Plan Like a Pro: Kitchen Renovation Quick-Start Guide
Free course: the planning framework an NCIDQ-certified designer uses on every project. Covers budget, contractors, and decisions in the right order. Start now.
- Lessons
- 6 lessons
- Duration
- 60 min
Most homeowners plan their renovation with Pinterest. That is not a plan.
Cristina DePina is an NCIDQ-certified interior designer involved in 200+ renovations. Renoversity™ is where her professional frameworks replace the guesswork, before you sign a single contract.
- Renovation projects
- 200+
- Years in interior design
- 20
- Certified Interior Designer
- NCIDQ
I built Renoversity™ because I kept watching the same thing happen.
Homeowners would spend months, sometimes years, on Pinterest and Instagram. They'd save hundreds of photos, fall in love with finishes, and build a vision that felt completely real. Then they'd walk into their first contractor meeting with no idea what to ask, no realistic sense of what anything cost, and no understanding of what decisions had to happen before anything else could.
Earlier in my career I spent time on the sales side of a design-build firm, meeting with hundreds of homeowners at the very start of their renovation journey. The same gaps showed up every single time. No budget framework. No sense of sequence. No idea what questions to ask or what the answers should sound like.
The information to fill those gaps isn't secret. It just lives inside the heads of experienced designers and contractors who get paid well to share it, one project at a time. I've spent 20 years collecting it across 200+ real renovations, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, whole-home overhauls, and I decided it was time to put it somewhere more useful.
Not inspiration content. Not "top 10 tile trends." The actual frameworks:
How to scope your project before you get a single bid
How to build a budget that accounts for what always goes wrong
How to evaluate contractors so you're not guessing who to trust
How to stay in control of your own home, start to finish
If you're planning a kitchen, a bathroom, or a full renovation in the next 12 months, this is the preparation that protects your investment. I've done this 200 times. Let me show you how it works.
— Cristina DePina, NCIDQThe National Council for Interior Design Qualification - the gold standard licensing exam for professional interior designers in the U.S. and Canada. Passing it requires a combination of accredited education, supervised work experience, and a rigorous multi-part exam. Designers who hold NCIDQ certification have met the highest professional benchmark in the field. It's the equivalent of passing the bar exam for lawyers.-Certified Interior Designer
Not an influencer. An actual designer.
Cristina DePina holds an NCIDQThe National Council for Interior Design Qualification - the gold standard licensing exam for professional interior designers in the U.S. and Canada. Passing it requires a combination of accredited education, supervised work experience, and a rigorous multi-part exam. Designers who hold NCIDQ certification have met the highest professional benchmark in the field. It's the equivalent of passing the bar exam for lawyers. certification, the gold standard for professional interior designers, earned through rigorous exams and documented project experience.
Browse the Courses
Over 20 years and 200+ projects, she has worked directly with contractors, managed budgets, and caught the mistakes that could turn a $60,000 kitchen remodel into a $90,000 one. That field experience is what separates Renoversity™ from a mood board and generic advice.
The courses on this platform reflect the actual frameworks Cristina uses with private clients, the same decision trees, contractor vetting systems, and budget guardrails that keep projects on track.
Built from real projects, not content calendars.
Construction knowledge included
Cristina has spent 20 years working directly alongside trades on real projects. She teaches you how the work actually gets done so you can hold contractors accountable, not just take their word for it.
Decisions in the right order
Most renovation mistakes happen because decisions get made too early or too late. Renoversity™ teaches you the sequence, what to decide and when, so nothing gets torn out and redone.
Budget protection built in
Across 200+ projects, Cristina has seen every way a renovation budget goes sideways. The courses address those failure points directly, with real numbers and real contingency strategies.
Contractor negotiation skills
You'll know what to ask, what to red-flag, and how to read a bid so you're choosing a contractor on the right criteria, not just the lowest quote.
Designed for your scale
This isn't content made for flippers or developers. It's built for homeowners managing a $30K–$200K renovation, people with real stakes and no professional backup.
Design decisions that actually work
Good design functions as well as it looks. Renoversity™ teaches you how to evaluate layouts, finishes, and materials the way a professional would, before anything gets ordered or installed.
Frequently asked questions
- No. The frameworks apply to any renovation: bathrooms, additions, whole-home projects, even outdoor spaces. The kitchen examples are used throughout because kitchens are the most common and most expensive renovation homeowners tackle.
- None. Renoversity is built for homeowners with no professional background. The courses translate professional frameworks into plain language anyone can use.
- YouTube shows you what happens. Renoversity teaches you how to manage it. There is no curriculum, no sequence, and no tools in a YouTube channel. Renoversity gives you a complete system.
Popular renovation courses
The Renovation Blueprint, Part 1: Planning and Budgeting
Set a real budget, define your scope, and walk into every contractor conversation prepared.
- Lessons
- 3 lessons
- Duration
- 30 min
The Layered Lighting Plan
Lighting is one of the most overlooked parts of a renovation, and can be one of the hardest to fix once it’s done. This course walks you through it step by step, so you’re not guessing or relying on someone else to make those decisions for you
- Lessons
- 8 lessons
- Duration
- 60 min
Your renovation deserves more than a mood board and a prayer.
Picture walking into your contractor meeting knowing exactly what to ask, what a fair bid looks like, and how to spot a red flag before it costs you. That is what preparation looks like. That is what Renoversity teaches.
Start for Free