So you’ve decided to remodel your home, congratulations! This is an exciting time of life where you get to pick and choose things for your new home and design it so that it’s perfect for you and your family. But now that it’s sinking in, you might begin to panic. That’s normal, but here we’ll be going over all the ways you can prepare and set yourself up for success. There’s no way around the fact that having a major home remodel is disruptive to your life, but with these steps, you can make it as easy as possible and maybe even allow yourself to enjoy the process.
To Stay or To Go
This is first on the list because what you decide will affect how you handle everything else on this list. A smaller home remodel project usually allows the family to stay in their home and live around the inconvenience of construction. A major home remodel is a different story. While you can certainly still live in your home, it might make things much harder on yourself. So consider what you would prefer to do, and maybe have a family meeting and talk with everyone involved about what they want to do.
Time to Purge
Major home remodels typically include the kitchen and the bathroom, and these are two of the most heavily used rooms in our homes. We use them a lot, and most of our stuff is stored in these rooms. You might open your pantry or bathroom storage closet and start to worry about how you’ll move all these things. You might even be tempted to throw it away, so you don’t have to deal with it, but we have a better idea. Get the whole family involved and make it a challenge! See how much food you can eat out of the pantry before the renovation starts. Try to make meals only using the items you have at home, and get creative with snacks! Do this for your pantry and your freezer. Do the same thing for your bathroom closet. We all have those half-used bottles of shampoo or those lotion samples that we swore we were going to try. Use them up before the remodel! Have a spa day where you try out the products hiding behind those towels you never use.
This will reduce the amount of stuff you have to pack up, and eating all the food you have at home instead of eating out will save you some money at a time when you’ll feel like all you’re doing is spending.
Yard Sale!
You never know how much stuff you have until you move. This is also true for remodeling. It will surprise you how many things you have in a room when you have to try and find a place for them in other places in the home. Take this time to assess the items you have in your home and decide if you need them. This could be the perfect excuse to go more minimal with your home decor and make a bit of money with a yard sale. Or give back to the community and donate your unwanted items.
Store Your Things
Now that you’ve used everything up and donated things you no longer want, you’ll still have a lot of stuff to store while the remodeling continues. When you’re just remodeling a single room in the home, you can typically relocate everything to other rooms. However, with a major home remodel, this gets more difficult since more rooms of the house will be under construction. Because of this, you might want to consider getting outside storage for your stuff. This could be at a storage facility, or you can rent a pod to be delivered to your home. If you have things you want to keep in a temperature-controlled area, a storage facility might be best. But if you’re looking to put things out of the way, you could easily use a pod. Either way, having a game plan for where your items will go will give you peace of mind when it comes time to remodel.
Renovation Survival Kit
If you’ve decided to stay in your home during the remodel, you won’t want to pack up everything from your kitchen and bathroom. However, there are still lots of things you’ll need. Consider the “can’t live without” items you’ll want to keep out and create your “survival kit.” For example, the coffee maker, a hot plate to make easy meals (eating out does eventually get old), your toothbrush, and maybe move the TV into your room. We all have special items that make us feel at home, so go through what that might mean for you and set aside boxes for your kit.
Secure Your Home
There’s no way around it; during your major home remodeling project, you’ll have a lot of people coming in and out. If you’ve done your research, you’ve found a reputable construction company with honest and trustworthy carpenters on its team. So while you won’t need to worry about them, it can still make you feel better to up the security in your home. Often there are break-ins on construction sites because of the expensive equipment left there. Please don’t risk it and invest in a few cameras or more secure locks on the doors.
Organization Plan
You’re going to start collecting a lot of paperwork when you decide to do a major home remodel. And at one point, you’ll be looking for that one paper with that number on it, and you need it now! Without proper organization, you’ll find yourself panicking. Pick out a folder or a binder to keep everything in one spot. Or even better, keep everything in a single file on your computer and scan all the papers you have. You can have it on your computer, phone, and tablet, so you always have what you need.
Take Before Photos
This might seem like a silly one compared to the others on this list, but when your major home remodel is complete, and you’re showing it off to your friends, you’re going to wish you had better “before” photos. This makes it more fun to go back and forth and see just how big a change was made. Remember where you took those photos, and when everything is complete, try to take “after” pictures in the same exact spot to get the best effect. Your friends on Instagram will love them!
Inform Your Neighbors
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to make a hammer and saw any quieter. Before the trucks roll up and the demolition starts, inform your neighbors about what’s going on. This will keep everyone in the loop and keep any worried neighbors calm when they start seeing unfamiliar vehicles and people walking around the neighborhood.
Take a deep breath and enjoy the remodeling process as much as you can. With these steps, you can reduce the stress of having a construction crew at your home and make it easier to relax while someone is ripping out your cabinets.
