How To Survive A Home Renovation: Tips From A Pro (NAPSA)—Tackling a home renovation can be costly and time consuming—butit doesn’t have to be a headache. There are ways to minimize thestress. An 18-month-long renovation was recently completed at the Marriott London Grosvenor Square Hotel. The renovation took place with a minimal amount of disruption and inconvenience, thanks in large part to Ilse Mohr, executive housekeeper. Based on her experience, Mohroffers several suggestions to help your renovation and cleanup go smoothly: 1. Work from a predefined plan. If you don’t, you'll have no clear direction for the builders, and no recourseif things aren’t right. 2. Decide what you want to achieve. For example, in the hotel’s executive lounge, the goal was to create a comfortable yet functional place where guests could come to relax, eat and drink,socialize or get work done. There needed to be a hospitality desk, area to answer email, comfortable and flexible seating, an area to watch television and kitchenfacilities. To reduce stress during a renovation, work from a predefined plan and establish a good rela- tionship with your builder. and maximize convenience. 6. In the bathroom,if you want a stand-up shower, install a hand shower. Not only can the shower be adjusted to a person’s height, you can also take the showerheadoff and useit to clean the bathtub. 7. Be cautious when choosing material for walls and floors. Limestone, for example, is popular but porous and takesa long timeto dry. Shiny surfaces, such as marble, need to be treated and sealed. 8. When cleaning, start in one area and work your way around, cleaning one surface, one cupboard at a time until you’re back at the 3. Minimize changes. It’s too easy to change things in midstream, but you'll incur significant extra costs and much more time— even for minor changes. 4. Keep the endin sight. Keep a drawing or rendering of the finished product nearby to cheer you through the upheaval. vacuuming is always thelast thing to do. kind of food you will prepare and what you'll need. Don’t place a refrigerator (cold) beside the stovetop (hot). Place everything within faces, because just about any chemical cleaner or polishing solution will build up and makea surface sticky or dull. For more infor- 5. In the kitchen, decide what reach to minimize walking around starting point again. 9. Don’t dust until you’ve made the bed (which makes more dust); 10. Be careful in cleaning sur- mation, visit www.marriott.com.
