It always starts with such a burst of enthusiastic ambition. When it comes to summer renovations, nothing teases our aesthetic taste buds more than perusing well-decorated show-rooms and professional designs in the living room, bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. “I can have floors that look like this!” Of course you can, but there’s a large chunk, an important detail, that’s usually not included in finished room samples: the work involved.

Pro: Cost.

The biggest reason to take care of your summer renovations is the cost. When you’re on a budget but desperately in need of new laminate flooring or a fresh paint job, it’s easy to justify the cost of the materials because the biggest cost is the labour required, which you’re avoiding. If you can finish the job on your own, you’ll save plenty.

Con: Work.

But, you have to finish the job own your own. As you’ll shortly discover, contractors who’ve made a living installing drywall, framing basements, or tiling bathrooms make that living for a reason. It can be hard, intricate, skilled work, and there’s no guarantee the finished product will look anything like the vision in your head.

Pro: Accomplishment.

Maybe it’s ok that the finished product is a little, uh, different than the samples you were shown before the job began. DIY renos offer homeowners a unique sense of accomplishment. Imagine putting your feet up with a coffee (or more likely a cold beer) once that final baseboard is nailed back in place. You did the work – this is now your space more so than ever before.

Con: Time.

Yeah, it’s your space, but the time and effort required to make it a reality just might not be worth it in the long run. It will be difficult to find time during the evenings on weekends to commit to the work, especially in the summer when the sun is shining well into the night. Devoting an hour here or there without anything resembling a professional work schedule could make the reno stretch out far longer than you initially assumed.

Pro: It’s Up To You.

Ultimately, you can combine DIY renovations with professional work based on your particular skill set, your budget and how much time you’re going to have this summer to get to work. If you’ve never picked up a hammer, then it’s probably a good idea to leave the internal renovations – the electrical and plumbing work – to the professionals. Besides, there’s no summer reno for which it’s worth risking your safety or your family’s safety. The good news is that more and more renovation products are meant to be installed by the layman, and the costs involved reflect that DIY attitude. We work with plenty of customers here at One Stop who have undergone beautiful, house-changing renovations and wouldn’t have changed a thing about the process of doing it themselves.

However, we’ve also worked with a lot of people who would change a thing – several things, in fact!

The key is to plan for what works best for you. DIY renos can save you a lot on your renovation budget, but the end result is ultimately what truly matters, right?

Right. But the journey to get there should be fun, too.