What to Avoid When Re-furbishing Your Home

What to Avoid When Re-furbishing Your Home

Refurbishing your home can be a fun and rewarding DIY project for you and your whole family to undertake. You can decide to renovate a room to make it more spacious, or refurbish an old house before moving in. Either way, you are sure to give your home a new lease of life with a few additions and tweaks here and there, be it space-saving showers or well-placed mirrors.

People thinking about refurnishing their home, either to sell it or to give it an updated look, should watch out for these common mistakes that first-timers make. Avoiding these will save you time, effort and money when you decide to take on home improvement tasks:

1.    Buying Cheap

While it’s always a good idea to stay within your budget when refurbishing your home, there are some things you need to be prepared to spend money on. Materials, for example, are something you should not skimp on. These include building materials, hardware, tiles, woods and the like.

Buying cheap materials will cost you more in the long run when you have to come back and repair damage due to wear and tear. Save yourself the hassle and find good quality materials at the start, even if they do cost a little more. 

2.    Decorating Too Trendy

Anyone looking to update their home’s look and feel should be wary not to go too trendy with the new design. Just because a particular colour scheme looked great in a magazine, it doesn’t mean that it will suit your home.

Take a step back and imagine having that trendy piece of furniture in your living room after five years. Are you still going to love it? Hip home décor may seem appealing, but you should resist buying big items that are in season now for pieces that are more classic, traditional and ultimately offer more longevity.

3.    Making Measuring Mistakes

If you’re doing the bulk of the work and you're not a professional carpenter or builder, then you need to double and triple check your measurements. A couple of centimetres can mean the difference between a symmetrical look and a lopsided one. If you’re unsure about how to measure parts of your home, don’t hesitate to call a professional. It’s better to delay the process for a while to ensure accurate measurements than to be left with an unappealing result.

4.    Wrong Bathroom Fixtures

If you have a small bathroom, you need to find special fixtures that would work with the space you have. For example, don’t try and fit a full-sized bath tub in a cramped space. This will only make the bathroom appear less spacious. Try looking for narrower sinks, space-saving showers from Mira or low-profile toilets, to optimise your tight bathroom. Also consider using bold colours and mirrors to give the illusion of a bigger space.


These are only some of the most common mistakes in refurbishing one’s home. Remember to ask around for tips from friends and relatives. If you’re not comfortable with doing the work yourself, there are always professionals who can offer affordable services to aid in renovating your home. Steer clear of these problems and you’re sure to achieve great results.