How to Begin Making Your New House Feel Like Home.
So you’ve bought a house, congratulations! Whether it’s your first or tenth time buying a house, it is often a stressful and emotional process, as I’m sure you know. Rarely do we get lucky enough to find a house that is exactly how you want it,but this can be a good thing! Through home renovations and improvements you can transform any house into a home that’s right for you, and with proper planning you can ensure a smooth and stress-free process.
Where to start
Every house is different, as well as every homeowner, so the process of renovating a home and what the best “order of operations” will be can seem like a slightly nuanced subject, and it should. Home renovations are a deeply personal process and require a level of trust and communication to achieve a remodel or renovation that is customized to your exact needs. Working with a trusted and competent builder will ensure that your vision for your home is brought to life!
With keeping the benefits of using a trusted and competent contractor in mind, where should you start home renovations on your new house? The first step to planning renovations is to ask yourself some questions and consider them carefully, this will provide useful insights and clear priorities in later stages.
Do renovations need to be complete before you move in?
How extensive are the renovations being done? If the house you bought is in more rough condition and needs extensive work in every room or you’re undertaking a full kitchen or master bath remodel, it is often best to wait until work is done to move in. Doing so will alleviate the stress of having to pack and move more anymore than necessary! If the renovations are less extensive or in secondary living spaces you can often get by moving in during construction.
What are your family’s unique needs?
Think about what your living arrangements and lifestyle is like currently, and how it would be affected by the work being done on your house. Do you work at home? Maybe you have young children home all day? Whatever the case may be it is important to know and be able to work around these things to achieve a quality remodel and the experience you deserve.
Are home renovations necessary right now?
Maybe you would rather wait 6 months to a year before starting home improvement projects and renovations. Buying a house can be a hassle sometimes, and it’s never cheap! If the house you bought is completely livable as is, there’s nothing wrong with waiting a period of time before starting renovations. This will give you a break from the high emotions and stress of buying a house as well as an opportunity to financially recuperate.
Standard Procedure
One thing to keep in mind is that this order of operation is what normally provides the smoothest experience when it comes to home renovations and remodeling, but your plan doesn’t necessarily have to look just like it. After taking time to think about the questions above, apply them to this rough outline and consider how it might change to better suit your needs and other specifics like what stage you plan on moving in during.
Structural Issues/ Space Reconfiguration
It is always a good idea to have your new home inspected before or after buying it, doing so should identify any structural issues that need to be addressed or might be a problem in the future. If you plan on reconfiguring any of the spaces in your home, including moving walls, this is also normally the best stage to do so.
House Systems
After structural issues are fixed and you have the wall layout you desire, next up is to check and or update all of your houses’ systems. This includes but isn’t limited to your H-VAC, electrical, and plumbing systems, having your home’s inner-workings performing well lends to a great starting point for any projects in the future.
Kitchen
The Kitchen is the focal point of most homes and is a great place to start when it comes to remodeling your house. A new kitchen will provide a beautiful space to gather with loved ones and can significantly increase the value of your home.
Bathrooms/ Bedrooms
Next up are the bathrooms and bedrooms in your home. You can remodel all the bedrooms and bathrooms at once, or break it up into segments that are more budget friendly. Creating beautiful and functional spaces for you to enjoy in your bathroom and bedroom will make your home more comfortable than ever.
Exterior
With the majority of the inside of your home taken care of, it’s time to go outside! Everybody loves a good curb appeal, especially for the resale value! There are several ways to improve the exterior of your home, such as new paint, new siding, landscaping, and more. Patios and outdoor living space are also great ways to make the exterior of home look fantastic.
Secondary Livings Spaces/ Basements & Attics
Last but not least, is secondary living spaces, basements, and attics. These are spaces that are often unseen and that receive little traffic. Leaving these secondary living spaces for last on the renovation list is absolutely fine and can be a good way to save money through the process. But don’t forget about them!
After You Have A Plan
After you’ve considered the questions and applied them to the outline you’re nearly ready to start transforming your home! The last step is to find a builder or contractor you trust and communicate the plan and watch your visions for home start to appear. At Ethos Construction we place all of your unique needs and dreams, as well as your plan and timing, into utmost importance to provide you with a final product you love and an experience to enjoy. If you have any questions about the process or are ready to start feel free to use the “contact us” button to submit a form and get started today!
