8 Tips for Surviving a Home Renovation: Living at Home During a Remodel

Living in your house during major renovations is a great way to save money, but it can also be stressful and chaotic. Here are 8 tips for surviving a home renovation–even while living at home during the remodel!

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Our Home Renovation Progress

It’s hard to believe that we closed on our house less than five months ago. During the last few months, we cleaned up a good portion of the land and have renovated the majority of the interior of the house. Some days I feel overwhelmed by the amount of projects we have remaining–the walls that need painted, the quarter round that needs added, the weeds that need pulled, the flowers that need planted–but then Carson reminds me just how much we have accomplished in just a few short months.

This month, we have been in major-renovation-mode with converting our upstairs bedroom into a second bathroom. This project has affected the majority of our home because we had to have the dining room ceiling dropped in order to make room for the bathroom pipes. We are also enclosing our loft for safety reasons and to qualify as a third bedroom since we are losing a bedroom with the addition of the bathroom. We’ve gotten used to moving our furniture about every other week, and Carson and I have been working in different places in the house.

Surviving a Home Renovation

Through our own experiences renovating our home while living in it, we have learned so much about surviving a home renovation. Here are 8 tips!

1. Adjust Exceptions

Home renovations can take longer than you expect. They can cost more than you expect. Sometimes, you have to completely change your plans as issues are uncovered during the remodel.

Start off strong, by holding your expectations loosely!

3. Stay Organized

Home renovations require A LOT of organization. You start off by getting quotes. After that, you have to gather ideas and decide on materials. Then, you have the install dates. There’s also a lot of other things in between!

I created this Home Renovation Planner Printable to help do all of the hard organization work for you! There’s a place to track everything throughout your home renovation. It will also help you generate ideas for your remodel! Get the Home Renovation Planner HERE.

4. Keep One Room Off-Limits at All Times

We renovated multiple rooms at once, but we ALWAYS kept at least one room off-limits. This is a way to keep some of your things dust free and to have a safe space in the midst of the chaos!

5. Renovate Your Home in Stages

We planned to stay with family during renovation stages that had strong smells and lots of dust. Plan ahead and plan accordingly for times like this!

8. Plan for the Remodel to take Longer than you Think

Home renovations always take longer than you’d think! We had to wait for our clawfoot tub for almost 8 months because it was backordered. Prepare for this ahead of time and you won’t be as disappointed!