What I wish I’d known Before Starting A Renovation

I have always been fascinated with home shows like Grand Designs, Location, Location, Location and House Doctor, and so the prospect of renovating my first home truly felt like a dream come true.

In my initial excitement, my evenings were spent late-night Pinterest scrolling, putting together the mother of all briefs for an interior designer — an interior designer that I didn’t actually have in the end.

And this was learning number 1: An interior designer is worth the investment.

No matter how passionate you are about home decor, an interior designer provides invaluable insights and suggestions. At the very least, they are someone to bounce interior ideas off. They’ll also steer you in the direction of what will work for your home and what will not, keeping you realistically on track.

To keep costs down, we didn’t opt for a designer. Instead, we decided to direct all cash flow towards the renovation. Fast-forward to the sheer overwhelm of decisions, last-minute oversights, and some mismatched tiles. It has to be one of my biggest home-reno regrets.

This brings me to learning number 2: It’ll never be exactly what you want

No matter how white the walls are, your home is not entirely a blank canvas, and sooner, rather than later, it’s better to accept that it’s unlikely to look exactly like that Pin you’ve been fixated on for weeks. Why?

The reasons could be endless, from low ceilings to odd-shaped layouts, and windowless bathrooms to unmovable load-bearing walls. Accepting that some things cannot be adapted, no matter how much you love or hate them, is a fundamental part of the renovation process.

Acceptance takes time, but in a bittersweet way, one thing that seems to stand still during a renovation is time.

Learning number 3: One month equates to three.

When the renovation kicked off, the initial handover date was tipped to be the end of November, and I remained naively optimistic. Already, I was enthusiastically shopping for Christmas baubles, envisioning my new colour scheme and a festive-themed housewarming.

We are now two months past that initial date, and the kitchen and vanities have yet to be fitted. But apparently, that’s my fault, because I was not taking quick-action, on-the-spot-decisions.

And that leads me perfectly into…

Learning number 4: There are SO MANY DECISIONS.

The tone and material of your taps are the least of your worries when you realise that this decision is merely the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other decisions to be made, resulting in decision-making fatigue.

The most shocking part of this revelation is that most of these seemingly miniscule decisions had never even entered my realm of imagination until the reno kicked off. Decisions like the shade of grout on the bathroom tiles; the width of the panelling and height of skirting boards; the colour of the door hinges; and whether the faucet should be attached to the wall or directly to the sink.

Armed with the previous experience, it mightn’t have been as overwhelming if I’d begun researching and preparing for those seemingly ‘insignificant’ decisions in advance, with just days before I’d need to make a final decision and my contractor constantly reminding me that I was running on a tight schedule was met with panic.

For some reason, the sockets threw me, and in my defence, how often do you see plugs or light switches featured on a Pinterest’s aesthetic wall? They’re never the focus point (unless done deliberately) so the inspiration is minimal. In desperation, I was subjected to reading unreliable sources, like Reddit and Mumsnet, still none the wiser for doing so.

Not to worry though. The decision-making fatigue never lasted too long, and that’s because the majority of my decisions were decided for me.

Learning number 5: ‘Out of stock’

Every preferred option of wall tile, door handle, flooring and worktop was out of stock - with the runners-up all following suit. At one point, I was laughing manically when all 5 of my choices consecutively were unavailable with no restock date. ‘Over here, it’s slim pickings, I’m afraid.’ the salesman smiled at me. ‘Unless you have the luxury of time, that is.’ Which in my case, I did not. With an average 4-6 week wait for any preferred materials to be flown in, I chose the majority of the house based on what was available.

If I could go back in time, I’d have definitely hired an interior designer, and worked in advance with them to plan a structured list of purchases. I would’ve also been braver - and played it less safe, using bold colours for the kitchen (that’s still yet to be fitted).

// Pamela O’Hagan