When you’re living in London, the hustle and bustle of city life can often mean you don’t have time to fix up your house. There’s just so much stuff to do at work, traffic takes hours, and of course, maintaining a social life.
Home improvement projects are intimidating, costly, and time-consuming. This is usually the excuse of homeowners when visitors comment on the state of their house. However, home improvement projects are easy when appropriately planned.
Are you renovating because of cabin fever from the quarantine? Check out our article on 7 Home Renovation Ideas To Make Your Home Nicer During Quarantine.
In this article, we’ve listed down a few tips on how you can make home improvement projects in London less of a hassle and more of an enjoyable time.
Plan Ahead
Always plan your home improvement projects. Don’t make the rookie mistake of spontaneously working on one. Regardless of whether it’s a minor fix like changing the showerheads or a major renovation such as an entire kitchen makeover, you want to plan every detail of it.
Planning saves you a lot of time and money. List down all of the changes that you want to be made. From there, group the projects that will require the same team of contractors and use the same supplies.
For instance, bathroom renovations and kitchen refurbishing will use the same materials: tiles, white cement, etc. You can then buy these in bulk at hardware stores for a lower price. When you plan, you can drive outside of London to buy supplies where they are cheaper. Additionally, hiring contractors several times a year can rack up your costs. A one-time job, on the other hand, is more cost-effective.
If you’re stuck wondering, which outdoor furniture to buy after renovations are complete, read our guide on How To Get The Right Outdoor Furniture For Your Needs.
Rent A Storage Unit in London
If you’re going to be doing a major home renovation such as retiling, putting a new paint job, or anything that involves construction work, it is best for your items and for your contractors that the house is empty. Working with a blank slate is more comfortable and much safer than having to work around your grand piano, the glass coffee table, and your Boca do Lobo couch. Avoid any unfortunate events from happening by shipping off your items to storage.
Don’t worry too much about the additional cost. Henfield Storage offers affordable storage units in Central London. The pros far outweigh the cons. For instance, you would have to pay your workers less as they can finish the job much faster without your furnitures acting as obstacles.
Set A Budget
Seeing an inflated bill is a homeowner’s nightmare, and frankly, one of the main reasons why they’re so afraid of home renovations. Often, homeowners get too into the thought of renovating and aesthetics that they don’t realise that they have gone way over the amount they were willing to spend. The simple thing to do to avoid this disaster is by setting a budget even before starting.
Discuss the amount with your contractor and interior designer so they don’t plan any renovations that would cost more than your budget. Additionally, make sure that you have an emergency fund set aside just in case there are unexpected expenditures.
All-Year Renovations Or One-Time?
When you’re making your renovation plans, try to discern whether it would be more cost-effective for you to do a one-time major house renovation, or would it be better if you spread them out in a year. Both have pros and cons.
The benefit of a one-time major house renovation is that you get to enjoy your newly renovated house immediately. On the other hand, it would require you to move out of your home and rent a hotel for a few days or weeks. Also, a one-time major renovation would need you to shell out a lump sum amount. If you have the dough, that’s fine, but it’s best to consider different options if you don’t.
Spreading out your renovations over a year means you can start each project once you have money. Additionally, this won’t affect your daily routine as much as the first option.
Choosing The Right Contractors
Your home improvement project’s final result will depend on the quality of work provided by your contractors. When you’re looking for contractors, don’t choose the first one that you meet. Look around your local area. There are thousands of contractors in London just waiting for your call.
A professional contractor will have a working portfolio ready to present to you. Additionally, they will have good reviews and will give their rate outright with no hidden charges. Avoid any contractor offering their services for extremely low prices. This either means shoddy workmanship, they’re not qualified to work on a home improvement project, multiple hidden charges, or a combination of these three.
Create a list of qualities you should look for in a contractor so you can rest easy knowing your house is in the right hands.