How to avoid costly mistakes when decorating your home

Posted on Monday, July 16th, 2018

While decorating might be a common pastime, this does not necessarily mean that many of us can do it well. Illustrating this point, Nationwide Building Society research mentioned by the Mirror has revealed that only 63% of people in the 18-24 age bracket reckon they can change a light bulb.

Meanwhile, only a third can bleed a radiator or change a fuse. However, by taking the precautions detailed below, you can reduce your chances of blundering at great cost.

Ask friends and relatives for advice

Your parents might have tried some DIY work themselves and, as a result, learned dos and don’ts of carrying out exactly the kind of work that you would like for your own abode.

Of course, it would be even better if either parent is an expert in decorating; however, if neither of them is, you could still turn to other relatives or friends. The crucial point to make here is that, in asking for help before you start DIY work, you might be able to cut out mistakes.

Protect yourself from a mess or injury

If the decorating work will entail you drilling into walls, then decipher where precisely behind these walls any gas pipes, water pipes or electrical wires are. Failing to heed the exact placing of a wire would risk you getting electrocuted. However, a stud detector can help you detect where a wire is.

On the other hand, you might be preparing to paint or plaster – in which case, it’s wise to place some newspaper or old bed sheets on the floor to help protect it.

Look up what your home insurance covers

Your home insurance can provide something of a safety net if you blunder in the attempt to carry out some DIY. However, this might not be the case with every type of home decorating mistake.

While accidentally spilling some paint to messy effect might be an example of damage covered in your instance, what if your DIY project will be more dramatic? In this case, the insurance might not apply unless a professional carries out this work.

Choose the furniture before painting the walls

Going through with these two tasks in the reverse order is a mistake often made. It might be because the choice of paint colours is broad and, thus, exciting to select from.

However, furniture is available in a narrower colour palette than paint, cautions Homedit. Hence, by deciding on the furniture first, you can save yourself headache.

Closely sticking to trends and fads

In the world of interior design, plenty of trends come and go. However, we would advise you against rigidly following them; otherwise, you could look at your home a few months later and realise that it’s fallen out of your favour. You can prevent such remorse by choosing timeless decor instead.