Having lived through two major renovations during my lifetime, I agree with all Reynard’s ideas. One thing I would add: if you’ve just bought your home, don’t do major renovations before you move in. I’d suggest living there for at least 12 more months before deciding on plans, layouts, finishes etc. Example- I thought I’d have my kitchen redone to “update” it to all white cabinets, new backsplash etc, but COVID hit and it was all too hard. So I moved in and thought I’d update the kitchen later. However, after living with the dark beige gloss cabinets for 12 months and styling with black accessories and small appliances, I realized the end result was very sophisticated looking and I love my “old” kitchen now! Saved myself at least $20k!!! Love your videos Reynard. Always great info and beautiful designs 👍👍👍
@@Blackcain when moved in, I only have mattress and bookshelves. The kitchen is basic. No cabinet. No shelving unit. A year and half, still no kitchen cabinet. Even can't decide what kind of backsplash I want or suit the style
Excellent advice! I have wanted backsplash for my kitchen, but my husband delayed that until 3 months before we moved out. He regretted to wait that late and later he learned the new buyer replaced all the kitchen stuff anyway! Now, we are changing our kitchen while we will be living in it for long time!!
Hey Reynard, could you do a video where subscribers could submit pictures of a room in their home and ask you for advice on how to change it? This would be fun and engaging, as well as make your design tips more relatable to the average person.
Ohh yes, I have a series called Design Dilemma for that th-cam.com/play/PLZp7xLmGZu88nBf9UTmfKejiapnqaNjP1.html&si=fH_ZGtaop8LqCv7B Planning to make a new one first quarter of 2025.
Doing things out of order totally resonated with me. Also trying to DIY too much. I've become pretty handy myself, but knowing your limitations is key. For example. I put in a new sink, kitchen cabinets, and garbage disposal with a friend who is a contractor. He told me that plumbing isn't his speciality, and I learned months later how improperly we installed the garbage disposal. Then I had to pay a plumber $300 to fix my errors. Also, I started renovating a storage room into a studio, so I did the demo, drywall, paint, and flooring BEFORE the plumbing which was a mistake. I just had plumbers here for a week doing the plumbing I knew I'd have to eventually do, which meant undoing half the flooring I'd just done and messing up lots of the paint and drywall. Not a huge deal, but I will have to go back and do at least a day's worth of work to fix the paint, drywall, and re-install the floors. Finally, I think its very important to have a plan and a clear order of operations before you start a project instead of just winging it on the fly. In my case, I should have 1) designed the room aka drawn the plans, 2) demo, 3) plumbing, 4) electrical, 5) drywall, 6) paint, THEN flooring and fixtures. I learned a lot from this experience which is invaluable, but had I done it in the proper order I might have saved a few thousand bucks and lots of time.
Could you do a video ALL about fireplaces? I’m helping my mom redecorate my parents home and realizing that every single high-end home I see has no fireplace insert. There isn’t a lot of information out there about this and I’ve gone down quite a rabbit hole so far. Other issues like… a hearth or no hearth, how you remove a hearth, the expense associated with it… as well as mantels how high to hang them how you deal with an outdated mantle, etc. This type of video would be SO helpful!!!! 😃🙏
I am in the middle of renovating my first house. Picking out everything ahead of time is great advice, but easier said than done. I tried to budget very carefully, but I am over budget for sure. It's hard to accurately plan for everything when you have no experience and a huge project. My contractor was super unhelpful and took weeks to give me the simplest info, like sq footage for bathroom tile, width of the new doors, etc. so I could order materials. Choosing materials was time consuming and exhausting, but hopefully worth it. I have no money for paint or furniture. Those things will be added over time.
There is a fine line you need to walk with contractors. Just be careful. If they are doing a good job and you know they are the best around your area for the money, don't make them mad by micromanaging. They could just up and quit or do something to your home/work that you wouldn't necessarily catch until it's too late.
I had a house we considered our forever house and the kitchen, while dated, was fully functional. I knew that if we ever sold the house, the view would be the selling point and I never wanted to live through a kitchen renovation. When we had someone walk in and want to buy the place (that view!), they finally mentioned the kitchen being dated. It sold for a very decent amount to them and I can guarantee the woman who lives there now has way different taste than I do. I’m soooooooo glad I just enjoyed living there and not trying to design something for someone else to take apart. The house we moved to…..we are having a blast redoing it for our taste, not waiting till year 20 to do what we want! I love the previous owner dropping by …. “But I thought you liked that”……yes, and no…..(I don’t think she’ll be back).
Good point about communication. We have a great contractor working on our bath/kitchen reno. I did a mock up of the tile layout for the bathroom floor and shower so they had a visual of my expectation for the layout. Being on site is key to answer the little questions as they come up.
Also, don't confuse TREND with STYLE. Mid-century modern, Bauhaus, etc. are styles. "Gray floors", "White kitchen" are trends. Style encompasses a varieties of colors, materials, and shapes. Trends are usually defined in absolute terms, ie: "black hardware".
I actually learned this tip from another decorator site but SO wish I’d seen it before doing my reno. The suggestion was to install very simple cheap white shades or cellular blinds if you’re replacing window coverings just to get you by until the logical time for the pricier version comes (usually toward the end of the project). This is especially important If you’re living in the space, which we had to do. This would have helped me avoid the wrong color and wrong functionality of my window coverings and even avoid putting any window covering up in a couple of cases (e.g. no sun EVER hits my dining room window and the new bathroom window came frosted, and the direction of the drape pulls would have been obvious once the final furniture layout was decided.) Big lesson learned for me.
One thing I think can be hard to decide, is what are realistic vs unrealistic expectations from contractors. Considering everyone is human doing the work, when do you accept imperfections, or when (and how) do you approach getting items rectified when you aren't happy with the workmanship?
Great advise! My reno is about to complete. Thank goodness I’m the gung ho type and picked what I wanted way ahead of the contractor. There are so many components to consider and each may have a variety of options. Having clarity on what I wanted was critical - minimalist, easy/little maintenance and cleaning, clean/soft to the eyes, function over form, invest in core areas. My advise would be research, go to home events, visit multiple shops, talk to people..
Good for you. We did a fairly big renovation 3 years ago and I made sure that I had picked, ordered and paid for and had things delivered ahead of time. Our new bathroom got custom taps and I was worried that it would delay the project so I ordered as soon as I could 😊 same thing with the tiles I wanted. My builder was fantastic and actually finished a week ahead of schedule 😊. We had some unexpected problems but as soon as anything came up I would get a phone call 🤙😊 so that we could deal with it as soon as possible.
Can you do a video on how to organize larger cabinets for pots, pans, cutting boards, muffin tins and such? My kitchen only has 4 drawers, and my cabinets look a mess because they are wide open with no way to properly organize them. I'm unsure of systems to buy or how to fix this problem efficiently.
Wish I'd done the renos before moving in... everyone said to wait and see after you've lived there a while... but the hassle of then doing it whilst living there (especially if a very small home) is way worse... emptying everything out, no bathroom, no kitchen... Would definitely do it before moving in next time!
I’m currently nearly 3 months into living in our home whilst having an extension and renovation done. It’s awful. If I ever did it again I would hire a caravan and live in it on site…have to be close to keep an eye on things as I’ve caught potential errors by tradesman in time to have them corrected or avoided quite a few times.
Yes! I would LOVE to see a video about interior doors! Advantages/disadvantages of solid vs. hollow. What are the different types of solid? How to use the design of the door to fit the style of the home while still being unique. How to choose the right hardware. There's so much that needs to go into a door decision that I don't even know where to start.
A door caused me to rethink my entire plans for my house - it led me on the trail of design! I had not 'realized' my house was pretty mcm/minimalist - that is all doors (to rooms, on built-ins) were flat. I needed to replace a door (they had carpet, was pulled up when I purchased the house so large gap on bottom). Anyway, I purchased a cheap 6 panel door & my son put it on. About a millisecond later I realized my huge mistake! It looked so out of place! So, purchased another and he installed it - looks like it fits the house now!
Interesting, never thought this would be interesting for many people. I’ll look into it and see if I can make at least a 10-minute video out of it without being too boring, otherwise might make it into a post or newsletter.
I wanted a soaking bathtub. My first time designing a remodel for my bathroom. My uncle, who was more experienced rushed me on picking the tub. I needed to purchase it ASAP because of the schedule the contractors were on. I found my dream tub but overlooked that the tub was circular and not oval….It took up so much more space in my bathroom and i regret it till this day. I still enjoy the tub with is fine but I always think of how much more space I could of had.
One thing i regret was ordering a lot of materials at once and not counting everything that was delivered. It wasn’t a big problem, but customer service was being a pain. So avoid the stress and headaches it can give, and count it before they unload everything…
Great video! I do disagree about soapstone counters though as they are beautiful and not as difficult to work on. I cook and bake everyday and I love that I can move a pan from the oven directly to the counter without worrying about the heat. Also, it doesn't harbor bacterial. I don't oil mine though and just leave them natural.
Dear Reynard, can you PLEASE do a segment dedicated to the window treatment of the asymmetric windows? I have no idea how to drape the wall, where the right side (before windows) is a protruding 43' utility closet, and the left side (past windows) is only 13' wall
Ahhh wonderful video!! Subscriber for a long time, and we have a long time coming kitchen/laundry/lounge and 2 bedrooms extension planning and your video is perfect timing. Thanking you!!
I watched this timely video as i am brainstorming for my new home. Can you consider doing a video on the rustic design theme as there isn't much info out there and also something about how to choose the right Interior Designer.
I really can’t find myself liking natural wood colour 😢 Every house I have been to has that and I am lover of monochrome look so light grey flooring worked for me.
I have a townhouse that is the right size for a couple or individual. When I redid my kitchen, I got smaller appliances so I ended up with much more countertops and cabinets and drawers. I’m not going to host holiday dinners so my appliances are perfect! I also have a bistro table as the best proportion for a smaller space. I had high end vinyl flooring in a lighter color and it makes the space look brighter.
I am repainting and going white walls, white baseboards. what white(s) and type should I use? ( ultra white, white, soft white etc ). (flat, satin, SG, Gls etc).
My neighbours took weeks off work to fix an apartment that contractors could have done in far less time. So they were losing income on not renting it out as well as lost wages. Then they kept the same dodgy agent who had let the tenant destroy everything over 4 years. And he rented it out in new condition for 100K/ week less than standard market. And more stupid investment decisions.
Hi Reynard! Love your videos so much man! I'm hoping to buy your course but since I'm not paying in dollars, it's a bit expensive for me. Any discounts coming up any time soon?
I've reached renovation time. I'm too scared of making a big booboo. I'm doing a limited reno, no new countertops, just tile on the entire 1st floor, using the fireplace as a focal point, and a tile backsplash.
Having lived through two major renovations during my lifetime, I agree with all Reynard’s ideas. One thing I would add: if you’ve just bought your home, don’t do major renovations before you move in. I’d suggest living there for at least 12 more months before deciding on plans, layouts, finishes etc. Example- I thought I’d have my kitchen redone to “update” it to all white cabinets, new backsplash etc, but COVID hit and it was all too hard. So I moved in and thought I’d update the kitchen later. However, after living with the dark beige gloss cabinets for 12 months and styling with black accessories and small appliances, I realized the end result was very sophisticated looking and I love my “old” kitchen now! Saved myself at least $20k!!! Love your videos Reynard. Always great info and beautiful designs 👍👍👍
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Having lived through two major renovations during my lifetime, I agree with all Reynard’s ideas. One thing I would add: if you’ve just bought your home, don’t do major renovations before you move in. I’d suggest living there for at least 12 more months before deciding on plans, layouts, finishes etc. Example- I thought I’d have my kitchen redone to “update” it to all white cabinets, new backsplash etc, but COVID hit and it was all too hard. So I moved in and thought I’d update the kitchen later. However, after living with the dark beige gloss cabinets for 12 months and styling with black accessories and small appliances, I realized the end result was very sophisticated looking and I love my “old” kitchen now! Saved myself at least $20k!!!
Love your videos Reynard. Always great info and beautiful designs 👍👍👍
How? This only works if your moved in home already has stuff. If it's absolutely bare bones with 0 furniture, you cannot live there.
@@Blackcain when moved in, I only have mattress and bookshelves. The kitchen is basic. No cabinet. No shelving unit. A year and half, still no kitchen cabinet. Even can't decide what kind of backsplash I want or suit the style
Excellent advice! I have wanted backsplash for my kitchen, but my husband delayed that until 3 months before we moved out. He regretted to wait that late and later he learned the new buyer replaced all the kitchen stuff anyway! Now, we are changing our kitchen while we will be living in it for long time!!
Hey Reynard, could you do a video where subscribers could submit pictures of a room in their home and ask you for advice on how to change it? This would be fun and engaging, as well as make your design tips more relatable to the average person.
Ohh yes, I have a series called Design Dilemma for that th-cam.com/play/PLZp7xLmGZu88nBf9UTmfKejiapnqaNjP1.html&si=fH_ZGtaop8LqCv7B
Planning to make a new one first quarter of 2025.
Doing things out of order totally resonated with me. Also trying to DIY too much. I've become pretty handy myself, but knowing your limitations is key. For example. I put in a new sink, kitchen cabinets, and garbage disposal with a friend who is a contractor. He told me that plumbing isn't his speciality, and I learned months later how improperly we installed the garbage disposal. Then I had to pay a plumber $300 to fix my errors.
Also, I started renovating a storage room into a studio, so I did the demo, drywall, paint, and flooring BEFORE the plumbing which was a mistake. I just had plumbers here for a week doing the plumbing I knew I'd have to eventually do, which meant undoing half the flooring I'd just done and messing up lots of the paint and drywall. Not a huge deal, but I will have to go back and do at least a day's worth of work to fix the paint, drywall, and re-install the floors.
Finally, I think its very important to have a plan and a clear order of operations before you start a project instead of just winging it on the fly. In my case, I should have 1) designed the room aka drawn the plans, 2) demo, 3) plumbing, 4) electrical, 5) drywall, 6) paint, THEN flooring and fixtures. I learned a lot from this experience which is invaluable, but had I done it in the proper order I might have saved a few thousand bucks and lots of time.
Could you do a video ALL about fireplaces?
I’m helping my mom redecorate my parents home and realizing that every single high-end home I see has no fireplace insert. There isn’t a lot of information out there about this and I’ve gone down quite a rabbit hole so far. Other issues like… a hearth or no hearth, how you remove a hearth, the expense associated with it… as well as mantels how high to hang them how you deal with an outdated mantle, etc. This type of video would be SO helpful!!!! 😃🙏
I am in the middle of renovating my first house. Picking out everything ahead of time is great advice, but easier said than done. I tried to budget very carefully, but I am over budget for sure. It's hard to accurately plan for everything when you have no experience and a huge project. My contractor was super unhelpful and took weeks to give me the simplest info, like sq footage for bathroom tile, width of the new doors, etc. so I could order materials. Choosing materials was time consuming and exhausting, but hopefully worth it. I have no money for paint or furniture. Those things will be added over time.
I totally agree with all the points. I was cheeking 2 to 3times per day the renovation. The workers needs to feel your presence.
yes, and give them coffee and cookies :) then they will like your appearence
There is a fine line you need to walk with contractors. Just be careful. If they are doing a good job and you know they are the best around your area for the money, don't make them mad by micromanaging. They could just up and quit or do something to your home/work that you wouldn't necessarily catch until it's too late.
I had a house we considered our forever house and the kitchen, while dated, was fully functional. I knew that if we ever sold the house, the view would be the selling point and I never wanted to live through a kitchen renovation. When we had someone walk in and want to buy the place (that view!), they finally mentioned the kitchen being dated. It sold for a very decent amount to them and I can guarantee the woman who lives there now has way different taste than I do. I’m soooooooo glad I just enjoyed living there and not trying to design something for someone else to take apart. The house we moved to…..we are having a blast redoing it for our taste, not waiting till year 20 to do what we want! I love the previous owner dropping by …. “But I thought you liked that”……yes, and no…..(I don’t think she’ll be back).
Good point about communication. We have a great contractor working on our bath/kitchen reno. I did a mock up of the tile layout for the bathroom floor and shower so they had a visual of my expectation for the layout. Being on site is key to answer the little questions as they come up.
Also, don't confuse TREND with STYLE. Mid-century modern, Bauhaus, etc. are styles. "Gray floors", "White kitchen" are trends. Style encompasses a varieties of colors, materials, and shapes. Trends are usually defined in absolute terms, ie: "black hardware".
I actually learned this tip from another decorator site but SO wish I’d seen it before doing my reno. The suggestion was to install very simple cheap white shades or cellular blinds if you’re replacing window coverings just to get you by until the logical time for the pricier version comes (usually toward the end of the project). This is especially important If you’re living in the space, which we had to do. This would have helped me avoid the wrong color and wrong functionality of my window coverings and even avoid putting any window covering up in a couple of cases (e.g. no sun EVER hits my dining room window and the new bathroom window came frosted, and the direction of the drape pulls would have been obvious once the final furniture layout was decided.) Big lesson learned for me.
One thing I think can be hard to decide, is what are realistic vs unrealistic expectations from contractors. Considering everyone is human doing the work, when do you accept imperfections, or when (and how) do you approach getting items rectified when you aren't happy with the workmanship?
Great advise! My reno is about to complete. Thank goodness I’m the gung ho type and picked what I wanted way ahead of the contractor. There are so many components to consider and each may have a variety of options. Having clarity on what I wanted was critical - minimalist, easy/little maintenance and cleaning, clean/soft to the eyes, function over form, invest in core areas. My advise would be research, go to home events, visit multiple shops, talk to people..
Good for you. We did a fairly big renovation 3 years ago and I made sure that I had picked, ordered and paid for and had things delivered ahead of time. Our new bathroom got custom taps and I was worried that it would delay the project so I ordered as soon as I could 😊 same thing with the tiles I wanted. My builder was fantastic and actually finished a week ahead of schedule 😊. We had some unexpected problems but as soon as anything came up I would get a phone call 🤙😊 so that we could deal with it as soon as possible.
Can you do a video on how to organize larger cabinets for pots, pans, cutting boards, muffin tins and such? My kitchen only has 4 drawers, and my cabinets look a mess because they are wide open with no way to properly organize them. I'm unsure of systems to buy or how to fix this problem efficiently.
Wish I'd done the renos before moving in... everyone said to wait and see after you've lived there a while... but the hassle of then doing it whilst living there (especially if a very small home) is way worse... emptying everything out, no bathroom, no kitchen...
Would definitely do it before moving in next time!
And all the dust!😢
@@jj9501 lot of dust for sure, but also proper choices and the ability to properly control and communicate with the contractor on a daily basis
I’m currently nearly 3 months into living in our home whilst having an extension and renovation done. It’s awful. If I ever did it again I would hire a caravan and live in it on site…have to be close to keep an eye on things as I’ve caught potential errors by tradesman in time to have them corrected or avoided quite a few times.
Dude, I wish you were in the UK. I need you to do up my new 2 bed house. Your content is a chefs kiss
Could you make a video about interior doors, please? I think they are super important for interior design. Thank you
Yes! I would LOVE to see a video about interior doors! Advantages/disadvantages of solid vs. hollow. What are the different types of solid? How to use the design of the door to fit the style of the home while still being unique. How to choose the right hardware. There's so much that needs to go into a door decision that I don't even know where to start.
A door caused me to rethink my entire plans for my house - it led me on the trail of design! I had not 'realized' my house was pretty mcm/minimalist - that is all doors (to rooms, on built-ins) were flat. I needed to replace a door (they had carpet, was pulled up when I purchased the house so large gap on bottom). Anyway, I purchased a cheap 6 panel door & my son put it on. About a millisecond later I realized my huge mistake! It looked so out of place! So, purchased another and he installed it - looks like it fits the house now!
Interesting, never thought this would be interesting for many people. I’ll look into it and see if I can make at least a 10-minute video out of it without being too boring, otherwise might make it into a post or newsletter.
I wanted a soaking bathtub. My first time designing a remodel for my bathroom. My uncle, who was more experienced rushed me on picking the tub. I needed to purchase it ASAP because of the schedule the contractors were on. I found my dream tub but overlooked that the tub was circular and not oval….It took up so much more space in my bathroom and i regret it till this day. I still enjoy the tub with is fine but I always think of how much more space I could of had.
This channel just gets better and better. I regret doing renovation before this episode. 😅
One thing i regret was ordering a lot of materials at once and not counting everything that was delivered. It wasn’t a big problem, but customer service was being a pain. So avoid the stress and headaches it can give, and count it before they unload everything…
Great video! I do disagree about soapstone counters though as they are beautiful and not as difficult to work on. I cook and bake everyday and I love that I can move a pan from the oven directly to the counter without worrying about the heat. Also, it doesn't harbor bacterial. I don't oil mine though and just leave them natural.
Dear Reynard, can you PLEASE do a segment dedicated to the window treatment of the asymmetric windows? I have no idea how to drape the wall, where the right side (before windows) is a protruding 43' utility closet, and the left side (past windows) is only 13' wall
Ahhh wonderful video!! Subscriber for a long time, and we have a long time coming kitchen/laundry/lounge and 2 bedrooms extension planning and your video is perfect timing. Thanking you!!
Fantastic advice as always! Loved the 3D bookend! And the bonus is you're wearing my favorite jumper too! Xo from Canada ❤️
I watched this timely video as i am brainstorming for my new home. Can you consider doing a video on the rustic design theme as there isn't much info out there and also something about how to choose the right Interior Designer.
This!!! My hubby loves rustic and I love minimal😂. I would love Reynard’s take on that combo!
Pinterest?
@@lynettecorle8391 Yes, a rustic design that is just at the right level - i love the cabin feeling but without clutter as well :)
I really can’t find myself liking natural wood colour 😢 Every house I have been to has that and I am lover of monochrome look so light grey flooring worked for me.
I have a townhouse that is the right size for a couple or individual. When I redid my kitchen, I got smaller appliances so I ended up with much more countertops and cabinets and drawers. I’m not going to host holiday dinners so my appliances are perfect! I also have a bistro table as the best proportion for a smaller space. I had high end vinyl flooring in a lighter color and it makes the space look brighter.
I am repainting and going white walls, white baseboards. what white(s) and type should I use? ( ultra white, white, soft white etc ). (flat, satin, SG, Gls etc).
My neighbours took weeks off work to fix an apartment that contractors could have done in far less time. So they were losing income on not renting it out as well as lost wages.
Then they kept the same dodgy agent who had let the tenant destroy everything over 4 years. And he rented it out in new condition for 100K/ week less than standard market.
And more stupid investment decisions.
Hi Reynard! Love your videos so much man! I'm hoping to buy your course but since I'm not paying in dollars, it's a bit expensive for me. Any discounts coming up any time soon?
My regret is dragging my unwilling husband to do the reno with me. 😅 And don't try to do things when you are tired.
Happy I Subscribed to this channel! Just AMAZING!
I love the console table behind you, where is it from please Reynard??
Where do you buy your clothes from?
Very useful advice!
It is waaaay easier to change your backsplash than to get new furniture.
Your hair grows so fast from one second to another 😂 love all of your videos
Lol thought I could sneak that in 🤫
Thank u🙏🙌🎊 great video👌
I picked all finishes, paint before signing contract, GC found other ways to delay over 1 yr
I've reached renovation time. I'm too scared of making a big booboo. I'm doing a limited reno, no new countertops, just tile on the entire 1st floor, using the fireplace as a focal point, and a tile backsplash.
Thanks for sharing.
what about warm gray flooring. Like a middle ground between gray and brown? Is that still bad?
But how does the 3D printer fit in with your design aesthetic for your house 😂 presume you've printed a nice cover to go over it 😂
Having lived through two major renovations during my lifetime, I agree with all Reynard’s ideas. One thing I would add: if you’ve just bought your home, don’t do major renovations before you move in. I’d suggest living there for at least 12 more months before deciding on plans, layouts, finishes etc. Example- I thought I’d have my kitchen redone to “update” it to all white cabinets, new backsplash etc, but COVID hit and it was all too hard. So I moved in and thought I’d update the kitchen later. However, after living with the dark beige gloss cabinets for 12 months and styling with black accessories and small appliances, I realized the end result was very sophisticated looking and I love my “old” kitchen now! Saved myself at least $20k!!!
Love your videos Reynard. Always great info and beautiful designs 👍👍👍