Expert tips: Five things to never do when renovating

We’ve got a few renovations under our belt at this point and a few mistakes to go with it, but you know what they say, there are no learnings without mistakes.

Do yourself a favour and learn from my mistakes and save yourself some heartache.

1. Don’t take your eye off the pre-renovation value

One of the biggest regrets any home owner can have after a renovation is realising you’ve put more money into it than you’ll make back when it comes to selling.

It pays to know the value of your home before you renovate. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy

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So be sure to get a realistic figure by monitoring the value on realestate.com.au’s property tracking tool, which uses local sales data to estimate your home’s value.

That way you can create a realistic budget for your renovation and be sure you’re not spending too much.

2. Don’t underestimate power points

Apparently, it takes a few times to learn from this mistake. I was bummed after our first renovation to learn we hadn’t allowed for nearly enough power points, which ended up being restrictive.

It’s not until you don’t have enough power points in a space that you realise just how many plug-in items you really use.

My primary issue is that I didn’t have the capacity to power the hundreds of lamps throughout the house that I love so much.

3. Avoid delaying window coverings

Anyone in the process of costing up window coverings for the first time is probably quickly discovering just how expensive they can be.

It’s not because they come with an inflated mark-up. It’s simply the cost of time, labour and materials but for some reason, we tend not to give these things the value they deserve.

Don’t leave the decision around window coverings to the last minute. Picture: realestate.com.au

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It’s not something you want to have to fork out for at the end of a renovation when you’ve already spent more than you budgeted for, so the best thing you can do is build the cost of curtains or blinds into the cost of the build.

It’s also smart to get your window furnishings specialist in to discuss your desires at the framing stag, that way you can allow for things like recessed curtain tracks.

4. Don’t second-guess your aesthetic

Just recently, on our newly-completed renovation, I lost my way with wall colours. I decided that my blue and green joinery would only pair well with a neutral colour on the walls, which went against my usual approach of layering colour on colour.

Of course, once the whole interior was painted, we repainted it to a greeny/blue.

Don’t second-guess yourself when it comes to making design decisions. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy

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Whenever I make a decision based on fear or intimidation, I always regret it. Stick to your guns.

The only person you should answer to in your own home design and decorating is yourself.

5. Never underestimate the value of a lighting plan

After the first stage of our renovation, I quickly realised that I’d given a lot of thought to what our lights would look like but very little thought to our lighting plan.

What that meant for me is we ended up with too much overhead lighting and not enough mood lighting.

Don’t be afraid to play around with the lighting style before committing. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy

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I made sure I corrected that in the second stage and gave myself more options across the board.

You can give yourself more options just by making sure your electrician cables for options at rough-in even if you choose not to take them up at fit-off.

And my hot tip, make sure all your lights are dimmable so that you can adjust your lighting to your needs and desires.