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Know Your Restrictions

As we have discussed in our previous post on planning about the kitchen and bathroom and listing about the factors that restrict your options, you also need to make a restrictions list for other rooms as well. Assess how big is your budget for furnishings, decorating and any restructuring work needed on top of that. You will not be able to calculate the last of these costs exactly until you have consulted builders and, if necessary, architects. However, you can take it for granted that it will be more than you expect, so bear this in mind before you set your heart on grand plans.

Be prepared to scale your ideas down and settle for a few cheaper options and improvisations.

How much of the work will you be able to tackle yourself and which jobs will need professional help? And how much upheaval can you cope with? You can not predict with any certainty whether doing the work yourself will be less disruptive than paying someone else. If you are doing it, it will take longer and you will probably hit stressful periods of panic and despair. If it is someone else, you will have to cope with sharing your house with them, so think it through and decide which route will cause you fewer sleepless nights and family rows.

All these factors-the way you live, the space you want, the raw materials you are starting with and the budget you are working within-need to be weighed up and balanced in order to establish just what is possible for you to achieve.