Meet our Featured HQ Members: Every quarter we feature an active member of Homeowner HQ. This quarter, meet Leslie and Steve from Courtenay, BC. as we celebrate her completed renovation and addition.

I posted an article in Homeowner HQ a few months back from the Washington Post that has stuck with me ever since I read it. It was about a study done on homeowners and the effects of home renovation media.

At first I was a little surprised with the title because that's not entirely what's wrong with HGTV, but when you dig into the rest of the article - it's so much more than that. And it's heartbreaking.

Based on a true story. All because of that sliding doors moment when this homeowner decided to join Homeowner HQ. So let me ask you - Which experience would you choose?

TWO pivotal questions that changed my life and my view on money over the past couple of years since starting our own personal new home design and build (and I believe they will change your life and new home or renovation project too).

Trades ghosting you? I bet you’ve been there. We’ve all been there. And the construction industry is full of them. How do you handle it? Whichever side of the fence you’re on, here are two email templates to get you started.

Meet our Featured HQ Members: Every quarter we feature an active member of Homeowner HQ. This quarter, meet Erin from Pacifica, CA. as we celebrate her completed renovation / remodel.

When you have 101 decisions to make during a new home or renovation project, you're bound to have a few arguments with your partner / spouse. Okay, okay, A LOT.

Here are some ways that my clients, including my husband and I, have simplified discussions during a home project and avoided most arguments.

If you're working with an Architect, Architectural Designer, General Contractor or Project Manager, but have never had ANY experience talking about specific parts of your home, the process, and the build, it can feel seriously overwhelming just to know how to speak! We have heard so many made up words to try to describe something on a house that we thought we’d try to help out and know what the heck your team is talking about.

I know firsthand how exciting it is to undergo a new home or renovation project. But it’s also hard, overwhelming, exhausting, stressful, tiring, frustrating…

What a lot of homeowners don’t realize is…

Five years ago, I purchased a piece of property and set into motion my own new home project and all the hurdles you typically come up against. Being in the industry, it was nothing that my retired contractor dad, my machine operator husband and I, an architectural designer, couldn’t handle, but I got to see it for the first time from my clients perspective.

The results are not what I expected…

Have you ever heard the advice that if something isn’t a ‘hell yes’ it’s a ‘hell no’?

It sounds great, right? A life where everything is a simple ‘no’ when it’s lukewarm until you feel an overwhelming sense of ‘yes’ - pure confident bliss!

However, here’s the problem with that advice: There’s not a lot of Hell Yes’s in a home project (am I right?)

Design feedback is a double-edged sword. On one hand, your team wants and needs feedback to improve your project and make it better. On the other hand, your feedback can be ambiguous and not provide enough direction to get to those solutions.

Here’s how you can provide them with effective feedback, so you can work more fluid and faster together.