How to Plan Your Home Refurbishment: A Comprehensive Guide

There are a lot of nitty-gritty details to be worked out prior to embarking on a home refurbishment project. Through this blog, we bring you detailed pointers on the same.

Relaxing in familiar surroundings involves personal touches such as favourite colours and textures, controllable lighting systems, displays, and mementoes, all of which play a vital role in creating the ‘welcome home’ aura. Irrespective of whether the ‘home’ is owned, mortgaged, or rented, or whether it is a villa, cottage, or flat, a decorative personal touch is essential if home is to be where the heart is.

Employing third parties for refurbishing a house is expensive, and it is time-consuming to find the right home refurbishment services. Moreover, you will still have to make a few changes to give it a personal touch. So instead, why not channel the energies of personal attention into the task itself?

So prior to embarking on any home refurbishment project, take into account timescales, and the available skill levels, and the budget for the same.

The Planning Process of Home Refurbishment Project

Most households already have some kind of general strategy for running the home smoothly, ranging from a basic task ‘duty roster’ on a kitchen notice board to a complex time-specific system that includes family members and budgets, all logged onto a home computer. Forward planning is an essential part of running a home and is equally vital when it comes to making improvements, whether major or minor.

No matter how small the job appears to be, refurbishing a house needs forward planning. A plan of action is a must to give your house a makeover. Here are some tips for making a house refurbishment plan.

Give Clear Brief to House Refurbishment Contractors

Imagine you have an independent builder taking on the job. What he would expect from his client is a clear brief, detailing all that is required from the finished work, including which materials are going to be used and which colour scheme is required. Just because you intend to tackle the project yourself, don’t skimp on the details when devising the plan of action. And beware that the approach of ‘making it up as you go along’ is liable to end in unsatisfactory results.

Questions to Consider While Property Refurbishment

Whether you live alone or with others, it is worth considering the following questions:

Budgeting for Full House Refurbishment

If the household members like the idea and are happy to live with the work in progress, then you need to consider:

  • How much will it cost?
  • Is it affordable?

The job budget involves the cost of any new tools required and delivery charges for materials and/or debris clearance, along with the fees of the builder and decorator. 

Skills and Time Factors in a House Remodel

Assuming a reasonable skill level with a basic tool kit, try to devise a logical order of work, keeping in mind the following factors:

  • The amount of work needed each day will depend on the size of the project, but don’t take too much in one go. Popular interior décor programs on television may give the impression that a room can be completely (and miraculously!) transformed in a mere 25 minutes, including a commercial break, but trust us, this is far from being the truth!
  • Be realistic in assessing how long you think each part of the project will take.
  • Cutting corners on any part of the job may lead to difficulties later on and may ultimately add to the time the job takes.

Implications of Old House Refurbishment

Home refurbishment improves the aesthetic appeal of a home along with added comfort and functionality. This eventually increases the resale value of your property. However, removing period features (house featuring a particular architectural style) from a room for ‘modernisation’ is no wise, because in years to come you may be tired of the changes you have made and seek to reinstate an earlier look. Therefore, give yourself time to come to terms with your plans, put them away for a while, then come back to them and reconsider what you have thought about. Don’t be afraid to change your mind or tone down some of the more ambitious aspects of the project.

Original Features and New Technology

Technology can work in any environment, and stylish period features don’t have to make way for contemporary interiors to accommodate innovations. Original fireplaces, skirtings, cornices, and decorative mouldings can all be updated by adventurous colour scheming, irrespective of their Georgian, Regency, Victorian, or Edwardian origin.

Water and electricity supplies in older properties must meet modern standards and regulations, but they can be largely hidden away, and the growing reproduction marketplace supplies period-style radiators and switch surrounds.

Opposites can work very well together. A digital sound system can look and sound superb in an elaborate Victorian Sunday room. If you are considering a large-scale refurbishment program, keep your mind and your options open to the possibilities of accommodating new technology in a traditional setting.

Unique Family Needs

Along with considering the room’s functions, period styles, and linked colour schemes, you also need to assess requirements that are unique to your family. Every person who lives on the property should be allowed an input because any form of alteration or decoration is a family affair.

With the passing years, needs alter. Children, who once shared a room with parents, will want to move apart. Elderly relatives may join the household. Flexibility is crucial in house remodelling. It may be difficult and time-consuming to adapt a house to fit the occupants, but it may be equally difficult to change the habits of a lifetime to suit the layout of a property.

Here are some points to consider for your property refurbishment:

  • Is there adequate provision in the entrance hall or lobby for wet outdoor clothes, boots, and/or sporting equipment?
  • Can this area be cleaned easily?
  • Is there space in this area to put down shopping items temporarily, while a cab is being paid off or a vehicle is being unloaded?
  • Can late night arrivals get to their rooms directly without disturbing the rest of the household?
  • Do all the sleeping areas have easy access to both the bathroom and the toilet?
  • Can a meal cooked in the kitchen be served in the dining area quickly and easily?
  • Does the kitchen have a backdoor to allow deliveries to arrive and garbage to be removed easily? Is this access protected from the weather?
  • Can you view the rest of the property and any garden where the children may be playing from the kitchen?
  • Is there enough storage space and hobby space?
  • Can a bedroom double up as a study area or home office during the daytime?
  • If a workshop with power tools, is open to everyone in the house, is it safe?
  • Are all potentially dangerous tools locked away?
  • If you have a pet, is it catered for in all weathers?

Nobody knows more about your family circumstances than you do, so adapt the questionnaire to your situation. Put your requirements in writing. They will provide invaluable guidance for your final decisions.

Major or Minor Changes

If your decision involves changing the function of a particular area, consider how those major those changes will be. For example, a bedroom to be used as a study will require largely cosmetic changes such as new shelving, a worktop for a computer and décor to be approved by the new inhabitant. However, expanding a kitchen by connecting it directly to a utility room, may involve levelling one of the floors for re-tiling, removing doors and matching panelled interiors. Any major kitchen or bathroom work will involve water facilities and the services of a plumber, so consult a local trades person before final redesign decisions are made. Electrics are another consideration. Are there enough outlets and are they in the right place? Is the lighting good enough, especially if the house is old? Unless you have experience in this field, seek the advice of a professional electrician. Major disruptive work needs to be completed before any cosmetic details can be started.

Helpful Cues

  • Carefully chosen calm and soothing colours will ensure that your bedroom is a relaxing place to spend your time.
  • Choosing and fitting your own wallpaper is not a complicated job, as long as you follow some simple guidelines and do the preparation work correctly.

Also Read: Avoid the Mess and Prep Time with Peel and Stick Removable Wallpaper

  • When planning a full-house refurbishment, seek inspiration from a variety of sources, including magazines. Measure the room, draw a plan, and collect colour cards, paint testers, and material swatches.
  • Period fireplaces have an innate charm, and an old fireplace surroundings can often be adapted to take modern fittings and painted in either traditional or modern colours. In the summer, grates can be filled with pine cones and massed with greenery so that they do not look redundant at that time of the year.
  • Old radiators still have a certain appeal and can often be bought at architectural salvage yards and brought back to life. Alternatively, you can 55purchase a reproduction radiator and enjoy all the benefits of modern technology with the aesthetic values of another era.
  • A hall area ideally needs to be reasonably spacious to have a floor surface that is easy to clean and has plenty of space for hanging up coats and storing umbrellas, boots, and shoes.
  • A small space can be successfully multifunctional as a bedroom, washing area, and work unit if it is well planned and the various components form an integral whole that is pleasing to the eye.

So do give careful thought before you plunge with full enthusiasm into your house refurbishment project!

Author Bio

Huta Raval: An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.

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