Setting Your Remodeling Project’s Design and Construction Priorities.
Unless you have identified what you need and want from your remodeling project you can’t prioritize. Typically, you will have functional needs and personal preferences such as style, design, products, etc. These lists are not comprehensive but meant to help you get started.
Functional:
The types of things you should ask yourself to help define the functional aspects of the project should include questions like these:
- What is it about my home that is causing me to want to remodel from a functional standpoint?
- What can’t I do in my home that I want to do at this stage in my life ?
- What are the things about my home that keep me from living the way I would like to?
- What areas of my home will I need to remodel now?
- How long do I want to stay in this home? Will I want to stay in my home during an active retirement? As long as possible?
- When I remodel now, what future plans should I consider in my plans? For example: an expanding family, older parents moving in, grown kids moving in, starting a home-based business.
- To what level am I concerned about resale?
- How important is it to have a home that requires less maintenance?
- How important is it to have a home that is more energy efficient in order to lower my energy costs?
- How much can I and do I want to invest in my home?
- and so on
These will start you identifying what you need or want to do with your home.
Photo courtesy Kohler Co.
Personal Preferences and Desires:
These questions are about style more than about function.
- Do I want a designer showcase house, a beautiful family home, a least-cost remodeling solution, etc.?
- What level of finishes and products do I want to have?
- Do I want top-of-the-line brand name products or are functional equivalents from lesser known companies perfectly fine?
- Do I care if the countertops are made from engineered stone, domestic stone or imported stone? How do I feel about tile, glass, laminate or other materials?
- What bells and whistles do I want but don’t necessarily need.
- What style do I want for the home? Modern, contemporary, traditional, a specific period or other style?
- How important do I rank durability and low maintenance relative to appearance?
- How important is quality of design, construction, etc. to me? Is builder-grade fine or do I want something better?
- How much time do I want to devote to planning and product selection?
- Do I want or need help with design and product decisions?
If you entertain for business purposes, sometimes the personal preference issues that relate to the way your home will impress others can also be functional issues.
Also see
Part 2: Setting Selection Priorities for Your Remodeler