The BuildHer Collective: 5 tips for first-time BuildHers

Renovating or building your own home is one of the biggest investments (financially and emotionally) you can ever make. For years, the BuildHer Collective have helped women around the world make this a fun, rewarding and empowering experience. Led by dynamic Australian duo Kribashini Hannon and Rebeka Morgan, BuildHer have created a movement. In their new book, BuildHer, they’re here to share their building expertise, for women of all experience levels.

Today, Kribashini and Rebeka are on the blog to share their 5 tips for women who are looking to renovate or build their dream home. Read on!

(From left) Rebeka Morgan and Kribashini Hannon.

Building is a murky process at best. When you speak to friends and family about their own building or renovation projects, you’ll likely hear some daunting horror stories.

This will probably be followed up with some googling of questions like: Where do I start? How much does building cost? What’s the difference between an architect and draftsperson?

Suddenly it’s two years later, life is moving on, and now you really need to get your building or renovation journey underway but you’re still at square one.

This sequence of events is probably one of the most common experience we hear about at BuildHer Collective. You are not alone. BuildHer was started because we were hearing so many horror stories about building from friends, and we wanted to do something to help would-be renovators and builders, especially women. Having built, renovated and refurnished homes and other buildings for years, we know a few tricks to the trade of getting stuff built.

Here are five of our top tips for first-time BuildHers.

1. Determine if you need to renovate or extend

Getting this right is key. Once you determine your need to either renovate an existing space or extend it, that decision dictates how big the job is and sets you on the right pathway with designers, builders and trades. Some homes are large enough but lack flow and don’t suit the way you’d like to live, and this can be fixed by a simple renovation. Others are simply too small and clearly need an extension.

2. Have a contingency plan

Contingencies are vital for covering the what-ifs. What happens if you need more money to complete the works because you run over budget? What will you do if you get sick (think insurance here)? What if your family changes shape? Setting aside additional funds for unforeseen circumstances can lighten the load, and if you arrive at the end of your renovation without needing to spend this money then you have an absolute win on your hands.

3. Get inspired online and set your BuildHer vision

We are so lucky today with the amount of digital content accessible from Australia and around the world you can check out for inspiration. Get start pinning and saving images of renovations or builds that you love. Our top tip is to narrow your top picks to three when you show your design team. Some great places to get inspiration are The Local Project, Lunch Box Architect, The Design Files, and The Interiors Addict. We offer some great downloadable resources on our website too!

4. Have a think about how YOU want to live in your home

Depending on who you decide to hire to help you with your design, you’re probably going to get asked about this! Get your thinking cap on so you’re prepared with some answers. Design and building is all about making decisions and, honestly, a bit of compromise. Think about the flow of your daily actions. Where would you like to enter your home and put down your keys? How do you want to be connected to the garden? Do you need to keep tabs on the kids when they’re in the backyard? What hobbies do you undertake at home? All these things feed into how your home will be designed.

5. Get excited!

If you can afford to renovate, build or extend your home, then you get to be at the core of making it perfect for you and your family. This is a massive gift! Don’t worry about all the hard bits – they will be forgotten about once the project is complete. Focus on the potential you have for creating a space that is individually you and enhances the way you connect with your loved ones and nature.

Building and renovating is fun when you have the right people around you!

xx

Kribashini & Rebeka

—BuildHer by Kribashini Hannon & Rebeka Morgan (Smith Street Books) is out now.

This book is part of our Mother’s Day Gift Guide

BuildHer

Empowering women to build & renovate their Australian dream home

by Kribashini Hannon & Rebeka Morgan

Renovating or building your own home is one of the biggest investments (financially and emotionally) you can ever make. For years, the BuildHer Collective have helped women around the world make this a fun, rewarding and empowering experience. Led by dynamic Australian duo Kribashini Hannon and Rebeka Morgan, BuildHer have created a movement...

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