We’re going to outline how to go about setting yourself a renovation budget and just why they are so important.

We know how daunting it can be to start planning any kind of budget, which is why we have put together a Budget Guide to help get you started on your project. Want to find out more? Read on for more information!

Why is a budget important?

Having a detailed budget for a renovation project ultimately makes our job as designers that little bit easier! We would argue that the budget is just as important as the design itself. By completely understanding your budget we can propose budget-friendly products and materials. Yes, our end goal is to design a space that you love, but for a successful design we need to work within your set price-point.

One of the benefits of working with an interior designer is the industry awareness that comes with us. As professional designers we have all the skills to be able to source appropriately priced products from our trusted suppliers. We also have the knowledge of where we can cut-back if your budget is becoming too strained. Having a really good grasp on your budget will allow us to both get the most out of the design process. If you’re looking for a Manchester interior designer to work with or a Liverpool interior designer get in touch with us today.

How do I get started?

Typically, your project budget is a combination of professional fees (that’s our design fees, tradespeople fees, architectural fees etc.), the cost of any building works, and FF&E (fixtures, furniture and equipment – all the moveable items).

There are lots of different ways to start your budget. Some might start with an overall maximum spend and work backwards allocating the funds to each room. Others might set a maximum budget per room or per floor, and these totals will equal the overall spend. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, as long as it makes sense to your situation and finances. We advise you to have both an overview or a maximum amount that you are willing to put into the project, and also a detailed break down of how you would best like it to be spent.

We would recommend beginning the process with research. Research your own financial circumstances first. Do you have savings set aside for your renovation? Do you know just how much you are spending each month on your household bills, and how much you would be able to contribute monthly to the renovation? Spend some time really analysing your income and expenses.

Secondly, you can start your research into tradespeople costs and materials. Get in touch with some (recommended) tradespeople and request quotes. Visit some showrooms. Request material catalogues. This will start to paint a picture of how much your design might cost. Quite often at this stage people start to realise that their ‘dream design’ might just be a little over their budget.

Don’t worry if you’re struggling, we’re here to help you! We can guide you through the process of creating a budget for your renovation project if you really don’t know how to best allocate your funds.

Once you’re happy with your renovation budget, and we have had a chance to sit down and discuss it in detail, we can take over with sourcing relevant products for your design. You can leave the rest to us!

Our budgeting Golden Rule

Our budgeting Golden Rule is to always be as honest and open as possible with your designer. In order for us to be able to work together efficiently, it is vitally important for us to understand just how much you are able and willing to put into your project.

We know how it can often be difficult to talk openly about finances, but it’s important to remember that our role is first and foremost as a designer. We are professionals who have worked on renovation projects with varying budgets; each project is completely different and we have been trained to adapt our designs depending on the budget available.

Our Renovation Budget Guide

We want to make the budgeting process as easy as possible for you. That’s why we’ve created your very own, Budget Guide.

What’s included?

The Budget Guide provides you with practical information, designed to give you a head start on your budgeting research. We’ve provided rough estimates on renovation costs per room, average tradespeople costs as well as outlining a rough guide to our design fees.

Also included in the guide is a short introduction into understanding average project timescales. To find out more about timescales head over to our blog article ‘How long will my renovation take?’.

How can I get my hands on a copy of the Budget Guide?

You will receive a copy of our budget guide as part of booking in a 2 hour renovation strategy session.

To find out more about the services we offer, and how we can help you to plan your renovation, get in touch with us today!

The post How much should I budget for a renovation project? appeared first on Natalie Holden Interiors | Interior Design Service In Liverpool, Cheshire and Manchester.

You may be at the start of the research and planning process for your renovation project, but there is one aspect that often gets overlooked. Project timescales. Having a realistic understanding of timeframes required for each stage is absolutely essential, and so important to guarantee the success of your project. Jumping into a project naively and winging decisions as you go along is never a recipe for success, more likely it will lead to a lot of stress, regret and wasted money.

We’re living in a world that is changing at a fast pace; especially over the past 3 years as renovating in a post covid and post brexit world is filled with so many moving variables that all need to piece together. It’s not easy! We have gone through every type of challenge and problem you could think of over the past few years which can impact on project timescales, but the positives of this means we are now equipped with the experience and knowledge to overcome and reduce issues from happening in the first place. This mainly involves strategy and planning ahead. And we know this doesn’t sound as fun as jumping straight into the creative process of interior design, but it’s equally as important.

Any renovation project, especially those which require an extension or building work, will take up a considerable amount of your time and energy. More importantly, it will inevitably create significant disruptions to your everyday life. 

In order to effectively plan a timeframe for your project we would suggest involving your interior designer from the offset. This way we can work alongside you and any other professionals, in order to create a seamless workflow. By planning our design proposals before the building stage it will ensure your builder won’t be pestering you for last minute decisions you haven’t factored in. As we know, rushed decisions lead to costly mistakes!

Are you struggling with planning your project timeframe? Here are some key things to consider to help you through the process:

• Is there a key date when you want the work to be complete? If your dream is to have a beautiful new kitchen extension ready for Christmas, you must make sure that you begin planning way in advance. The last thing you need on the run up to the busiest time of the year is have the additional stress of making sure building works are going to be finished in time. 

Our tip: start your project planning way in advance. For larger projects with building work involved it is best to start the design process a minimum of 6-12 months in advance of your planned completion. For smaller cosmetic renovation work we recommend a minimum of 3-6 months ahead of your planned completion.

• Keep the communication up. Communication really is the key to ensuring a smooth workflow. We know the negative knock on effect it can have if a vital piece of information at building work stage is not communicated through to us. Every change or decision can have a domino effect on everything else.

Our tip: Organise interim meetings throughout the project and make sure all parties involved (ie designer, architect, builder) are either in attendance or updated with necessary information that could impact on the overall design. This ensures nothing is overlooked and everyone can keep up to date with progress or resolve any issues as and when they come up. 

• Prioritise the work. Depending on whether you are carrying out a large scale extension, or a small reconfiguration of a few rooms, each have different requirements. Typically work is categorised into 7 stages within a major renovation that involves building work:

1.Demolition and structural repair

2.External finishes: roofing, fitting new windows and doors and ensuring the building is weathertight. 

3.First fix: building stud walls, electrical work, plumbing work including fitting pipes and the boiler. 

4.Plastering

5.Second fix: installing the kitchen, light fittings, laying the floors.

6.Finishes & decorating: painting, wallpapering and finally dressing with furnishings. 

7.Snagging: resolving any issues and reviewing the quality of the finishes.

Our tip: It is so important to bring your designer into the loop as soon as possible – preferably even before work has began with your builder. This will ensure we can have input on plug socket locations and lighting solutions that will interact with the furnishings that go in later down the line, and there is more chance of your space looking and functioning how you envisioned. 

• Get help from a professional! We deal with projects day in and day out and know what it takes to make a renovation a success. Together with your tradesperson’s guidance, we can make suggestions if you don’t know how extensive jobs will be. Understanding which jobs will need to be carried out will help you plan your timeframe and your budget. 

Our tip: Under each of the stages above, write down the jobs which you need completing. Speak to your tradespeople to confirm which jobs will be carried out by who and to clear up any uncertainties. This list can turn into a checklist for you to keep track of everything further down the line.

6 reasons why you should hire an interior designer

• Expect the unexpected. If there’s anything that we’ve learnt from working on numerous projects over the years it’s that nothing is ever straightforward. You can pretty much guarantee that something will not go exactly to plan, in which case it is essential that you have some flexibility. 

Our tip: Build a contingency into your timeframe, to avoid the potential for disappointment if you experience some set-backs. For smaller projects we would suggest 4 weeks. For larger renovations a contingency of 8 weeks should be sufficient. We’re living in an ever changing post covid/ post brexit world, where supply chains have been massively disrupted and there are often delays with manufacturing and stock availability. We have the experience and knowledge on how to best navigate these unpredictable times.

We know this can be an overwhelming concept, so here’s our promise to you: transparency is at the heart of everything we do. You can rely on us to be upfront with you throughout your project, especially keeping you updated with timeframes and helping you problem solve when any delays or issues do crop up. We know how stressful it can be to live through a renovation project; we want to help make any interruptions to your everyday life as minimal as possible. 

If you would like to find out more about how we can help with the interior design, to ensure your project is a success, contact us today. You can also find us over on Instagram to keep up with what we’re doing day to day. 

We can’t wait to hear from you!

The post ‘How long will my renovation take?’ appeared first on Natalie Holden Interiors | Interior Design Service In Liverpool, Cheshire and Manchester.

A misunderstood profession

Interior design can be a very misunderstood profession and is often pigeon holed into the same category as an interior stylist, interior decorator and soft furnishings supplier. Whilst we do often include those services too, interior designers cover so much more than that and have a very broad range of expertise and skills.

An interior designer offering the full service is probably better understood as a spacial designer and project manager. We work closely with architects, building contractors and suppliers to ensure a project runs smoothly from start to finish. Whilst we can help with the smaller aspects of a project such as paint colours, mood boards, space planning or product sourcing, we can also work as part of a wider team of contractors. Our role is to ensure a project runs efficiently throughout the different stages from design and planning through to organising and overseeing an installation if required to do so.

Qualifications and health and safety

A fully qualified interior designer is trained to understand scaled drawings to work in conjunction with an architect. We can create detailed drawings for contractors to work to and we understand all of the health and safety regulations and restrictions that are so important when working on the renovation of a property.

Interior design programmes and software

We use programmes such as AutoCAD, Sketch-up and Photoshop to create comprehensive design proposals for you as a client and for the contractor to work to. And we also use project management software, design schedules and tools to ensure a project stays organised and runs seamlessly.

Interior design process at Natalie Holden Interiors

At Natalie Holden Interiors we offer a very flexible interior design service, with advice consultations, concept design, full interior design and design support through to installation. If you require the full turn key service, we have a large network of recommended partners that we work with and can manage your project from concept to completion. We can also work remotely if you aren’t local or live overseas.

Free Consultation

In this consultation we’ll discuss your project and what you require assistance with. This can either take place over the phone or zoom, or for a larger project it may require a site visit.

Tailored Quotation

Once we understand your design brief, we’ll prepare a tailored quotation with an overview of the scope of works discussed.

Deposit

Once you approve your quotation we’ll send a booking confirmation and design agreement, along with your invoice to make a 50% deposit prior to the first consultation.

Initial Consultation / Measure

We’ll book in your first consultation on site where we will discuss the design brief in more detail. We will take photographs and measurements of the interior, check access and look over architectural plans if the space hasn’t been built yet. We will discuss your vision; the style, function and needs of the space and you can show us any example interiors/research/Pinterest boards you may have have already gathered.

Stage 1; Explore

A conceptual mood board and proposed general layout will be sent to you for your approval to firm up the design style and overall colour scheme. This is an opportunity to give feedback before the detailed design stage and product sourcing.

Stage 2; Refine

In this stage we may be involved on varying levels depending on the scope of works approved, however generally at this stage we will fine tune the design with specific product proposals (ie furniture, paint colours, artwork, soft furnishings, lighting and flooring), we’ll work on the more technical detailed aspects of the design and provide detailed joinery drawings if required, wall elevations if required, tile layouts and drawings for tradespeople to work to for the implementation. The final design presentation will include product images of all products sourced, including a breakdown of costings and where to buy from.

CGIs or 3D sketch views

You may decide to add on our CGI package if you’d like to visualise the space before you commit to buying products and implement the design. This is an add on option to our usual interior design fee.

Stage 3; Support

Once the design has been approved and signed off by you, we can support you throughout the implementation of the design by creating a schedule of works for the builder/ trades, attending interim site visits with the builder, e-mail and telephone support throughout the project, ordering products on behalf of you and organising deliveries. This is also an optional add on to our design fee.

Have a look at the services we offer and get in touch to arrange your free consultation. We can discuss what approach will work best for you.

We work with clients across Liverpool, Cheshire, Manchester and Lancashire for our full service design and internationally with our remote design services.

If you’d like to understand more about the benefits of hiring an interior designer you can find out more here.

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