How To Prepare Your Home For A Major Renovation
Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail.
Demolition day is not the start of your renovation.
It is the test of everything you planned before it.
The truth is that the most expensive mistakes in any London renovation do not happen on site. They happen in the months before, when designs, budgets, and permissions are still unclear.
We have seen it all: clients still choosing tiles while the builders wait. Kitchens delivered before the walls exist. Layouts changing mid demolition. Every one of those moments costs time, money, and nerves.
Think of this guide as your home renovation checklist for UK projects. It is the way we prepare every high end residential renovation in London, and it is how you give your project the best possible start when you are working with an interior designer or design build studio.
Start With The Why, Not The Wall?
Before you pick a colour or move a door, get clear on why you are renovating at all.
Ask yourself:
- Are you creating your forever home?
- Are you adding value before selling?
- Are you upgrading comfort, layout, or flow for family life?
Your “why” sets the priorities for every decision that follows. A home designed for resale is planned differently to a home designed for the next twenty years of your life. One might focus on broad appeal and clever storage. The other might focus on mood, materials, and daily rituals.
If you do not define this early, you can end up paying twice. Once for the initial idea, and again when you change direction halfway through construction.
Finalise The Design, Then Commit
You can find something called “joinery” for £300 a metre and you can find bespoke joinery London based studios delivering work at £3,000 a metre. The spread comes down to craft, material choice and the level of precision.
Typical price ranges per square metre
For any renovation planning in London, this is the part that quietly protects your budget.
Finalise the design before your builders arrive on site. That means:
- Floor plans agreed and signed off
- Kitchen and bathroom layouts confirmed
- Lighting and power planned
- Materials and key finishes selected
Every time a wall moves or a kitchen layout changes after work has started, your budget drifts. Design revisions mid build can add 10 to 20 percent to the total cost. That is money that could have gone into bespoke joinery, beautiful lighting, or higher quality finishes instead of rework.
So take your time at the start. Ask the extra questions. Walk through the plans with your interior designer. Make the difficult decisions before the first hammer swings, then protect those decisions during the build.
Pack Like You Are Moving Out
Renovations are messy by nature. Dust will find places you did not know existed.
Even if you are only renovating one floor, treat the whole home as if you are moving out:
- Pack up belongings in affected rooms
- Move furniture into storage or another property
- Cover what must stay with proper protection rather than old sheets
Label boxes clearly with room names and essentials, because unpacking after six months of building work can feel like solving a mystery you never asked for.
One thing to remember: never assume a “spare room” is safe from dust. It is not.
Protect The Features You Want To Keep
If your home has original floors, fireplaces, cornicing, or staircases that you want to keep, tell your contractor and design team early.
Once demolition starts, everything can look like it is up for grabs. A single careless moment with a skip or a sledgehammer can damage a century old banister that was meant to stay.
Be specific about what is protected:
- Mark items that stay
- Photograph them before work begins
- Add clear labels or notes on site
Builders generally mean well, but clarity saves character. Your interior designer and site team can only defend what has been clearly agreed at the start.
Plan Your Temporary Life
A renovation is not just a project. It is a season of life.
If you are moving out during the works, plan it as early as you plan the build. If you are staying in the property, know that there will be noise, dust, and disruption. You may not have a working kitchen, reliable Wi Fi, or quiet mornings for a while.
As a rule of thumb, if your renovation runs longer than three months, it is worth considering temporary accommodation. The cost often feels small compared to the stress it removes.
Think about:
- Whether children or pets should be on site at all
- Where you will work if you are at home during the day
- How you will manage laundry, cooking, and rest
If you have kids or pets, move them out first. They are charming, but not built for building sites.
Lock Down The Budget And Contingency
Budgeting for a home renovation is not just about the headline figure.
Write down your total budget for the project. Then add 15 to 20 percent. That is your real working number.
Old wiring, hidden damp, changes required by building control, supply delays, small design upgrades that become non negotiable at the last moment. These are not unusual. They are part of the reality of transforming a home.
A strong contingency allows you to handle these surprises calmly instead of reacting in panic. Agree a clear payment schedule with your contractor before the first invoice is raised, and make sure you understand what is included and what counts as a variation.
Sort Permissions And Neighbours Early
Planning permission, building control sign off, and party wall agreements are the unglamorous core of any serious London renovation project.
If your work involves structural changes, extensions, loft conversions, or external alterations, you may need:
- Planning permission
- Lawful development certificates
- Building control inspections
- Party wall agreements with neighbours
If you share walls or boundaries, speak to your neighbours before the letters arrive. A simple conversation ahead of time can save months of tension, objections, and delays.
It is rarely the most exciting part of the project, but good paperwork buys you peace later.
Prepare For Noise, Dust, And Decisions
Here is the part that most people underestimate. Renovations are not a “set and forget” process. They are more like marathons of decision making.
Even with a full design build studio handling the day to day, you will still be asked to approve details:
- Final positions for lighting and switches
- Small changes on site where reality differs from drawings
- Sanitaryware choices, hardware, and paint colours at the last moment
Try to stay available, especially at key milestones. A five minute answer today can prevent a five day delay next week.
And on a very practical level, invest in good headphones. Noise has a way of wearing people down.
Case Study: A Notting Hill Townhouse That Ran Ahead Of Schedule
Before starting a £480k renovation in Notting Hill, our client spent six weeks on nothing but preparation.
Together we:
- Finalised every drawing and interior detail
- Locked in material choices before orders were placed
- Moved the family into a nearby rental
- Stored furniture and artwork off site
Because the preparation was taken seriously, the build itself ran three weeks ahead of schedule. There were no dramatic surprises, no rushed decisions, and no frantic late night calls from site.
From the outside, it looked effortless. In reality, the effort simply moved to the front of the project, where it does the most good.
Key Takeaway
A smooth renovation is not about luck. It is about preparation.
When you design, plan, and pack properly, construction feels surprisingly calm. When you do not, you can end up with a very expensive lesson in patience.
Before you build anything, build a plan. Your future self, your home, and your bank account will be grateful.
If you are planning a high end residential renovation in London and want a single team to guide you from first sketch through to final styling, Accanto Interiors can help.
We are a London based design build studio focused on high end residential and commercial projects. We handle everything from interior design and planning through to construction and delivery so that you can enjoy the process rather than simply survive it.
Accanto Interiors
London design build studio for high end residential and commercial projects.
Working With Accanto Interiors
Accanto Interiors is a London based design build studio for heritage and luxury homes. We blend architecture, interiors, and construction into one seamless process, so your project feels curated rather than chaotic.
If you are planning a renovation of a Victorian, Georgian, or Edwardian property and want to combine old and new interiors without losing the character you first fell in love with, we would be delighted to help.
Book a consultation via our website and start shaping the next chapter of your home’s story.
