How to Prepare Your Home for a Renovation

A renovation is an act of optimism. You are choosing to invest in your home, to make it better. But the process is disruptive, and being prepared makes all the difference.

Before demolition begins, we advise every client to do the following:

1. 1Create a temporary kitchen. Set up a microwave, kettle, toaster, and coffee maker in a mudroom or dining room. A mini-fridge is worth the investment. You will be without your main kitchen for 6 to 12 weeks.

1. 2Pack by room, not by box. Label every box with its contents AND the room it belongs in. "Kitchen — dinner plates" is better than "Kitchen — misc." Your contractor will move boxes. Make it easy for them.

1. 3Establish a dust barrier. We seal off the construction zone with poly sheeting and zippered doorways. Ask your contractor about their dust containment protocol before you sign.

1. 4Communicate your schedule. If you work from home, tell us. We can adjust noisy work (demo, tile cutting) to specific windows. If you have young children napping at 1 pm, we can work around it.

1. 5Trust the process. The middle of a renovation is the hardest part. Everything looks worse before it looks better. We send weekly photo updates so you can see the progress, even when it does not feel like progress.

Renovations are temporary. The home you come home to at the end will be worth every displaced morning.