Planning for a home renovation is an exciting and potentially stressful time. Preparing for your home renovation is imperative to ensure you have a positive experience. Things to consider and prepare for:

Staying in the home or moving out

A home that is being remodeled is many things; dusty, loud, and inconvenient, exciting. You may want to consider moving out or taking an extended vacation. If you are going to stay in your house during your renovation, it will be important to decide which rooms will be yours to inhabit during the remodel and set boundaries for the contractor.

Meal prep and where to eat

When planning a major home renovation, it is possible it will include your kitchen. If so, you will need to decide where you will prepare your prepare meals, and eat and cleanup. Many of our homeowners use their basement, adjacent dining room or any space they can set up a temporary kitchen. A temp kitchen could have a microwave, toaster/oven, fridge and ideally as sink.

Prepare adjacent rooms to the remodel

During your remodel, there will be a lot of activity and commotion which can create vibrations to the walls and floors. In addition, there will be additional traffic in in the work areas. It is important to remove anything fragile or valuable adjacent to these areas including shelves and pictures.

Emotional preparation

Though this is an exciting time for most homeowners, it can be overwhelming stressful once they truly grasp the chaos that will be in their home for the next few months! While half of the battle is choosing the right contractor and knowing what you want in your renovation, a big part of having an easy and positive experience is based on the emotional preparation leading up to the remodel. You may be interested in a previous blog we wrote called How to Stay in Love During a Remodel.

Prepare your pets and kids

It’s easier to keep your sanity and your kids safe during a renovation when you keep your work area and living areas separate. This is an active construction zone that’s not safe for kids or pets. Create family living areas and keep the construction area off limits to keep everyone safe.  And don’t forget your pets. You may want to relocate them away from the main areas of activity and find new areas for sleeping and eating.  Extra attention to both kids and pets will help ease the transition.

Declutter and move out of the space

You will need to completely empty out the area including all the Tupperware that has no lids. This means removing everything inside of cabinets, on shelves, and on counter tops. The furniture will need to be moved out as well so it’s a good idea to discuss with your contractor the best locations for storing your furniture during the renovation.

Brace yourself for the dirt

If you’ve ever seen a construction site, you probably noticed it wasn’t the cleanest of spaces. Depending on the phase of the project there could be additional debris and dust (demo, framing, drywall, etc.). The contractor will be taking the necessary steps to control this. This includes portable filter systems, temporary walls, blocking off air returns and changing air filters. Sometimes dirt finds its way. Communicate with them so they can address it sooner than later.

Prepare for the noise

This may not be a problem if you are away from home during the day, but if you work from home, set up your home office from the construction area as far as possible. Separating yourself from noise that comes with progress may not be easy. You may to get creative or find a temporary out-of-the-house office (Starbucks, anyone?!). Managing your expectations and taking steps to mitigate noise from the work area ahead of time will help you stay sane while still being able to utilize your space as normally as possible.

Expect the unexpected

Situations will undoubtedly come up when walls come down and we are able to see something we couldn’t see before. This could mean changes in the design because of unexpected circumstances.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

The most important thing to do leading into your remodel is to communicate with your contractor. If you have any questions, ask! Don’t be shy or hesitant. The more at ease you feel with the process, the more you’ll be able to trust your contractor, minimizing tension and stress.

Although home remodeling takes time and is somewhat inconvenient process, a positive approach and thorough preparation can make it much less difficult. Keep these tips (and of course, the vision of your beautifully remodeled home!) at the front of your mind, and the project will be complete before you know it!