“A great renovation is a partnership between you, your designer, and your contractor. Here’s how it should go.” – Jonathan Edwards – Owner, Olympic City Renovations

Are you ready for a renovation?

Sick of your kitchen? Maybe your bathrooms?

Maybe the entire main floor of your house?

We’ve got you covered and here’s where to start.

1. Dream Big! There’s Lots Of Ways To Renovate

The best place to start is to get on Pinterest and Instagram and dream a little. Great design inspiration can come from anywhere but these two social media sites are great places to start.

Let’s say you want to renovate your kitchen. Get on Pinterest and create a couple of categories you can save some pictures to.

Do you really like those cabinets? Create a category called “cabinets’. As you scroll through Pinterest you can click on a photo you like and then save it to the category you created. This will come in handy when you work with your designer.

Don’t worry about cost or difficulty at this point. Just get inspired. There are many ways to get the look you want. Some expensive. Some not so much.

2. What’s Your Budget Going To Be?

It’s important to talk about money early and often.

The reality is that you may not know what your money can buy at this point. That’s where your designer and your contractor will come in. They can help you get the look you want by helping you decide on certain materials to get the job done.

While some materials can be very exotic and pricey, many times you can get the look you want by using something else.

Compromise doesn’t always mean lower quality either, but knowing just how much you have to invest in your renovation will help you and your contractor and their designer bring it all together for you. They can also help you prioritize where you should spend your money now and what you can put off until later when you may have more funds to get it done.

3. Engage With a Contractor and Their Designer

As we mentioned above, now that you have your ideas that you like and your rough budget in place, it’s time to talk to a contractor about your project.

Because you have done a little bit of your homework already, you’re going to help your contractor and their designer narrow down your choices and find the materials that are appropriate for your budget.

Many homeowners have a ton of random ideas of what they think they like, but it’s all stuck in their heads. You have to be able to meet your contractor with some basic ideas. Their job is to help lead you and find YOUR style.

“But what if I don’t even KNOW my style yet?” you say. That’s where a good contractor and their designer will help you.

A good designer is not there to impose their style on you. It’s about helping you find your style and that’s what they are good at doing. They will help you get those ideas out of your head and will help create a design that your contractor can then quote for you accurately so that you don’t have any surprises.

Most contractors will be able to give you a pretty accurate ‘ballpark’ estimate, but it will be the final selections you make with your designer that will make that final quote something you can hang your hat on.

4. Ready. Set. Go!

Once you have your design and your budget in place, your contractor can get to work.

Get your deposits going so your contractor can order the items that take a while. Items like cabinets can take up to twelve weeks depending on the time of year so it’s best to get those choices made and have them on order.

Your contractor will schedule everything else around those longer time line items so it’s time to get excited.

You are literally going to have a new house in the house you are most comfortable in.

5. Excitement. Lull. Flurry. Finish!

Renovations start with a bang. There may be a demo and a mess. Then things start to happen. Then a lull. Then it seems like it might take forever before a mad flurry and then the finish. For the homeowner, it can be a rollercoaster of emotions.

Your contractor is there to help you keep your mind at ease. There’s no doubt about it, renovations can be stressful.

It’s important to remember however that your contractor, their designer, and you are a partnership. Together you will get this renovation over the line. It truly is a few weeks of a mess for a lifetime of enjoyment.