Full Home Renovation: Where Should You Start?
Renovating an entire house is clearly no easy feat. Even for a smaller house, it could take a long time to get it completed. An empty house can take long enough to renovate, and progress could be even slower if you're actually living in it. But before you start thinking about how long it would take, there's one question to answer. Where do you even start? When there's so much to do, it all seems pretty overwhelming. You need to do things in an order that makes sense and, if possible, doesn't disrupt your life too much.
There are a few approaches you could take, but it's likely that you want to take roughly the same steps in about the same order. Here are some of the steps you'll probably want to complete to renovate your home into something you love.
There are a few approaches you could take, but it's likely that you want to take roughly the same steps in about the same order. Here are some of the steps you'll probably want to complete to renovate your home into something you love.
Full Home Renovation: Where Should You Start?
Start With Any Structural Issues
Before you do anything else, you'll definitely want to look at any possible structural issues. These need to be addressed to ensure your property is structurally sound so that you can comfortably move on to anything else. Structural issues could involve anything related to the roof, walls, floors and ceilings, or anything else that makes up the core structure of the house. You don't want to stumble upon any nasty surprises that could make themselves known when you're doing other work. So it makes sense to have an inspection carried out to check if there are any problems that need fixing or anything about the structure that you want to change.
Think About The Layout
You won't necessarily want to stick with the existing layout of the property, so it's worth considering what you might want to change. Are the bathrooms in the right place? Are the rooms all good sizes? Do you want to change an open-plan space to multiple rooms, or vice versa? Planning your layout can help you to decide if you want to move anything around, remove or add any walls, or make changes to things like plumbing or electrics. You can hire an architect to help you do this, but it's not always necessary. Some free tools can help you design your layout.
Make Improvements To Heating, Cooling And Insulation
Your home needs to be comfortable, whatever the weather. Some of the renovations you want to make might pertain to the heating, cooling, ventilation and insulation. These changes can help to make your home cool when it's hot outside, warm when it's cold outside, and dry when it's raining or snowing. But it's also something to think about if you want to create a more energy-efficient and eco-friendly home. You could save a lot of money on your future bills by updating the HVAC or insulation in your home. And it will reduce your carbon footprint too.
Tackle The Bathroom
It's hard to know what room to start in first, but bathrooms can be a key area for consideration. If you're lucky enough to have more than one, that makes things a lot easier. You can focus on your bathroom remodeling in one bathroom while you still have at least one more that you can use on a daily basis. It might be a bit tricky, but it's definitely workable. It is slightly more difficult if you only have one bathroom. Renovating your sole bathroom can be easier if you're able to live elsewhere while the work is completed. But if that's not possible, you can still work around it if you plan it well and choose a contractor that can meet your needs.
Turn Your Attention To The Kitchen
After bathrooms, you might want to think about the kitchen. It's one of the most important rooms in your home and, consequently, it can disrupt your life when you're renovating it. Having your kitchen out of commission isn't exactly convenient, but it is manageable. Depending on the extent of the work to be done, it could take anywhere from two to eight weeks to fully renovate a kitchen. A new kitchen could be fitted in just a few days, but there is often a lot of other work that needs to be completed, including removing the old kitchen.
Consider Starting With Living Rooms For Family Space
When you want to make sure you have plenty of space for your family, you might start with living spaces first. Getting at least one living space completed will ensure you have at least one room where everyone can hang out together. You could count your kitchen as this room, but it's also useful to have a dining room, living room, or perhaps somewhere like a den. It might be annoying not to have access to these spaces while they're being renovated, but making sure you have at least one space for the family can help to make the rest of the renovations a little easier to handle.
Start With Bedrooms If Privacy Matters
On the other hand, you might prefer to start with renovating bedrooms if privacy is more important to you. Maybe it matters more that everyone has their own space to go to, and you want to sort that out before you work on other rooms. Plus, it means that no one has to delay decorating their room and getting it just the way that they want it. There might not be a huge amount to do in bedrooms, but you might want to replaster, install new lighting fixtures, and start making sure there's plenty of storage. Completing the bedrooms will mean everyone has somewhere to go when you're working on your communal spaces.
Get The Laundry Room Completed
When you first move into your home, the laundry room doesn't have to do much. It just needs to have space for your washer and dryer so you can do your laundry. So it's not necessarily a priority when it comes to renovating. However, you might decide that it needs a new look or that you want to reconfigure it so it's more useful. When you're doing this, you might even need to do some plumbing or reconfigure some electrics. So it's possible you need to start thinking about your laundry room a little earlier than you first imagine.
Upgrade Outdoor Spaces
Outdoor spaces are unlikely to be a top priority when you're renovating your home, so they could be fairly low down on your list. However, there are some outdoor changes that could be more important than others. For example, maybe you want to install a new driveway. This could be something you want to get done sooner, rather than later. It will ensure you have somewhere to park your car safely, especially if you don't currently have a decent driveway. But some outdoor spaces can definitely wait. A new backyard might improve your home, but it's not necessarily something you need right now.
Consider Prioritizing By Task
It's useful to think about which rooms and spaces in your home are most important. However, it can also be useful to think about your renovation in terms of which tasks need to be completed throughout the house. This can be especially important at the beginning of your renovation. For example, maybe you need to put down new flooring in every room or most rooms require plastering. It makes sense to do these things through the whole house instead of one room at a time.
There's no one right answer to where you should start when renovating your home. But there are some things to think about when you're deciding which spaces are most important.
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