You have just bought an apartment or a house: where do you begin?

When you receive the keys to a new property, you often want to get started right away: choosing the kitchen, repainting, ordering furniture...

However, the first step should be much simpler: think about how you will actually live in this space.

Start by defining the spaces

Before starting any work, you must determine the function of each room, the flow of movement, and the placement of important elements. Where will the sofa go? The television? The table? Do you need an office? More storage? How will you move around on a daily basis?

Even when an apartment seems well-laid out, it was designed for the people who lived there before you. Their habits are not necessarily yours.

Plan the layout before the work

Electricity, lighting, plumbing, and certain partition walls depend directly on the future layout.

A simple example: installing a socket in the wrong place can leave cables visible behind the television. A kitchen ordered too quickly may be beautiful, but less pleasant to use if the flow of movement hasn't been sufficiently considered.

It is often the decisions made before the work that determine the quality of the final result.

See the potential before replacing

A poorly organized room is not necessarily a bad room. Moving a function, utilizing a recess, creating storage, or simply reconsidering the layout can sometimes completely change the way a space is used.

Before replacing a kitchen, buying a large wardrobe, or planning custom-made furniture, it is therefore worthwhile to look at what the space could become, and not just what it is today.

Doing things in the right order

Whether with a large budget or a smaller one, establishing priorities primarily helps to better use the available money.

Some things can wait. Others become much more complicated and costly to modify once the work is finished.

And what about decoration?

It comes naturally once the foundations are laid. When the volumes, flow, functions, and needs are clear, choosing materials, colors, and furniture becomes much easier. Decoration no longer tries to correct the space: it comes to complete something that has already been thought through.

Getting support from the start

This is precisely a part of my job that I particularly enjoy: looking at a space, understanding how its future occupants will live in it, and seeing its potential before starting to transform it.

This does not necessarily mean undertaking major work. Sometimes, a few decisions made at the right time are enough to avoid errors, useless purchases, or costly modifications later on.

With YAV Coaching, I can help you define this direction before you continue the project yourself. With YAV Design, we can go further into the design process and plan the entire project before its realization.

Before starting the work, start with the plan.