- Clean, stylish, and fresh PID work-
-Successful completion of living space for an amazing client-
1. Leave room in your budget for incidentals
Once you set your renovation/remodel budget, whatever that may be, its easy to start getting excited about all the fun and exciting ideas to bring to life within your space. From choosing paint, tile, and floors to deciding you want an open concept main living space, it's easy for the ideas to start flowing and sometimes hard not to get carried away!
It is very important to remember that when you do things like re-configuring a space, there are often times things you don't take into account that might happen that are problematic. You might not be able to knock down a certain wall because of support beams above. Your wall could be load bearing. Make sure to look into those things ahead of time, and also take into account that there will most likely be unexpected costs that take place for any home renovation. It is strongly recommended to set aside a certain percentage of your overall budget at the start of the project, to not risk going above your budget.
2. It's SO important to have the right contractor
Often times when you are working with an Interior Designer, they will have a few set contractors they work with on majority of their projects. This happens for alot of reasons, but mostly it comes down to trusting the work of the contractors based on all past projects, and having a strong and reliable relationship with them. There might be times when you have a contractor in mind for different reasons. Maybe they are a friend of a friend, or maybe its someone you found online and want to go with them because you like the sound of what they will charge you. There's nothing wrong with that necessarily, however sometimes that's not the smartest route, especially when we are talking about something as important as your home. The construction side of things is just as important as the design side. The contractor being recommend to you from your Interior Designer is coming your way for a reason. If you aren't using an Interior Designer, then I recommend really doing your research on contractors that come highly recommended. Read all the reviews. Ask your friends and neighbors who they used on their remodel. You want people in your home who you feel comfortable with, know you can trust, and have absolute confidence that they will do the job correctly.
3. Understand where your money is going
It's easy to get ahead of yourself with all the excitement of what your home will look like in 6 months when the project is over. It's easy to focus on all the work your Interior Design and Construction team is going to provide, and in turn not focusing on where your money is going specifically. It's incredibly important to have a full understanding of where every penny of your money is going. Yes you understand the broad spectrum of where it goes (constriction, designer, incidentals, and the actual materials/products) but you should go into the specifics details as much as you possibly can when you are deciding to begin such an important project. Type up a spreadsheet, make an excel document, or even write things down on paper. Whatever it takes to have a full understanding. Overly communicate with everyone involved.
Beautiful kitchen- mid construction
4. When it comes to construction, project management is key!
Project Management is insanely important in home renos and remodels. From the initial meeting with you Interior Designer or Contractor, to the last day of the project, every. single. thing. involved takes project management. With the construction end of things alone, there is so much organization and planning involved. You can look at the entire scope of work when it comes to timing, or each individual task. You have the initial meeting with the construction team where they run through the entirety of work and cost you, and then going from there, everything goes in a ladder. Everything takes a few weeks in itself, so when you know the flooring will take a few weeks to arrive and you have a deadline on when you need that specific task done, you have to take those things into account. Every single part of your project requires the thinking "If this part of the project has to be done by this day because the next few phases take this amount of time, that means these pieces and parts need to be ordered, and installed by this date." You almost have to work backwards. Luckily, at PID, you can choose to have Project Management as a part of your project, and all that work becomes our job and not yours! You can rest easy knowing that the details and organization are all taken care of.
- Kitchen space mid project. Construction Teamwork! -
5. The 4 Heavy Hitters
Often times with home renovations and remodels, it's easy to focus solely on the "pretty" side of things that we get to see with our eyes, and it's easy to overlook the "ugly" side of things that take just as much (if not more) of our money, that we don't even get to see!
Im talking about:
-Structural
-Electrical
-Plumbing
-HVAC (heating, venting, and air conditioning)
These are the main categories that come into play when you decide you want to reconfigure your space. As much as you don't want them to because they are costly, they do. Structural would be the most expensive, because you are completely changing the footprint of your space. With that alone, you could run into some issues. Electrical and HVAC would be tied for second as far as cost. Plumbing would be last, but don't be fooled, plumbing is also insanely expensive. These things often times all require permits from the beginning, and can be unexpected expenses. Make sure to set aside money for these alone. Although you don't necessarily see them with your eyes when your project is done (other than structural) they are just as important as the aesthetic side that you do get to see.
Thank you for joining in and reading! I hope you got an insight into what we do, who we work with, the reality behind making old spaces new, and how awesome are clients are!
Jeanna Letzring, Owner/Interior Designer
Website: pinnacleinteriordesigns.com
Email: pinnacledesigns@yahoo.com
Instagram: pinnacleinteriordesigns
Facebook: Pinnacle Interior Designs
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