PREPPING FOR YOUR HOME RENO

EXPECTATIONS, TIMELINES, AND CREATING A PLAN.

There are few things in life more emotional, stressful – but also satisfying – than a home renovation project. You go into them with hopes and dreams. You experience them with the typical shortfalls and unexpected delays. And, hopefully, you finish with a space that looks, behaves, and feels better than it was before.

However, in order to go from start to finish without too much upheaval and difficulty, there’s a specific path that should be followed when you’re planning out a renovation project – and that strategy does not involve just having “a guy.”

Yes. That’s right. We said it.

A thoughtful, effective, strategic home reno requires more than a quick check-in with your local handyman or friend with a knack. It requires careful planning, research and developing a critical path from problem to solution.

Embarking on any home renovation is a matter of problem solving. A space in your home isn’t functioning in the way it’s meant to, or looking in a way that resonates with you, fits in your budget or responds to the existing architecture. Your aim is to find a solution for these issue that you face day after day.

Maybe it’s the awkward placement of cabinets and appliances to seating in your kitchen that has you considering a full kitchen reno.

Or maybe it’s an old bathroom that doesn’t suit your aesthetic or style.

It could be a basement that’s become a priority since the onset of Covid and work from home restrictions have taken place.

These days we’re all spending a whole lot more time at home. And over the past year of hunkering down in our houses, many people are realizing that their spaces need a refresh.

What we often face when it comes to sitting down for a first-time consult is a lack of knowledge about the process and time it takes when working with a designer and GC (general contractor) to carefully craft your homestead dreams. We are also always surprised to hear how many have NO idea how long it takes to price, permit, and build said dream projects.

Our goal is to always over-prepare and lay out the facts to help our clients avoid misguided expectations and unrealistic timelines before you kick off. It’s easy to tell people what they want to hear, but the fact of the matter is: we’re living in a world of delayed supply chains, social distancing, and increased health protocols. Renos are bound to face delays. Not to mention the actual critical path of design and build – which can be winding, rather than straightforward.

By preparing our clients with realistic timelines, we’re building a sense of collaboration and trust so that when an inevitable delay or change comes up, it’s not cause for undue stress. Instead it’s something we’re all prepared to face calmly and move on to plan B.

Over the next few weeks and months, we’re going to be digging into this process of home renos and going through typical timelines, client experiences, and what the design process looks like on our end.

We want to you to come into your project armed with knowledge and confidence so that your home reno can be a relatively stress-free, clearly laid out process.