Renovation Solutions: Top remodeling challenges decoded

A recent survey on Houzz.com shared the top five remodeling challenges for U.S. homeowners.

Trina Knudsen

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We recently saw an interesting survey of homeowners posted on Houzz.com titled "Transforming the American Home: Findings from the 2014 Houzz and Home Survey." Houzz is a website that posts literally millions of pictures of homes and everything to do with them, including the kitchen sink. It is a great resource for gathering and communicating ideas if you are considering building or remodeling a home.

The study surveyed 200,000 Houzz.com users across the world and discovered general patterns and perceptions in the current remodeling and housing market, including some of the most common challenges. The top renovation challenges identified by the survey were: "finding the right products to use," "defining my style," "making decisions with my spouse or partner," "staying on schedule" and "educating myself."

As architects, the most obvious thing about the results is that design was not mentioned as a challenge. We do not think this is because it is so easy but because people often overlook it as the first and most basic element of a great project. We also find it interesting that undertaking the design process with an architect can lessen (and in many cases eliminate) the challenges named in the Houzz survey. Bear with us as we put on our architects' hats and take a look at the survey results:

Forty percent of those surveyed identified the greatest renovation challenge to be finding the right products to use. This may stem from the fact that we are bombarded with an overabundance of information in this day of the Internet. Rather than having too little from which to choose, we have the opposite problem: Like a single person who cant commit because something better may come along at any time, we have issues making a choice due to the fear that we are missing something better that we havent yet discovered.

As challenging as selecting products may be, remember that even the most superior products installed in an inferior design cannot save the day. A poor floor plan that directs traffic through a kitchen instead of past it will still function poorly despite the most amazing gas range. We have been known to use the phrase, Dont put lipstick on the pig.

The second greatest challenge identified by 29 percent of those surveyed was "defining my style." While this may be a personal quest to learn about oneself, an architect can help by discussing the style of the existing structure in terms of materials, the shape of the house, also known as massing, and historical context.

Lets say a homeowner determines her preferred style to be Craftsman. She can then select a lovely Craftsman front door and sidelight, the design of which delights her. However, installing that terrific Craftsman door in her mid-century modern home will not be as successful of a curb appeal update as she may have hoped. Unless a complete tear-down is contemplated, an effective remodel will require a subtle blending of the owners style with the style of the home itself.

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Renovation Solutions: Top remodeling challenges decoded