Renovating your home can be an exciting and fun time for your family. It’s like getting a new home all over again, but this time it’s hyper-customized to your family’s needs!
Awesome, right? Yes, until you’re mid-way through the project and want to pull your hair out … slowly. It gets that bad. From the mess to the seemingly endless small details that have to be completed, home renovations are no walk in the park. They’re time-consuming, tedious, and most of all stressful.
However, don’t opt out of creating your dream home just yet. With the right mentality and helpful tips, you can make it through. Here are some great ways to get through the renovation process while only unleashing minimal chaos:
Finalize Renovation Plans BEFORE Starting The Project
You’ve hired your contractor, picked out your materials, and are ready for the project to begin. Nonetheless, a third of the way into the project you decide your neighbor’s kitchen is much more “you.” You start to hate everything going on around you and just know you’ll hate the end result.
Sound familiar? If you’re known to be indecisive or easily swayed by trends, make sure your plan is finalized before starting the job. The last thing your contractor or foundation repair professional wants to hear is that you are unsatisfied with their months of hard work and deliberation or would like to add this, that, and the other.
To ease the process for both parties, rather than jumping at the first picture you see on Pinterest or constantly modifying your current plan; take the time to not only find what you like, but to also find out what will work best in your space. Are you really in that much of a hurry that you’d risk spending thousands of dollars on a renovation you don’t love?
Plan Ahead
It is always a good idea to buy all of your fixtures, appliances, hardware and materials before the project begins. Why?
At any point in time, your painter, plumber, and electrician can arrive prepared to do their job, but if you haven’t bought the materials you’ll delay your project completion. You also run the risk of losing an important trade member of your renovation dream team because you have put unnecessary constraints on the timeline.
Move Out or Take A Vacation
For some, the process of renovating your home yourself is super satisfying. Others take comfort in hiring the best renovation team possible and would rather watch from afar as the project comes together.
No matter your preference, you have to remember construction is a long, messy process. Drywall dust on couches and in your child’s bed is not exactly an ideal living situation, and the constant cleaning can get old quickly.
This is why it is important to GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE every once in a while. Stay in a hotel, take a vacation, or go away for the weekend. It will save your sanity by relieving you from the annoying sights and sounds of your home renovation.
Plastic & Painter’s Tape Will Become Your Saviors
No one wants an unnecessary mess; especially, in addition to the disorder caused by renovations. Do yourself a favor and section off the construction zones from the non-construction zones with painter’s tape and plastic sheeting.
This will help keep paint off the wood floors, sawdust off the couch, and drywall off of the floor.
It will also signify to your children, dog, and spouse that these are danger areas and should be left alone.
Be Flexible
A key idea to keep in mind during home renovation or foundation repair is to expect the unexpected. Materials are going to go missing, your crew will not be able to work some days, and things in your home may get broken.
It’s just the nature of the process. You must remind yourself that usually these little hold-ups do not concern life or death matters and they can be easily navigated around. Just be sure to plan ahead and always have extra cash on hand should your project be majorly delayed.
Alleviate Stress and Remember The End Result
It’s incredible how much stress can be relieved with a calming activity and a little ray of hope. If you still have the pictures that inspired you to renovate in the first place, look over them and remember what all of the delays, annoyances, and day-to-day nuisances are for. They’re so your home can be truly yours. A home you can be proud of.
So if the renovations get to be just a little too much, realize your project’s potential, take part in a relaxing activity, or vent. No one can blame you for that. Home renovation is a very stressful ordeal, but the end result will prove to be worth it upon completion of your newly remodeled home.