Renovating? Design Experts Share the Mistakes to Avoid
Four interiors bloggers offer nuggets of advice they’ve gleaned during their own renovation journeys
Amanda Pollard
6 March 2018
Senior Editor at Houzz UK and Ireland. Journalist and editor specialising in interiors and architecture.
Senior Editor at Houzz UK and Ireland. Journalist and editor specialising in interiors... More
“You live and learn” is certainly a phrase that can be applied to a home renovation. When the job is finally completed, there are usually plenty of tips, tricks and absolute no-nos you can take on board for your next project. Here, four seasoned interiors bloggers tell us what they’ve learned from the building works they’ve completed in their own homes.
Real-life tips and tricks from:
Abi Dare of These Four Walls; Caroline Rowland of Patchwork Harmony, Lisa Dawson of Lisa Dawson Styling; Maxine Brady of We Love Home
This article is from our Most Popular stories file
Real-life tips and tricks from:
Abi Dare of These Four Walls; Caroline Rowland of Patchwork Harmony, Lisa Dawson of Lisa Dawson Styling; Maxine Brady of We Love Home
This article is from our Most Popular stories file
Live in your home first
It’s tempting to get straight to work as soon as you’ve moved into a new home, but Abi Dare says she prefers to wait a while. “If you can, take time to live in your home and experience it on a day-to-day basis before embarking on a big project. This will give you chance to work out how you use the space, assess how the light falls, and get a feel for what improvements would make the biggest difference,” she says. “I know it’s tempting to rush into making decisions, but taking things slowly will give you much better results in the long run.
“For example, opening up the ground floor to create a large kitchen-diner would seem like the obvious thing to do in my home, but I’m not sure it’s the best decision for me,” she says. “I’m taking the time to work out how I really want to use the space before removing walls that are hard to put back.”
It’s tempting to get straight to work as soon as you’ve moved into a new home, but Abi Dare says she prefers to wait a while. “If you can, take time to live in your home and experience it on a day-to-day basis before embarking on a big project. This will give you chance to work out how you use the space, assess how the light falls, and get a feel for what improvements would make the biggest difference,” she says. “I know it’s tempting to rush into making decisions, but taking things slowly will give you much better results in the long run.
“For example, opening up the ground floor to create a large kitchen-diner would seem like the obvious thing to do in my home, but I’m not sure it’s the best decision for me,” she says. “I’m taking the time to work out how I really want to use the space before removing walls that are hard to put back.”
Do your research
It pays to spend time planning and organising your design project before you get started. One piece of advice that Caroline Rowland has gleaned is to, “Research, research, research! Take your time working out exactly what you want and finding out whether you can afford it or not,” she says. “If not, then look into ways in which you can make your budget go as far as possible.”
See ingenious ideas for maxing the height of your rear extension
It pays to spend time planning and organising your design project before you get started. One piece of advice that Caroline Rowland has gleaned is to, “Research, research, research! Take your time working out exactly what you want and finding out whether you can afford it or not,” she says. “If not, then look into ways in which you can make your budget go as far as possible.”
See ingenious ideas for maxing the height of your rear extension
Get the basics right
When you have a lot of decorating jobs going on at the same time, you’ll probably need to cut costs in certain areas – but don’t make the mistake of scrimping on the important stuff. Lisa Dawson says, “I’m a hugely transient decorator and am always working on a project, but the one thing I’ve learned is to make sure the basics are solid. So I’ll always err on the side of good-quality paint, wallpaper and flooring that will last. I’ll spend my budget on these items, then everything else can work around them.”
Discover how four bloggers are attempting to reduce plastic in their homes
When you have a lot of decorating jobs going on at the same time, you’ll probably need to cut costs in certain areas – but don’t make the mistake of scrimping on the important stuff. Lisa Dawson says, “I’m a hugely transient decorator and am always working on a project, but the one thing I’ve learned is to make sure the basics are solid. So I’ll always err on the side of good-quality paint, wallpaper and flooring that will last. I’ll spend my budget on these items, then everything else can work around them.”
Discover how four bloggers are attempting to reduce plastic in their homes
Follow your own path
When you’re finding inspiration for your design project and perhaps saving images to your Houzz ideabook, try to keep your own needs and style very firmly in mind.
“It’s sometimes hard not to be drawn to trends,” Lisa says. “The only regret I’ve ever had when decorating our current home is using a very dark grey in a living space. It’s a really popular colour, but, for my family, it wasn’t a positive tone and no one wanted to use the room as it was gloomy, even on a bright day. I think dark paints look amazing, but it’s a personal choice and, for me, it confirmed my space makes me happy when it’s light and bright.”
Abi can relate to that. “This time around I want to design for myself and the way I live, rather than making changes just because they’re popular,” she says.
When you’re finding inspiration for your design project and perhaps saving images to your Houzz ideabook, try to keep your own needs and style very firmly in mind.
“It’s sometimes hard not to be drawn to trends,” Lisa says. “The only regret I’ve ever had when decorating our current home is using a very dark grey in a living space. It’s a really popular colour, but, for my family, it wasn’t a positive tone and no one wanted to use the room as it was gloomy, even on a bright day. I think dark paints look amazing, but it’s a personal choice and, for me, it confirmed my space makes me happy when it’s light and bright.”
Abi can relate to that. “This time around I want to design for myself and the way I live, rather than making changes just because they’re popular,” she says.
Remember, less is sometimes more
Want to add some personality to your home? That doesn’t always mean you have to make a huge statement. In fact, a simple overall design can often give you scope to be flamboyant with the details.
“I’m currently redecorating my hall,” Lisa says, “and I’m hugely tempted by brightly coloured, patterned stair runners, but I know this choice would leave me very restricted as to what else I could pull into the hall décor. As someone who likes frequent changes, it’s not a good option. By keeping the runner choice subtle, it’s far easier for me to add pattern and colour to the surrounding space.
“I also keep my walls fairly neutral and avoid strong colours,” she says. “I’m an avid collector, so a plain backdrop is the most versatile when it comes to displaying prints and accessories. If I use wallpaper, it will be as a feature in itself and I’ll leave it unadorned and let the neutral walls take the impact of any additional colour I want to add.”
Want to add some personality to your home? That doesn’t always mean you have to make a huge statement. In fact, a simple overall design can often give you scope to be flamboyant with the details.
“I’m currently redecorating my hall,” Lisa says, “and I’m hugely tempted by brightly coloured, patterned stair runners, but I know this choice would leave me very restricted as to what else I could pull into the hall décor. As someone who likes frequent changes, it’s not a good option. By keeping the runner choice subtle, it’s far easier for me to add pattern and colour to the surrounding space.
“I also keep my walls fairly neutral and avoid strong colours,” she says. “I’m an avid collector, so a plain backdrop is the most versatile when it comes to displaying prints and accessories. If I use wallpaper, it will be as a feature in itself and I’ll leave it unadorned and let the neutral walls take the impact of any additional colour I want to add.”
Find good tradespeople
An extremely valuable piece of advice is to rigorously check the people you hire for the job. Look at their Houzz profile, read the reviews and check out their portfolio. If you know people who’ve used them, try to visit their homes and ask plenty of questions. “Do your research into the tradespeople you use,” Caroline says. “It can make a huge difference to the end result.
“I wouldn’t let a particular tradesman bully me into paying him before he completed the job. I wasn’t entirely happy with the end result, but once they’ve got their money, the chances of seeing them again to rectify the problem are slim,” she adds.
Read reviews of tradespeople in your area in the Houzz Directory
An extremely valuable piece of advice is to rigorously check the people you hire for the job. Look at their Houzz profile, read the reviews and check out their portfolio. If you know people who’ve used them, try to visit their homes and ask plenty of questions. “Do your research into the tradespeople you use,” Caroline says. “It can make a huge difference to the end result.
“I wouldn’t let a particular tradesman bully me into paying him before he completed the job. I wasn’t entirely happy with the end result, but once they’ve got their money, the chances of seeing them again to rectify the problem are slim,” she adds.
Read reviews of tradespeople in your area in the Houzz Directory
Tap into expert advice
When you do find tradespeople you can trust, make the most of their expertise, says Maxine Brady. “I’m really glad I listened to my builder. The Building Regulations inspector insisted halfway through my project that I had to insulate the walls. This made my kitchen 30cm smaller all the way around. The impact of this loss of space affected the layout of my kitchen cabinets, but luckily my builder managed to squeeze all my units in by making some of them slightly smaller,” she says.
“He also suggested putting an extra window over my kitchen sink, which floods my kitchen with natural light and enables me to look at my garden,” she adds.
See more of Maxine Brady’s kitchen makeover
Tell us…
What lessons have you learned from your home renovations? Is there anything you’d do differently next time? Share your tips and experiences in the Comments section.
When you do find tradespeople you can trust, make the most of their expertise, says Maxine Brady. “I’m really glad I listened to my builder. The Building Regulations inspector insisted halfway through my project that I had to insulate the walls. This made my kitchen 30cm smaller all the way around. The impact of this loss of space affected the layout of my kitchen cabinets, but luckily my builder managed to squeeze all my units in by making some of them slightly smaller,” she says.
“He also suggested putting an extra window over my kitchen sink, which floods my kitchen with natural light and enables me to look at my garden,” she adds.
See more of Maxine Brady’s kitchen makeover
Tell us…
What lessons have you learned from your home renovations? Is there anything you’d do differently next time? Share your tips and experiences in the Comments section.
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Emma, agreed. I priced for some curtains for a second bedroom £380 (!) through an online site that including making and blackout lining, the fabric was just £15 a metre. It is a slightly awkward window (rather wide, but not deep), but even so that is a lot of money for what was probably very ordinary quality fabric at best. Decent fabric seems hard to find nowadays. I am lucky that I have some curtains that my mother made for me from some beautiful fabric (glazed cotton - what ever happened to that?) from John Lewis that I adapt as required.
We installed a kitchen without handles on the doors. Now we are forever wiping off fingerprints. Next time we’ll have door handles.