Choosing a contractor, and what to ask them
How to compare three quotations that are not comparable, and the questions that tell you more than the price does.
On site · Tomas Brill
5 minute read
Journal
Seven things we get asked often enough to write down properly.
No trends, no product round ups, no seasonal colour predictions. These are the answers we would give you in the kitchen, set down at the length the question deserves. Most recent first.
How to budget a renovation without lying to yourself
Where renovation budgets actually go, why the first number is always wrong, and how to build one you can defend.
Money · Tomas Brill
5 minute read
Lighting a room in layers
One bright light in the middle of the ceiling is the reason your room feels flat. Here is what to put in instead.
Lighting · Cait Redfern
5 minute read
Planning kitchen storage around what you own
Most kitchen storage is designed around a standard layout and then filled with a specific life. Do it the other way round.
Kitchens · Cait Redfern
4 minute read
What it is really like to work on a listed building
Listed building consent, what actually needs it, how long it takes, and the two mistakes that cause most of the trouble.
Old buildings · Tomas Brill
4 minute read
Choosing paint for a north facing room
Why the warm colour you picked to cheer up a north facing room turned muddy, why brilliant white is the worst choice, and what to do instead.
Colour · Cait Redfern
5 minute read
Living in the house while the work happens
Staying put saves money and costs something else. What to set up in week zero so the project and the household both survive.
On site · Tomas Brill
4 minute read
Read next
The journal entries come out of the projects. Both are worth reading together.