can mean the difference between a great renovation experience and an unfortunate one.
Let me say, that DIY is a great way to save money, but I think doing things yourself is better suited for smaller cosmetic projects unless someone in your home is an actual professional. A home, your home is not the place to cut corners. While the smaller quote may be attractive, it’s important to remember that we get what we pay for and a home is not the place to take chances on shoddy work. Doing things yourself may work for some smaller, easier projects but working with an experienced, licensed team of architects, contractors and project managers is paramount to ensuring a better outcome than if you do it yourself. Inexperience comes at a price, so consider the amount of money that you might have to spend on back end fixes if things go wrong before you decide to go it alone.
I do believe that budgets are personal and highly subjective. Planning for a home renovation and having conversations about money with partners, architects and general contractors is a intimate act. Budgets are also highly dependent on what is important to the homeowner.
CREATE YOUR BUDGET
My biggest advice is to know what your budget is upfront and then add about 15-20% for contingency because renovations rarely come within or under budget. Anyone who has ever done a home renovation will confirm that no matter how well you've planned things, there will always be a chance of finding something unexpected when you open walls and start poking around that will cost you - a lot more than you'd think. So, contingency budgets are an absolute must if you don't want to have to take money from other places in you project in order to pay for any unexpected surprises.
I do believe that budgets are personal and highly subjective. Planning for a home renovation and having conversations about money with partners, architects and general contractors is a intimate act. Budgets are also highly dependent on what is important to the homeowner.
I would suggest doing research to get an idea of what other similar home reno projects in your area have cost - Sweeten Home is a good place to start to do comparisons by city. The site will help give you an idea of what your project could cost based on similar projects. Keep in mind however that everyone's budget will be different because everyone's taste is different. The budget for two separate kitchen remodels on the same block could be wildly different. One homeowner might prioritize more expensive custom cabinetry over in-stock options available to everyone while high end appliances may be important than custom cabinetry to the other homeowner. A highly customized home will carry a larger budget than a home with less customization.
What's important when setting your budget is knowing what top 2 or 3 things are non-negotiable and what things you're willing to forego or be flexible with. In my case, when planning my budget, there were two things that were non-negotiable absolutes from the start: a highly customized primary bathroom suite (marble tile, elevated brass hardware and finishings) and Calacatta marble kitchen countertops & backsplash. I knew early on that those would be the two areas that would drive my budget and I was fine with that because I also knew that there were other areas of opportunity throughout the rest of the house to balance things out with less customization.
ORDER SAMPLES. LOTS OF THEM.
A large part of the renovation process is seemingly endless decision making. What color will you use in the primary bedroom? How wide should the baseboards be? What finish do you want for your fixtures? What color tile will you use in the guest bathroom? These are all important questions that will be asked and will need to be answered over the course of your home renovation project and if you’re anything like me, you want to make educated decisions. The rule that I live by to help make the decision process less stressful is get samples, lots of samples and get them early on in the process.
I firmly believe you should sample everything and take some time to live with all of it. Touch them, feel them, snap photos of them, move them around if you can, just give yourself time to live with your options before you have to make a decision.
The designer and manufacturer in me considers having a physical representation of anything that I need to make a decision on part of the pre-work necessary to ensure a beautiful outcome. Sampling wood flooring, tile, paint colors and hardware for style and finish puts you in a position to edit your choices and select some of the important elements of your home renovation without feeling rushed.
For wall color, order small smaller pots of the colors you're considering and paint generous sized swatches on different walls throughout your home. This will allow you to observe how each shade it reacts to the sunlight at different points (and areas of your home) during the day. Order floor samples, put them down on the floor and walk by them every day until you can identify what feels right to you. I firmly believe you should sample everything and take some time to live with all of it. Touch them, feel them, snap photos of them, move them around if you can, just give yourself time to live with your options before you have to make a decision. I promise you'll appreciate taking the time up front to do it instead of making rushed decisions once the project's started.
BE INSPIRED BUT AVOID TRENDS
Inspiration is wonderful, it’s dreamy, it’s abundant and it’s easy to get caught up in all of the beautiful ideas presented to you on demand. Knocking down walls to create an open concept because you’ve seen it online somewhere might seem like a great idea but it might not be the best idea for you and your home. That rail-less, free floating staircase that you're obsessed with looks so design forward and chic in the magazine but might not be the best idea when your friends and family with little ones (or small pets) comes over for dinner. I like to approach inspiration with a curiosity that allows me to take in new ideas and broaden my perspective on what could be possible, and then I adapt the main idea to fit within my budget and my own reality. Be inspired and then make it yours!
I would love to hear from you. Please share or leave a comment below or on my IG @thekenyatodd anytime.
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