When it comes to changing your living environment, a home renovation is certainly one of the more time-consuming ways of doing it, and also one of the more stressful. The fact is, though, that it is much less time-consuming and stressful than the only realistic alternative, which is moving completely. All that being said, if we could cut the stress out altogether and go straight to living in a nicer place, we’d all be a lot happier.
Well, while we can never make all of the stress go away, there is perhaps something to be said for making it less. It is possible to renovate your house without feeling like you need a holiday at the end of it, and the tips below will hopefully go some way to helping yours go smoother…
#1 – Use holiday time to do the work
Yes, in an ideal world, any holiday time you take would be much better spent sunbathing by a pool or sight-seeing in a charming Mediterranean village. There’s no point denying that, but if you use your time properly there will be ample opportunity to take a real holiday later. Simply put, if you try to squeeze renovation work into your weekends and available evenings, it will be rushed. As a result, mistakes will be made, and it will need to be done again – cutting into more of your spare time, and multiplying the stress.
#2 – Work with professionals
The more ambitious your renovation project, the more time it is liable to take up – and the more opportunities there will be for it to overrun. Many people are resistant to outsourcing renovation work, but the truth is that on the “big picture” stuff like adding a conservatory or putting in new floor-to-ceiling windows, it’s often worth talking to residential architects. They’ve done all of this hundreds of times over and, while it may cost a little more than going it alone, you’ll save time and spare yourself more stressing over the process.
#3 – Treat renovation work like a job
We can all think of things we’d rather be doing than sanding down door frames and measuring alcoves, and that’s why it’s important that a renovation doesn’t spread out to take up all of your time from waking up to going to sleep. Treating your renovation like a nine-to-five job is the best way to stop it becoming your whole life, and dominating everything you do.
Sure, it may mean eating the occasional takeaway dinner if the kitchen isn’t fit for purpose when it comes time to knock off – but down time is essential for avoiding stress, and stressed people make more mistakes. Once your “shift” is over for the day, leave all renovation work and talk to one side; it’s the smart thing to do.
You may never remove all of the stress from your home renovation, and it may never be what you would do for fun, but by following the three tips above you can certainly make stress less of a factor.
‘Contributed Post’
