Why you need a professional to manage your next renovation – Interview with a Client

• Client: full-time executive in national role for a global company

• Property: townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms

• Renovation objective: update the kitchen, laundry and powder room

360 Renovation Consulting (“360”) – Cathy, it was a pleasure working with you, and we really appreciate your time in doing this interview. Can you please start by telling our readers a bit about yourself and the project?

Cathy – I’d decided to renovate my kitchen (original to my 1990’s townhouse built) and just assumed I would arrange everything myself. As someone who loves to cook and entertain, I knew exactly what I wanted.

At the time of the renovation, I was the national manager in a large global company. The job was very demanding and involved a fair bit of travel around the country working with project teams as well as managing my BAU function. Weekends didn’t really exist at this time so not sure how I thought I was going to manage a renovation as well!

I had been wanting to do the renovation for some time but the thought of being without a kitchen, having my home turned upside down during the renovation and having to take time out of a very busy work schedule prevented me from getting it done.

360 – How did you hear about us and what made you engage us to design and deliver your project?

Cathy – I had heard of 360 Renovation Consulting from a friend who has used your Interior Decoration service and decided to call them for a chat. I knew what I wanted and had had plans finalised – I just wanted someone to project manage the renovation, to be there for delivery of materials, to organise and schedule the different trades and to make sure everything went to plan. Knowing what they do now, I would definitely call them in earlier to provide a plan as well.

From our first conversation what impressed me was Vinti’s honesty and professionalism. She has a good technical understanding and was quickly able to point out changes (without compromising on quality) which would enable me to also renovate my laundry/powder room within my original budget!

Given everything else that was going on at the time I was confident in having Vinti handle the whole project. I just didn’t have the time to run around and find product, get quotes from tradesmen not to mention overseeing them and keeping them on track for the duration of the renovation. It saved me so much time and stress. I think it might have all gone into the “Too Hard” basket if I hadn’t engaged 360 Renovation Consulting. Like many others I worked long days/weekends and was beginning to wonder how I’d manage to juggle it all.

360 – What did you think about our interior decoration and design recommendations?

Cathy – I’m so happy with my kitchen! You quickly understood my needs, the challenges with my current kitchen and what I wanted from the renovation in terms of look and function. Understanding that I’m a keen traveller you were able to give me the “European” look that I wanted

I was really impressed with your ideas, and the options you gave me such as keeping the kitchen cabinetry and replacing the doors, drawer fronts and handles. I was also surprised with an option to transform the old laminate benchtops to look and feel like granite at a fraction of the cost of granite benchtops! Importantly you didn’t push me – rather you provided the options and let me make the decisions.

Your advice to get the living room painted at the same time I was renovating the kitchen made so much sense and prevented future upheaval! It also saved a lot of money (and hassle) as the painters didn’t have to come back again. The whole ground floor looks great. It’s made such a difference over the last couple of years while I’ve been working from home.

What I valued most was the practicality of your advice. You understood me, my budget and what I wanted to achieve. The biggest surprise was that the total including your interior decoration and implementation fees were no more than my budget for doing it myself. That’s the value of having someone with relationships in the industry.

360 – You initially came to see us for our Implementation and Installation service but when you understand that we also offered interior decoration services, you had us review your plans and make suggestions. What sealed the deal for you?

Cathy – For me there were four aspects:

• The fixed price service offer was really attractive. Importantly, the implementation and installation service fees were based entirely on your time and expertise, rather than as a percentage of the project cost.

• Your ability to access trade discounts and pass these on was a significant part of keeping my project within budget.

• You could speak the same language as the tradespeople (which I certainly don’t!) This meant you were able to explain things in a way that I could understand, provide me with options, costs, pros and cons. This allowed me to feel in control of the project, understanding what was happening all the time.

• Confirmation from other clients regarding the fact that you would deliver what you said you would.

All four aspects were important to me. For many renovation services, the professional service is included in the overall cost and it’s hard to really know what the cost of this advice is. I really liked the fact that I knew what your fee was and that it wasn’t affected by project and material costs.

Most importantly though was the fact that you took the stress out of kitchen renovation for me. I couldn’t afford to be chasing trades and having to be at home to provide them with access (pre-Covid). Being without a kitchen isn’t ideal and I wanted it completed without delay once we started. Having Vinti there as my eyes and ears (and let’s not forget being able to understand the terms tradespeople use!) just made it so easy. For any future renovation project I wouldn’t hesitate to use 360 Renovation Consulting.