Maximize Your Remodel’s Potential: 3 Tips for a Successful Project
When it comes to creating a home you love, planning ahead is key!
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the designer (who drafts plans!) thinks it’s crucial to literally plan ahead… So, I’ve put together a few tips to get you started and help you stay organized during your project too.
There are literally hundreds of decisions to make when you’re doing a renovation of your home; have you heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to plan is planning to fail”? This is no truer than in remodeling.
My husband and I completely remodeled our 1,178 SF home just over 10 years ago and we had plans, permits and all of our selections made before our construction start date - and guess what?? Things still came up that needed to be resolved in the field - it happens! We’ve also tackled a few updates ‘on the fly’ (not totally planned out) and those were so much more stressful - plumbing parts arriving on time, but the wrong parts, plumbing supply installed in the wrong place, etc. I’ve spent years (ok, two decades!) behind-the-scenes, working with contractors, engineers, and trade professionals and they’ll all agree that having a plan is critical - it helps ensure everyone is on the same page (building the same project!).
The 2 most popular spaces in a home to remodel are the kitchen and the primary bathroom. While my kitchen renovation guide and bathroom renovation guide respectively have tips for success in each space, checklists, information, inspiration, and my personal planning spreadsheet to track everything — I’m going to share some tips that here you can implement in your next remodel!
Tip #1: Gather ideas from magazines or open houses, use resources such as Pinterest, Houzz… and even ChatGPT!
Identify your priorities for the remodel (more storage, better lighting, aging in place, etc.) and start getting inspired by the possibilities! Honestly, there’s so many fantastic interior design ideas for just about every inch of your home out there online; my favorite to use is Pinterest!
Depending on what’s most important to you, start there with your idea board. If you need a more efficient kitchen storage, start looking at what your dream solutions might be —then, when you work with a designer you can share everything with them and they can help you make the most of your budget and pick out the actual solutions that you’ll use everyday. I recently had a client send me images (fully rendered images!) that he and his wife created using ChatGPT (that little AI bot can make great images, but it can’t draft plans… yet!)
You can use resources from trusted designers to help you make informed decisions, including things like:
Powerful Design, Simple Details (Electrical Design Secrets!)
Kitchen Storage or Clever Cover Up? (Must Have Ventilation, Just Love the Design!)
Fun fact: I always ask my clients to share their Pinterest boards - it’s the visual that fills in the gaps between our conversations and helps me see common threads in what people like, even when they can’t see it themselves.
This primary bath has a low curb shower and two different shower heads at different heights/locations for flexible use regardless of age or ability!
Tip #2: Consider not only your ‘dream’ home, but current and future stages of life!
Life’s full of surprises, right? I mentioned earlier that we remodeled our home just over 10 years ago… but why (might you ask) did we make more updates when things were still pretty new? We had our son! During our whole house remodel, I was only concerned with our current stage in life as a married couple (and the budget)… so when our son came along and we no longer had a guest room, we updated my office with a custom built in murphy bed (thank you, Lint Cabinetry for making it happen!) and turned our 1/2 bath into a full bath so that guests could stay overnight in my office and use their own bathroom - then when our son is older, he’ll have a full bath that he can use rather than sharing with us.
The moral of this story is, if you think you’re going to grow old in your home, plan for the ability to stay and age comfortably (think framing in shower walls for future grab bars, adjustable shower heads, low curb showers, etc.), consider how spaces can be multi-purpose (home office/guest room??)… remember when we were all on lock down working from home??? This is where a design professional can help - we generally ask questions you may not have thought of, in hopes that we can help you enjoy your remodel for as long as possible (even if we love repeat clients). ;-)
#3 Take the time to plan your project thoroughly and track your selections to ensure no time (or money!) is wasted.
It can be overwhelming enough to finally make decisions, but don’t forget to record them somewhere (written notes, spreadsheets, or my Design Guides!). One of the best things you can do is to sit down and take full stock of what is needed to complete your project (working with a professional like a designer or a contractor will help you make sure your project looks great and meets your local building codes!), make sure you not only record your selections, but keep all product owner/user manuals too (these usually come with the appliances and plumbing fixtures).
Recording your selections not only helps as a reference if you want to update other areas of your home for a cohesive look, but if anything happens down the road (your appliance needs repair, or you decide to use the same floor tile in the guest bath), then you have a record of everything that was installed in your previous project (hello warranty items!). We have a huge binder with every single selection from our whole house remodel, and I highly recommend you do the same - it keeps everything in one place and easy to find when needed.
While DIY is something that so many people do, don’t be afraid to reach out to an interior designer! You might be surprised by what’s possible for your budget with the right person helping you plan it from start to finish, in fact I find it often can save money.
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