Ultimate Step-by-step Home Renovation Checklist
Photo Credit: Emily Keeney
Here you will find a step-by-step home renovation checklist for the ultimate renovation project.
Quick, a pop quiz! Are you:
(A) Planning a home renovation project
(B) *Thinking* about planning a home renovation project
(C) Reflecting on how a past project could have gone better
(D) Desperate to find a formula that works
Good news, there are no wrong answers here—you’re in the right place if one (or many!) apply.
Home renovation is exciting, but it can also be a little scary…okay, fine, “a lot” scary. Truth be told, so many things can go wrong without a solid plan in place before you break out the toolbox.
I have listened to horror stories from past clients who called me AFTER the walls have been demolished, desperate to find a design professional to help them choose materials or even (gulp!) design the kitchen.
Renovation Blueprint: A road map to success
Do not wait until after your renovation begins to plan your renovation. Say it louder for the people in the back!
This happens all the time, but it’s not the homeowner’s fault. When you’ve got a vision, it’s easy to get swept up in the renovation razzle-dazzle. If this is your first renovation project, it’s completely understandable—and expected—that you are going to make mistakes. Possibly even some big ones (it’s going to be okay, I promise.)
One renovation. Two roads to choose from.
Imagine this scenario: You have been dreaming about renovating your kid’s bathroom. You simply have to get rid of the peeling Formica countertop and ancient tiled shower that might have been cool in the eighties, but in 2023, it just makes you cringe.
Your neighbor casually mentions that her incredible contractor has a sudden opening for a small project. OMG! Her newly renovated bathroom is GORG! You have to call this guy. He agrees to take your job and he can start in three days! BUCKLE UP.
At this point, your design planning has included flipping through a few home magazines and fantasizing about the perfect bathroom—an easy-to-care-for space that preferably involves walls that can be hosed down if needed. C'mon, it is a kid’s bathroom!
You have two options:
Option A:
Be warned, this isn’t for the faint-hearted. You agree to let the amazing contractor start in three days. The following weeks descend into spiraling chaos as you scramble to figure out everything you—and your contractor—need to bring your dream bathroom to life. The experience leaves you stressed out, frustrated, and ticked off at your neighbor for ever introducing this idea in the first place. It’s giving #renovationregret.
Option B: You politely decline the opportunity to start your project in three days. Instead, you book the amazing contractor for his next opening, which happens to be in about nine months. In the meantime, you get serious about planning the perfect bathroom. This, my friend, is the option that leads you down the path of joyful renovation.
Ok, I get it, I want to drink the joyful renovation Kool-Aid. Now what?
Funny you should ask—I’ve got just the right solution for you. Introducing Renovation Blueprint, your partner in home projects.
I’m going to walk you through the key steps:
Planning
Organizing
Managing
Complete your beautiful projects with confidence and reach the final, and best, step: Celebrating!
We’ll begin with an overview of the Ultimate Home Renovation Checklist. I’ve simplified it to give you an idea of what you’ll need. Join our email list here to access the complete checklist before beginning your project.
Let’s dive in!
The Step-by-step Home Renovation Checklist: Planning, Organizing, Managing
PLAN: Six to Nine Months in Advance
Let’s start with an example. You look around your bathroom and think: “This isn’t so bad. Maybe I can just paint the old IKEA cabinets and swap out the large, rectangular wall tiles. Oh, I also really need a larger bathtub. And maybe a dual-basin sink…”
Stop! You need to take a minute and organize all of those fabulous ideas.
Make a list: What are you renovating and why? Is there another decision-maker in the home? Do they agree with the scope of renovation work you have listed?
Establish a budget
Call a contractor: Call a contractor if you’re not working with a design professional. The contractor can do a discovery walk-through with you and can weigh in on the feasibility of your dream design and provide a very rough ballpark range of the cost.
Draw plans: Work with a professional to draw your plans or try a home design software like Room Sketcher.
Do your research: Connect with neighbors, friends, or home renovation apps like HOUZZ to discover the best sources for all of the items you need to choose for your project.
Make it your own: Choose your finishes, fixtures, equipment, and accessories.
ORGANIZE: 3–6 months in advance
Ahem, your renovation prep is coming along beautifully, if you do say so yourself. You find yourself showing anyone who will stand still for fifteen minutes your thoughtfully crafted plan. Now what?
Find your team: You have a few options here. You can:
Hire a general contractor who will take care of all aspects of getting the work done.
Hire subcontractors and oversee the work yourself.
Complete some or all of the work yourself.
TIP: When hiring renovation professionals, a great place to start your research is talking to friends, neighbors, and home renovation apps like HOUZZ.
Secure your permits: If your city requires permits for the work you are about to complete, those can take weeks or even months to procure. Plan to submit for a permit early so that you are ready to go on demolition day!
Order your materials and fixtures: When I work with clients, I always recommend ordering materials and fixtures ahead of the demolition. This ensures that you will have everything you need when you need it. If something is on an extended lead time, you will have time to reselect.
ORGANIZE: 1–3 months in advance
You have your permit, your materials and fixtures are en route to the job site, and you’ve got a dream team ready to rock your renovation. So, is it finally go time? Not quite!
Organize to share: Make detailed notes on your plans, materials, and fixture specifications. This will help your renovation team understand your design intent. Create a site box to hold documents and physical finish samples (tile, paint chips, etc.) Don’t forget to label everything!
Schedule movers: Hire a trusted moving team to help you move out for your renovation, or to lend a hand if you have heavy items that need to be reloaded. Your friends may help you move in exchange for pizza, but the relief of bringing in the professionals? Priceless.
Pack up the room(s) to be renovated: Cover all of your furniture and the surrounding work area. Anticipate that they might be dusty after the work is complete—even if they are covered!
MANAGE: Ready to renovate
You made it! You planned like a pro and your stellar organizational skills has your contractor doing cartwheels.
Now it is time to put on your manager’s hat and get to the job site! The most important thing to remember during the Manage Phase of renovation is to clearly communicate often. You can have the most beautifully planned and organized design, but without clear communication, it can fall to pieces.
Imagine this scenario:
You present The Perfect Contractor™ with your well-organized plans and materials. The demolition begins and your boss calls to tell you that she needs you in Reno for the next two months. Reno, that doesn’t sound so bad! You can escape the renovation dust and come home to a perfect new bathroom!
You pack your bags, write your contractor a check, and head out. While you are away, a pipe burst. You forgot to tell the contractor where he can find the main water shut off and he can’t reach you because your cell service is spotty on the incredible hiking trail you are currently enjoying.
Within the five minutes it takes to shut off the water, it has already seeped through the floor to the level below and soaked through the carpet. The contractor gets the water removed but now has to replace all of the sheetrock and carpet in the flood area.
The contractor catches a cold in the process and is not on the job site the day the tile setter starts his work. The beautifully organized project plans have gone missing. The tile setter is sure that he remembered the expensive marble mosaic tile is for the long shower wall—when in fact, it was meant to go on the vanity wall. Too late! When the contractor returns, the tile is installed incorrectly and needs to be ripped out and redone. This puts the project further behind schedule and over budget.
Time for a quick lesson in managing your project to avoid disasters like this one and stay on the joyful renovation path!
Communicate, communicate, communicate: Be clear, thorough, and kind! Put everything in an email and don’t delete any project emails.
Schedule: Ask your contractor for a project timeline schedule. Understand that the schedule might change and you should plan to be flexible.
Meet with your team: Plan a weekly meeting to review progress, go over the schedule, ask and answer questions, and generate an action list of items that need to be addressed and/or resolved. Type up your action list and send it to the team every week. Be clear about who is handling each action item and list a deadline for completion.
Plan for a thorough home cleaning after the construction wrap up
Schedule the movers to put your furniture back after the construction wraps up
CELEBRATE: Pop the Prosecco, you made it!
Bookmark this step-by-step home renovation checklist and take our free home renovation quiz.
And just like that, your beautifully crafted plans and keen sense of organization came together to bring your dream room to life!
This is just the start of Renovation Blueprint! Sign up here to follow along every Friday for new tips and tricks of the trade. Plus, once you join our email list, you’ll get the complete Ultimate Home Renovation Checklist in your inbox.
I hope that you’re already feeling more confident! Stay tuned, I’ll be sharing more resources throughout the year to help you navigate your renovation projects like a pro!
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