4 key components of a successful renovation

Renovations are a major component of your home and before you get started, here are 4 key components to achieving a successful one.

Know your budget

When considering a construction project for your home or business, it is important to know how much you are comfortably willing to spend. Sharing this budget with your design team up front can assist with keeping your scope and budget in line.
I always recommend keeping 10% of your project budget held for a contingency fund during construction.

Create a Wish List

Before engaging a licensed design professional, establish the goal for this project. Create a list of ‘needs’ and ‘nice to haves’. The ‘needs’ satisfy basic functional requirements and the ‘nice to haves’ are items that can be incorporated should the project budget allow or be phased in later.

Hire the design team first, contractor second

Often clients are anxious to understand costing for their project. The first call is a contractor to request an estimate. Typically, these are done via walk through and verbal description. This approach is problematic for several reasons.

-       The contractor’s interpretation of scope and level of detail may not align with your expectations based on a verbal description.

-       A cost will be provided for the project that is inaccurate but will be used in important budgetary decisions moving forward.

-       A licensed professional has not done a feasibility study to determine building code or city requirements that may affect budget.

An accurate project cost cannot be provided without drawings that include construction details, material selections and specialty design elements. Selecting a Licensed Interior Designer and/or Architect should be your first step in facilitating any large renovation. A well-prepared design package will deliver complete project cost prior to beginning construction and reduces extras at the tail end of the project.

Let professionals project manage your construction.

Licensed Interior Designers, Architects and Project Management companies make a full-time job of construction management. It is time consuming. Far too often, we witness clients try to value engineer their project at the expense of losing valuable professional assistance during the construction phase. We bring experience and education to the table. With this, we manage contractor progress, quality control, evaluate construction extras, contractor questions, coordinate product orders along with perform routine site reviews to ensure the design is proceeding as planned. A licensed professional helps you get from concept to completion with minimal stress in between.

Danielle owns Danielle Campbell Design Inc., a multi-disciplinary design studio offering a full range of services to both commercial and residential clients.
She holds an advanced diploma in Interior Design from Sheridan College and professional accreditation from the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO).
Connect with her via daniellecampbell.ca