So there you sit, with a list of home improvement projects, ranging from small to large, from simple to difficult and from inexpensive to...who knows?
Even if time, proficiency and money were no object – and wouldn't that be a glorious state of affairs? – you still would have to prioritize which project to tackle first. After all, unless your home is about to undergo a major renovation, there is no reason that your home – and your day-to-day life – should be uprooted from top to bottom – and from east to west.
The home improvement experts at Experts In Your Home have seen it and done it all and can bring more than 60 years of experience to every project under your roof. At the same time, we also know that every home, every family and every home improvement list is distinctly different.
This is why we bring two important messages to you right from the start: One, while prioritizing is important and necessary, expect that your master plan might shift to adapt to changing conditions; and two, prioritizing is a recursive process. In other words, expect to go down this list of considerations, integrate new ideas, opportunities and constraints along the way and then go back over the list again.
You'll quickly understand how recursive this process can be as you consider:
- Your budget. We place this consideration first not only to appease our male customers, who, very generally speaking, are sometimes quicker to ask, “How much will this cost?” than our female customers, who are more likely to ask, “How long will this take? and “What will it look like when you're done?” While all of these questions are important, it might help to decide how much you can afford to spend on home improvements. And if you're already thinking long term and segregating projects you wish to undertake immediately from those that can wait, you're on the right track.
- The cost of each project on your list. Here, Experts In Your Home can help you assign a credible dollar estimate to each project on your list. If anything, we tend to err on the high side (anticipating the worst-case scenario) so that the only surprises you encounter are pleasant ones. (“Good news! We came in way under budget here!”)
- Your skills, interest and availability. Honestly assess all three factors as you determine which tasks you can competently handle on your own.
- Leaving the more complex projects to the pros. Just as Experts In Your Home encourages that “can-do, entrepreneurial spirit” we've written about so often in the past, we are just as adamant that certain tasks be left to the professionals. Our team of electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians hold licenses in these life-safety fields. But arguably, any task that you believe falls outside your comfort zone should be left to the pros, whose skills can actually save you time and money in the long run.
- Assigning an “urgency” rating to each project. Different from a “wish list” (see next consideration), an urgency rating helps separate those projects that cannot or should not wait – fixing a broken window in a child's room, replacing a leaking bathroom fixture -- from those that can wait a few months, such as installing a whole-house fan before next summer.
- The importance of those “feel-good, quality-of-life” projects. You'll find plenty of fellow homebodies at Experts In Your Home. We know full well that if providing a bold splash of color on a dining room wall or equipping a family room with surround-sound speakers will make someone jump for joy – and make executing your full project list more enjoyable – then it's probably worth nudging it up a rung or two on your to-do list.
When our customers grow enthused about home improvement projects, Experts In Your Home does, too. Contact us for a planning consultation and wait until you see what we can achieve – together.
To get more information about the types of things Experts In Your Home can help you with, download our free eBook below:
