How To Plan Your Home Renovation

Feb

Interior Designer Surrey, London, UK

It happens to us all, we’ve been cooped up inside during the hard winter months. We look at the same four walls and we either suddenly don’t like what we see anymore, or the irritations you’ve felt suddenly grows to a point that you can’t take it anymore. It’s time! Things need to change! A fresh start is needed! But how do you even begin to embark on this task?

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Surrey Renovations-Identify What Needs Solving

Well you can’t solve a problem without identifying what it is you need to solve? When we work with our clients, our Drill Down Chat is our deep dive into our clients lives to determine what are the problems? What works and what doesn’t? How do our clients see themselves living in their home? And the list goes on. This meeting always last around three hours. It is critical to not only uncover problems in the existing home, but ensure the new design is efficient, beautiful and truly represents our clients.

We send some homework before our first meeting for all the decision makers in the home to do together. It’s important that you sit down with everyone this involves. To understand everyone’s irritations with the home, both practically and aesthetically and brainstorm ideas together.

This is not a quick process, all renovations are costly. You get one chance to get it right. So invest in either a professional or your time.

Budgeting For A Surrey Renovation or A London Renovation!

What work can be achieved is hugely dependant on what budget you can allocate to this. Obviously it is too early to know the total cost of all the work involved. If you are doing a Surrey Renovation or a London Renovation, below is a rough idea of what different works will cost:

£3 – £5K is just a cosmetic update on one room. Paint, some styling items and maybe some vintage furniture finds.
£5K-£10K will achieve more furniture and some professional window treatments. The top end of the budget could achieve a basic, small bathroom (with at least half the fee being spent on the contractor).
£15K – £30K is a better to exceptional bathroom. Exceptional equals better quality sanitary ware, exquisite tiles or Microcement. The option of achieving a wet room system (instead of a shower tray). Bespoke joinery can also be added to a standard room (living, bedroom, hallway).
£40K – £130K is a kitchen. Again the range is big due to the size of the space. Are you shopping at Magnet or having a bespoke kitchen designed? What other finishes are you using? Additional furniture etc?
£100K equals some internal knocking around and re-designing of spaces. Potentially a small, single story extension depending on your finished spec.
£200K – £350K double story extension and changing some of the house, or all if the home is small to medium.
£350K – £600K a large extension, complete redesign of an entire, larger home.

It is vital to be honest with your spend allocation. Renovations always run into unforeseen issues and therefore a contingency fund of ideally 20-25% is vital.

Surrey Interior Designer – Scheduling A Project!

Scheduling is one of life’s key skills and the same is true for a renovation. Now this part of the project takes a huge amount of skill. If you have the skillset and time then go ahead. If not, hire professionals. Identifying who they are will take some scheduling, but once a few key members are in place, they will usually put you in touch with other professionals for the job.

Now obviously I’m biased, but I think depending on the size of your project the first two hires should be an architect and interior designer. If you are only planning a cosmetic revamp then only an interior designer is required. Designers are an additional spend. If you are in the lower spend bracket you will be doing this yourself. A project that has a budget of £15K + definitely warrants using a fantastic interior designer. They create innovative designs and solutions, bring you products and finishes that you won’t even know about and design a home that solves all your gripes and annoyances. Ultimately we design a home that is efficient and beautiful.

Who to bring on first? Actually either is fine, both need to be engaged very early in the project. Ideally we like to be contracted onto the job before a planning application is made. The internal layout & conceptual stage can see architects plans impacted a fair amount.

We recently had a kitchen extension that needed to be pushed out a further two metres to allow for the kitchen island and table size the clients wanted to include.

The most important element is communication and finding professionals who understand the importance of collaborating as a team.

The builds where the architect is excited to hear our changes, the main contractor is regularly communicating updates and all the subcontractors are talking with each other, results is the most successful projects.

Interior Designer Surrey, London, UK – The Design Process!

Rushing a project through does not result in good design or a well spent budget. Our favourite projects are the ones where we have lots of time.

We have just started working on a new project this January, where the clients have no plans to start building until Spring next year. This gives us so much time to firstly explore how we extend and improve the home, to maximise its value and usage. Once this exploratory work is done the architects will come on board to develop their plans and elevations. This should not be rushed. I always recommend clients sit with plans for a few weeks to really think about their new spaces.

Once our clients are happy with the design, we are back in for detailed internal layouts and conceptual design. The architects then make changes to work with our layouts and put together a planning submission. We will then patiently wait and make any required changes to ensure planning is approved. Next the structural engineers are contracted and sometimes an M&E team (depending on the size of the project). They develop the structural design, steel specifications and work with the architects to submit everything for building control.

Design details are our next part of the process. We create an internal schedule of works so that potential principal contractors have all the information they need to submit accurate quotes and timelines. At this point our clients will have all the information and costs to make informed decisions before they put a spade in the ground. Then the build can be scheduled and started. As you can see, although a year seems like a long time, the design process fills it and ensures that everything is now scheduled and determined for a successful build.

Surrey Renovation, London Renovation – The Build!

The choices, sequencing & ordering that is required for a renovation can be huge. If the project is small and you have time, then it can be achieved by a homeowner. I’ll be honest even when I carry out my own projects in my home I wish I could hire me. It is so timely, stressful and costly. With having a family and running a full time business, it’s really hard for me to prioritise the time that is required. It is a dream to do it as my job, but to fit it into normal life is very, very hard.

In a nutshell organisation, communication and great design is what equals a successful renovation. Don’t rush it. Be prepared to invest your hard earned money wisely, Always remember this is your project for you and your loved ones. Don’t copy, be innovative and create something special for you.

About Our Surrey Interior Design Practice.

In case you didn’t know we are an award winning commercial and residential interior design practice based in Surrey but servicing clients throughout the UK and internationally.
We run our projects with a tried and tested stepped process, which not only produces incredible interiors but keeps projects organised, on budget and clients relaxed.
SP Interiors are construction experts and most of our projects are either from the ground up or extensive renovations. We like to be involved at the very start of a project as we find our internal layouts often have an impact on structural changes.
Most of our clients are surprised by the amount of drawings and details we need to provide. Our drawing packages enable accurate quotes, smooth on site installations and all the design decisions and costs decided in the early stage of a project.
We manage orders of everything from flooring, joinery, lighting, furniture and everything in between, through a professional data system which keeps us ontop of scheduling, deliveries and discounts.
Transforming our homes and businesses is no mean feat, we get one chance to get it right so make sure you have the right team working on your project.
If you want some help in how to start your project, then our two hour “Walk and Talk” consultation is invaluable. We walk around your home and instantly solve your design problems. Email us at info@sadiepizzeyinteriors.com to find out more.

Work With Us

If you would like know more about how to work with us, then visit our contact page and book in a discovery call with us or email: info@sadiepizzeyinteriors.com.

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