Renovating your home can be a daunting experience, and we’re here to help you understand what you need to think about during the planning stages of your renovation. We know how much fun it can be to pass the time by dreaming about how it will be at the end, what it will be like to live in your beautiful new space, and how great you’ll feel for having done it, but we want to make sure that you do keep feeling good about it the whole way through. The key to avoiding those mid-project blues and to avoiding any preventable problems and issues that arise along the way is to take a step back and make sure your planning process is spot on, because it will be your saving grace moving forward – promise!
We’ve put together the top 10 things to think about when thinking about renovating your home:
1. FF&E Services
FF&E services are honestly a time saver that can make your project that much more easier. If you’re working full time alongside renovating your home or simply don’t have the time. A FF&E specialist can support not only managing parts of your project but ensuring certain elements you desire are sourced, delivered and installed correctly to your specification. This service means you can brief out your wants for furniture, fixtures and fittings to a specialist who can do the lengthy part of the process in searching for what you want. A company such as SP3 London is able to deliver such a service.
2. Dividing Up Spaces
Separating distinct zones is a really good way to add a new life and new vibes to your space. It can be practical as well as beautiful, and it’s a wonderful way to customise an area to your own uses and create a more personal and custom feel. You can do this by putting up new walls, or if that’s not within your realm of possibilities, you can use furniture: a sofa for a low divide with open space; a bookcase or shelving creates a clear zone and acts as a canvas to personalise with your own style too.
3. Research Ideas
You can’t start without research. It might not be the most exciting part, but you can add a sense of joy by reminding yourself what you’ll get out of it, and the fact that you’ll spend less, encounter fewer issues, and generate a realistic schedule will keep your project looking dreamy, but grounded in reality.
4. Lighting
Lighting can have an enormous effect! Consider what degree of natural light you have, and when and how it will interact with your space. Now, think about what kind of artificial lighting will complement your space, needs and style, and choose the right colour light too. Your fittings can help add to the ambience and style as well, so choose carefully!
5. Flooring
We all dream of lifting that carpet and finding a hardwood floor, but we can’t all be so lucky! Besides, it’s hard work to prep hardwood, and there lots of other options too. The colour can have a big impact, and you shouldn’t forget to assess your use of the room so that you can choose the best material too. The best tip is to think of how heavily you’ll use the space, and how you’d like to be cleaning it.
6. Bathroom
A very underrated feature of renovation, but the place you do self-care, relax and take fundamental care of yourself should be a nice space. Think of organisation and air flow for this one, and make sure you have space to dry towels and air the inevitable condensation. IT might even be worth separating the bathroom and a toilet, if your family structure or living situation means you’d love to create a little privacy.
7. Storage
There’s no hope in having a beautiful new space with things scattered everywhere because they have nowhere to go. Mess isn’t calm or aesthetic, so it’s important to take into account where the contents of any storage you’re getting rid of will go, as well as working in innovative or hidden storage solutions to keep things organised, easy to find and access, and to keep your space the way you dream of it being.
8. Budget
This is a big one on a lot of projects – it is always going to cost more than you think, unless you budget a cushion for the unforeseen problems. Work this into your budget and plan, and make sure you’ve done the research (informed by a professional, ideally) to make sure your budget and your cost projects are accurate reflections of what’s up next. Bad money management can leave people in the horrible position of living with half-finished projects and very difficult financial situations.
9. Colours
You should choose a colour scheme and maintain it across the space; it’s also nice to extend a theme throughout the house in terms of the style and palate used throughout the whole house. Think about the emotional connotations of colours, and what kind of space you want to create; for example, green has been proven by research to create the calmest atmosphere, whereas reds and oranges come out the worst. Equally, the tone of your colour is important, warm and cold colours interact with the light, temperature and feeling you generate.
10. Legalities
Whilst it’s not a lot of fun, you definitely don’t want to be stumped by the law at any point in your renovations. If you’re thinking of extending or making any more significant changes, it’s very important to check if you may need planning permission, and to look up things like the 45º rule, and make sure you’re not more than 1m from the road, you’re not changing the slope of your roof, or amending the footprint of the property by more than a certain percent.
11. Function
A lot of renovations are driven by dreams, but it’s fundamental that the final space functions. To make sure you get this bit right, you need to think about how you live in the space, what you need from it and if and how that will change going forward (especially if you have children, as their needs and yours change so quickly). Working this awareness into your plans will make your renovations valuable and personally appropriate.
