Anyone who’s been through a renovation (or knows someone who renovated their house) will tell you that it can be an ultimate test of a relationship. To make your home a better and more comfortable place to live in is a challenging task in itself, and when you add your partner, kids, and pets it can bring more stress to the project.
But, not to worry! Remember, that you are not the first and not the last to renovate your apartment, and it is a memorable experience that can make your family even stonger. Here are a few tips from renovation experts and relationship gurus.
It all starts with good preparation.
Do your research, and find a reliable contractor who can understand your vision of your future home and meet your renovation needs within your budget.
Renovating your home will ineviatbly affect your routine and life style, so it is recommended that you move out and rent a place in the meantime to have your basic needs, such as clean laundry, and proper meals met. This way you can avoid tensions caused by mere discomfort of living among bags of plaster and buckets of paint.
Get a preliminary estimate and schedule for the renovation from your contractor, add some more money and some more time to it, and then identify who will be in charge of your home remodeling project — you, your partner or a contractor (interior designer). This person will be responsible for the budget, schedule, planning and supervision.
Remember to be flexible, and be ready for changes. Midway your partner (or you) might decide that blue paint is much better than the originally planned white one, or the plumber might discover that your pipes are in worse condition than thought — things like these require patience.
Try to always see a bigger picture to keep your nerve—renovation is not forever, soon your home will be clean, beautiful, and better than before because you started all this to improve the quality of your life.
Keep in mind your priorities. Your family relationships are more important than those red floor tiles you just had to insist on. There's no point in spending money, time and energy on trying to create a great family home only to have your relationship crumble.
Trust the professionals you hired—they did it many times before, and they know how to deal with it.
And last but not the least enjoy this experience together with your family to have good memories later.