Bathroom, Kitchen, Living Room? Where to start your renovations. 

07 Apr Bathroom, Kitchen, Living Room? Where to start your renovations. 

If there’s several areas of your home that require renovation attention but you’re not quite sure where to start, don’t worry. We go over a few steps you can implement to help you decide what rooms to start with, which rooms to avoid and the order in which you may want to consider renovating your home. 

#1 Why do you want to renovate?

People renovate for many different reasons. Some people have an old kitchen that’s falling apart and they want to update it and make it a little more modern. Other people renovate to increase the value of their home when they’re thinking of selling. 

Other people come into some spare money (win large sums of cash or an inheritance, for example) and want to invest some dollars into making their home more comfortable. Others might have a growing or shrinking family and need to convert rooms into bedrooms or bedrooms into rooms. 

Whatever your reason for starting a renovation, figuring out the reasons why you’re renovating is the first step towards helping you figure out a plan of attack when it comes to which rooms to focus on. 

If you’re renovating to sell, we recommend reading the following articles on our website. Renovate and sell – The ultimate guide and The home renovations that most increase your property’s value

If you’re having a difficult time deciding between renovating and moving, we suggest reading Home renovations vs moving – which one should you do?

#2 What’s your budget?

The importance of figuring out how much you can spend seems fairly obvious in that it will determine just how much work you’re able to have completed. We always recommend talking with a few different renovation companies so you can get a good idea of what the cost is going to be, the timelines and if there’s any additional fees for rubbish removal, council fees, etc. 

If you’re not using savings, it’s always a good idea to talk with your bank or financial advisor before jumping into a large-scale renovation project to find out what you can afford. 

Figuring out your budget before talking with a renovation company will help you to establish a good set of plans for moving forward with your project. 

#3 Audit your home

This may sound overly simple, but it can save you some big dollars in the long run. Before diving right into renovations it’s always wise to think about the areas of your home that may impact or implicate renovations and end up costing you more. For example, if your home has wiring that was installed in the 1940’s or 1950’s, it’s likely those new LED downlights and kitchen appliances aren’t going to be working at their best. 

Likewise if you’re planning on knocking down walls and there’s structural issues within the framework of your home, this can cause all sorts of problems for the renovation. Having a building inspection conducted on your home can alert you to any potential problems before they become large-scale, expensive issues. 

Areas to audit are:-

• Wiring and electricals (how old is the wiring)
• Structural areas (a building inspection will help with this)
• The roof (if there’s structural issues, etc)

#4 Many people start with the kitchen

If you’re wondering what rooms to renovate first, we can tell you that many of our customers start with their kitchen. This is the room that likely gets the most use in any home in terms of utility so it’s important that a kitchen is usable and flows well to allow the preparation of meals or for entertaining. 

Living rooms can often be updated with new furniture or a different layout but a kitchen design is fairly set in the way it works and flows throughout the house. 

Televisions can be updated, new beds can spruce up a bedroom but old, tired benchtops or layouts that ‘just don’t work’ in a kitchen typically require a renovation. The great thing about renovating a kitchen is that you will use it all the time and if you’re thinking of selling, this is one of the rooms that adds the most value when renovated. 

#5 Figure out what you might be able to DIY

The other thing to consider when thinking about renovations is to figure out what projects you can potentially tackle yourself. If you think you can handle painting the lounge room when it’s completed, make sure to mention this when talking with the renovation company. 

Likewise if you have a talent for tiling, this may come in handy when considering a bathroom renovation. Some people are handy – others have neither the time nor the inclination to tackle DIY jobs around the home. 

If you’re not sure what you might want to do, talk with us and we can give you a rundown of what other clients have successfully done themselves so you can consider if these types of jobs might be in your wheelhouse of giving it a go. 

If you really want to give your renovation the best chance at being completed on time and on budget, the best advice we can give you is to get organised, do your homework and read up as much as you can about helping to coordinate a renovation project with a professional. 

When you engage with someone, ask lots of questions and find out areas that you can assist with that may be able to help with keeping the project running smoothly and within budget.