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.