If you’ve ever done a DIY renovation, you know how stressful it can be. Instead of being overwhelmed on your next renovation project, use some of these tips and tricks because they’ll help you keep your sanity intact while you’re tearing the kitchen cabinets off the wall.
There are few things that are as exciting but as frustrating as home renovation. But a whopping 70% of homeowners say that they’d be more satisfied with their homes if they could make renovations on it ranging from small to large.
People don’t make the renovations themselves because they’re afraid of the job going wrong or simply don’t know where to start. But the people that do make that plunge and start a DIY renovation can be successful, they need a few pointers to overcome being overwhelmed by a house renovation.
Tips for Staying Sane During Your DIY Renovation
You could be working on something small, like painting a room. Or you could be redoing your own kitchen. Each renovation comes with its own set of worries unless you plan ahead and make sure
Keep With the Season
Summer is fairly renowned as the best season to do your remodeling in. The sunny days and fair climate make working outside easier if your project involves a lot of moving outside. If you’re doing a kitchen remodel, it also opens up the ability to switch to doing a lot of your cooking outside on the grill.
Of course, it all depends on where you live. A climate with sweltering hot summers calls for switching intense projects to colder months, and vice versa.
If you’re working with a contractor, ask them when the materials that you need for your remodel are in the highest supply. Paint, cement, and lumber fluctuate in price depending on the time of the year, and you’ll want to get them when they’re in their highest supply and the cheapest.
Know What You’re Doing
Say you’re embarking on a project where you have no prior knowledge or experience, like making your own painted plywood subfloor. Have no idea what that is? Read about it.
Starting with a clear, well-established plan will eliminate half of your worries. Get extra organized and write an outline of your entire project.
Include all the main points of what the project will entail. Write down all the materials you will need, the steps you are going to take to get there, different phases of the project, and a timeline that you will actually stick to. When you have the whole picture laid out, it’s easier to break the project into smaller pieces and make it feel less overwhelming.
Create a Sanctuary
Your renovation may be taking up multiple rooms in your house. It’s important to leave a space behind for you to be able to relax in where you don’t have to think about the renovation.
Compartmentalize the stressful parts of the renovation. It’s true that it’s out of sight, out of mind – you need a place where the project isn’t always in your line of vision, or you’re going to constantly stress about it.
Meal Prep
If your kitchen is being worked on, your access to food is going to go down. Have a plan of action in place before you start work in your kitchen so that you can know where your meals are coming from. You can also make a makeshift kitchen in another area of the house with a toaster oven.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
You may go into a project with all the tips and tricks of the trade, but find yourself in over your head when you’re halfway through.
Instead of soldiering on and trying to finish the project yourself, it’s always better to ask for help. You’ll end up saving yourself money if you really don’t know how to complete the renovation at hand. When you’re truly stumped on a project, an expert can come in and take over to put your stress to rest.
Find a Starting Point
Maybe you have a large number of projects that you want to complete. Start with the place in your home that makes you the least happy. Perhaps this is something that has been in disrepair for a long amount of time or has been your least favorite part of your home for a long time.
You’ll feel the impact of the renovation most strongly when you being with something that’s going to make you feel better. Sometimes, all you need to do to breathe fresh life into a room is give it a new coat of paint.
You Get What You Pay For
It can be tempting to buy cheap materials when it comes to paint, countertops, windows – anything that you may be thinking about installing in your home that will help you save a dollar
The problem with saving a dollar in these areas is that people are going to be able to tell that you skimped when it came to materials.
A rule of thumb is that if you can’t afford to do it well, just don’t do it. You won’t end up being satisfied with the end result when you cut corners on cost, and you’ll still remain dissatisfied with that section of your home.
Wait to renovate once you’ve budgeted and saved an appropriate amount for the project at hand. You can thrift furniture and give it a makeover to look good in a room, but thrifting on any building materials will cause it to fall apart in the end.
Stay in the Know
The internet is one of your greatest source for DIY renovation. Being prepared is the most important step of a DIY project, and you can learn all sorts of details you may never have been able to pick up on if you had never read the information.
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