Starting Small

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Starting Small

by Nancy Ranchel

Did you get to the Arciform house on the Tour of Remodeled Homes last weekend? It was amazing!

The problem with wandering through a gorgeous house is that it makes me want to start a project at my own house. Does this happen to you? Did you look at the kitchen in the tour house and think – Forget the college fund, I need new cupboards (check out the custom island Arciform / Versatile made for this house). Those ungrateful kids can take out loans.

Is this immediately followed by a mental calculation of costs versus your current budget, plus a guilty thought about how much you like your kids? Same here – except about the kids. After just finishing a large project, I will not be starting a new one for a while – but I can dream. And dreaming means planning. And the planning is what keeps me going. If you’re dying to start a new project but the time is not right, that doesn’t mean you cannot plan – and this has serious benefits.

Susan, another Arciform client, is spending her remodeling budget this year on repairing the concrete retaining wall that keeps her yard from falling onto the sidewalk. (Safety first.) It’s a ton of money, and there will be zero satisfaction with it. She’ll be able to point to a safe sidewalk for her efforts, but wouldn’t a new bathroom be a lot more fun? Hell yeah. So Susan is starting to plan the bathroom. She met with Anne for an Initial Design Consultation (IDC in the lingo), and Anne is drawing up the plans for a second floor kid’s bathroom / bedroom re-configuration. This not only allows Susan to plan and dream, but with the plans done, she can start buying some of the items she needs for the bathroom. Spreading out the costs of the remodel is a lovely thing! And personally, if I have the plans for a project I am far less likely to spend money on shoes. I save for the project. Mostly.

An IDC meeting with Anne or Kristyn is an affordable undertaking. Arciform can help with the shopping too – when you are ready. Getting the plans done is exciting and motivating, and you can start the work when the time is right. If you need to feel you are making progress on your house, even if no project is being started, I recommend starting to plan.

About Nancy Ranchel

Nancy is an accountant who offsets the practicality of her day job with extravagant and outrageous remodeling projects, often involving massive amounts of scrap metal. In her free time she can be found dreaming up new ways to turn her house into an art installation, digging through scrap heaps, and contemplating a world without plastic. Check out Nancy’s blog here: www.replaceinpdx.com/

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