Renovating your house is not an easy task, especially if you have never done it before. People get cold feet just thinking about it and they keep delaying it until it becomes necessary to become proactive with their plans.
When it comes to home renovations, most people are unable to handle the stress that comes with it. Not only is it difficult to decide what to change and how to go about it, but people tend to have an emotional attachment to the things in their home. It is difficult to make changes when you have memories attached to everything.
However, once you have made up your mind to get the renovation project going, there should be no looking back. For those who are just starting to renovate your house, we have compiled a list of common mistakes to avoid:
Table of Contents
1. Setting Unrealistic Goals
While browsing through home décor catalogs, you may have envisioned your house to look like one of the designs. There is no problem with this if the design can easily be replicated in your home. The problem starts when you start aiming for something that isn’t possible to achieve in your given space.
For instance, you may have liked a few ideas of kitchen renovations in Sydney, but the designs may not be suitable for your home. There are instances of people wanting to replicate a design that will only work best in a large room. If you try to make it work in a small space, the space is likely to look boxed up or cramped.
Homeowners are easily impressed by design catalogs, renovation programs, and architectural layouts. They think that if someone on the TV can renovate their house in one week then they can do the same as well. They forget that reality is far more challenging than what they see on TV, as it is affected by many uncontrollable factors.
2. Not Sticking to the Initial Plan
A task as big as renovation should only be implemented after careful planning. You must research the latest market trends and decide which one of them fulfills your needs and preferences.
Furthermore, you need to decide who will carry out the work, what your budget is, and the potential setbacks you could face. Basically, all the necessary paperwork must be in place before the actual job begins. You’ll also have to decide the renovation period and allow some room for changes if things don’t go as planned.
Planning at the initial stage is of no use if you fail to follow through with your plans. You can make some changes along the way if the situation calls for it but throwing your plan out of the window completely could have disastrous consequences.
If you don’t want to bear losses while renovating your house, then you must stick to your initial plan as much as possible. Otherwise, things like increased costs delayed shipments, and a stressful work environment can exhaust you and your resources quickly.
3. Miscommunication Within the Team
Putting together a team of individuals who will carry out the different tasks is difficult enough but creating harmony among them is another challenge altogether. If you fail to consult all of them while planning your renovation, then you’ll find a conflict of ideas in your team. This situation will eventually affect the progression of your project and put your investment in danger.
For instance, a contractor has a different perspective when looking at things than an architect hence the differing opinions of the two. You need to make sure that all your team members are on the same page as you, and that they understand what you want to achieve from the project with their help. Do not seclude one team member from the other and facilitate communication among them as much as possible.
4. Forgetting your Budget
Some people get so influenced by market trends that they forget the budget they’ve planned for their renovation project. They start spending on things that were not even a part of their initial plan and as a result, they fail to fulfill their initial goals because of the lack of funds.
Once you decide on your budget, you should stick to it religiously to achieve the best results. The initial planning stage is detailed and time-consuming for a reason. You decide your budget after taking into account current market trends, material costs, wages of staff and other expenses, which means the final plan comes together as a result of thorough consideration of all the important factors.
It doesn’t make sense to steer away from a budget that you’ve planned after so much research and brainstorming. If you do, then it is bound to impact your project negatively.
5. Going Beyond Your Limits
Every person has certain skills and talents that he is most likely to be aware of before signing up for any job. If you are renovating your house, then you might already know what you can do and what you can’t do. A wise move would be to use your strengths as much as possible and to not be unrealistic about what you can achieve.
If you are not confident about something, simply drop it. Do not take up challenges and be overconfident about things you’ve never done before. Taking up challenges and testing your limits is a good thing only when you don’t have a huge amount of money invested in the project.
6. Opting to DIY
When it comes to tasks related to the upkeep of our homes, we often try to do it all by ourselves thinking that it’s no big deal. How many times have you tried to fix a switch wiring just because you could change a lightbulb easily?
Many homeowners love the idea of DIY renovation but the truth is that if you are not skilled enough then you’ll just end up biting off more than you can chew. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you skilled enough for the task on hand?
- Do you have time to finish it within a reasonable time period?
- Will you be saving a lot of money?
- Can you achieve the same results as a professional?
If the answers are positive for all the questions listed above, then you can try your hand at DIY renovation otherwise most major renovation projects are best left to a professional.
Wrapping Up:
Renovating your house is not something that you can decide to do on a whim. There is a lot of research and planning that goes into it to make it successful. If you fail to realize the magnitude of things and the scale of your investment before initiating the project, then you’ll find yourself in some serious trouble.