Home renovations mean change. Whether you’re looking to repair the bathroom, tackle furnace maintenance, or transform the entire house, home projects often involve a serious amount of mess, noise, and chaos.
The sounds of drilling, the wooden shreds of carpentry, the suffocating odor of fresh paint, and the occasional loss of work internet connection can easily take a toll on your sanity. When undertaking a home renovation project, it’s important to reduce the pressure and strain it can put into your life. With that in mind, here are ways to keep your sanity during a home renovation.
Carve out personal space
Some people can’t stretch their budget to rent another home or aren’t comfortable leaving their house during a renovation. While the builders are dismantling your home, it’s best to find an alternative room where you can carve out some personal time.
If you can’t move out during the renovation, devote a small room that will serve as your sanctuary or relaxation area after a long day of renovation. This can be a fully furnished room or an untouched space where you can store your essential items. This will also serve as a safe space for family members who have allergies to dust and dirt from construction.
During the renovation, it’s best to designate easy-to-clean rooms amid the chaos for sleeping and cooking. Keep these areas as clean as possible and inform the builders where they are. It’s easy to relax if you have a functional, dust-free place to escape to.
If the kitchen is under renovation, you won’t be able to use the stove, dishwasher, sink, and fridge, which means you have to find a space in your home to do all the cooking. Maybe this means washing the dishes in the bathroom or placing the microwave on a cabinet. Make sure your designated zones are convenient enough to move and prevent things from going downhill.
For those working at home, the building work can cause many disruptions, making your home office an unprofessional and unpleasant place to work in. The best you can do is to find a quiet place to work unless you can work with all the loud noises. Also, be prepared to store the books and files so you can easily access them.
Look after the kids and pets
Every renovation project involves a considerable amount of chaos. This means there will be a lot of mess and loud noises filling the entire house, affecting the quality of life of occupants, particularly the pets and kids.
Children are often unbothered by all the building work and mess than adults, but you need to protect them against safety risks. Consider leaving your toddler or little kids to a family member, especially if they have allergic reactions to dust and need a quiet place to sleep in the afternoon. If you want to keep them by your side, inform them which rooms are safe to use and tell them to stay away from the renovation site. Make sure the builders keep toxic chemicals and power tools out of children’s reach or locked in a secured box.
Home renovation isn’t only stressful for homeowners and our furry companions. With builders going in and out, pets can escape anytime if the door is open. They will do this to protect themselves and hide from all the mess and noise. The trapped dust can also harm our pets by irritating their skin, eyes, and nose.
The last thing you want is to lose your pets during the renovation, so consider leaving them at a friend’s place or pet boarding house to make sure they’re safe until the renovation is over.
Be flexible
There’s no such thing as a stress-free renovation. There will be a lot of timing issues and material mixups along the way, so make sure you’re well-prepared to deal with them. Accepting all the inconveniences of renovation can help you feel less stressed and be flexible. Remember, unrealistic expectations and a rigid timeline will only backfire by causing more stress and anxiety.
A great tip is to have many backup plans if things don’t go your way, such as backup item choices and a fool-proof timeline. Staying flexible will make the entire process more pleasant.
A home renovation involves a lot of drastic changes, so you have to keep a good attitude to handle whatever issues and inconveniences it brings. If you really want to keep your sanity during the project, you always have the option to leave your home and the mess.
