Whether you are thinking about renovating your current home, designing a new build from scratch or looking to flip a property for resale, here are five easy mistakes to avoid when renovating your home, courtesy of our interior design marketing experts, our Luxury Lifestyle Marketing Team.
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Not Setting A Realistic Budget
With any renovation, you need to allow for a contingency budget. Underbudgeting is a costly mistake that will cost you dearly in the long run. After you have gathered your quotes from your professional builders, interior designer and other tradespeople, calculate the estimated cost and then add on additional money, at least another 10%. This is one of the biggest home renovation mistakes.
If you run out of money or make a late payment, your home renovations will either slow down or completely stop, so set a renovation budget that is realistic and achievable. Making your home look more luxurious may cost significant amounts of money, or if you have the right interior design team, they can help you source cheaper options that give the same look.
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Not Investing In The Right Home Renovations
You might have a strong desire to install a tennis court or convert a bedroom into a dressing room. Still, when it comes to increasing your resale value unless you live in a mansion, these are unlikely to add considerable value to your home.
The best home renovations increase living space, energy efficiency and aesthetics of your single-family home. For example, high-quality windows, loft or garage extensions and kitchen and bathroom renovations are essential ways to renovate your home and increase the value and space planning. The renovation cost can be huge, so speak to a real estate agent to get an idea of resale value with your planned renovations and interior design trends to transform your home, even if you aren’t planning to move any time soon.
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Not Allowing Enough Time
Underestimating timescales are one of the more common home renovation mistakes. Planning your renovations around a key event, such as being finished by Christmas for a big family get-together or your daughters’ 18th birthday party at home, is bound to end in disaster! Allow for a 3- to 6-month window for most basic projects. Ask your builders for their estimated schedule of works.
Events such as not getting the correct building permit in place, adverse weather conditions, illness, and extended wait times on tradespeople or materials can impact your renovation completion date. It’s essential to be flexible to avoid disappointment when renovating your home.
Alternatively, remember that awkward clients can also delay renovation projects!
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Expecting Everything To Go According To Plan
Unfortunately, most renovations will experience a hiccup of one sort or another. Poor design and lack of planning in the correct order for the different trades to do their jobs, through to receiving delivery of the wrong kitchen cabinets, can all impact the entire project. Even giving your walls the wrong coat of paint and then delaying your painter and decorators further by being undecided on your wall colours can mean an unexpected delay.
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Not Asking For References
One of the biggest mistakes in renovating your home is not asking for references or asking to see examples of previous work by your builders or interior designers. If you are project managing your house renovations, you need to appoint the right team to avoid your renovation turning into a stressful project. An experienced architect will be able to spot a common issue and help with careful planning and every aspect of your renovation. They will be able to help with avoidable renovation mistakes and be at the core of your home redesign.
