Shelve the romantic notions about managing a property refurbishment project and consider a few realities. Some people are born to manage a property refurbishment and others, well, just aren’t. If the very thought of it makes your blood run cold – consider that it’s a skill that runs through the blood of director Simon Edkins at Cream & Browne.

From refurbishing a single room right through to taking on an entire estate (complete with outbuildings, gardens and the odd lodge house), the key to a successful renovation is project management. It’s a complicated juggle of resources – schedules, suppliers, materials and budget. When one of your resources gets out of hand, everything else unbalances.

“Refurbishment projects are both an art and a science” explained Simon. “We work creatively with clients to get the brief exactly right and then comes the science part. We create a schedule that lists everything that needs to be done in exactly the right order. We then orchestrate the whole thing – negotiating best deals on purchases and suppliers – before bringing all the elements together in the correct sequence, on time and within budget.”

Knowing what you want from a project is very different to making it happen. This is probably why Cream & Browne is asked to help out anywhere along the production schedule, often when things have become too much in terms of responsibility, time or experience.

If refurbishment planning is something you want to be able to achieve, a good compromise can be found if you work alongside your refurbishment team, getting to understand the processes involved and the skills needed to manage such projects. Ask us if you need to know more.