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6 Important Things to Do Before Renovating Your Home
Interior Design & Decor5 minutes read
40202 views
40202 views
Renovating your home can be a daunting affair, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. But don’t let the jitters bite you! The recipe for a smooth renovation journey – like any well-thrown wedding – lies in a good preparation. We’ve mapped out a checklist of pre-renovation tasks that will make your renovation process as enjoyable as the beautiful home it’s certain to create.
Decide on the style you want
Danny Li and Joyce Lye, who modelled their home around their six cats, visited pet shops and cat cafés to find out what their feline pals needed before renovating. They also referred to our Reno t-Blog Chat to garner inspiration for the clean and warm Scandinavian look they were aiming for. Knowing what you need and want beforehand allows your interior designer to more quickly zero in on ideas that work, thus saving you the trouble of debating over several disparate designs.
Not sure which style suits you? Take our quiz to find out.
Determine how long you’re going to stay at your house
Photo: H20 Interior Renovation
If you plan to stay for just a few years, you probably won’t need to make huge changes to your house. Likewise, if you intend to have kids, you can leave one bedroom out from more permanent upgrades like built-ins. Instead, try furnishing with loose pieces such as a chest of drawers and a wardrobe so that you can reuse them when you move out or replace the theme of the room when your child outgrows it. Keeping the house for 20 years? Consider a timeless interior.
Check out designs that endure the test of time: Minimalist and Contemporary homes.
Play with your floor plan
Project by: 3D Innovations
The room occupied by Victor and Eunice is so large that it houses a walk-in wardrobe spanning the size of a guest room. To achieve this, the couple had knocked down the wall separating their master bedroom from the adjacent room. “Nothing on the floor plan is set in stone, so we experimented with our spaces,” Eunice quips. Indeed, marking out the offending wall was one of the first things the couple did with their floor plan. This gave them a new perspective for the planning of their master bedroom.
Don’t rush to fill your home with furniture
Project by: Starry Homestead
For Isaac Peh and Kara-Anne Cheng, satisfaction is seeing their home outfitted to a T with furniture that they rounded up over the period of a year. “Take your time to evaluate each piece and see which fits into your home,” Isaac advises. “If you give yourself one week, you may be able to get everything you need, but not everything you want.” The couple had learnt this lesson the hard way – they got a vintage dining set only to realise that it looked too bulky for their three-room BTO flat.
Read more about Isaac and Kara-Anne’s renovation story here.
Plan your budget, but be flexible about it
Photo: Weiken.com
While you should generally adhere to your budget to avoid frivolous add-ons, it’s just as important to weigh the amount that you’ll be investing in your home against the value that you’ll be getting. A wooden countertop wrapped in plastic laminate, for example, may cost less than a quartz countertop, but if you’re a heavy kitchen user, you may end up spending more to replace it. To further future-proof your home, be sure to choose fittings made from a durable material like stainless steel.
Make sure there’s enough space for your appliances
Photo: Renozone Interior Design House
Before designing your kitchen, don’t forget to factor in the dimensions of your appliances such as the oven and the rice cooker. You don’t want to complete your renovation only to find out that the high-tech boxes you just ordered can’t fit into the spaces below your cabinets. Give them some breathing room so that their cables don’t feel cramped. This also affords you more leeway to upgrade your appliances without worrying whether your new purchases will be able to slot into the spots.
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