Home project planning during the holidays.
Are you ready for the holiday blur? I have a few planning tips for your home improvement project next year.
It all starts with Thanksgiving and before we know it we are sitting around looking at the abyss of torn wrapping paper and cardboard packaging as we settle in for a few lazy days in Pjs mixed with other traditions. As we sit around with nothing to do and stare at our phones this is a great time to organize our ideas for our next project.
If you are planning a home improvement project for next year that extra time is great to catch up on new trends, find the perfect design for your bathroom or that awesome new moody color for your living room. When a potential client reaches out to me about a project one of my first questions is, Do you have any saved inspiration or design pictures? A few pictures is the best way to communicate your style, form and function you are looking for or a vibe to create with that space. The internet and social media is overflowing with great visuals of awesome projects and it’s there free for the taking. Saved screen shots are great. They can be sent back and forth through texts or email to illustrate a point. The biggest flaw is you have to be able to find them. If I had a dollar for every time I heard “um I saved a screen shot but can’t find it” !!
Pinterest was a great tool when it first came out. Unfortunately it started a culture of pinning and forgetting folders. Even worse, things were saved in folders and the caption box was rarely used or if it was we lazily left the caption of the person previous. Use that box!! Write what you love in that picture. It makes my life as a contractor so much easier to understand the things that are important to you. Was it the tile, the shower head, the countertops….
The last tip is to find a pro you trust. Reach out to them before things shut down to celebrate and tell them you’re interested in a project next year and you are putting a few ideas together. Ask them if they have any suggestions like shops to check out, accounts to follow, design pictures to share and examples of costs. If there’s an odd absence of sound on the other end of the line hang up the phone and delete the contact, you deserve better…!