7 things to do NOW that will skyrocket your renovation in 2023 🚀
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So, you’re renovating in 2023?
I bet you’ve already been chatting about which projects you want to get done and what you’d like to achieve in your home in the new year?
Neil and I are suckers for the ‘New Year, New You’ jingles 😆
But the thing is… now is a GREAT time to dream about what you want for your life and home, and put an action plan in place to make it happen – and that’s what this post is all about. Giving you some structure and ideas to support your renovation planning, to make it all less overwhelming.
Actions you can take in the next few weeks, to boost your renovation in 2023
In this post, I’m sharing a checklist of 7 actions to kick start your renovation in 2023. So you, your partner, and your family can enter into this new phase of your life feeling clued up, confident and prepared!
As for us, we have big plans to make our website even more supportive for new renovators, and with new client projects starting, a personal project finishing, and other projects that are in the build phase currently – there’s a lot we want to achieve in a relatively short space of time. This is how we tackle it.
1. Schedule in your home planning day
Whether you’re taking on a renovation solo, or with someone else, this is the first step you need to take preferably before new year hits.
Find some space, load up on tea/coffee and snacks and make a plan for 2023.
Neil and I went to a cosy cafe in the countryside a few weeks ago and had a huge brainstorm about how we wanted to develop this business to further help you design and renovate and the personal projects we have coming up. We mutually agreed that scheduling in a meeting like this to kick start your renovation planning, is one of the most important things you can do for your renovation.
A suggested framework for your chat could be…
What would you like to achieve with your home this year?
Bring post-its and a notebook if you need to. Decide on which projects, large and small, you’d like to get done with your home in 2023. Then map out when these could happen in the calendar.What skills do you need to hire or develop yourself in order to make your renovation projects a success in 2023?
Discuss who you need, are you going to project manage your renovation? Or someone else? Or perhaps you’re keen to develop your knowledge on renovations and home design before you start. Explore and jot down the people and topics you need to get support with to form a to do list.How can you ensure your renovation project won’t get super stressful, mentally and financially? What can you put in place to prevent stress?
It’s easy to neglect this until you’re half way into your project with rocketing costs and the stress is starting to bubble over. Can you phase your project, slow it down a little to lower the pressure? Can you factor weekend breaks or holidays into your renovation budget?Get out of the property at the stage it’s very hard to live in (with no kitchen or bathroom). Can you arm yourself with support from professionals to ensure you’re maximising cost savings? This is something we pride ourselves in helping renovators with.
2. Learn about the correct order to do your renovation in
When you’re renovating for the first time, it’s common to not know where to start. You just want to know what steps to take first. But believe it or not, this is probably the easiest task on my checklist for you because it’s something we explain to renovators day in day out through this website and our resources.
Use any down time to prepare yourself, and learn as much as you can from professionals in the industry and other renovators.
When you know the typical order a renovation runs in, it prevents a host of expensive rework. It gives you priority areas to focus on one step at a time. And you don’t need to have the keys to your property to start this research. It’s exactly the reason why Neil and I started our interior design and renovation company, because we want to help first time renovators get their hands on necessary information.
You could start by getting access to our free Survivor’s Guide to Renovating if you haven’t already. Other renovators have joined our Renovation Online Course to further skill themselves up before their renovation starts – enrolment is opening in early January.
3. Brain dump everything that needs to get done, then get granular
With every project we do (whether it’s life, home or for our business), we always find that there's a ton of stuff swirling around our brains that needs to get done but it's initially quite chaotic trying to tame it all and understand where to start.
The best way we've learnt to deal with this is as follows:
Step 1 - Have a session where you just brain dump everything that needs to get done, this can be in an app, or on post it notes. Try not to get too attached to the 'when' at this stage.
Step 2 (optional) - You can now try and assign a priority to each item (high, medium, low)
Step 3 - Next create a list of the next 6-12 months and start picking out the priority tasks that need to get done. Try to avoid overburdening yourselves - be realistic. And crucially remember to plan in time for family, friends and holidays.
Step 4 - Now allocate owners to all of the tasks.
Do you want to create your dream home on budget in 2023?
Kickstart your renovation planning with our renovation online course.
Now’s a great time to join the waitlist and look out for one of our biggest sales of the year opening January 👇🏻
4. Schedule further meetings to check in/talk about your renovation
The way we tackle our meetings is with…
A big monthly planning meeting to discuss the high level plan
A time boxed weekly catch up to understand who needs to do what & when in that week
A quick 5 minute conversation each morning to discuss anything that needs to be done for the day over breakfast.
We set calendar invites so that they’re non-negotiable. Oh, and we also have a fortnightly pub meeting which usually starts with the best ideas in the world and ends up with us having a 'heated debate' about some sort of contentious topic - it's healthy and honest! Couldn’t recommend it more if you’re starting a project with another person/people.
5. Start sketching your layout possibilities
I mentioned in a recent post that a common mistake renovators make is not planning their design alongside their exterior/ architectural drawings. A holistic approach will always breed a more optimised design.
For example, when I work with my interior design clients, they more often than not, hire me after planning permission has been accepted or once work has started for their large conversion or extension. When I come to design their layouts, I spot things that could have been optimised for their interior layout during the early phase, such as the dimensions of their extension footprint, and measurements of internal walls or windows and doors.
This is why I ask students in both our online courses to spend a lot of time working on scaled drawings themselves, prior to hiring an architect. I show them easy ways to do get ideas on paper, and it gets them understanding their desires and limitations early on – which prevents a host of regrets and costly rework. It has even saved students money when they realise they can pull back the scope of some of their plans.
Obviously our courses are supporting them with other key areas like financing their projects, preventing costly mistakes, and ways to make savings. But this is just one action you can take to kick start your project in 2023. And if you’d like to join a course, add your name to our waitlist for your chosen course because we’ll be opening in early January.
6. Begin your hunt for an architect
This is arguably one of the most important relationships you need to get right for your renovation. So make it a priority in early 2023. But remember! There is a whole host of preparation you need to do first which we explain in this post: Why you shouldn’t begin your renovation with an architect, do this instead.
7. Connect with other new renovators like you!
We are always blown away by how our Reno Club are getting so many benefits from sharing and learning together. Particularly how they’re making big savings on their renovations and cutting through the complexities that come when you’re doing a fixer upper for the first time. In 2023, a way to join a community of renovators is by setting up an Instagram account and connecting with other new home accounts on there. Reach out. Build your network. In this day and age, you certainly don’t have to take on such a big project on your own!
Anyway, we hope this post inspires you to take 2023 by the short and curlies! 🤪
Best of luck for the new year!
Fi and Neil
