The removalist drives away, leaving you alone with bland furniture and little decor. You meander through the empty halls of your new home, the walls echoing with each step. To others, your home is a dusty, old shack that needs a kitchen renovation, but to you, it is a venue of inspiration.
You visualise floors complete with polished tiling, antique-inspired cupboards, a spacious balcony overlooking an array of flowers, and a popular Pinterest account, where your renovation success is shared across thousands of boards. However, before you get too carried away and tear off all the wallpaper, you must develop a detailed plan in order to continue forth with your transformation ideas. Otherwise, the renovations may leave you with constant cleaning, a toilet that runs because you are too broke to fix it, and a half-constructed house that you can hardly call home.
Before commencing with tiling your floor or polishing your kitchen, take the time to ponder how long you wish to stay in your new home. If you know you will stay a long time due to your solid job and lack of reason to move anywhere else, then consider plotting out a renovation schedule for your entire house. You also have the option to slowly add to your renovations over time, leaving you without hurry, and the pleasure of creative freedom. If you are unsure of your length of stay, think carefully about where to begin your renovations. It would be disastrous to sell your home for less value than what you spent on improvements.
You find the tiling in the bathroom repugnant, the colour of paint in the living room is blood-orange and complemented by a cat-pee-stained carpet, and there is not enough space in the kitchen for neither your everyday plates nor the china dishes you’ve set aside for your future in-laws. So before you begin, ask yourself this: which area will grant me the most bang for my buck when it’s finished?
It is advisable to kick off your home’s magical transformation with a kitchen renovation. If you plan on selling your home one day, know that buyers desire a kitchen with cupboard space, marble countertops, and room to wiggle around other in-house chefs or dogs underfoot.
It is easy to visualise all the improvements you can make with your new home - from adding a terrace outside of your room so you can read to the sounds of nature until the sun goes down, to covering up that cat pee-stained carpet with rustic, yet lavish-looking decor and furniture.
Before getting too carried away with decorating your home, it’s important to think in a practical manner. Begin with a budget that only allows you to spend a certain amount on paint, furniture, and other gadgets needed to improve your living space. Keep a spreadsheet that allows you to track your purchases, so that when you finish your kitchen renovation, you can properly gauge the cost for the improvements to your upstairs bathroom.
Before you begin cleaning all areas of your home, remember to consider your desired length of stay, plot out a budget, and pick the right area to renovate first!
