Anyone can tell you how to carry out a practical job, but have you ever thought about preparing your mind?
Do you think it is time to renovate your house? It is summer, the perfect time for setting new projects to life, so why not?! It can be a daunting task if you have a lot to do, and no idea where to start. But don’t worry, we are here to help you! Everyone deserves the house of their dreams, and we believe you only need three things to get it; planning, patience, and a can do attitude!
So, lets get started with our guide towards building the house of your dreams!
Firstly, you probably already have some ideas of what you would like to do. New Kitchen? New Bathroom? Redecorate the living room?
Begin with writing your idea’s down, so that you can get ahead with planning and putting your ideas into motion, instead of letting them drift in and out of your head from time to time. Write down all the little things as well, like ‘a room to relax in’ or ‘a place to hang my favourite painting’ to help you stay motivated and inspired along the way. Keeping a vision of what you really want in mind will make it easier to get started with all the preliminary restoration jobs that need to be done before decorating. Nobody likes the idea of ripping out a kitchen to start again from scratch, but remembering your vision will make you eager to get all these necessities out of the way!
Other necessities include jobs like re-plastering and re-wiring, re-plumbing or re-installing windows.
If your home requires maintenance, it is best to get these jobs done sooner, rather than later! It can seem like a drag to pay for ‘maintenance jobs’, which you could ultimately put off until a ‘better time’ or until something goes really wrong! But if you look after your home, it will look after you! The satisfaction you get from knowing your home is secure and sturdy from the ground up is an important, yet often overlooked feature of any dream home!
Once you have a beautifully blank canvas, you can let your imagination run wild and begin to make your home just how you want it, safe in the knowledge that it won’t be ruined by an unexpected pipe leak or a make-shift job gone wrong!
This leads us to budgeting!
Whether you are rich or poor, the money you spend on your home needs to be spent wisely! To get the most out of your home, you need to be smart about the people you employ to work on it! Get a few quotes, ask some friends for recommendations, and choose the best one.
Now, the best one isn’t always going to be the cheapest! Think about the service you are paying for, and the value you are going to get from your money. A job well done will last a lifetime. A rushed or unprofessional job will only cause more stress, more intervention in the future, and ultimately, more cost!
RELATED LINK: Kitchen Designs
Another thing to consider when budgeting is time and patience! You may feel like you just don’t and never will have the money to invest in your home. However, If you plan to have patience and do things bit by bit, anything is possible!
Treat each room like a project, and take each project step by step. Each job to be done is a different step. Figure out the cost of the next job to be done, and only call someone to do it when you have the funds!
When these maintenance jobs are done, you can start budgeting for the costs of decorating. This is the fun part, and usually very cheap as you can do these jobs yourself! Figure out your needs vs desires. For instance, you will need to buy paint brushes and paint trays ect. After you have bought these, you can figure out how much you have to spend on your extravagances, like furniture and special things! Not everything in a room has to be expensive to look good. You can buy things on a budget, but splash out on one or two key features to give your home the edge your looking for!
Having a general time scale will help you remain sane whilst that room in your home is looking far from finished. Just be ok with it taking a few weeks, maybe even a few months. If you keep your vision in mind, you won’t mind how long it takes to get there!
Figure out how much you can save each month towards your renovation, and only take the next step when you have the funds!
Something you may not have considered, but definitely should, is custom furniture and functions. With just a drill and some wood, you can create almost anything! In the past, you may have settled for a desk just because it was the best price, although it was smaller than you really needed. With a D.I.Y project you can imagine what you really want, and go ahead and make it!
It doesn’t need to be complicated; you just need the right tools and the right materials. Sometimes simplicity is at the heart of good design!
So in conclusion, to get the house of your dreams, you need to create a vision, spend money wisely, and enjoy every step along the way!
We hope we have inspired you to get a renovation underway, or maybe we have comforted you in the midst of a hectic re-decorating period?
Let us know what’s going on with your home in the comments below! We are happy to answer any questions you have, and offer tips if you are going through a particular project!
Just let us know 🙂