Deciding to remodel a new home or your current home is so exciting! The ideas are flowing, you want a change is your home to make it your own, and you are ready to start the project ASAP. To prepare you for this new project, consider these tips before you start remodeling:

Make A List 

When thinking about remodeling, we come up with a million different things we want to change in the house. The bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, the guest room. Start by making a realistic list of things you truly want to remodel. These are time consuming projects, and not to mention-pricey ones. A list will help you organize your thoughts and plans. Break it out by project once you decide what parts of the house you want to remodel. Then once that’s broken out by project, list details for each one. Let’s say you are wanting to remodel the bathroom, list all your ideas for it. The colors you want, the wall you want to tear down to make it bigger, the change from bath to shower, etc.

Research

Researching before starting a remodel is vital. Pinterest is your best friend. Get some ideas from it to help you decide what you like and want to do with the room. Look for colors that you like and get samples to test them out. Find out what materials and tools you will need, so you have it all ready when beginning the remodel. Draw out your ideas on how you want the space to look. This will help you decide if there’s something missing, or if something just doesn’t work. You’ll also want to research who you’ll be hiring to do all the work. References are so helpful, so if you can, make sure to ask them for them to see if they are a good fit for your ideas. If you decide to do it yourself, do even more research on how to do it. If there’s something you truly don’t know how to do, just make sure to hire a professional! You’ll spend more money than need be otherwise and most likely won’t do it correctly.

Make A Budget 

This part is very important. Although you may want to remodel the whole house and put in all new everything, think about your budget. What’s a realistic budget for each project? From your list you made, decide how much you want and can spend on each project. Some ideas may have to wait.

One Project At A Time 

You can’t do it all at once. Decide what’s most important to do first. If you just start tearing walls and rooms apart all at once, you better be ready for nothing to ever get done on time. It’s an exciting time, but if you just do one project at a time, everything will get done in a more timely manner. You have to decide what you can do first. Think about the time you have for it, your budget, and if you can live without that room for a while.

Plan Ahead

This can get hectic as you work through it, so why not plan ahead anything you know you can? If you know you won’t be able to stay in the house while the remodel is in action, plan to book a hotel room or stay with family. Will you need a long weekend to work on the remodel? Ask for a couple of days off from work ahead of time. Something could easily go wrong, and though we can’t always prepare for certain disasters, get yourself ready for anything to happen. The weather can also make remodeling a nightmare, especially if you are making any changes to the outside of the house. Check the weather before you start the project so that you don’t have bad weather put a dent in the plans.

Measure Everything! If there’s something you don’t want to forget, it’s measurements. You won’t be very happy if you purchase something and it comes back not fitting correctly. Even worse is forgetting to measure and cutting the drywall and it doesn’t fit where it’s supposed to be! Materials are expensive, and you won’t want to have to run back to the store and purchase more of it. Make sure you get all correct measurements before purchasing, cutting, or placing anything.

Don't Always Go Cheap

Going cheap helps you financially at first, but in the long run it may cause more problems. Not saying to buy the most expensive option at the store, but make sure it’s good quality and that it will last a long time. You could be dealing with more expensive problems down the road if you purchase certain products that are very low quality and cheap. 

Have Kids? Have Pets? 

The safety of your loved ones is crucial. When you are remodeling while living in the home, even more so. You’ll want to make sure that everyone is safe. Block off the room you are working on so that kids or pets can’t get in. Make sure that anything that they could get into is not within reach for them. Products that get spilled should be cleaned up or covered immediately. Anything that is not being used that could potentially be dangerous to them needs to be put away. Overall, take a look around the room when you are leaving it and take care of anything you would be worried your child or pet may get into that could hurt them.

Keeping It Clean 

Remodeling gets very messy. If you clean up as you go, life will be much easier. This will help maintain the remodel and keep things from getting dirty or damaged as you move things around. Not saying to clean every time you get the floor a bit dirty, but anytime you are done for the day, clean up around the area you are remodeling to make the next days a clean place to continue. If you are looking to make sure your whole space stays clean including your window treatments, consider using Original paper shades as a solution while remodeling. The Light filtering option gently filters light, while blackout shades block out 99% of light.