How to Mentally Survive a House Renovation
If you are looking to do your own home renovations, Sarah the author behind Dream of Home has some amazing tips for mentally surviving the upheaval of home renovations.
Renovating a house has probably been one of the most stressful experiences of my whole life. But I was lucky enough to not live there whilst the work was going on.
Me and my fiance did everything ourselves. This means the renovation took six months, and we were there every day. During the week, we spent evenings doing work, and then we were there all day on a Saturday and a Sunday. Doing it this way is a good way of saving money instead of hiring people to do small jobs such as painting.
But the situation is still stressful even when you get people in to do the work. It costs a lot of money and you need to make sure they’re doing it right/the way you want it.
I’ve learnt a lot over this house renovation period, and so I wanted to share some tips on how to survive house renovation stress when your house looks like this:
Hint: that’s not our house, thank goodness.
Keep on top of the cleaning.
This sounds silly when your house is a building site (literally), but I found the stress just melted away when I got the hoover out and sucked up as much dust as possible. I cleaned the rooms that weren’t being renovated. I swept up the bare floorboards and even wiped down the window sills. These small jobs make you feel so much better, even though it’ll get dusty again tomorrow. This sort of cleaning is especially important when you’re living there, as you risk the dust spreading into rooms that you aren’t planning on refurbing. For the most significant mess created by tearing out old bits of the house, it might be worth considering renting a dumpster in order to dispose of waste materials easily, you might wonder to yourself, what can go in a construction roll off? And the answer is just about anything, which can be a massive aid when trying to keep the renovation space clear, it also prevents the rest of the house from becoming an overfill area for mess created by the project.
Make sure you always have a clean kettle, mugs and tea/coffee
I would have gone crazy without having these small essentials. Taking a break from building work with a cup of tea is an absolute requirement. It breaks up your time doing whatever you’re doing: stripping wallpaper, painting, or cleaning. It also gives you a chance to discuss what you’re going to be doing next, or what jobs are priority.
Planning
One of the biggest things that can get you through the more challenging days with your home renovation project is planning. You can make some plans for the interior design and the features that you want to enjoy. Consider the pattern of the wallpaper you wish to have or the colour of the paint you will buy for your dreamy white kitchen.
Dream about your window space, and all of the ways that you can dress it to make an impact. Being able to look to the future, and all of the things you can enjoy can make a big difference in those days you wish you hadn’t started the project. Don’t forget to plan your budget too to give you an idea of what you will spend.
Treat yourself to lunch outside the house
You should use any excuse to get out of the house. We ended up going for lunch at the local garden centre covered in dust with paint on our faces. But it’s nice to get out of the house, have a bit of time to sit down and eat, and there’s no washing up to do (not that we had any plates or cutlery, or even a working fridge in the house). You need a change of scenery and some fresh air every now and then to make you feel good.
Try not to make everything about “the house”.
It was like having a child: every conversation we had was about what we’d done that week on the house, what we were doing next, what we could do in a couple of months, when the electrician was coming over, what paint colours or style did we want. After a while, project managing becomes your whole life. On Valentine’s Day this year, I banned any talk of the house when we went out for a meal. It took us a few minutes of silence to find something else to talk about (what did we discuss before “the house”?!).
Always remember your goal.
At the end of it all, you’ll have a beautiful house that is everything you imagined. We were able to choose everything, down to our sockets and door hinges. It was so worth it, and has hopefully added some value to the house. Though there are still small jobs that need doing, we can relax in this house for 5 or 6 years and enjoy it.
You can follow my house renovation journey at www.dreamofhome.co.uk.
About the author
Sarah is a recent graduate based in the UK with a degree in English Literature. She started her blog as a way of logging the renovation on her first house, as something to look back on in the future. But she started to write about books, lifestyle, and interior design too. She’s hoping to get a cat to complete the house.
I am LITERALLY sending this article to my husband right now! We are discussing what to do with our house renovations and I am ADAMANT about not living on-site while we renovate… this just sealed the deal! You are a wise woman 🙂
Hi Caitlin,
Ha! No arguments over it though! If you have the option to live elsewhere during the worst of the renovation then do, anything for an easy life really.
Good luck with the renovations!
Renovating house is not an easy task…It requires a lot of patience to deal with the dirt and mess…
Hi Ankita, Yep definitely patience. It’s so easy to get short-tempered when things aren’t going right, and it normally gets taken out on the Mr. and vice versa.
Renovations stress me out so much. I am an obsessive cleaner and it is freaking me out. There never seems to be an end to the dirt and mess… =(
Hi Gloria, I know, cleaning really helped me, but sometimes you’d finish cleaning and then half a day later all the dust is back, and there are tools everywhere, and ladders lying around. It’s tough, but imagine the mess it would be if you didn’t clean it at all!
Theses are some great tips! I’ve never done a home renovation before, but sometime in the next 5 years I want to completely redo my kitchen. I know it will be a struggle when the time comes!
Hi Lisa, it’s something everyone should do! It was a great experience, and I love our house. The whole thing is a learning curve, but I’d definitely do it again with future houses.
It does seem fun when you start. The mess can def. wreak havoc on your mind though after it’s going.
Hi Rosey,
Yes, three days after we got the keys, we’d hired a skip and chucked the old kitchen out. It was fun to start with, but after six weeks of dust (where does it all come from?!), we had started to get a bit stressed.
Great tips. We’ve been there and it’s stressful
Thanks, Ashleigh, glad you liked them.
Very useful tips and entertaining to read
Glad you liked it, Lorraine!
A house renovation can take over your life. However, your tips are perfect! Been there and can attest that those tips will save you a lot of grief.
Thanks, Cindy! I know everyone is different, and copes in different ways. Some people might find that none of these work, but they were my lifesavers!
These are great tips. We only have 1 or 2 big reno projects that we want to do, so hopefully I won’t blow my top, lol.
My partner wants us to build our next house from scratch! It would be amazing, but I think I would have a full on breakdown. Small renovations are definitely manageable.
I can totally understand how a renovation can completely freak you out as I have seen many and your tips really work in that case
I don’t know how these people on Grand Designs don’t have mental breakdowns! It always helps if you can get people in to do the jobs, but we did everything ourselves which makes it much more stressful. It did save us quite a bit of money though.
My parents renovated our house when we were teenagers and it was so stressful for everyone! They’re re-doing their kitchen again now so I’m going to share these tips with them.
Yes please do! They definitely helped me, especially keeping on top of the cleaning.
Home renovations are always so stressful. We just went thru a kitchen reno and it was so hard to keep on top of the dust and mess. Being mentally prepared for it is a big part of any renovation.
Hi Claudia,
Yes, I wasn’t prepared for the mess and dust it would create, so next time I’ll be expecting it, which might make me calmer. Like I said, keeping on top of the dust and clutter did make everything a little bit easier.
A renovation, large or small can certainly become stressful, these are great tips to remember the next time we start a project in our home.
Hi Lisa,
Glad I could help a little bit!
First of all, the fact that you have a house is a great problem to have. My husband and I have been wanting to purchase a home, but it’s expensive in the Southbay where we live (So Cal). I like the idea of staying on top of cleaning, to me that helps with my mental sanity. Clutter always makes things worse! 🙂
Hi Sonyo,
Definitely, cleaning helped bring me back down to earth a little bit. We’re definitely lucky that we could afford a house at such a young age (though it did need a lot of work doing), but the Northern prices definitely helped.
Great tips! We have never had a big renovation before. We are looking into buying a house soon and know there will most likely be something like this involved.
Don’t let me put you off the idea! I would do it again, though next time we would have to live in it as a building site. Although it cost a lot, we’re hoping that we can make that back, and more, when we sell the house in a few years’ time.
I need to keep this in mind if I ever have a house to renovate. Which I am sure I will since I have a precise idea of what i want as a house ahah
I definitely think renovating is the way to get the house you always envisioned. Otherwise you’ll never feel like it’s truly ‘yours’.
Thanks for the amazing tips! I agreed with you renovations can make you go crazy 😛
Absolutely. It’s more stressful than I ever thought it would be, but the end results are worth it.
Having been through this myself, I agree with all of your tips. Also: there is no shame in eating out!
Eating out was always a treat we definitely looked forward to! It was tempting to do it more often, but obviously it can get expensive very quickly.
These are some really great tips! Home renovation definitely is not as wasy or glamorous as the TV shows make it out to be. I’m excited for you to have your dream home!
Thanks Shannon, me too! We’re finally getting there, but the carpet in our bedroom is still green and about 20 years old.
My favorite tip in your list is #2. I can imagine a tea party in the middle of the house renovation chaos! Seriously, a short tea break will give you time to assess your renovation plans. It will help you stay calm amid the pressure of buying the necessary materials and keeping up with your time table. Thanks for sharing!
We actually did! In the garden on the odd occasion, too, just to get out of the dusty house environment.
I’m also doing some renovation now and I’m starting to go a little crazy, too many things to do and not enough time
I know that feeling well! Make a list, work out a time plan, and you’ll feel better.
Will come in handy when I have my kitchen sorted
I m just focusing on the end result
Hi Margaret,
Yes keep in mind how it will look when it’s finished. That really helped me.
We are dealing with some minor renovations at our home and yes it is stressful. Our friends did a full home renovation and were stressed out!
Hi Ashley,
The results are so worth it, but it can be a bit of a nightmare getting to that stage. And don’t get me started on the dust! It was even settling in our embossed wallpaper – how does that happen?!
I need to keep this in mind when we renovate the house. We plan to eventually do this in parts so we don’t go completely crazy. But we’ll be hiring people because neither of us knows what we’re doing.
Hi Amber,
Neither of us had a clue. Jay’s an engineer which helped with some things, i.e. he wasn’t afraid to use multiple power tools.
I was the painter and wallpaper-remover, so not a huge help really!
My house was always under construction when I was a kid so I got used to living with renovations. Someday my current house will be totally put together, right?
It was my first time renovating, but as I said in the post, we were so lucky that we didn’t have to live there during the worst of it.
I don’t think ours will ever be finished: there’s always something to do!