When we start thinking about how to plan a new space or project in our home, there are plenty of nights where Andy will wake up with a new idea or source of inspiration. It sounds ridiculous (and sometimes it is!), but renovations projects tend to be all consuming when you’re excited and ready to break ground.
There’s several preparatory steps to take when you’re planning a new project and some of them are actually the more fun part of the whole thing – aside from the finished product. It’s the time where you lay out all your ideas and bring them together, building one cohesive idea. You’ll pick up new things along the way too, whether you’re watching a home renovation show or find a new brand whose home pieces you love. Updating and adding is always a part of the fun!
You can begin the design process in any number of ways. For us, we always brought a tape measure when we walked new potential properties and came up with ideas as we went to see if there was a way to improve the space, usually focusing around the owner’s suite and kitchen. If you’re newer to home renovating, it may be that you’re starting with a space that you already have and you want to make functional changes to one or a few rooms.
Wherever you’re starting, here’s a few preliminary steps that everyone will need to take before beginning a new home project:
- Assess What You Have & What You Want
It’s always important to start your project with what you already have and a vision for what you want. You might have a living room couch that needs to orient a certain way in the room or a owner’s bathroom that doesn’t quite fit your vision. Make a list within each room of what you want to keep and change, using potential renovation as a solution for getting both. By looking at your must-have’s alongside your current options, you’ll be able to understand what’s feasible and temper expectations if you’re not able to check everything off your list. It’s a good time to consider the form of your design v. the function of the room. Do you want to move the TV to a different wall but are concerned about light coming in from the windows? Does your dream couch not fit with the coffee table that you already have? These are the questions to ask yourself as you assess what you have and what you want and get yourself as close to your vision as possible, but still liveable.
- Find a Source of Inspiration
Whether you’re working with a contractor, designer or just on your own, you’ll want to seek out sources of inspiration to guide your renovation projects. They help you keep an end goal in mind and with any designing or decorating in the future. Start a Pinterest board or follow home design accounts on Instagram to see what brands and styles they like. Walk around Target or Home Depot to see what fixtures or decor items are within your price point. looking at light fixtures. Visit your local antique store or salvage shop for parts and pieces to use throughout the space. If you’re a visual person, it can also help to draw out a couple of different ideas of how you might want the room to look, even if it’s not to scale. You’ll use this inspiration to guide the next steps and that’s critical, even if it comes out looking completely different.
- Determine What You Can Feasibly Execute
Unless you’re an experienced contractor, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to execute a big renovation project on your own. You may need to call in a plumber or electrician to handle some of the areas that require more trade experience, or you may need assistance on like 80 percent of the project. Outline what these needs are early so you can start gathering estimates and gain a better understanding of your budget and material needs for the process. From there, start researching how to accomplish the tasks that you’ll be taking on yourself and understand the steps and tools you’ll need to complete it.
- Create a Tentative Timeline
Once you have an outline of what you’ll be accomplishing and how, you can start putting together a rough timeline for the project. It’s important to go from beginning to end, understanding what needs to be accomplished in order to take the next step. You will likely need to empty and demolish an entire room before your electrician and/or plumber come to expose everything, slotting in your other tasks alongside their work or to follow. The biggest tip we have is to account for more time than you originally estimate. It’s hard to know what issues could pop up in the middle of the renovation, so temper expectations on how long something could take at the start. It’s better to be pleasantly surprised with finishing early or on time than late.
These steps were crucial for us recently when we laid out our plans for renovating our living room. We wanted a space that felt cozy and homey after a long day, while still inviting for friends and family when they come over on the weekends. The room is spacious, but vertically long and, to make our vision possible, we essentially turned how we live in the room 45 degrees to create a beautiful, custom built-in entertainment center with shelves on either side of the TV. At the same time, we had to make sure that our new seating orientation didn’t block the one entrance to the room, which is on the opposite side of the room to the entertainment center.
It may sound like silly little details – and sometimes they are – but every decision you make in the room alters potential options for other parts in the room. Don’t expect your first project or room to draw itself the first time. Refine your vision over and over again and you’ll eventually get to the space that you want. We found it helpful to anchor around a few key things – built-in shelves / entertainment center and a brand new custom couch. Now that we’ve made those two decisions, everything else can fall into place around them.
What are some of the must-have’s that you’re looking for in your house right now? We’d love to hear from you!
Barefoot Material 