Successful Home Improvement With Less Stress
Fixing up your home can be fun and rewarding; however, it can also come with a lot of stress. Use the following tips to help avoid all the headaches, and end up with a home improvement project you can love.
1. Break the big job into small steps. Home improvement can be very overwhelming if you don't put it into the right perspective. Understand the end results you want to achieve and break that down into easy to manage steps. This will make both planning and doing much easier and less stressful.
2. Put the plan on paper. The unknown causes most people stress, no matter what it involves. Know what you are getting yourself into and how you will get from point A to B to Z by creating a home improvement plan. Writing it out will make it easy for you to follow every step of the way and also allow anyone else to come in mid-project for consultation or lending a hand.
3. Hire a pro for the real tough jobs. Nothing will stress you out more than having half your home in pieces and not knowing what to do next. Leave things like plumbing and electrical jobs to professionals and avoid not just the hassle but the possible expense of damaging your home.
4. Ask your friends to help. Friends can make any home improvement project easier and less stressful, just by being there. Turn it into a party by providing great food and atmosphere and inviting people who will work well together. Similar to moving, home improvement is one of those things where you truly find out who your friends are when you ask for help. Avoid letting too many cooks spoil the soup though, for the sake of your project's success.
5. Apply for permits early on. Learn what rules you will need to abide by and what permits you must obtain and display in the windows. Failure to do this will be more stressful than anything else, because you could be asked to tear your work down or fined. A little homework and a few phone calls is all it takes to be in compliance and worry-free.
6. Live elsewhere during renovations. If you can move out of your house while it's being worked on, you could save yourself a lot of hassle. Plan accordingly and make other living arrangements to allow for seamless working conditions and no interruptions. It's also much safer.
7. Give yourself plenty of time to finish. Being rushed through a home improvement project can lead to costly errors, so make sure no time constraints will be pushing you. Again, planning is the key to success so include a time-table in your blueprints and try to stay on schedule.
8. Don't juggle home improvement projects. Starting another project before you finish your fist will create confusion, a big mess and a whole lot of unnecessary stress. Keep projects in a logical order, and unless they are separate and not located close to each other, tackle one at a time.
Sometimes, home improvement can turn into a horror show. Avoid the hassles and make sure everything goes according to plan by using this advice.
