Stress- Free Home Renovations

Stress- Free Home Renovations

Making renovations to your home can be an exciting process. Whether they are necessary or simply to extend your home, it all goes towards improving your property. Any home improvements can be stressful as the work and cost that goes into larger-scale renovations can increase the pressure. These tips can help you work towards planning for stress-free home renovations.

Be Realistic With the Scale of Your Project

Home renovations can easily spiral out of control, which is why you need to manage your own expectations right from the very beginning. Work out what you can afford to do and how long it’s going to take. Some of your ambitions could be out of your reach, making it very difficult not to be disappointed if you can’t do what you want.

Start gathering ideas and see how you can make them work for your home. There are some affordable home renovation ideas which can help you to make a big difference to your home without the need to take out a loan or save for years and years. An architect will be necessary for any home renovations and will be able to go through in detail exactly what is possible. Being realistic about the scope of your project and your budget is the key to planning stress-free home renovations.

Stress- Free Home Renovations: Work Out Your Costs Carefully

There’s no denying that home renovations aren’t expensive. There are costs associated with the designs, materials, contractors and more that will all need to be agreed before you commence the work. While you can get some advice on the cost of home renovations, getting quotations is the only way to get an accurate price for renovations. Invite several companies/contractors to provide you with quotes to help you get a fair assessment of costs.

There can be occasions where you might need to front more money for your home renovations. During this period you should look at ways to reduce your home costs so that you can budget accordingly. Having regular progress updates can help you stay on track, and anticipate any increased spending that’s on the cards.

Stress- Free Home Renovations: Choose Reliable Contractors

The quality and reliability of your contractors will affect your end result. A reliable company should be able to stick to the agreed budget and timescales to make sure the job is completed to an expected standard. Choosing someone based on the cheapest price might not always be the wisest decision – it’s experience and quality that should help inform your decision.

So what is the best approach to choosing contractors? It’s recommended that you look at their previous projects before hiring a contractor. Online reviews, as well as those from friends and family, can help you find someone you can trust to do the right job. 

Plan How You’re Going to Cope With the Disruption

Home improvements can bring significant disruption to your life. Not only can they affect key things like your water, heating and electrics, but the works can stop you relaxing and enjoying your home. When planning your renovation, it’s a good idea to identify and periods where you’d rather not have workmen in your home. Works can sometimes take longer than expected, so you should ensure there’s a bit of wriggle room to help cover any additional work that’s required. Stress-free home renovations are unlikely if you are living in the middle of the chaos!

If you can, it might be worth staying with friends or relatives during your renovation period so that you can still enjoy the use of kitchens and bathrooms, as well as avoid the noise and dust that could fill your home. Take a look at some useful dos and don’ts of home renovations to help you find ways to make it through. , replacing Sydney with whatever your location is. Once you’ve found what you are looking for, much like when choosing a contractor, check reviews.

It’s also worth pre-booking rubbish removal, particularly if it is a large project. It’s easy enough to find a company that is local to you. For example, you would search something along the lines of cheap skip bin hire Sydney, replacing Sydney with whatever your location is. Once you’ve found what you are looking for, much like when choosing a contractor, check reviews. Having this in place before you get started reduces delays and keeps your working area manageable, which is essential when it is your own home.

Book a Break

If things start getting too much, why not get away for a while? A holiday can give you the chance to escape the stress of home improvements, allowing your contractors to carry on with the work while you’re gone. When you come back, your home will be finished, and you’ll have something fantastic to look forward to on your return. I have friends who did something similar to this a few years ago, having a team of decorators come in and do what they needed while on hols.

Making improvements to your home can often leave you wondering why you started in the first place. But it’s important to stick at it to help you build your dream home. A renovation can make your home bigger or make better use of the space you’ve got, without having to move out of the home you love. A home renovation can also add value to your home, making it an investment for the future. Think of the positives while undertaking the work, and try not to let the stress get to you! Stress-free home renovations take some planning and are hard work, but the end result will be worth it.

Already keen to embark upon a new project? Consider making this your career. 

While for many, home renovations (even on a small scale) are enough to make them want to pull out their hair or vow never to make changes again, others seem to relish the challenge and enjoy the work that comes along with it. If this is the case for you, it may be that you have found your professional calling in home renovations or even construction. As a result, you may wish to pursue a career in construction.

While this may require you to gain some additional qualifications – it gives you the opportunity to earn money doing something you love. It also puts you in the best possible position for future home renovations – as you’ll be able to take them all within your stride. Once properly qualified, you can work with construction recruitment teams to find work that suits you – whether that means you assist others with small projects or take on large-scale tasks. Either way, working in construction gives you a lot of professional freedom – as you get to decide exactly which projects you work on and when.

Interior Design Finishing Touches

finishing touches

If you’re a regular reader of Curly&Candid it may not surprise you to read that we are still plotting and planning some interior design changes. This house is perfectly sized and laid out for our needs however it needs some oomph, some wow and it needs us to add our mark to it. We’ve been in here over fourteen months now, so it’s time.

The big changes we’ve mostly finished planning, however, we’re still quibbling over the finishing touches. These are the bits and pieces that on their own aren’t always very exciting however as part of an overall design, they offer functional and design-led benefits.

Here are just a few of the finishing touches we’re talking about.

Skirting Boards

Did you know that skirting boards have quite the history? We didn’t until we found this blog post about it. As well as protecting the wall at kick-level, skirting boards help finish a room off and keep it warm (important in a Victorian house, trust me). With high ceilings, heat is easily lost so we’re looking at architrave from Skirting World UK to finish off post-decorating.

Door Handles

Door handles are a function item but that doesn’t mean they can’t be pretty or feature an edgy design. I’ve fallen in love with these copper door knobs on Pinterest and while I haven’t yet worked out where they would fit in the house, I’m determined to find a way!

Feature Walls

Once we’ve built storage and what not we’ll be looking at our dining room and lounge feature walls. Currently covered in some dubious patterned paper, we’re looking for something with a little more oomph. At the moment stone split tiles (in a dark grey) are the frontrunner.

Window Film

Years ago, in another property, we experimented with window film and were thrilled with the result. It offered privacy, warmth and we didn’t lose any of the light. We are definitely considering doing this again. This is the modern and easy to maintain alternative to net curtains, which I loathe!

Flooring

We’re still thinking about this. Ideally we’d love hardwood floors, however, I’m looking at something that looks similar but is warmer (not laminate!). Any recommendations on this point are more than welcome. I love rugs so would use those on the floors I think, to compliment the room decor.

Lighting

finishing touches, lighting I would love to find a way to incorporate some industrial style lighting into the house. We need decent light levels for working and for hobbies however I’m pretty sure I can pull this off and still use light fittings as one of our interior finishing touches which will give the home a little more character. I’m thinking steel, chrome and copper tones.

In Summary

When you think of interior design finishing touches what comes to mind for you? Throws and pillows, lighting and wall art or perhaps like me, skirting boards and door knobs? Feel free to comment with your favourite interior design Pinterest boards, I’m still looking for inspiration!