Six top DIY tips to dodge home decorating disasters
Try before you buy: Use samples in your space. File picture
Don’t rush or be rushed. Ensure you have a long runway before you have to buy or order anything. Purchasing under pressure or on a whim compelled by a grinning influencer? Nope.
No one knows your home like you do. You will often feel when something has a “rightness” to it. Even then, compare your emerging notions with products and designs slightly outside your comfort zone before whipping out the plastic.
Carpenters know. Measuring your rooms and spaces correctly is so important. For major buys like carpeting or kitchen installation for example, always have your supplier do the work. This puts the responsibility back on them.
When redecorating, don’t be afraid to hire a professional designer (even for an hour or two). Many will do a walkthrough (for a price) and give you a tip sheet to get you started. This could come back to you in savings on hasty decisions.
Use samples in your space, as returns T&Cs can be tricky. It might be an extra trip to the DIY hangar in town, but tiles, flooring, paint and fabric colours are best judged at home in a variety of lighting conditions, including things you know will be surviving in this area. Samples are also widely available online (for a few euros).
Get the bones of the room right with any structural changes and serious energy retrofits. Then concentrate on getting the other big-ticket items in the second-fix correct. That second layering of stuff can be easily changed in the coming years. For a big job, hire an architect. There’s a reason they have one of the longest training periods of any profession; see Riai.ie.
