Dealing With Home Repairs and Renovations as a Busy Mother
Renovations are incredibly common when you own a home. It’s never a bad idea to upgrade parts of the home for functionality, and there are instances where you might want to change the look and feel of a particular room.
In some cases, renovations might also involve repairs. For instance, if your bathroom is preventing your family life from running smoothly because of a broken faucet or finicky showerhead, then you may want to repair and renovate it at the same time.
Unfortunately, renovations can often take a lot of time, especially if you’re not accustomed to doing DIY projects on your own. This usually prompts us to ask our partner, a friend or family member, or even get in touch with a contractor.
A word of caution on certain repairs
While repairing things around the home is fairly straightforward and easy, it’s important to remember that there are some repairs that you shouldn’t perform on your own. Anything related to electricity or plumbing should be left to the experts. If you have a plumbing issue in your bathroom such as a leaking pipe, then you should get in touch with experts like localplumber-uk.com to get the problem sorted. Most people won’t have the knowledge to perform a complete replacement and patchwork solutions won’t last long and could cause more damage.
The same counts for repairs involving electricity. If there’s a broken socket in your home or your lights are flickering at times, then it’s a good idea not to take these repairs into your own hands. Leave these types of repairs to the professionals unless you have experience and knowledge in these fields.
Planning repairs and renovations ahead of time
If you’re going to plan some kind of renovation, it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to do so. As a busy mother, you won’t really have much time to renovate or repair something unless you do it in your spare time over the course of a few days or even weeks. Depending on the size of the project, you want to be realistic about your goals.
For instance, if your goal is to repaint your child’s bedroom, then you should spend a couple of days preparing all of the materials, learning the best painting techniques and then setting a goal for each day. The first day could involve clearing out all of the things in your child’s bedroom so that you have an empty room to paint. The second day could involve actually painting all of the walls and ceilings. You could dedicate the third day to cleaning up and fixing up any areas that you missed. You could combine these based on how much time you have left. It’s difficult to judge how much time you’ll be spending on each step if you’ve never finished a DIY project before, so giving yourself a bit more time is never a bad idea.
Making it fun for your kids
If your kids are old enough to join in then it’s never a bad idea to get them involved in the renovation process. For instance, you can get bigger kids to help you paint as long as you teach them the right technique and make sure you protect them from splashing paint everywhere. You can even get them involved in the design process by encouraging them to pick colours to paint the things in your home.
Kids tend to find it difficult to cope with change, but if they know what to expect and are part of the creative process then they’ll be a little more accepting of the change. Getting them involved in various parts of the process and showing them the result of their hard work can be extremely motivating. It can also help them practice their motor skills which is never a bad idea. Renovating with kids can also be a brilliant bonding experience if you’re willing to get them involved at all stages of the process. Just make sure they’re protected if you’re doing anything that could put them in danger such as demolishing walls.
Leave space for your kids to play
Renovating usually means limiting the function of your home. It’s important that you leave some space for your kids to play and enjoy themselves, especially if it’s going to be noisy during renovations. Keep all of your kid’s toys and games accessible and make a temporary space for them to play if you’re renovating their room. Some kids can get quite restless if you don’t pay attention to them, so don’t neglect to play with your kids.
It may help to create space if you store away some of your child’s toys. This is especially important if you’re renovating their playroom or bedroom. However, you should avoid storing away toys that they’re actively playing with. A good alternative is to just store them in plastic boxes that your child can easily rummage through and find what they need. If they’re feeling a bit apprehensive and distressed by the renovations, then try to find a quieter space for them to relax and enjoy their games. This will make them a bit more accepting of the renovation and will cause fewer problems as the project progresses.
*This is a collaborative post.
