Blueprint for Design

I wanted to come back to a topic from a previous post.

How to organize for a construction project.

Whether you’re planning that house addition or new office, you need a way to juggle all those thoughts.  You might be clipping magazine articles, taking photos of examples, talking to friends and family, researching manufacturers online, sketching ideas, accumulating prices and interviewing possible contractors… Whew!

You need a central location to keep all that stuff.  Maybe you’re more comfortable with some cool computer program. Or, maybe you just want to keep it low-tech, like me.

One of the toughest battles in working on a project is staying motivated.  And, we know that motivation can sometimes need a kick in the pants from time to time.  That’s where the Binder comes in.

Get a big binder.

You might be tempted to steal your kid’s trapper keeper. I know I loved mine… But, buy a large one.  One that you can stuff!  I can’t count how many times I had to upgrade my binders as a project grew.

Get the kind that you can slip a piece of paper on the cover and the binding so you can label the binder.  Come up with a cool name for your project, too.  (I won’t go there. I’ll let you come up with your own…) You can put the name and other important contact info on the outside!

Tab it!

Here’s the fun part. You need to begin to classify all the stuff.  I like to use: Examples, Site, Prices, Schedules, Contacts, Contractors, Sketches. Your tabs should be tailored to the project type. These are just to get the ball rolling.

I like to put the papers in the binder chronologically. So, newer stuff goes to the front of the category.

Change is Good.

Every week, I would sit down and go through everything in your binder. It will help you identify upcoming tasks that need to be completed. Did I mention how much I liked Post-its??

photo credit: e-magic