Renovate & Redecorate Without Breaking a Nail

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CHAPTER 1

Deciding to Renovate

When looking at renovating our homes many of us imagine that we already have the skills required to design and build all by ourselves; from drawing up the designs to supervising the builder and sub-contractors, right down to the necessity of having to be handy around a toolbox.

Not so! I have been renovating homes of all shapes and sizes for more than twenty years and I can assure you I have never as much as hammered a nail into a wall or lifted a paintbrush. It is all about having the knowledge and being able to delegate cleverly. I am going to tell you how it is done.

I have personally witnessed the trials and tribulations of many homeowners who undertook the task of renovating their homes without sufficient preparation or knowledge. This book is written with the ordinary homeowner in mind. It contains all the information you will require to confidently manage a renovation project alone, or with the help of an interior designer or architect at the relevant stages, when required.

Do you have problems with the general design of your home? How about that badly designed kitchen with the stove too close to the back door and the old-fashioned cupboards, or the bathroom with the avocado bathtub? Are you fed up with the too-small sitting room for Sundays with the family and the lack of privacy during the evenings when you want to listen to music and read peacefully? These are all design and renovation projects that probably seem too large to tackle alone and in an organised fashion.

But why not study how to rectify these problems with or without assistance? It is all definitely possible if properly planned, and this hand-book gives you the information you need to make it happen.

If you are renovating an established family home, the chances are you may just want to add on a room or two with the aim of providing more space for teenagers and their pals to lounge in front of the television, without falling over them or all the plates and mugs that seem to accumulate so effortlessly around them. Or maybe you have bought a small house in a really lovely location with the aim of turning it into your dream home.

Many people look to renovating their homes when their children grow out of babyhood. Couples who bought new homes that felt adequate - even large - when they first married and moved in, now have children entering their teens. Suddenly, their lovely home feels cramped; not enough storage space for all those books, games, sports equipment and DVDs. You name it and it is lacking proper storage and taking up too much floor space.

Sadly, when a family home requires renovation, there are special problems to overcome. Just look at your six-seat dining table purchased in an after-wedding haze of happiness; it is now overcrowded with children pushing, shoving and making a mess. The floor is hardly visible beneath the toy farm in the middle and the hall has become a playroom. Your life is in jeopardy when opening the linen cupboard, so tightly packed are the old-fashioned shelves. Badly designed and inadequate built-in wardrobes – the old-fashioned ones with the mirror and dressing table in the middle (you know them well) – are impossible to maximise. The beds are all incorrectly placed and the house is a total mess. Your hair is constantly on end with stress and you feel compelled to get your home in order again.

Often the antidote to these frustrations is surprisingly simple: a complete overhaul and a small extension to house a playroom or TV room.

I have designed checklists and wish-lists to enable you to set about your project in an organised fashion. I have also included plenty of basic building and finishing-off information to see you through. Much of the mysterious terminology that builders, joiners and other professionals use is included to give you an extra confidence boost when giving instructions to your sub-contractors. Eliminate all possibility of eye-rolling behind your back!

I strongly recommend that no renovation project should be commenced until absolutely all plans and budget considerations have been thoroughly ironed out. Better to wait a few extra months before beginning work than to be obliged to live with your mistakes forever.

Whatever the reason for altering your home, the same tasks must be dealt with and these begin immediately with the drawing up of your plans. Everyone seems to think they should have been an architect or interior designer and that anyone can design a two-room extension - or even a whole house. You would be amazed at how many of these would-be architects have discovered that their wonderful master bedroom, which they designed themselves, when turned into reality is so badly designed that the wardrobe doors won’t open because the bed is in the way. Or there is nowhere to position the dressing table. Planning your room layouts before building is essential.

A successful renovation can actually be far more difficult to achieve than designing a new house. Not only are you working around existing features, you have to take into account the fact that you have probably become accustomed to living in this space over many years. You are likely to have become emotionally attached to pieces of furniture and fabric that have no real place in your envisaged new design. You have always had that particular sofa in that particular corner; you saved for it in the seventies or eighties and it has sentimental value. And how about those lovely blue curtains; can we not reuse them? Not to mention that big leather recliner to which the man of the house is so attached! Renovating your home and personal space inevitably means wanting to hang onto furniture and possessions that should, ideally, be recycled. Time to be ruthless; step away from that rocking chair!

Unless you have experience as a designer, you really should begin your project by allowing your chosen architect or interior designer to draft the new floor plans, thereby ensuring they work efficiently. A good working design is vital to the success of your project. Often overlooked is the importance of the flow between the old and new areas. This must be fluid and seamless in every way and is usually difficult for a novice to achieve effectively.

Once the design has been completed, you can easily decide, with the help of this book, to manage the project yourself if you have confidence in your chosen builder and subcontractors.

If this is your plan and you would prefer to project manage the renovation yourself, you will still need to have the basic working drawings completed by a draughtsman/draughtswoman or engineer, especially if any planning permission is required. An engineer will be required to finalise any weight-bearing specifications that may be needed. Please make sure this is attended to prior to beginning the physical renovations.

If you are using a designer, ask him or her to provide elevations as well as floor plans. Your floor plans will consist of your layouts, including the positioning of furniture and lighting. Elevations are a great help when you want to see how your newly designed home will look on completion, as they illustrate your rooms wall by wall and to scale, making it all very clear to an inexperienced eye.

What can go wrong? What major mistakes can you make when renovating your home?

The answers to these questions lie mainly in the, often faulty, reasoning that because an existing structure is in place, already built, it is just a matter of bricks and mortar added to or subtracted from that existing dwelling. As a result, many design details are not properly thought out in advance.

Unless homeowners have great talent in the field of architecture or design, it is a good idea to let an expert have a look at the project and make a proposal. Homeowners can then decide whether or not they want professional assistance. Many choose to undertake the journey by themselves. Hopefully, this book will help those of you who undertake this arduous task to plan properly and to know what pitfalls to watch out for.

Many self-builders and renovators begin by drawing up plans themselves. Others don’t even bother with plans and begin work with only the vaguest ideas of creating extra space, imagining that by building walls where they seem to work will result in a successful renovation project. This is not usually the case, and – incredible as it may seem - I have seen many of these building adventures first hand, usually with a new client who has been missing out on sleep for many weeks before finally throwing in the towel and asking for help. And for those of you who believe that CAD (Computer Aided Design) is the solution: it really only works well for those with interior design and architectural experience. It is a design tool, not a design solution.

As most self-design and build projects progress, many, if not most, renovators find there is nothing quite as annoying as spending a great deal of money on their project only to find that their ideas, which seemed so marvellous at first, just don’t work in the real world. In such cases, when a designer is called in to decorate after the builders have left, it is normal to find a frustrated home-owner bemoaning areas of wasted space, rooms that are too small and furniture which has been left over with no place to go because of lack of proper planning. As I mentioned previously, a badly planned home will have a flow problem, which means that doors, windows and even entire rooms will have been positioned in such a way that traffic through the house flows awkwardly and unevenly. My advice would be to let a qualified architect or interior designer look at your plans - even if it is only to praise them!

If you decide to involve a professional with your renovation project, a fully qualified and experienced interior designer is probably your best solution. He or she is equipped to design the general flow of the interior and will work to unify the existing house, your possessions and your style with the new extension or renovation.

CHAPTER 2

The Role of the Interior Designer; How it works

Setting up your first meeting with an interior designer

Choosing finishes

Preparation

As I have been working on home renovations for more than twenty years, I feel very well positioned to give my opinion on the sort of pitfalls awaiting those of you who decide to go it alone when handling a home renovation project.

I began to handle renovations many years ago in Mozambique, after the lengthy civil war there came to an end. Buildings had been left to disintegrate and degenerate over a period of almost twenty years. Suddenly, there was an influx of embassies, aid agencies, banks and their myriad staff. I was lucky enough to get a great deal of work there all through the nineties, and I found it interesting and intriguing to work with completely inexperienced builders in a third world country. I project managed all those countless renovations by being well organised and knowledgeable, while perfecting the vital arts of delegation and orchestration.

After such enormous challenges, I imagined that working in Europe would be a piece of cake. Little did I know then, that different countries and cultures bring about new situations, all equally complicated, but in a different way. Life certainly is one long learning curve!

Returning to Europe in 2000 brought about an entirely new type of client: the homeowner who wanted - indeed demanded - to renovate with as little professional interference as possible. In Africa I was encouraged to choose just about everything that was put into all those houses and apartments I renovated, redesigned and redecorated. In Europe this – apart from some really interesting and rewarding projects – was not to be the case.

At first, I put it down to all the home renovation shows that are so prevalent on television. I am sure you can recall some of those terrifying before & after programmes. Who cannot forget the cringe-inducing episodes where a home has been redesigned by a celebrity designer, having had little or no input from the owner? Who does not wake up in a cold sweat remembering their shocked reactions, as they saw what had been done in their absence? Who does not suffer tremors of fear that such a thing should befall you yourself? No wonder we designers, as a profession, are viewed by many with such deep suspicion!

In fact, in real life, interior designers are hardworking, creative people who do a professional job and want to achieve a happy outcome for their clients. Most of us are well qualified and if you want to be sure about the bona fides of a particular designer, then look them up on line or ask around for references. As with all professions, there are many very good designers out there and some that are more decorators than designers, so ask around, as you will be bound to need someone local to you. If they are fully qualified they will be able to draw up your plans. Ask them!

But remember, it is you who has the last say on what goes into your home. The interior designer will suggest many options but will be guided by you and your own personal style. How the designer pinpoints your style will be discussed further on.

Setting up your first meeting with an interior designer

Your initial contact with an interior designer will be either by email or by telephone. As they all have websites these days, you will find their details on line and it is up to you to introduce yourself to them. You will need to specify what design service you require, and I suggest the following little email:

My name is…………and I want to renovate my home in………………It is a ….bedroom house and it will be a full/partial renovation. If you would be interested in quoting for this project, please let me know.

The interior designer then knows the location and the potential size of the project. When he or she gets back to you, a telephone conversation will probably be the next step, in order to find out exactly how much assistance you need. The designer will then, most likely, suggest a few options.

1.  Set up a meeting on site to have a look at the project. The outcome of such a meeting will involve your being sent a proposal outlining the services that will be provided and what fees would be charged for them.

2.  Meet at his/her office to discuss the project, plus the designer’s fees and services.

3.  Arrange a consultation, for which you will be charged a pre-arranged fee, to give you a one-off analysis of the project.

If you are unsure about whether or not to engage an interior designer, the third option is often the best and the fairest all round. The designer gets paid, for a start, so nobody’s time is wasted and you have a professional opinion about the project, which can be invaluable right at the start. You can then make a rational decision, without any feelings of guilt, about whether you want to proceed with this designer, engage another one, or go it alone.

On engaging an interior designer, you will be presented with a contract which must be agreed and signed by both parties. You will be given a copy. A contract is essential. This will set out the fee structure outlining what sums of money - and at what stages during the project - these payments should be made. It will also carefully illustrate and itemise exactly what role he or she will play in the interior design of your home and it is useful to have this as a reference as you progress.

There are a number of scenarios that can develop at this point. You may have decided to get the plans drawn up by the designer and be prepared to undertake the project yourself from that point onwards, without further professional help. The fees will reflect this and you will probably pay 50% as a retainer and the balance on the production of the floor plans and elevations, when they have been completed to your satisfaction.

Another method of employing an interior designer is to pay an agreed hourly rate, which must be carefully monitored by both you and the designer, with an agreed payment schedule.

However, when employing an interior designer, the most usual scenario is that he or she would draw up your plans and devise