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As you will be working without the help of an Interior Designer, you will need to be equipped with some basic project management skills. This will ensure that you complete the renovation on time, within the budget while making sure that your home meets your needs. This is because you are taking over the Interior Designer role to liaise with either the main contractor or contractors to get the work done! Therefore, here are the 4 main project management basics that you should take note of.
1. Scope of Work
It is of utmost importance that you define the scope of renovation works needed. The main reason is because you will need this information to estimate the amount of time, money and effort to complete the renovation. In addition, the contractors will also quote their charges based on the scope of work.
In fact, such information is usually captured in the form of a drawn to scale floor plan, which is also accompanied with a list of detailed descriptions of the works to be completed.
Tip: It helps to be as detailed as much as possible since you will also be able to gauge the total number of vendors that you need to work with.
In this simple case study, this is what we have covered when we prepared the scope of work for the 2 bedder condominium:
Lifestyle needs and foot traffic affect the space planning, which sets the stage for the storage capacity planning and also the placement of various pieces of furniture.
Design: Charlotte’s Carpentry
Therefore, the living room and the dining room have the most foot traffic since this is where the homeowners spend 90% most of their time. Furthermore, they also cook frequently, work from home and the only time they adjourn to their bedroom is for rest and reading.
To illustrate how space planning is done, the red lines denote the foot traffic and the blue zone illustrates the possible placement of the furniture such as sofa, dining table and bed. We have proposed to move the master bedroom wardrobe to the other side of the room (in orange) to improve the traffic flow and free up space for a study corner. Furthermore, this helps to keep the wardrobe away from the windows which expose it to humidity and sunlight.
B) Storage Capacity Planning
Basically, capacity planning will help to determine the dimension of the carpentry works needed. Hence, a general rule of thumb is to find out the volume of space you are using right now and then replicate the same amount of space in the floor plan. In addition, do not forget to take into consideration the dimensions of the big sized items since this will influence the placement of the various belongings.
In this case, since the 2 bedder does not have any utility room, the much needed area is eked out through the construction of the floor storage platform.
C) Lights and False Ceiling Planning
The lighting plan will help the electrical vendor to better estimate the amount of electrical works that needs to be done. Although in general, due to the tremendous number of variables to be taken into account; which is the ceiling height, the colours of the flooring, walls, ceiling and types of fittings and lighting used, a very loose rule of thumb is that around 2-3 6W down-lights are needed per meter. You may use this online calculator as a gauge.
Design: Forefront Interior
As for the false ceiling plan, it is useful to illustrate the placement of the false ceiling and how the false ceiling is to be designed.
D) Safety
The safety issues that arise due to the design aspects must be promptly addressed. For instance, due to the construction of the floor storage platform, the floor is much evaluated. Therefore, all the windows must either be installed with invisible grills or child safety locks to prevent accidental falls.
Design: Rezt & Relax Interior
The types of material to be used for your renovation is determined by the design theme adopted. For instance, if you intend to adopt an industrial theme whereby the living room has a concrete brick wall effect created by the Nippon Paint Travertino designer series, the amount of cost and the time spent to coordinate this will definitely be more.
2. Time
After working out the scope of renovation works involved, you should have a fair idea of the amount of coordination work that is involved. Next, you need to work out the date that you expect the renovation to be completed.
The Microsoft Excel* is useful in keeping track of your home renovation progress. Here is a sample of what we used.
Tip: You are advised to include at least 2-3 weeks as a buffer for unforeseen hiccups.Moreover, if you have second thoughts about proceeding with the DIY renovation at this stage, the scope of renovation works is still relevant for the Interior designer to understand your renovation needs.
3. Budget
Decide upfront on the amount of money you intend to spend for the renovation. Again, the Microsoft Excel* is an excellent tool for you to keep track of your expenses. Here is another sample.
Tip: It is recommended that you set aside around 10% additional for unexpected expenses.
Design: Museworks
4. Communication
Visual aids such as 3D renders and perspective drawings are excellent communication tools for you to convey your ideas to your main contractor or contractors easily. Here is a list of 3D rendering software which is free and very easy to use.
Browse through the list of Interior Designers, their reviews and portfolios at http://www.renonation.sg/professionals/interior-designers/
Submit your renovation enquiry:
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