I can put my hand on my heart and say that we have never had a project go “over budget”. There are four key ingredients for controlling the cost of house renovation: a taut specification, a fixed price, an appropriate payment schedule, and a figure for the total renovation cost. We spend an age on the first, tie down prices for the second, agree suitable payments for the third, and detail everything for the fourth. You can do the same.
Interior architecture emerged from the extended range of skills required of interior designers. Many of our clients, for instance, seek an open-plan kitchen-diner which usually involves knocking down walls and extending the home in some way. We need a technical understanding of the consequences and requirements of these changes. This goes beyond the traditional view of “interior design”.
When planning a room or designing a piece of furniture, you should have access to a list of standard dimensions for interior design. You’ll want to know the space for walking around a coffee table, how far you pull out a dining chair and the distance you need between a toilet and sink. We have recorded these figures from our designs and thought it useful to present them here to help our readers.
We all know that renovating/retrofitting a home is notoriously stressful. Having to manage everything – from dealing with multiple suppliers and contractors to making numerous decisions about, for instance, the best type of insulation to use, right down to the smallest detail, such as which door handle to choose, is challenging enough for experienced professionals, never mind for somebody who is completely inexperienced in the field!
