I rarely completely renovate the whole house all at once unless some really major change happens, like more sims moving in.
But I am constantly going in and out of build mode as I play to make adjustments to the placement of things, add an additional room, add new items, or remove items, as their needs change. And I make whatever aesthetic changes I want to make as they get more money, like adding curtains, or a nicer wallpaper. So the house is just sort of slowly evolving over time rather than being completely redone periodically.
If I do want to make major changes (such as building a whole second structure on the lot, adding a lot of additional rooms, renovating the yard, or majorly changing the main function of an existing room) I often do it in stages, interspersing the build sessions with continuing to play the story even if there is enough money to do it all at once. That way it's like the new place is actually being built, the way it would be in real life, and the sims can go check out the progress as it takes shape over the course of several days or weeks. The renovation becomes part of the story that way.
