We go into all things in life with the best of intentions a remodel included. Everyone would like to avoid messing up a remodel. But, as we all know, plans and outcome don’t always match. We will start the diet tomorrow – until we walk past a burger stand. We will give up smoking – until a customer antagonizes us. We honestly do intend to do these things, but then somehow we don’t do them. Or we do them, but the results aren’t what we had imagined.
Renovating a house is like that. We have bold plans, and by the time we’ve got through them, the remodeled house is going to look better than new. It’s going to be transformed.
The value is going to shoot through the ceiling for the neighborhood. TV stations will be alerted to your uncommon skill for remodeling, and you’ll give up your job to present a home makeover show. And then…
Somewhere in the mix, what you had planned for the remodel and what you end up with are not the same thing. Not even close. You look back through what you had planned, sift through the wreckage and ask yourself just what went wrong.
Well, it could be a number of things. What’s for sure is that your phone is going to stay silent where TV execs are concerned. Unless they’re casting for America’s Most Deluded Homeowners. Although that doesn’t exist yet, but you could pitch it and pay for someone to do your house properly if it gets picked up.
So before you throw yourself into a remodel, look out for the traps that we all fall into from time to time. When you know what to avoid, you can make sure your work is not in vain.
Trap #1: Spreading The Work Over Too Long
No one is in love with the idea of waking up in the morning to start painting and decorating, then sticking at it until bedtime. Your arms and legs don’t like it. Your mind is filled with red mist at the idea. Well, maybe it doesn’t need to be that intensive. Before you commit to a renovation, however, you do need to consider the time factor.
If you’re pulling an hour from here and an afternoon from there, and end up with a schedule where work is spread across weeks and months, it’s a problem. It allows you to second guess everything. It lets you change your mind over furniture, paint and accessories.
Make no mistake; it will show when everything is finally done. If you’re painting long into the night, what looks good on the walls under artificial light will look patchy in natural. When you’ve second-guessed everything, the choices you have made won’t marry up. A smart remodel job will incorporate a professional interior designer like All About Interiors to guide you along the way.
Trap #2: You Can’t Decide Between Styles, So You Don’t
Isn’t rustic charm so underrated in a house? Of course, but what about that functional style that you fell in love with when you visited your friend last month? Remember that place you stayed in when you went to Morocco on vacation?
It’s so hard to choose between styles to make your home look the way you want. A lot of people don’t, and we call it fusion. Well, you’ve seen it work, so why not give it a go?
Be very careful of the idea of fusion. It can work, but between two complementary styles, and if you try to add more, it will all fall apart. You know the saying “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Well that, but with styles and a room. Again, I reiterate…. have a professional interior designer help you pull it all together. You can thank me later…
If you want to use many different styles, then keep them to different rooms. That warm Moroccan look can go really well in a kitchen and dining room. There, it can combine with a rustic, country kitchen look.
Modern accents work in the living room, with a chic couch like from www.plumgoose.com/vanguard-furniture/. The bedrooms? Decide that on an occupant-by-occupant basis. Be careful on how you mix styles in your home. It can look choppy and in-cohesive.
Trap #3: “I Know These Colors Will Match Because They’re Similar.”
Let’s come right out and say it – the fact that blue and purple are next to one another on a rainbow does not mean any blue and any purple work together. A cool electric blue and a gentle, misty purple next to one another will not work. Color matching may seem like an art, but it is a science. Look into color wheel theory (http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory) and make your decisions based on that. You can also save yourself from a lot of frustrating decisions by just calling me and setting up a color consultation in your CT home.
Two things that you like separately may not work well together. Would you eat smoked salmon wrapped around a chocolate truffle? It’s not important how much you like them separately – test out how they match before they go anywhere near your walls.
Trap #4: Not Matching Lighting To Color Schemes
The colors – both in paint and in textiles – that you choose for your home are only as good as the light that shines on them.
Bear this in mind when you are picking lamps and ceiling lights for a renovation. Warmer lights, for example, work best with colors that are more vibrant such as reds, oranges, and deep yellows. They will neutralize blues and purples.
It’s not only the electric light that you need to bear in mind, either. During the longer days of summer, in particular, there will be more natural light coming through the windows. It is a good idea to pick up color swatches in furniture stores and bring them home, and then have a look at them in the light of day. If the colors hold up to afternoon sunlight and a rainy day, they’ll look good in warm electric light.
Often when we remodel a home, we go with our gut rather than our brain. We want to feel at home living there, after all. What can be lost on us all too easily is that it can sound good to us, and look good in our heads. Where it needs to look good is on the floors and the walls.
After all, we’ve all gone off something every once in awhile – an outfit, a cellphone wallpaper or similar. But imagine going off where you live. That’s something you need to avoid at all costs – and by following the right rules AND hiring a professional decorator you’ll get there.
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