There are many sad cases of home renovations not going as planned – often going way over budget or schedule, or unforseen complications popping up unexpectedly and ruining even up to years of work.

Most of these situations would never have gone so awry with some careful planning and early decision making sooner in the renovation process. Below are a few issues that it is vital to think about before you begin your home renovation.

10 Things to Think About BEFORE Beginning Work

• Prepare a budget
• Be aware of council regulations
• Find a tradesperson
• Know your start and completion dates
• Selecting Products
• Prepare plans
• Purchasing products
• What should I purchase myself?
• What services are available to my property?
• What sort of hot water unit do I need?

Prepare a budget
Before you start shopping for your new bathroom or kitchen you must know your spending limits. Whether you are getting a loan or paying cash, you need to work out how much your project is going to cost. Some businesses also offer finance solutions for approved customers.

Be aware of council regulations
Find out all the information you can before you arrange tradesperson. If your home is heritage listed you will need to meet strict council regulations. Many renovations must be approved by the council before work can commence. Contact your local council for more details.

Finding a tradesperson
Speak with family and friends who have done renovations or built a home. It is important to find a tradesperson that you can communicate with. Make sure you understand everything they are telling you. Book a tradesperson well ahead of time, as they can be booked for months in advance. Ensure that your tradesperson is licensed. Your product warranties are only valid if installed by a licensed tradesperson. In Australia, Trades@call provide professional, reliable tradespeople for most jobs, and all workmanship is guaranteed.

Know your start and completion dates
Communicate with your tradesperson and come to an agreement of realistic start and completion dates for your project. If you have a specific date that the job must be finished by, for example you have relatives coming to stay, let your tradesperson know. Keep in mind that unexpected problems can hold up your project, no matter how well you have planned it.

Selecting Products
It may take a few shopping trips for you to decide on the products that give you the look you desire and are also practical for your needs. Browse through a print or online catalogue. Once you have decided on a style (modern, heritage or easy living) this will narrow down your product choices. Be aware of any size restrictions of the room. Print out or write down product specifications and measure up your bathroom. You may use the online bathroom planner at the Bourne Bathroom and Kitchen Centre website to layout the products you have chosen.

Talk to your tradesperson about your choices. If the tradesperson tells you that a product you have chosen is unsuitable, find out why. It may just be that extra work is required that they don’t want to do. Remember, it is your home and you need to be satisfied once the job is complete.

Prepare plans
It is important that you draw up plans of your bathroom or kitchen. Discuss the plans with your tradesperson. Let him know what sort of products you would like, so he will know what work needs to be done. For example if you have chosen an inwall cistern, the tradesperson will need to know so he can set up the plumbing correctly before the tiling is done. It is best to have specifications of all of the products you have chosen so the tradesperson knows exactly what work is required.

Purchasing products
When selecting products, find out how long it will take for delivery. Some goods such as tapware and toilets will be in stock, while others such as spas and vanity units are custom made and can take up to 1 month to order in. Often these custom made products are non-refundable so confirm your product choices with your tradesperson before ordering. Find out from your tradesperson which products they will required first. Generally, the first products needed are the shower base, bath or spa and mixers if they are being installed on the wall.

As an owner builder, what should I purchase myself?
If you are owner building, make sure you purchase all of the main products for your bathroom, kitchen and laundry. This will ensure that you make all of the decisions and achieve the result you want. There will be things you will not think about when placing an order, such as different handle types on a vanity unit, the pump position of your spa, that you will need to decide on. It is important to make these decisions yourself as they will affect the overall result of your project. Smaller fittings for plumbing can be purchased by your tradesperson.

What services are available to my property?
It is important to know whether you need gas or electric appliances (hot water unit, cooking appliances). If you live further out from the city, you may need LPG appliances. If you currently have electric appliances and you want to change to gas, speak with your tradesperson to determine if this is going to be cost effective and worthwhile in the long run. If you are building a new home, decide on the appliances you want before building begins, as the plumbing will need to be roughed in based on your product selection.

What sort of Hot Water Unit do I need?
There is a wide range of hot water units available and it can be quite daunting to try and choose one. If you are replacing an existing unit your choices can be limited, so speak with your tradesperson. The instantaneous hot water units are popular at the moment, but they use a larger gas line than the standard storage units. This can mean major plumbing changes which can be quite costly, though in the long run the instantaneous systems are cost efficient. See the Bourne Hot Water Selection Guide for more detail.

Many of these points seem somewhat obvious, but the problem arises when you start taking things for granted. When you don’t make sure that all your bases are covered, you may find that you have invested a lot of time, effort and money in a home renovation that you may end up unhappy with.

When you

Home is sanctuary. It is a place that conjures the powerful feeling of belongingness where rest and renewal happens. Here we expect tranquility and peace. We expect protection from the outside world we participate in. Thus, we invest our life-savings, our talents, ourselves to make it as relaxing, soothing and calming as possible.

For others, home serves as a showcase of stature and success. It is where we entertain friends. It is an extension of one

During the huge process of relocating into a new home or apartment, there are countless things to think about. Unfortunately, one of the things that often gets pushed to the bottom of the list is one of the most important things of all: bedroom decorating. Sure, it is important to landscape your yard and to have a lovely and inviting living room, but don’t let your focus on these things cause you to forget taking time for bedroom decorating.

Bedroom decorating is important because there is really no place in your home that is more important to your well-being. Your bedroom is the place where you rest and sleep at the end of a long, tough day. Your bedroom is one of the only places of complete safety, rest and quiet in a world filled with hostility, rushing, and noise. Do not take the importance of bedroom decorating in this sacred space lightly.

Having a bedroom that you feel completely comfortable and at peace in will greatly effect the other areas of your life. When your bedroom feels like a refuge and a sanctuary you will be well prepared to enter the rest of your life with courage and right perspective. Taking the time for bedroom decorating is essential to making your bedroom more than just a room that your bed and clothes are in.

Because your bedroom should be all about you, the process of bedroom decorating should be about you as well. As you begin, think about the colors, fabrics, and kind of style you enjoy. Flip through magazines and catalogs to find ideas that you love. Take your time and only make decisions about bedroom decorating that you’re sure to love for a long time to come. Do not let yourself be rushed into choosing even the smallest item for your bedroom.

By taking the time for bedroom decorating you are making a statement about your worth and value. Creating a place that you can rest and enjoy time alone shows that you place a high priority on your own well-being. It may seem selfish, but think of how well you can love the people in your life when you are well rested and at peace. That is a great thing about taking time for bedroom decorating – everyone in your life will benefit from it.

When it comes time to move into that new home or apartment, put bedroom decorating at the top of your priority list. Spend time creating a room that you love. After you’ve had time to rest and relax in your favorite bedroom, then take time to be with the ones you love.

When redecorating a room, or even an entire house, contemporary lighting is a major concern. Dimly lit areas are uninviting and even depressing since human beings naturally crave the light. Some rooms, of course, invite subdued lighting … a bedroom doesn’t need glaring light whereas a dramatic entryway or living room might be stunning with bold, dramatic spotlight.

The older the home, the greater the challenge when planning for modern lighting. Here are twelve issues to contemplate when planning your lighting update.

1. Consider your natural lighting first. In what direction are your windows facing? Northern light is usually cooler and whiter whereas daylight from southern-facing windows will be warmer and yellower. This is perfect for plants, but not as satisfactory to artists, who prefer the truer white of the north. Northern light is a more even hue and is more shadow-free, which isn’t as comfortable in a relaxing den.

2. How is the light affected by your architecture and landscaping? Do you have trees that shade the light, or bushes that block the lower parts of the windows and decrease the over-all quantity of illumination? Does a roofline cast a shadow in an important area of a room? Can you increase the quality and quantity of accessible light without spending a fortune?

3. What activities take place in your rooms? Do some of them require more light than others? A desk that hosts homework or needlework requires strong and steady light that covers the entire work area. However, someone relaxing on a recliner and watching TV at the end of a busy day does not want this kind of focused brightness.

4. Do you need variable lighting? You might require a bright light focused on a dining room table while it is being set and dinner is served. However, once all diners are seated and have loaded their plates, a softer lighting is more appropriate and a dimmer switch will nicely provide for multiple intensities.

5. Are there details in your room upon which you wish to focus attention? Perhaps you own a spectacular fireplace or exceptional art? In that case, spot lighting might be appropriate. There might be other necessary, but not-so-attractive areas, that you might wish to downplay by muting the light. Or you might own a spectacular view that is especially enchanting at night. In that case, lights reflecting from the windows will make it more difficult, or even impossible, to see out.

6. Can you add light to a room by changing your decorating scheme? We recently brightened a dark-paneled den by painting all the woodwork and cabinets a creamy white and adding 2″ white wood blinds. With this relatively simple change, the entire room has taken on an entirely new appearance and brightened dramatically.

7. How do your window treatments affect the light? Some homes with heavy drapes are either “on” or “off”: that is, either the drapes are closed, making the room dark and frequently gloomy, or they are open and sunlight isn’t filtered in any way. Blinds or certain shades can diffuse light while still allowing a large percentage of it to access and brighten a room.

8. Decorating features in your home may add light or take it away. For instance, a mirror will add a sense of spaciousness and illumination whereas outside shutters or awnings may block the sun’s rays. It might be wonderful to shut out harsh sunlight on a 95 degree summer day, but in the middle of winter we want every sliver of light we can grab.

9. What about the natural traffic pattern of your room? A floor lamp placed so that people must detour around it isn’t the wisest use of your light sources. Is an off/on switch conveniently located near all entrances? Groping around on the wall in the dark isn’t favored by most people. If this is your situation, a simple sensor that turns on lights when a human enters a room is a clever solution.

10. Which areas are underlit and which are overlit? In my bedroom, for example, there is an exceedingly bright overhead light as part of a ceiling fan. It is great when finding an appropriate color of socks to wear in the morning, but completely unsuitable for reading in bed before going to sleep. A pool table needs strong lighting whereas a romantic seating area in a garden room does not.

11. What kind of lighting does your room need? Fluorescent fixtures might be perfect above a kitchen island but would be repulsive directly above an eating area. Schools and other institutions might welcome such unflattering lighting, but incandescent lighting might be more appropriate at home.

12. What is the condition of your wiring? Old and outdated wiring often cannot accommodate sleek new lighting systems without some work. Updating wiring can be expensive and disruptive, but it is also the opportunity to add new switches and cause updates for new computers, high speed Internet connections or high-tech TV or sound systems.

If you consider all these situations before spending a single penny updating to more contemporary lighting, your end result is certain to be more satisfying to everyone who lives in your home.