A guide to renovating your home with kids around

When I’m designing renovations or home make-overs for clients, they often tell me how they’re worried about getting the whole thing done with children around.

Here are some of my best tips if you’re planning to undertake a renovation with kids around.

Planning

With kids in the picture you’ll want your home makeover done as quickly as possible, so avoid delays by planning ahead. Articulate exactly what the renovation will entail, including what you are altering, removing and leaving alone.

Decide on paint colours, tiles, tap ware, lighting, flooring, finishes and every other product you are going to be using so there are no issues once you have started. Depending on how big your makeover or renovation is going to be, this could be a very long list.

If you’re renovating the entire house, try and do one area or one end at a time. This way you will have a spot to live in and there isn’t too much upheaval throughout the process.

Tradespeople

Get quotes from tradies and let them know upfront what your expectations are. For example, you might insist there is no smoking, drinking or bad language on site, and they must arrive after a certain time so you can get the kids up and ready for school before they arrive.

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Specify if you want them to clean up after themselves – some will charge a bit more for this, but it’s worth it to keep the kids safe and your sanity intact.

Choose tradies that are good, fast and reliable. Never sacrifice quality for cost.

Pre-book your contractors

Do a timeline of what needs to happen and when. Estimate how long each component is going to take and try to minimise the downtime in between.

This can be a tricky task, so ask someone who is experienced if you need to. It’s a case of you don’t know what you don’t know sometimes – so employing someone who’s around renovations regularly is your best bet.

This is something we do at Hotspace and it’s surprising how many hiccups, budget blow-outs and time over-runs can be saved as a result.

Preparing the space

Pack up trinkets, photos, ornaments and excess objects. It doesn’t matter how well you cover things, dust will get everywhere, so put as much in off-site storage as possible.

You might use a storage shed, garage, garden shed, parent’s house or a neighbour’s house. It’s so much easier than trying to manoeuvre around objects or furniture once you’ve started renovating.

If you must leave furniture in the house, cover it with large sheets of thick plastic and cover those with blankets.

If you’re renovating the kitchen, set up a temporary area with a toaster, kettle, fridge, camp oven and microwave. Cook and freeze meals in advance because you will get sick of buying takeaway.

Tape the fridge/freezer plugs to the wall so they don’t accidentally get pulled out (you only make that mistake once!) Use paper plates and plastic cutlery to save doing washing up.

Kid-free zone

Have at least one kid-free zone where you can store paint, chemicals, equipment, tiles and new appliances needed for the reno. Seal it off as much as possible so dust doesn’t get in. You might want to Velcro a plastic sheet to the door to make coming and going easier.

Put up a kiddie gate blocking access to the area being renovated, because even if you don’t have toddlers, it acts as a reminder to older kids that it is a no-go zone.

What to do with the kids

Invest in some new toys and games to use on days where you really need your kids out of the way. If you’re renovating an outdoor area, buy some indoor games and DVDs. If you’re renovating indoors, buy outdoor gear to keep them occupied outside.

During the renovation

Have a skip out the front and put all the junk in as you pull it out. It will help keep the space clearer and more manageable, as well as reducing hazards.

If possible, try to have a break between renovating rooms. This will give you time to recalibrate so that you feel fresh enough to tackle the next job.

And finally, allow twice as long for the renovation than you had planned. Inevitably there will be delays, so if you have a longer period of time in mind, you are less likely to get disappointed or frustrated.

Jane Eyles-Bennett is one of Australia’s leading home renovation and interior design experts. She is an award-winning interior designer with more than 25 years’ experience designing the interiors and exteriors of homes, specialising in kitchens, bathrooms and living spaces.

Contact Jane at jane@hotspaceconsultants.com or via her website.