One of the few more thrilling tasks in life is making your house truly your home. This post is for everyone who has been wondering about renovating their house or who may even have an apparently never-ending list of objectives and wants. Before continuing with the next phase of your home improvement project, you must narrow down your wish list to a well-honed list of necessary must-haves and action items.
Step 1: Setting a budget
The first thing you’ll need to do is select a certain price range to work within for your home improvements. As you can see, we mentioned a BUDGET RANG. You should start this process with a budget that is LESS THAN the total amount you can afford to spend on your project. It’s a sad fact that once you start tearing down walls for renovation, you’ll run into unexpected problems. This is why you should reserve a percentage of your overall budget for contingencies. You will decide how extensive your renovations will be working with your custom builder based on the lower end of your budget. It will be less stressful for you to go through the process knowing that you have a tiny safety net to fall back on in case something comes up or you decide you want to spend more money than you expected to on a finished choice.
Step 2: Start with the Fundamentals
Sort the items on your entire wish list into the following three categories: repairs that need to be made, must-haves, and nice-to-haves.
The Repairs Required section will include any upkeep activities that you may have neglected over time. If your HVAC system is having problems, you should add them to your list of repairs that need to be made. It’s likely that additional repairs are needed that you’re not aware of yet. If anything else has to be done to bring your home up to code or make it a healthier place for you and your family to live, your trusted builder and their skilled stable subcontractors should be able to help you determine what needs to be done.
The Must-Have section will include items that served as the inspiration for this renovation excursion in the first place. Perhaps your kids have been very loving to your home but have left the bathrooms in need of a lot of maintenance. Your family may have grown over the past several years to the point where your kitchen or living room is no longer enough for your needs. With the expansion of your family, you might need to add more specialized or built-in storage. Make sure your Must-Have list includes everything you believe is necessary to make your experience with house repair “worth it,” regardless of the circumstances.
Things that “definitely would be good” to have but might be the first to go if it turns out that your budget can’t support the scope of the renovation that you had anticipated it would be found under the “Like-To-Have” section. Everybody’s list will be different depending on their preferences, but it’s common to include some of the more upscale finishes that you may or may not decide to use. Among the items on this list are things like switching from manual to automated window coverings, switching from aluminum to steel windows, completely rebuilding a fireplace mantle and surround rather than just refinishing the old one, and upgrading all kitchen appliances rather than just the ones that need to be replaced.
Step 3: Focus on the Areas You Use the Most
This is crucial if your money is to actually matter. Pay close attention to the rooms in your house that you use frequently, such as the kitchen and breakfast nook, the living room, the master bedroom, and others. If your adolescents will be leaving the nest in a few years, you might want to reconsider giving them the “best of the best” bedroom. We often find that additional bedrooms and bathrooms, eating areas, and bonus/game rooms fall lower on the priority list, especially once children have outgrown their earlier years. Although most people think that renovating their interior rooms has more immediate benefits, sometimes improving the property’s outside (beyond repairs) is ranked lower.
Step 4: Meeting with a bespoke builder
After you’ve narrowed down your list, the best line of action is to hire a renowned custom builder by interviewing them. In order to help you and your partner narrow down your list of options after discussing a wide variety of options, they will aid in producing an approximate estimate based on the current cost of goods and labor. In addition, your custom house builder will put you in touch with an architect and interior designer they feel will be a good fit for your needs, preferences, and budget. As you move through the planning and pre-construction phases, your custom builder should update their preliminary estimate to reflect each choice and decision you make, ensuring that your budget is complete and accurate by the time you’re ready to begin building.
For more details on conducting interviews with possible custom builders, see our prior blog post here.
Once you finalize your wish list and go on to the next phase of your home remodeling, the most crucial thing to remember is to construct a reliable team of partners who prioritize your goals and interests. Working with a trustworthy, dependable, and high-level custom house builder, architect, and interior designer may make all the difference.
