Choose a Designer for Your Condo Remodel
Seattle is becoming an increasingly urban city as more and more people find themselves employed in or near the city center. Many of these jobs are in the tech industry and employ younger people who are hoping to invest in property without committing to the maintenance and cost of a single-family home.
For this reason, condo sales and value are swiftly rising. If you want to stay close to the action and put down roots, a condo could be perfect for you! But in this competitive market, it can be hard to find exactly the condo of your dreams while staying within your price range. But that’s what remodeling is for!
Accept the Things You Cannot Change
Unfortunately, when it comes to condo remodeling, there are a lot of things you can’t control. Almost every condominium is part of a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) which comes with its own set of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, or CC&Rs, which govern everything from quiet hours to pet ownership, or even the door color. And most importantly for many condo owners, the CC&Rs also control what kind of changes and improvements you can make to your unit. Anything that might adversely affect other tenants is not going to fly. This could be in terms either of your neighbor’s comfort—for example, many condos only allow construction during the week and between the hours of 9am and 5pm so as not to disturb other occupants—or in terms of the shared investment of the building.
For any condo remodeling project, you’ll need to be able to accurately assess any structural threats to the building. If you want to take out a wall, you’ll need professional verification that it isn’t supporting anything. It can be especially difficult to obtain approval for projects that involve plumbing, gas or electric lines, rerouting ventilation. Here at HomeStyling Designs, we can help you create a plan for your remodel that accommodates the restrictions of your CC&Rs, HOA, and the building itself.
Change the Things You Can
Of course, within the boundaries of these restrictions, there is a lot of room for improvement! From removing a wall to redoing a floor or revamping the entire kitchen, there are plenty of amazing condo remodeling projects that will add both beauty and value to your new home. Bathroom and kitchen remodels will go a long way, but there are all kinds of little things you can do during a remodel that won’t affect your unit in terms of structure or system but will majorly affect your experience of your home. Built in shelving, new cabinetry or countertops, a new backsplash, wood accents or stone veneers…. there are so many possibilities of different scale, and HomeStyling Designs would love to help your remodeling dreams become a reality!
Know the Difference
There are several major advantages to working with a professional design team while remodeling your condo, the first of which is that it will be a lot easier to convince your HOA that your plans are safe, smart, and valuable if you’re working with a trusted industry professional. Many HOAs will be reluctant to let you start hacking away at your walls willy-nilly, but if you can come to them with CAD drawings and technical calculations they can not only visualize the result but will have greater confidence in your ability to effectively complete the project.
We can also help you interpret the “lawyerise” of your CC&Rs. It can often be hard for people to understand exactly what the rules and regulations are regarding their condos because of the way it’s written, but we’ll be able to help you not only interpret your CC&Rs, but also to prep for your presentation of the proposal to the HOA.
Perhaps most importantly, though, our HomeStyling Design team will help you best realize your dreams for your space and do it for less! Because HomeStyling Design charges by the square foot, and not by the hour, you’ll find that redesigning a small condo is much more affordable than redesigning a single-family home. And if you choose to work with our sister company UBuildIt, you’ll save about 30 percent in contractor fees! We can help you imagine all the potential for your condo—give us a call today!