1. It\u2019s Not For the Faint of Heart:<\/h6>\nRenovating is one of those things we read about on Instagram and watch TV shows about on HGTV. But the reality is, it\u2019s more than a before and after reel and it takes much longer than 30 minutes. It\u2019s messy, dusty, and looks unfinished for a very long time. Honestly, it looks unfinished until the last few days. I can\u2019t think of one client who hasn\u2019t called me in a panic during the final week saying, \u201cthere\u2019s no way you\u2019re gonna finish\u201d. But the truth is, it takes a long time and you can\u2019t judge it until it\u2019s done!\n

2. Unforeseen Things Will Come Up:<\/h6>\nWhenever you\u2019re\u00a0\u00a0removing the old, you have to expect there to be surprises underneath. You\u2019re at the mercy of the guy who did it before you. That means there could be water damage, uneven floors, messed up drywall, termites, shoddy electrical and plumbing, etc. I\u2019ve seen it all. But the beauty of demoing the old is that, once we find it, we fix it!\n

3. It Will Take Longer Than Expected:<\/h6>\nWe live in a world of delay. It doesn\u2019t matter how good the crew is, or how \u201con it\u201d they are. You can order everything on time, but we\u2019re at the mercy of the shipping companies. And with our economy the way it is, you can expect delays. Not only that, but if an item is damaged upon arrival, we have to return and wait for a new one. The name of the game is to BE FLEXIBLE.\n

4. Changing Things Once Work Has Begun Costs Money:<\/h6>\nThat should be a no brainer, but if you add things to the scope of work that wasn\u2019t in the original bid, it costs money. If you don\u2019t like what you see once it\u2019s built\/installed and want it removed or changed, it costs money. Ask for pricing when you want to change something so you\u2019re not surprised with a bill! Work with your designer up front to nail down as many specifics as possible. Take the time to pick the exact items you want (plumbing fixtures, mirrors, lights, etc) so you stay within the budget!\n

5. It\u2019s Worth It!<\/h6>\nI always tell couples, if their marriage can survive a reno, it can survive anything. I\u2019m half joking\u2026 but also, not HAHA! It\u2019s long, it\u2019s messy, and it\u2019s expensive. The perfect storm of things that add stress to your life. But at the end of the day, you get the room of your dreams! And it\u2019s definitely worth it!\n

Motivational Ending<\/h6>\nThe reason I share these things is because I want to encourage you to renovate! It\u2019s the best thing ever. Taking a space you spend most of your time in and turning into your dream home, dream kitchen, dream bathroom, etc. is the most rewarding thing ever (just\u00a0take a look at ours<\/a>)! But also, be prepared! Nothing worthwhile is EASY. So, bite the bullet, get your mind right, and let\u2019s DO THIS!\n\nxoxo Emily\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[bigletter]Daniel Jackson shot supermodel Christy Turlington and Calvin Klein creative directors Francisco Costa, Italo Zucchelli and Kevin Carrigan for WSJ. Magazine.[\/bigletter]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fashion","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9710"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9718,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9710\/revisions\/9718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thiswholehouseblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}