As previously discussed, making a plan before renovating is really important. I really like the idea of a make your own ‘Renovation Action Plan’ (Hotspace). Log into ‘Houzz’ to create floor plans or download my sample (?).
When creating your ‘Renovation Action Plan’ write down all the areas you are planning on renovating and then prioritise them into a list eg:
- Office
- Entry
- Stairs
- Flooring
- Kitchen
The next step is to go into more detail, as much detail as possible under each item with specifications about what needs to be done. Include as much information as possible plus pictures that have inspired you that show the look you are trying to achieve.
Take photos of your current space to use as ‘before’ pictures and find inspiration from Houzz or magazines to paste as a potential ‘after’ picture, demonstrating the look you want to achieve.
Once you know what you are trying to achieve, create an action plan for each space. This plan can become a checklist for completion of your renovation.
Here is an example of our ‘Office Renovation Action Plan’
Interior
- Remove all computers, printers, bookwork, paperwork, stationary, all desktop organisers etc, & set up another area to work from while renovation is completed
- Remove all old desks and electrical wiring
- Remove existing carpet
- Repair concrete & crack in concrete floor (external contractor)
- Replace carpet with vinyl floor planks
- Electrician to wire in new lighting
- Install insulation
- Sheet ceiling
- Prepare & paint ceiling
- Electrician to wire in power points for each desk x 3
- Prepare and paint walls
- Remove old air conditioner & install new air conditioner in new location (external contractor)
- Measure for new desks & shelving & decide on design
- Decide on colour of board & hardware
- Organise and order
- New ‘sliding’ timber door utilising timber pine slabs that I already have
- Source furniture maker to help cut and sand
- Source steel sliding bracket for specific weight of timber door from furniture hardware shop
- Stain & oil timber door
- When removing items from a space, it is a great time to assess what you really need, minimising, decluttering and discarding items that are not valuable to your lifestyle.
- It’s really important to find an alternative space to use while the renovation is being completed. This ensures if there are delays, the impact on your lifestyle is not too great.
- Request samples of board colours, new flooring, paint, etc. prior to making a decision on these items. Shaynna Blaze suggests getting sample pots of paints and checking them in the room at different times of the day to check how the colours look in different lights.
- You may want to buy new accessories to colour coordinate with the new colour scheme of your renovations.
- Have a contingency budget to cover any unexpected costs.