Edmonton Fall Home Show: Take on that renovation with confidence

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You might be putting off that desperately needed kitchen renovation because you’re a perfectionist. If you can’t do it perfectly, on time and on budget, then it’s easier to just not start. Or, maybe you just need someone like interior specialist Jennifer Woch of House of J Interior Design to encourage the first step.

Woch has been working with Edmonton homeowners for the past 25 years, either designing and executing renovations or acting as creative consultant for do-it-yourselfers. During her career she’s helped countless clients wrestle with a common problem: how to plan a renovation, where to start on the project and who to contact for help.

“They know what they want to renovate but getting going is a problem. They need help getting their ducks in a line before pulling the trigger,” she says.

Woch will share her roadmap to renovation with audiences at the 2024 Edmonton Fall Home Show, running Oct. 18 to 20 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. It’s a step-by-step strategy she has developed and fine tuned for home show attendees who are already there searching for ideas and inspiration.

“I list the decisions to make today, the decisions you can wait on and share who the people you need to connect with might be,” she says.

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The milestones on her Renovation Roadmap include the following.

Planning: Gather images from inspirational apps and websites or rip out pictures from decorating magazines and make a vision board. At this point, it doesn’t matter if the style you like is too expensive or hard to pull off. This step helps identify a style and categorizes your priorities.

Window Shopping: Go on a field trip to tile stores, flooring retailers or kitchen places. Explore what’s out there without any expectation that it will all be planned by the time you leave. This helps confirm the choices as illustrated on your vision board, or it might draw you in another direction. It will also inform your budget. “It’s important to see what you can get locally. You might not be able to get that big, wonderful thing you want, or you might find it and discover it has a big, wonderful price as well,” she says.

Hard Choices: What will you splurge on, what will you economize on? Kitchen cabinets will take a huge chunk of your budget, so you may want to “cheap out” on the back splash. Consider how long you will be in your home. Do you want your vinyl plank flooring to last five years or 20? Does it matter to you if that less expensive quartz countertop starts to yellow in the next few years?

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Who You Gonna Call: Many people are comfortable handling cosmetic renovations but infrastructure upgrades involving electricity, plumbing, heating or cooling systems might best be farmed out. Homeowners who aren’t connected with the trades should consult a general contractor who is. You want someone with a solid team behind them, Woch says, someone who is not randomly picking and choosing people.

When Confidence Wanes: Choosing the right style, the correct colour, the appropriate design can be tough. No one wants to renovate their renovation. Field trips help narrow the field so that people can build their design puzzle one piece at a time. Or they can book a consultation with an interior designer for advice.

“I help a lot of customers with this problem. I can look at their choices, make recommendations, maybe pull something out and put something else in. Often, they just need clarity and for someone else to say yes, this is good or no, it’s not.”

Woch will spread out her roadmap during two Main Stage presentations at the Edmonton Fall Home Show. She’s also on the panel in the Ask Us Live feature with Toronto-based designer Karl Lohnes, founding editor of Style at Home Magazine.

Presentation times are listed at edmontonfallhomeshow.com. Tickets are available at the door or save $2 per ticket by purchasing online.

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