15/05/2020
I often get asked to houses when a project is well underway and the client is feeling overwhelmed or stuck on the choices they are making. There is a belief that interior designers are expensive but 9 times out of 10, I save the client money on the initial consultation so I felt to share a post with a few tips on embarking on a refurbishment.
1) Plan in advance, the best thing you can do is plan all your design decisions at the same time as your build, use the professionals you need for the size of job you are doing as professionals invariably save you money in the long run and avoid the temptation of instructing a builder and agreeing a start date without making your design decisions first. This will save you time, money and stress.
2) Once you have planned what you are going to do, then go to your builder to price it, that way you will get a more accurate price, your builder will be happy with the detail and you will be prepared for when he says he can start. What you don't want is a build contract with lots of unknowns in it because you want the end price to be the same price as the original price.
3) Fine tune your design, if you haven't already so both you and your builder knows exactly what is going where. If a builder is handed a bundle at the start of the job with drawings, specification, fittings and so on, you will be starting off with the best possible chance of a stress free build and there is far less likely that there will be any difficulties with you builder.
4) Lastly, enjoy the process as it's not everyday you get to refurbish your own home just how you want it, so plan, be prepared so that you can enjoy choosing all the details.