It’s easy to get carried away with home remodeling plans. All of us homeowners have things we’d love to change about where we live, from installing new bathroom fixtures to adding an extra bedroom, but part of making those dreams come true is taking some time to turn them into goals that can be accomplished within a reasonable time frame and budget. So, let’s look at how to go about the planning process successfully.
Brainstorm
Take a notebook (or your tablet computer, if you’re tech-oriented) and walk around the house, noting everything you’d like to have done to it. Don’t worry about practicalities like budgets at this point. Just jot things down. Do this on a room-by-room basis, and don’t forget your home’s exterior. You may have never realized how badly you need new siding or a patio until you look at the outside with an eye towards home improvement.
Prioritize
For most, making home remodeling plans into actual projects in progress is not realistic. What you can do, however, is rate all the projects based on your needs and desires. Assign priorities to each project. Exactly how you do so is up to you, but in general, they should range from “must-do” to “nice to have, but it can wait a while.”
Be sure to list your ideas for wanting each of the changes, such as “need more room,” “hate that color,” and “energy bills are killing us.” This will help you to assign accurate priorities to each project. For example, a renovation that could potentially save you hundreds of dollar in heating bills every year will probably take precedent over, say, painting a room to match the color of your comforter. This step may also save you money in other ways. For example, you may feel that you need a need an additional room because you need a place for a pool table. However, you might be able to expand your current game room simply by extending it outward from the house a couple of feet, a decidedly less expensive task than adding an entirely new one.
An Honest Budget
Other factors that will help you prioritize the projects on the list are costs. You might love the idea of having a walk-in pantry or marble tile in your bathroom, for example, but the costs of those projects are simply beyond your reach at the current time. If so, then still leave them on the list, but allow yourself more time to procure adequate funding for their completion. A good rule of thumb is to plan for the next three to five years. Where the projects fall on your timeline will depend on your income, the amount each job will set you back, and how urgent the task is to your safety and the value of your home.
At Criner, our top priority is serving our customers. So if you have any questions or concerns about your remodeling plans, we invite you to call us. We’ll be happy to give you our best recommendations, based on our three decades of experience as a local home builder. We’ll also be glad to give you a free, no-hassle quote on any job you’d like done. We look forward to hearing from you.