This post comes from Melanie in Sydney. Melanie is a Mum of 3 kids, home-renovator and runs a Real Estate agency in North Sydney with her husband.
When embarking on a renovation, I find it really helpful to pull together lots of ideas before the whole process begins. If you can start deciding on the look you are after and some of the different elements which make up that look, it makes it more enjoyable and less stressful when the renovating deadlines begin!
Initially I bought a couple of home magazines and when I saw ideas I liked, I ruthlessly ripped them out and started compiling them. Even if it is just the look of the room you are after, the picture can be useful later when you are trying to decide on the smaller elements which make up that room. Before I started renovating I had never noticed the little things like door handles or skirting boards, so looking back through my folder came in handy when I had to pick ones out that I liked!
When looking for inspiration, a great trick is to find homes for sale in a similar style then going along to the Open for Inspections, or driving around the neighbourhood taking photos of great exteriors (guilty of both).
I bought the My Dream Home folder from Kikki-K to file all my clipping and photos as it has a section for each of the major rooms in the house. This morning we had a craft morning where my 3 year old daughter cut and pasted whilst I took time to collate ideas in my folder.
As an alternative, if you are collecting ideas on the internet Pinterest is a great way to collate these ideas.
– Melanie
