For Renovation, Should It Be “Luxurious” or Selectively “Good”?

During the renovation process, the question that clients most frequently ask, I believe, is this: what is the approximate budget for renovating my house? Actually, this question is really difficult to answer as a designer, because the renovation budget depends on the person doing the renovation. Houses of the same size can have vastly different renovation budgets. For example, for a house of the same 150 square meters, the budget could be 300,000, 500,000, or even 1,000,000 yuan—it’s all possible. The real decision lies with the client, and the designer plays a supporting role during the renovation process.

As a designer, when a client asks me this question, I tell them that the budget mainly depends on how much you want to invest in the renovation. As a designer, I will give you reasonable advice on which products should be of higher quality and which products can be more ordinary. This way, the budget can be controlled more reasonably, because there is no upper limit to renovation. The following are some suggestions from my more than ten years of experience as a designer, which I hope will be helpful to you as you prepare to renovate.

One: Essential Quality

1. Basic engineering refers to hidden works such as water and electricity. In this choice, you must select a reliable renovation company to ensure the basic engineering is done well. Even if the price is slightly higher, it must be done properly to avoid various problems after moving in, which would be exhausting both mentally and physically. Particularly the waterproofing construction in the bathroom—this point must be given special attention. If water leaks down to the floor below later, it would not be good; not only would you suffer losses, but it would also affect your downstairs neighbors.

2. Hardware accessories refer to the hardware accessories for woodwork, including cabinets, wooden doors, and wardrobes. You should choose branded products of solid quality, because after moving in, we open cabinet doors and room doors every day. So the hardware hinges should be of better quality—they’re more comfortable to use, and it saves you from having to make repairs later if problems occur.

3. Bathroom fixtures: as the saying goes in renovation, “gold kitchen, silver bathroom.” The choice of bathroom fixtures is equally important. Try to choose major brands with solid quality, so that later use will be smoother. Although bathroom fixtures can be replaced if you don’t like them or they break, no one wants to replace bathroom fixtures after living there for a while. So you should pay attention to this point as well.

4. Wall and floor tiles: for floor tiles, you should choose anti-slip, wear-resistant tiles with low water absorption. Because floor tiles are laid on the ground, people walk over them every day, and you have to mop and there’s water, so you need to pay attention to this point.

5. Doors and windows: when choosing doors and windows, you should consider performance such as sound insulation, thermal insulation, and security. During renovation, I always recommend to clients that the windows must be replaced. Because when moving in later, the original developer’s windows don’t have very good seals. In winter, when there’s a large temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, it’s easy for condensation to form and hang on the windows, which can cause the walls to grow mold and other consequences. This is something I’ve personally experienced.

Two: Secondary Quality

1. Flooring: for this product choice, you can consider something more ordinary. Just choose flooring with relatively good wear resistance, because when laying flooring throughout the entire room, the space isn’t very large. In a room, after deducting the area occupied by cabinets and beds, the actual visible floor area is very small. So for the choice of flooring, as long as it meets environmental standards and has strong wear resistance, that’s enough—you don’t need to choose products at too high a price.

2. Curtains: they serve to block light and decorate in the home. Many people overlook this area during renovation, thinking that all curtain fabrics are the same, but in fact, this is not the case. Different materials and styles mean different prices and color combinations.

When renovating, we don’t need to choose curtain materials that are too high-end. With sufficient budget, choose curtains that match your style and price range—provided that they meet environmental standards.

3. Soft furnishings and decorative items: in choosing these, you should select items that match your overall renovation style. It’s not that the most expensive is the best; you should choose decorative items that suit you. This could be a painting, a small decorative item, or a small ornament.

Summary: In the renovation process, all materials are actually the most important. Essential quality and secondary quality only exist relatively—there is no best, only what is more suitable. This mainly depends on how you choose; you could also say that all renovation materials are important and all should be of good quality, and that’s perfectly understandable.

The most expensive thing about renovation is actually not the material itself, but whether this material is truly suited to your home. If this material is used in the home and feels comfortable, then it means the material was used correctly. Even if it’s very expensive, it’s still cheap; conversely, the opposite holds true.