2 Words you should never say in a renovation!
Over the past two weeks, I've been helping some clients select fixed elements for their upcoming renovations. There are 2 words that I never want to hear clients say:
I can live with it.
This is good enough.
I Can Live With It
With all the product that is available, you should never have to say, "I can live with it." What you should be saying is, 'I love it. Yes - that's the one!" When someone tells me, "I can live with it," to me that is saying you are tired of looking and searching and you just want to settle.With my particular client, they were choosing elements for their renovation on their own. Mrs. Client knew she wanted a particular counter. When the counter was solidified, I was called in to help pick the right white for the cabinets, the backsplash tile, as well as the flooring. The quartzite that was selected has quite a bit of movement to it so it's not an easy floor to work with. In addition, we have to take into consideration the rooms that the new floor will be butting up against in the rest of the house. This gorgeous counter is going to be installed on the island as well as all of the other cabinets in the kitchen. As such, it is taking up quite a bit of visual real estate in the kitchen.
When my client brought in her samples of flooring that she was looking at, I immediately saw a pink undertone in the one she liked. After looking at other flooring samples with this slab and hearing the reasoning behind her choice, it was clear my client was tired of looking at flooring. When Mrs. Client said she could live with it and asked my opinion, I told her that I would not choose that flooring in a million years. How's that for being blunt? As a result, I will be meeting her again at the granite yard this week. She has already let me know that she has more samples and I'm bringing some samples of my own. I'll let you know how it goes!
This is good enough
With another client, we were solidifying the new kitchen design, flooring, cabinet colour, counters, backsplash tile, and wall colour. The driving factor in my selections was the hallway and other rooms that were going to still have honey oak. And by saying there is honey oak, you need to know there is a lot of honey oak! Flooring was going to be one of the first things we chose (as the flooring will be in the front foyer and run into the back of the home into the kitchen). Things went awesome until I heard my client say, "It's good enough."I stopped and asked if it was good enough or perfect? In my world, good enough is not enough. My client really just said the words and didn't know that I would react like I did. Here are the choices for this upcoming kitchen renovation:
Why did I react the way I did? I am a firm believer that if you are spending money on a renovation, you should LOVE every choice you make! Period.
2 Words you should never say in a renovation
When you are spending money on a renovation, to say 'I can live with it' or 'Its' good enough' means you are in choice overload. I know that picking out product for a renovation can be time consuming and overwhelming. IF you are feeling this way, I suggest the following:
- Take a break. All of your selections should be made prior to any construction starting so by pausing, you should not be holding up any of the trades.
- Don't treat each sample individually. Collect all of the samples that will be going into the space and look at them in the perspective of the 'whole picture'. When you look at samples as individual pieces, you may love a particular tile (and the tiny sample you get) but when it's installed on a larger scale, you may wish you made a different choice. ALWAYS think of the space as a whole!
- Hire a professional. Hey - I get it. You walk into a tile showroom and wonder where to begin. You may walk into a flooring store and look at all the samples and think there is nothing that is going to work so I'll just pick something close. Sometimes, fresh eyes is just what you need. An interior design professional will always look at the 'big picture' and hopefully be honest with you and your choices.
Starting a renovation and not sure where to start? Download my FREE 7 Steps to Renovate With Confidence here!
Related Posts
PICKING THE RIGHT PAINT FOR YOUR SPACE
BACKSPLASH FOR GRANITE COUNTERS – HOW TO CHOOSE IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!