If done smartly, a renovation or an extension can help boost the price of your home, thereby affecting your ROI positively. If you do not plan to sell anytime soon, home renovation can add another dimension to your living space; your beautiful cocoon. Many home designers and renovation experts have taken up bathroom or kitchen renovation in the past and just as many of them (and more) are likely to do so in the future. All good!
However, I believe that the best renovations are those which are all-encompassing in nature. Let me tell you why I think so. I am sure you will concede that I have got a point here.
Area-centric renovation
When we work on a particular area of our home, we give it a facelift which is wonderful in itself but which alienates it with the other areas of a home. In terms of design, this can destroy the sense of homogeneity or uniformity that a home is expected to have.
To explain through an example, you don’t want to give a contemporary facelift to your bathroom and keep your kitchen in the oh-I-so-need-a-renovation state. If anything, it will expose the glaring deficit of your kitchen rather than magnifying the beautifully done bathroom reno.
DIY renovation spurred on by popular reality shows
There is another aspect that needs being looked into urgently. Homeowners like taking up their kitchen or bathroom reno projects themselves.They feel that until their whole home is involved, they don’t need the services of professionals.
Give a look in to the professionals
I have also long believed that there are some areas that should be better left in the hands of professionals. Can you do taxes as well as a tax accountant or act as well as Meryl Streep or even Jennifer Lawrence? Perhaps, a Meryl Streep cannot design houses or manufacture cars like the professionals engaged in the field. I say this because some of the popular reality shows in the recent past and present (and theirs is an endless charge) have distorted our perceptions.
To us, our home is the space we are most familiar with and so going DIY with its renovation cannot hurt us. It is only going to save us money, right? Well, we could not be further from the truth here. It is one thing to fit in a new light fixture into the socket and another thing to take up a whole renovation or extension project.
Too many technicalities involved in home designing
There are way too many technicalities involved. How much do you know about load bearing walls or other structural parameters? Similarly, are you well-versed with form, scale, design, use of space and other intricate aspects of home design? Do you know all the ratios that have to be met? Perhaps NO.
The fear of overcapitalising….
Most likely, half way down the DIY project, you are going to come face to face with the brutal fact that the reno is going nowhere and you have messed it up so badly that even a professional cannot undo the damage, not at least without charging a fortune. And, before you think I have said it all, think of the fear of overcapitalising. Does it not affect the ROI badly?
…..is a real fear
And the fear is just so real because the budget you begin with and the one you end up putting in your DIY effort may be as different as floor and ceiling. The takeaways from this piece are:
1) when you go for renovation, go for a full-fledged one meant for your whole house. This way you will get so much more harmony throughout your living space – the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.
2) hire a professional to do the job. Considering the high value of most homes and potential returns on investment, this is always a good idea. Just make sure that you screen the designer thoroughly. You need to find someone you trust, who listens to you and considers your needs and requirements.