transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] We talk a lot about organizing and spring cleaning this time of year. But you know, it's not just for your home. You need to spring clean your finances as well. And Monarch can help you do just that. Let Monarch do your financial spring cleaning for you. One dashboard that gets your entire financial life organized. No more clutter, no more mess, no more scattered logins, just accounts, investments, property and more, all in one place. Get your first year of Monarch for half off just $50 with promo code Decorating. Monarch kept me on track to reach the goal of saving enough to start my renovation project, and the plans are in the works. Thank you, Monarch. One of my favorite features of Monarch is the weekly AI recap. It can catch spending spikes before they become a problem. And Monarch's AI assistant is like having a financial advisor in your pocket. Ask it anything at any time. The AI insight spot thinks you'd never catch yourself. Use the code decorating at monarch.com to get your first year half off at just $50. That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code decorating.

Speaker 2:
[01:11] Hey there, I'm Coulter. I'm Kayla.

Speaker 3:
[01:13] And I'm Lauren.

Speaker 2:
[01:14] And we host Relationship Advice, a show that is dedicated to helping you connect better with the people in your life and why the starting point for that is probably not what you were told.

Speaker 3:
[01:25] If you are someone who wants to see relationships in your life improve, whether that's with your partner, family member or friend, then check us out.

Speaker 4:
[01:33] New episodes drop every Wednesday and you can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Speaker 1:
[01:40] It is not just about the pretties. Hey everybody, I'm Kelly Wilkness here with Anita Joyce, and this is Decorating Tips and Tricks. And today we're talking renovating rules. A successful home renovation is rarely about the pretties and creativity alone. It's about clear decisions, good sequencing and disciplined spending. We're gonna give you some great tips today on how to have a very successful and maybe even stress-free renovation.

Speaker 5:
[02:21] Well, it can be very stressful, especially if you've never done it before. It's a lot of money. I can see why this is very stressful for people. And I'm gonna come out here right in the beginning and say, this is why it is so important to work with a contractor that you trust. Because this stuff is just, it can be a nightmare. These things can go wrong if you're afraid of it. I mean, you know, things can go wrong, but we're here to hold your hand through the process.

Speaker 1:
[02:55] Yes, or a really skilled project manager. All the subs have to be great. All the people that are touching your home and the renovation really need to know what they're doing. And if you're doing it on your own, well, head to YouTube Academy and get all the information you can. But beyond whoever is going to hold the hammer, you want to start with a clear vision, not just a Pinterest vision, because a Pinterest vision is often, or Instagram vision, is often simply aspirational. You can get great ideas from there, but it has to apply to your life, how you want your home to feel, how you actually live, who really lives there with you, and what problem you are trying to solve. So just finding beautiful pictures of people who have left the Midwest and moved to Provence, and have a gorgeous life in some stone castle somewhere with flowing gardens, and they're making their own bread. Maybe that's not your life, because you have three kids, and a dog and a cat. So you have to think about what is really going on in your life, and what is going to work for you. It's great to get inspiration. It's great to get ideas. I see something on Instagram that I love. I'm screenshotting all the time, and I'll scroll through, and sometimes I'm like, why did I even, why do I have this picture? And then other times I'm like, oh yeah, that's the fill in the blank I wanted to get. So it's definitely a tool. Magazines, Pinterest, Instagram, tools, but you have to really delve in and see what's going to work for you. That is the first thing to do before you find a contractor, before you pick anything out, you have to get that clear in your mind.

Speaker 5:
[04:54] Well, this is so true. You really do need to start with how you actually live. And I see it not just in Pinterest boards, but also somebody who thinks, oh, wouldn't it be nice to watch all these movies together as a family? And then you don't actually do it. Or your kids are like, I don't want to watch a movie with you, I want to go out with my friends and watch it.

Speaker 4:
[05:17] I'm sorry.

Speaker 5:
[05:18] This happens in life. Or someone who's like, I am going to work out, I'm going to start working out tomorrow. They build the yoga room, they build the workout room, and then it's over. So, I think you really need to take a hard look at how you actually live and what you need for your life as it is now. I mean, I know people that have built a whole party barn, and then guess what? Didn't have parties. Well, what was that for?

Speaker 1:
[05:50] No, that's sad. Yeah, those are the people like, I'd like to entertain more, but then they don't. That's bad. And then what do you do in the party barn? I guess you make it a really big yoga studio. I don't know.

Speaker 5:
[06:02] That you're not going to use. So I don't, I think you really need to be realistic unless you have plenty of money to throw around. You really need to be very honest with yourself.

Speaker 1:
[06:12] Yeah. So get real before you get renovating. One thing that you can do, and it might sound like, oh, come on, really, but if I find it and maybe others would too, I find it so helpful to write something down because it forces you to go through the thought process. Write one sentence, which is your project goal. So for example, something like, create a brighter, organized kitchen that feels timeless and works for everyday cooking and entertaining. Something like that. Whatever is your goal, write that down in descriptive words. And then that can be what you keep coming back to when you get sidelined, like, oh, while you're at the renovation, let's put in a yoga studio or, hey, let's get this going on in the kitchen. And you say, oh, that doesn't really support my goal. So it's something that you can keep in mind, get a notebook for your renovation or do it on your computer, and keep coming back to this goal. You can refine it over the time of the renovation, but you want to stay true to the core of it.

Speaker 5:
[07:21] That is true. That is a good point to really focus on the goals for the project and really stick with that and not expand it too much. Because again, you can sometimes expand it so much that it becomes undoable. It's just too all-consuming, too much. And maybe it's something that really should be broken down into smaller pieces. So I think that's a good thing to think about. And another thing is to think about, like if you're putting in storage again, how do you use the space? Going back to, let's not be planning for a life that you might have, but the life you do have. What do you have that you don't have room for? Holiday decorations, gym gear, suitcases, cleaning supplies. Make sure that you're putting in space for what you need. And you do not want a house that has not enough storage. And I've never heard anyone say, darn, these closets, they're too big.

Speaker 1:
[08:21] Why does buying eyeglasses always feel so complicated and overpriced? I'm paying a lot for something I don't love. But then came Warby Parker. And I'm obsessed. Seriously, nothing comes close on quality, price, selection and customer service. Once you buy from Warby Parker, you realize how much easier they've made the entire process. And so much more stylish. And their virtual try on is a total game changer. You can literally try on glasses from your phone before you buy. I have a couple of pairs of Warby Parker, and they are my favorite go-to glasses, the Esme and the Tilly. I get compliments on them every time I slip them on. And their prescription glasses start at $95. So you can actually get quality and stylish frames at an affordable price. And Warby Parker doesn't just offer incredible prescription glasses, they have everything you need for happier eyes. Contacts, online eye exams and sunglasses. Warby Parker is also covered by major insurance plans. Right now, buy one prescription pair and get 20% off any additional prescription pairs at warbyparker.com/dtt. That's 20% off additional prescription pairs when you go to warby, W-A-R-B-Y, parker.com/dtt. Spring is the perfect time to upgrade your everyday essentials with fewer pieces and better materials. I did just that. A linen closet clean out, and then I bought new sheets from Quince. I purchased the classic organic percale embellished sheet sets. They look luxurious and they feel even better. I first discovered Quince through their clothing, but their home collection has that same effortless quality and style. Everything feels thoughtfully made, and the materials are elevated, and the prices are not. The prices actually make sense. Quince is so fairly priced at 50 to 60% less than similar brands, because they work directly with ethical factories and skip the middleman, passing on the savings to you. So you're going to get beautiful, high quality pieces for your home without the retail markup. Refresh your home with Quince. Go to quince.com/dtt for free shipping and 365-day returns, now available in Canada too. Go to quince, quince.com/dtt for free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com/dtt. Okay, I'm going to say the word budget. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Budget first, design second. Don't get your heart set on something that is just not going to work financially for you. So, think about what the budget is. You can get beautiful, beautiful, beautiful things in your home and make your renovation absolutely spectacular without blowing your budget on tile or something that it's going to then make you have to pull back in other areas. So, you really want to say, what is the budget? And then choose items that are going to work for the budget. Now, we could go through what percentages you should, in your mind, attribute to the different aspects of a renovation. But the construction and labor is going to be close to 50% of what's happening. And you do have to budget in, what do you think, Anita? Like 10 to 20% over what you're quoted in the just in case of a can of worms being opened?

Speaker 5:
[12:11] Well, I mean, that's more conservative to do 20. You just, something's going to go wrong, especially in an existing home. The contractor doesn't know what he doesn't know. He doesn't know what problems he's going to run into. And we have definitely had overruns, but there were real reasons why he ended up going over budget. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[12:34] And then cabinets, fixtures, finishes, maybe 25 to 35%. I mean, these are all just very general numbers, but just to give you a sense, appliances, of course, you could get that French range, but if not, you're talking about about 10 to 15% of the overall budget. And then if you're paying someone for design plans or a project manager or designer, you're going to figure in a certain percentage for those people as well.

Speaker 5:
[13:00] Yes. I think that's excellent to think about the budgeting ahead of time. And another thing to think about ahead of time is to factor in the lead times. How long is it going to take to get everything? You know, appliances, depending on what you're ordering, the more custom the appliance, the longer it's going to take for it to get there. Even signing up with a contractor, we usually have to sign with the contractor months in advance to, for him to set aside the time for us. And just think about even, oh, custom cabinetry, that usually takes a good bit of lead time as well. So think through every decision that needs to be made. How long is it going to take for everything to come in? And hopefully, it is going to come together. But it is hard organizing these things, because I've had projects where I was promised that certain pieces were going to be ready at a certain time, and they weren't, and the contractor's sitting there. So, you know, you have to be very careful.

Speaker 1:
[14:07] Yes, and fix the layout before you start choosing the finishes. I know everybody wants to get to the pretty stuff and the fun stuff and go to the tile store and pick the paint and your hardware. But you need to nail that floor plan down and figure out how the space is going to work. You're going to focus on how you're going to circulate through the house or the apartment or condo, townhome. What are your sight lines? As if you're looking through a room from, I'm just thinking of a client of mine. So we were looking through the dining room to her kitchen, and they wanted to put the charging station at that end of the kitchen. And I said, well, wait a minute, is that what you're going to want to be looking at? When you walk through the doorway from the dining room into the kitchen, you're going to see wires and all of that. That's what you're trying to hide by having a charging station. So no, we ended up putting a beautiful hutch there. And then where it turned to the small hallway to go to the back door, we were able to hide a charging station in a spot for the mail. On the hallway side. So you want to think about your sight lines. You want to think about storage like Anita talked about.

Speaker 5:
[15:21] Well, hold on. Let me go back to the sight line. The worst thing is sitting at the dining room table with company and seeing the toilet in the bathroom. Oh, yeah. I mean, they talk about this. Or you don't want to walk in the door of a house and see a toilet. So just be thinking about those, you know, what you can see from different places in your house and make sure it's something you want to see.

Speaker 1:
[15:45] Do you see what a giver she is? She said the word toilet twice. And that's really hard for Anita to say that word. But she said it to help you. So I just wanted to point that out.

Speaker 4:
[15:59] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[15:59] And you want to think about storage. Like you also just spoke about, where are you going to have storage? You know, if you're going to have this big gorgeous, if you're planning an open concept renovation, where are you going to have storage? Sure, those no uppers is great in a magazine, but is that really a way that you can live? And also consider the natural light. You don't want to be blocking any natural light and where you can accentuate it, or if you have to change windows or whatnot, make them big. Or if the window can become a door. Something that I often see people not consider when they're doing a renovation, because you think it's all about the home, you're looking in to the house, and that's all very good and you should be doing that, like I'm saying about the circulation and the sight lines and all of that. But you also want to consider what's going on outside your house. So if you can have an opportunity where your kitchen can open up to a garden or your backyard, figure out a way to do that. You want to accentuate some beautiful, maybe old growth trees or something. And you want to hide things that maybe you don't want to look at. If there's a window that you're looking at at your neighbor's side of their house or their trash cans or something like that. If you're doing a full scale renovation, maybe you move that window. So all things just to consider, they might not be within the budget. But if you don't think about it, then you're not going to make that change. And it might be disappointing at the end of the day when it would have been maybe not even that much more of the budget, just to make that simple adjustment during the renovation.

Speaker 5:
[17:42] Right. And think about built-ins. Built-in cabinetry can be beautiful. It works well if it's a small room and you don't really have room for furniture. But it's pretty permanent and inflexible. So think about if you really want cabinetry in a particular place, or if freestanding furniture would provide some flexibility that might be important to you going forward. So that is something to think about. That's why I don't really like built-in cabinetry in a bedroom, because it kind of forces the bed in a particular location, which future owner or maybe I wouldn't like. So I think that's something to think about. But it's also nice to have the built-in cabinetry for display. So it really depends on the space. And what we're really saying is think about it ahead of time. Make good choices.

Speaker 1:
[18:39] Yeah, all great tips. And you want to make all the major decisions before anybody picks up a hammer. You do not want to be making major decisions on the fly. You will have decisions where you might have to pivot. I just had an experience with a client. We had picked out all this tile and the tile was in Japan and was not coming anytime soon. So we were able to pivot to the same color, so the same type of tile from the same brand, but in a completely different shape. So I'm actually happy with it. I went with a longer subway rather than this square tile. I think it's going to be actually, it was kind of a happy situation. I think it's going to be better, but we were able to pivot. But you want to have at least made the decisions and know what you want with the hope that everything's going to show up on time. So that's appliances, plumbing fixtures, cabinet sizes, cabinet face, whether it's a shaker or something else, lighting locations, you need to have a walkthrough with the electrician and decide. Do not let your builder or your electrician decide where your outlets, your plugs, your electrical boxes are. That is something you need to decide or along with them. And also the tile layout, the tile choices, the flooring. Am I overwhelming anyone? But you do need to know all of this and have considered it all before construction starts because Anita defined it for us, I don't know, a few gazillion episodes ago. Change orders are expensive.

Speaker 5:
[20:24] Can be for sure.

Speaker 1:
[20:25] Delays are incurred as a result.

Speaker 5:
[20:29] Another thing to think about, you know, when we were talking about paint, remember in our paint episode that we did recently, we talked about how if you put all the colors together for the whole house, they need to work together and not be fighting.

Speaker 1:
[20:44] Yep.

Speaker 5:
[20:44] And so you want kind of a color story throughout your house. And so I would say it's the same thing with any renovation or any design of the house, is that you do want a red thread throughout the house. You want this design to make sense and you want some repetition. Not everything has to repeat or be exactly the same, but you want there to be a thread, like maybe using the same countertop in the bathrooms as in the bedroom, or maybe you're using brass taps everywhere. I mean, just think about what that might be. And I came up with a design concept for my living room with some built-ins and they were made to look like they were pre-standing furniture. In fact, most people thought they were. In fact, there was a window above them and they thought I had pushed these cabinets in front of the windows and I had such a hard time explaining, no, no, these are built-ins, that window is just above the built-ins. So but this was something I did and I had a diamond pattern on the front and I had such a brilliant carpenter that I was working with and I wish I could say this was my idea. Really, it was his idea. He saw those diamonds there and he repeated that pattern throughout the kitchen because it was all one big room. So he put a diamond pattern above the range hood and a diamond pattern on the legs for the island on the corner. So it was really such a nice tie-in. So that's what I'm talking about when I said create a red thread. Make sure that there is a tie-in with everything you're doing. So if you're adding on, make sure that what you're doing isn't fighting with what's already existing in the home.

Speaker 1:
[22:28] Yeah, I'm glad you clarified that because maybe some listeners don't know what red thread is, the concept of it. It doesn't mean you have to have red, but it's tying things together like Anita just described. So you're seeing the same pattern or material repeated throughout the home. You want to design the whole house even if you're just renovating one room. So you want to consider the whole house and how this newly renovated room is going to work within that existing home, right? So you have to respect the entire home's character. So consistency matters in door styles, in trim, flooring transitions, hardware finishes, and especially in older homes. Mixed max renovations can feel very patchworked and ill-considered. So you really don't want that and you're definitely not getting your red thread effect if you're doing that. I have walked into countless homes and it's usually kitchen or bathroom. Where you walk in and you're like, oh, okay, this is what the home is about. You walk in the door, maybe you see the common areas, living room, what have you, dining room, maybe. And then you walk in the kitchen and you're like, whoa, okay, lacquered cabinets and whole different colors. And is that marble? Whereas the rest of the house doesn't speak marble at all. So you have to really be careful of that. Even if it's done in luxe materials and with a big, big budget, then it starts to look like a showcase home where this is the jungle room and this room is the sailors nook or something. So you have to be really careful of that. And so maybe over time you say, oh, I want to change something in some of the other rooms, and I'm going to start with this renovated room, but it cannot be markedly different. It's going to seem weird.

Speaker 5:
[24:31] Yes, very true. Another thing to think about is where you are investing. Make sure that you are intentional about where you're splurging and where you're budgeting. Because if you're splurging on everything, the cost can spiral out of control very quickly. So be thinking about, you know, like the floor, maybe in your foyer might be more important to you than the flooring down in the basement. What about the doorknobs? I mean, I really like to have very nice doorknobs because everyone touches them. I'm touching them. You see them. So I think that's important. And, you know, the taps and the kitchen and the bathrooms. I like that. I know from one of our projects we splurged on, I kind of used a plain white subway tile in some of the bathrooms. It worked well because I wanted a simple, clean design. But that also saved a lot of money because I could have gone crazy with some wild tiles in those rooms. I budgeted for my most expensive, really interesting tile for the kitchen because that's where, you know, I spent the most time and that was a public space in the house. So be mindful of where you're spending your money.

Speaker 1:
[25:51] Yeah. And tile is a great place to save. I would spend on the cabinetry. I love custom cabinetry and it is not that much more expensive than these semi-custom options. And sometimes you have to jigger the semi-custom so much that you end up spending more money trying to trim it down or change the box size. And now you need a new front. Whereas if you just started from scratch and someone made you something that absolutely fits to your space and your needs, that is ideal. And so that's where I would put budget money. I would not put budget money into my backsplash tile. I don't want a backsplash tile that's going to yell at me anyway. I would invest in great windows if you're doing a renovation that involves changing windows or doors. Cheap windows are bad for so many reasons. They look bad. If you live in a place where you got a lot of weather, they're not going to function as well. You're going to end up losing money on heating and air conditioning anyway. So those are places where I think you should be putting some money in. Plumbing fixtures, not only for the look and the feel, but the way that they function. And if you're like, oh, wow, I can't really get exactly what I want. I would just default because the budget is too high for these specialty brands. Going with Kohler or a Moen, plumbers love when you do that because all the parts are readily available, and they've both come up with gorgeous styles. So I think you should be able to find something that you really like in that mid-price really reliable brands. So you know where you'd want to spend, but think about where practically it makes sense to spend, and then get creative in the other areas, where maybe you're finding vintage or consignment pieces. You're doing some freestanding pieces rather than a fully fitted kitchen. Just do part of it fitted with a woodworker who's going to make it to your exact specs and then maybe do a freestanding hutch or something like that that you got in a consignment store. So there are ways to get around it and put your money in the right spots.

Speaker 5:
[28:12] Well, the last thing I want to talk about is that it's just going to take longer than you think it's going to. And I don't care what the contractor told you. And let's say you added 20% to the time he told you. Still might not be enough. Often there is a delay in starting and then there's delays in materials getting there, subs not showing up and it's just going to take longer. So factor that in, breathe out. Do some relaxation exercises and you'll make it through.

Speaker 1:
[28:47] And you can always come to us if you need to either vent or get some good ideas. We do a lot of consults when people are mid renovation because they are overwhelmed or they need some help with decisions they couldn't make or they need to pivot and they need some help. Give yourself some grace, expect renovation fatigue. It is stressful. I mean, they even talk about people's marriages surviving. So, you know, Peter and I have survived many, many, many renovations. You're going to be tired of all the decisions. I hear this from clients all the time. I can't believe how many decisions I had to make because ultimately, it has to be your decision unless you're going to have an HGTV moment where you're going to go on vacation and come back and your house is going to be done. You're going to have to make the decisions you want to make the decisions. But after a while, it just becomes really tiring. You're going to be spending a lot of money. Money is just going to feel like it's flowing out. But if you're making the good, right?

Speaker 5:
[29:48] But if you make the decisions... It doesn't just feel that way. It's happening.

Speaker 1:
[29:51] It's actually happening. Sorry. It's true. But if you're making the right choices in the renovation, you're adding to what is probably your greatest asset, your home. So you'll get it back or you'll enjoy it more while you're there. So the key to renovating well is planning early and expecting all the things that we discussed today. So we wish you the best. We've been there. We'll probably be there again. So we are virtually holding your hand through your current renovation or one that you are considering. What's your crush?

Speaker 5:
[30:35] You know, I love a beautiful table. And I found some beautiful rattan napkin rings. They were so pretty. They look lovely with just all sorts of napkins. These are rattan. So they're going to be great for the summer and warm weather. And it is coming into that time. So I think it's a great accessory for your table. I did not find the ones that I bought online and they're not currently available. So I found some that are very similar and I will link them in the show notes. So what is your crush?

Speaker 1:
[31:11] It is... Okay, let me see. My crush is a tinted moisturizer that has a 50 SPF broad spectrum, which is what you want to be looking for. It's made by L Roche Posay. I absolutely love it. It's lightweight. They don't have too many choices on the tints. So I... You know, there's maybe one or two. I went with the lightest one for my skin tone. So, you know, choose the one that would be most appropriate for you. But it is so light that you're not getting a lot of color. It's just a very, very light tint, kind of smooths everything out a little bit. But you're also getting this great SPF protection. It is really easy to wear. You don't feel like you've got makeup on. I don't wear a foundation or anything like that. So this just gives you a little bit of evening out. So highly recommend it. I've just ordered another one and I will put the link in the show notes.

Speaker 5:
[32:14] Wonderful. Well, thanks so much for hanging out with us. And if you're doing a renovation project, we hope it goes well. And remember, we're here to inspire you to create a beautiful home. Until next time.

Speaker 1:
[32:26] Fabulous. Fun. Wow. Even better than I had hoped or expected. These are just a few of the words used to describe a DTT design consult. We've been doing consults for many years and boy, are we good at it. And people are loving the results of the advice and suggestions that we make for them. It's so easy to schedule a consult with us. Just simply go to our website, decoratingtipsandtricks.com and click consult. There you'll be led through the very simple process. And sooner than later, you, I and Anita will be discussing your home in detail. So sign up for a consult today. Let us help you design and decorate the home that you want and deserve. Looking forward to talking to you soon.