We’re getting real. We had no idea what we were doing when we bought our first house 25 years ago. We’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years (and still do!). Hopefully, you will benefit from some our biggest mistakes.
- Skipping on prep. Trying to get to the fun part of the project by not throughly preparing always ends up taking more time and more work and more money. Put the time in in the beginning.
- Measuring. Our first house had oversized windows that were going to be a big ticket item. We must have measured those windows a dozen times, went to Home Depot and chickened out. Those windows we ordered right but there have been other projects that we (usually me) messed up. Like our en suite bathroom cabinet that was too big and now is a cabinet in the laundry room. There are lots of online resources about how to measure accurately for your project.
- Compromising. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for compromising but when it comes to home improvement whenever we’ve compromised, we’re both disappointed with the outcome. For example, we were installing a new kitchen window in the two-family and couldn’t agree on the size. We compromised and hated how it looked. In the other apartment we added a half moon to stay consistent but allow more light.
- Cheaping out. I love saving money and especially when a renovation is running over budget. It’s tempting to buy cheaper materials. Don’t do it. You’ll just end up replacing it which is more time and more money you don’t have.
- Being too trendy. Overall, our tastes are pretty classic so haven’t had much trouble with design but we’ve been bit in the butt a couple times. One, we purchased an extended queen mattress – never heard of it? That’s because it was a trend that didn’t take off and we were stuck buying ultra expensive sheets for years! Especially when renovating, keep the big ticket items classic and incorporate bold colors or trends in decor.
These are just a few mistakes – there are lots more! What would you add to this list?