When it comes to designing your dream kitchen or creating a beautiful bathroom, renovations can be stressful. Homeowners deal with high expectations, budgets that continually increase, dealing with strange contractors coming in and out of the home, and limited access to areas of the home they have grown accustomed to using every day. These things would affect anyone, especially not being able to access running water or appliances that are part of your daily life. Even though you can’t completely escape the anxiety tied to home renovations, there are plenty of ways you can minimize that stress to make things more manageable.
Be Prepared and Be Realistic: Remember to work with the available space that you have. If you have a bathroom that faces North, it will unlikely become a loft retreat that you can envision in your mind. There are many resources where you can get design ideas for small spaces. Your small space can have a lot of potential if you take time to plan it out correctly and be open to what the space can and cannot accommodate.
Start with a Budget: After you have sat down and calculated your budget, add in an extra ten percent to cover any expenses that are unplanned. Visit your local kitchen and bath showrooms to gather pricings. This will show you what you can afford within your budget. Keep in mind that materials and labor add up quickly. Any miscalculations could be costly. Small things can create savings such as choosing a matte finish over gloss, or keeping your same appliances and spending more on flooring, countertops, or cabinets.
Choose a Reliable Contractor: Talk to friends, family, and coworkers to get recommendations for quality contractors and designers. Be sure to follow-up and check out the contractor’s references. Don’t just ask about the completed work, dig further and check out their reliability. Ask questions like “Did they arrive on time?” “Did they maintain the available budget without going over?” “Was the work completed as planned?” These questions will go a long way to making sure you find a top notch contractor. You will also want to verify the contractor’s insurance and make sure it is current. Find out who will be responsible for obtaining permits, paying up-front for materials, or any other details you want to know before the job begins. Making sure you are clear on all the details ahead of time will alleviate quite a bit of stress and it will save on any miscommunications that may occur later.
Expect to Wait: Big items like stock cabinets or appliances can take a month or more to arrive to your home. Custom cabinets can take twice as long. Check out the estimated time of arrival on all materials and mark them on your calendar, but allow a few extra days padding for any delays that may arise. Check with the contractor to follow up on orders and tell them to keep you up to date on what is happening.
Prepare Your Family for Options: If you are renovating the kitchen and can’t use it, then plan a cookout for dinner with your family. They will love the fun you can have putting together an outdoor meal. You can also put together some microwave meals and get the kids in on the preparations before the renovations begin. Dust off that crockpot you have hidden in the pantry and find a recipe for a one pot meal. Just remember to make the best of the situation and try to keep things light and fun.
Don’t Worry About the Little Things: You will have to overlook plaster crumbs, wood splinters, and a mountain of dust. Many contractors handle basic clean up during and after a renovation, your room will still need a good vacuuming and mopping most likely. Consider employing a cleaning crew to come in and take care of the mess. That will help you relieve some stress, unless you are someone who enjoys the clean-up. Sometimes the cleaning crew will also help to organize and arrange your furniture and smaller items! After all, you want to enjoy the room and you will feel much better once it is all put back together.
The biggest key to alleviating stress is knowing ahead of time what to expect from your renovation. This way as things occur and the mess piles up, you will already be in an accepting frame of mind and won’t have as much of an issue when these things come up. Just be patient and understanding when it comes to your renovation. There will be bumps along the way and you may encounter some setbacks. Just know that the end result will be worth everything you are going through along the way.