Hi Reader,
Last week we talked about one of the things that has changed most over my 40 years in residential construction: the ballooning effects of (too many) decisions and choices.
But there’s another one that has also had a huge impact: the rise of HGTV.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for using visual inspiration to help you figure out what styles you like or how you want things to look.
But HGTV, magazines like House & Home, and now Instagram and other social media platforms have totally divorced design from cost. And that has set homeowners up for a whole lot of confusion, frustration, and heartbreak because they have no idea what is realistic.
This looks specifically like two things:
Expecting stratospheric results with a miniscule budget.
When you expect to have everything, it means you’re unprepared to set priorities that make the most of your budget.
But the hard truth is that you won’t get it all — and the stuff you should be focusing on is not where HGTV is spending much time.
The most expensive part of a renovation is the stuff behind the walls. If your heating system sucks and you're freezing in the winter, you're gonna be freezing all winter for the next 20 years.
Look, I design kitchens for a living so I'm shooting myself in the foot here — but don't do your kitchen reno, do the heating system in your house first.
Fix that. Fix your insulation. Put in good windows, good flooring, good plumbing. And then work on the decorative elements.
Wanting everything now.
This is a bigger cultural statement than just renovations but I find more homeowners want everything now. There’s a “fast fashion” mentality that has come into homes as well.
On the low end of the scale, it sounds like, “Well, we'll just put some new stuff in here, and it's gonna be completely transformed and feel amazing.”
The high end of the scale is: “Let's do this very expensive, massive refresh, and let's not think about the future. I want it to look like the hottest trend now.”
So someone spends all this money but in 5 years, they sit back and realize they hate it… because they never really gave themselves the time to think, “Am I actually going to like this? Is this really what I want to do?”
Learning and being inspired through visual design has its place. But when it makes it impossible to set realistic expectations, we’ve got a problem.
So go ahead and buy those magazines. Watch the reno show. Scroll through Instagram.
But never forget to start by asking yourself: What can we actually afford? What will make our home better, more functional, and more enjoyable within those limits?
And if you’re not sure where to start with that, I invite you to book a 1:1 call with me. We can talk about what you’re hoping a renovation will accomplish and what you should do next to make a realistic plan.
Until next time,
Gerald