Remodeling your home is not something you should jump into without a plan. You might be frustrated with one area of your home and want to change it right away, but it’s better to take the time to map out a long-term plan for your renovations and remodeling plans so that you know what needs to be done first, how it will impact other areas of your home, and help you avoid redundant projects and expensive changes mid-project. At Eakman Construction, we work with homeowners to ensure their current projects align with the vision for the future home remodeling projects. We’ve put together a 2-part series on remodeling your home over a 5-year period. We’ll help you drill down ideas, function, style, and flow all on a budget that you can get behind.
In this part, we’ll cover timeline creation and budgeting. In the next part, we’ll cover execution and troubleshooting.
Creating a Timeline
While we recommend a 5-year plan for your home renovations in Kirkland, WA, feel free to create another timeline that might be more realistic for you. We recommend a 5-year plan to help homeowners manage their budget and to prioritize their decisions in a way that means you get what you want on a timeline that doesn’t make you feel like it’s too far in the future to start planning for now.
A typical 5-year timeline might look something like this:
Year 1 – the biggest project
Year 2 – supporting project
Year 3 – auxiliary project
Year 4 – other areas you want to focus on
Year 5 – outside spaces
For example, you might decide that renovating your kitchen is the most important project. That’s the biggest project on your to-do list. In year two, you might choose to renovate the bathroom and hallway near the kitchen to complete the look and flow. In year 3, you might finalize the family room and storage areas in the hallways. In year 4, you might turn your focus to the bedrooms on the main level to complete the entire level. In year 5, you’ll turn your focus to the outdoor spaces to create continuity from the kitchen to the backyard and front green areas.
Setting a Budget
When you have your timeline created, you can begin figuring out your budget. Because your biggest project will be done first, the majority of your budget will go to year 1. You’ll want to create a budget for the 5-year period and allocate about 60% of the budget for the first year to get the biggest project done. In years 2-5, you’ll have about 10% of the overall budget to play with, and of course, you can adjust your numbers on either side to accommodate your unique needs and goals in your home. Remember to build in a contingency fund of 2-5% on each
project in case you go over, particularly on the finishing touches. Don’t leave yourself without money to buy accents and decor to complete the spaces.
Homeowners often find themselves running out of money before they run out of ideas, so having a 5-year plan will give you plenty of time to not only save for your big remodeling projects, but give you time to adjust your budget as you go to ensure you get the biggest and most important project done while 100% of the money in your budget is available, and leaves the areas that are least important to last.
Next week, we’ll roll out part 2 of our series on how to create a 5-year plan for remodeling your home. If you want more information about how Eakman Construction can help you improve the look and function of your home over the next 5 years, contact us today.