Upgrading Your Home — 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

Modifying or extending your home to suit your current and future needs can be a daunting task and it is easy to feel overwhelmed by constant 'horror stories' — ones that often make good television.

In reality, upgrading your home is one of the most rewarding experiences in life and even more so when you have the opportunity to co-create it with the right team of professionals, who understanding your needs, lifestyle and preferences to the finest detail.

If you're considering embarking on an extension, renovation or upgrade project on your home, TINTO Founder Rich Tinto has identified these 5 key questions to ask before you begin...

Q1: How well do you know where you live?

Are you clear about what works well, what doesn’t and what you would like to achieve? Taking the time to consider this sets you up for success.

As architects and interior designers, if we truly understand your fears and aspirations, we can address them directly and with maximum benefit to your future enjoyment of your home.


Q2: Do you definitely need to extend?
It’s easy to jump to a solution without first really appraising and maximising the space you have, pound for pound. Extending will cost about double what a really well-considered remodel can.

Working with what you have is a great starting point and moving onto an extension project will come naturally if more space is required.


Q3: What do I want from my architect?
The relationship you build with your chosen architect will hugely rely on trust. There will be highs and lows through the journey and knowing that you can speak openly and honestly with them ensures that they can share in the journey and achieve maximum impact through their work.

If in doubt, shop around and make sure the relationship is 100% right for you.

Q4: What am I willing to invest and how?
Modifying or extending is as much an emotional investment as a financial one. The reality is that usually you will not immediately or in the short term see a return on the capital you invest.

The good news, however, is that for most the commitment to modify or extend means making a medium or long term commitment to their home. Balance up what this means over the long term before committing to an aspirational level of investment.

Any thinking should include allow 25% over for things like professional fees, contingencies and furnishing too.


Q5: Ask yourself — what if it's not the right move?
It's absolutely ok to ask this. Much of our work as professionals is in supporting clients to understand what might (and might not) be achievable with their home. Sometimes, you need to move.

The process can feel a bit underwhelming, but in working through your ideas with a professional you can be sure that, whatever the outcome, it’s the right decision for you.

— Rich Tinto

For more information about how we work closely with clients on upgrading, remodelling and extending projects, get in touch to start the discussion.

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