1. Have an overall calendar of the renovation project

Remodeling your home before the moving-in day is a good idea. Still, it is not always possible.

It’s hard to determine the exact date when the renovation works will end. Numerous things can go wrong or suddenly interrupt the process. Still, if you want to keep the stress level to a minimum while the renovation mess is going on in front of your eyes, it would be useful to have at least a rough timeline.

Talk with the professionals you are about to hire. Be open, and ask them when the work will start and when they expect it to be done. After that, try to make your remodeling calendar and note the important dates. That will help you take at least some control over the situation and give you some space to organize your life during that period. However, the most important thing here is to be flexible. As we have already mentioned, unexpected things may happen, and you’ll need to deal with that.

2. Make strategies for using your rooms- one of the tips for living in your home during a remodel

There are some rooms in your home without which no family member can function. Those would be your bathroom and your kitchen. Since the whole house or flat will be in chaos, the only thing that can relax the inevitable tension among the family members is making a kind of strategy for using each of them.

Create a schedule where every one of you will have a specific time to have a bath or a meal to avoid traffic jams. Then, try not to overcrowd your kitchen with food that cannot last long. Finally, since there probably won’t be any family meals till the end of the remodeling, put away all the dishes, and stick to the disposable plates.

3. Always have your clean place in the house

Don’t let the workers occupy all the living space. Even though that may sound like a good idea, since the work will end earlier, it can turn into a disaster. Choose at least one room that you can repurpose depending on your needs. This is because if you are about to stay in your home during the renovation project, you’ll need some space just for yourself. It will serve you as a kind of unique getaway from all that hustle and clutter that will be going on. It can be a perfect playroom where your kids will have some fun. Your office space where you can work undisturbed. Or just a room to have some rest after a tiring day.

4. Prepare the essentials

Well, here comes one essential tip for living in your home during a remodel. And this is something you need to do before the renovation project starts. Go through your home and make a list of the essential things that you cannot live without. Take them into one room, and that’s how you’ll have them all in one place. At this point, having a storage unit would be more than helpful. Whether you are in the relocation process, renovating, or need a place to store some extra clothes, renting a storage unit will make it more comfortable.

On the other hand, since you are already dealing with the list of essentials, don’t miss the chance to declutter. This is a perfect opportunity to eliminate all the things you haven’t been using for years.

5. Work with trusted professionals

When you decide to make some changes in your home, the best thing you can do is to contact professionals for help. Finding reputable contractors is half of your work done. Talk with them and make all your doubts clear. They should know what you are expecting and understand the circumstances. An experienced contractor has already done that before, so you can also get some helpful advice.

On the other hand, don’t forget to discuss the questions of their cleaning and conducting their working area. The employees should make sure everything is safe enough and away from family members, especially kids. Be sure that real professionals will make it with the least noise and dirt possible.

Show understanding, and encourage good communication. Remember that as long as both you and your contractor show flexibility, there should be no problems along the way.

6. Prepare all the patience you have

There is nothing that is altogether cheap, fast, and done right. Good things take time. That is why once you get into the remodeling process, get ready to be the most patient person in the world.

There will be delays, mistakes, misunderstandings, and a lot of mess to be cleaned up after that. However, the outcome won’t be worth it if you lose your mind. Create a mental strategy and a plan, and stick to them. Moreover, never forget to practice as many daily routines as possible. It sounds great to have a new and beautiful house, but it’s essential to stay healthy.

When it comes to renovation, no one can promise that things will go right all the time. Still, some tactics proved to be good. We are sure that our tips for living in your home during a remodel are some of them. Try them, and you’ll see the results.

The post 6 Tips for Living in Your Home During a Remodel appeared first on Twits Guides.

Reasons to move in immediately

The remodeling you want to do is minor

A ‘minor’ remodel is one that would not affect your everyday life too much and can be done quickly. If all you want to do is something simple like add timber shutters, change fixtures, paint your façade, paint particular rooms, or something similar, then there is no reason to wait. You can comfortably live in your new home even if such work is in progress. It is also an excellent chance to get some DIY experience since most work is not difficult. This is a perfect way to both save some money and get to know your new home better.

Cannot afford to delay the sale of your old home

You might find yourself in a position of needing to sell your old house. To help pay off the mortgage on your new one or because you moved a considerable distance away. In that case, if you insist on not moving in immediately, you would likely be stuck living in a hotel for a significant amount of time. No matter how short a period, living out of a suitcase is more stressful than you would guess. You can never find your things, you can’t properly organize yourself, and if you have got kids, they will likely quickly get fed up with it and start making trouble. Not to mention how expensive it would be. So, if you do not have a place you can stay for an extended period, it is better to move into your new home first and worry about remodeling later.

Getting to know your new house better

If there is nothing seriously wrong with your home, then you will probably want to put off the remodeling a bit and move in first. After all, the only way to know what you want changed in your new home is to first experience what it is like at the moment. How can you tell if the windows are drafty when it is windy? How can you know whether your roof has a slight leak? All of this would need to be fixed during a remodel. So, if you rush through one, you would miss many minor problems that are not easily noticeable. If adding luxurious touches to your home is all you want to change, it is better to wait until you know the house better. So do not hesitate to move in immediately!

Reasons to postpone your move

The remodeling affects the rooms you need on a daily basis

If you’ve already planned out major remodeling work and paid for the services, it might affect the rooms you need access to. We cannot function properly without a bathroom or a kitchen, for example. And even if you can make do without a bedroom, since you could sleep in the living room, it would still not be a very comfortable way to live. In addition to that, any major remodeling would likely take quite a long time to complete. All of this means that you would be better off postponing your move. Once everything’s done and you’ve had a chance to either clean yourself or hire professionals to do it, you can start your new life in leisure and comfort. Just don’t forget you will need to get your belongings out of the way, so they are not damaged. Finding short-term storage for the duration of your project is an excellent idea (you can compare storage prices here).

You need remodeling, so the house is livable

When thinking about whether you should remodel a home before moving in, the need for extensive repairs will always result in a positive answer. If you’ve bought a fixer-upper, then it’s only expected that you’d need remodeling and repairs before you can move in. Common problems in such houses include faulty wiring, bad plumbing, leaky roofs, and more. Each one of those problems would take a lot of time to fix. However, it can also happen that such serious problems are detected only after you have bought a seemingly perfect house. So, don’t forget to do a house inspection, and it is helpful to have basic know-how before purchasing a fixer-upper.

The remodel would affect your family’s quality of life

Most do not consider the consequences of living in a house under renovation. The noise which such work produces alone is enough of a downside. It can cause migraines and keep you from sleeping in. It can even make it impossible to do any of your work at home. That’s not even mentioning its potential effect on your children’s schoolwork! Then, there is the brick dust and regular dust to worry about. If you or one of your family members have asthma or allergies, it can seriously endanger your health. Finally, there are common hazards of a remodeling sight to take into account. Things such as nails, wood chips, and potentially dangerous tools. You do not want your kids to come in contact with them daily!

Final Words

As we have established, the answer to whether you should remodel a home before moving in depends mainly on your circumstances. This is why it is essential for you to carefully consider whether or not you can push back the remodeling.

The post Should You Remodel a Home Before Moving In? appeared first on Twits Guides.

Form Follows Function

When you’re choosing design options for your home, most things are purely decorative, serving no other function than to add style, depth and volume to your home. A chair rail, however, is an exception to this. Chair rails are not only decorative, but they can also serve a practical purpose, keeping chairs from bumping, scratching and denting walls. When it comes to the dining room, chair rails are typically about 3 feet or 36 inches (just under a metre) from the floor (standard chair height) which can to help keep the chair from hitting the wall. Another reason for chair rails is it visually divides the room, creating a sense of dimension and space. If you really want to breathe some life into your dining room, consider using trim to build shadow boxes beneath the chair rail. With even and uniform spacing, the form and shapes created by these shadow boxes and chair rail keeps the eye moving around your dining room. This not only makes the dining room a bit more interesting but also suggests a stately or refined appearance.

Use Crown Molding to add even more style to your home

Crown molding is another popular choice for homes both new and remodeled. Due to the fact that it is cheaper to manufacture now than it was before (crown molding was once made entirely by hand, making it very expensive) crown molding is a great way to turn a normal doorway into something elegant. Crown molding also helps to keep the eye moving around the room, turning something as simple as your dining room into a showcase of refined elegance. Another advantage to crown molding is the ROI if you ever decide to sell your home. Because of this, crown molding is not only a great choice for new homes, but a fantastic and fairly simple DIY project, great for sprucing the place up before it goes on the market.

Tray and Drop Ceilings

If you’re really looking to add a little wow to the dining room, consider building a tray or a drop ceiling. This creates a tiered effect that really catches the eye. If you’re building a new home, a drop ceiling leading to a skylight creates an awesome effect, giving you a perfect window to take in the sky as you enjoy a meal. Other options can be to install rope lighting creating an ambient effect or even use of wallpaper to highlight the tiers. Trim and crown molding also help to add some volume to the various levels, transforming your dining room from ordinary to extraordinary.

One of the joys of owning or building a house is the little choices and changes you can make. Trim really is fantastic because it works to break down the large vast emptiness that comes with blank walls. By giving the eye something to take in, it better defines the room, making it more personable. With a little creative application of trim, you can do a lot to transform a house into a home.

+Ken Uhrich likes houses. In fact he lives in one. You can drop him a line at the Custom Home Group website.

The post Making your dining room POP with Popular Trim Options appeared first on Twits Guides.