7 things to know before starting DIY home projects

Recently, I was thinking about some things that I really wish somebody told me before I even started this DIY renovation process. It’s not like the HGTV home renovation shows!

7 things to know before starting DIY home projects

My kitchen is still in the process of being fancied up a little bit. It’s not true like deep renovation because we deny walls or replace flooring or anything or get cabinets. It’s just pretty much a lipstick on a big situation. However, it’s still taking me so long. Here are my reflections with  7 things to know before starting DIY home projects!

It’s not going to be perfect. 

Give up perfection. That’s why there are trained and skilled professionals out there.

You are not a trained and skilled tradesman with years of experience. What you’re going to do in your house will not look as good as their work. It’s great to aspire to it, but just know you’re probably not going to achieve that. You might get lucky, but you probably won’t. 

Again, this varies on your previous skill level with DIYing different kinds of DIY projects. But if you’re new to this or you haven’t done it in a while, I don’t think it’ll be perfect. 

For example, we painted my living room a lovely blue. I had previously painted a house a while before, but it had been a minute since I had painted wood paneling. I chose a satin paint. So with the higher gloss of your paint, the more those imperfections are going to show up. Therefore, I forgot about the sanding between coats that’s necessary in painting wood paneling a satin finish. Ooops.

Forgive yourself for not having it perfect and just accept it. You can go back and change it or fix it.

There’s a lot of cleaning.

I really wish someone had told me that there is so much cleaning involved in any DIY project. So, don’t work until you’re super super tired. Pretty much coming to a stopping point and then using the rest of your energy to clean up at the end of the day. It really helps your sanity in your life. 

You’ll get tired or bored.

Stuff started happening in my life and I just got bored and tired. I got tired of being covered in paint and dust every single day. 

Have a bigger picture in mind. 

Make up your mind on what finishes think about and try to imagine the consistency of finishes in a room. Make a plan. Everything has an order to it.

For example, I removed my kitchen’s popcorn ceiling first. I could not have painted my cabinets before that because we have to paint the ceiling. 

Then, I decided I’m going to make a tile backsplash in a random spot in my kitchen. I couldn’t have done that before painting the cabinet. if I was really thinking I would have picked out that stuff before deciding a cabinet color. Maybe I should have done those floors earlier before the cabinets.

Have a plan for the hardware, the handles, the hinges, and all of those small details. And I haven’t picked up my towels and little chopstick things from the entire house. 

Preparation is necessary, but takes forever.

I wish someone had told me preparation would take so long. It takes so long to set up our project. It takes so long, I think that is pretty much going to take the longest amount of time of your whole time schedule. 

It’s important to have good preparation because when there’s a good foundation to build on, the product will look much better. That includes all that sanding and priming we try to avoid all the time!

Everything will take triple the amount of time as you expect.

Everything will take triple the time that you think it will take to complete a budget.

If you’re reading a tutorial that says it may take 4 hours, expect to take at least 12 hours to get that same project done. You don’t have the skill level and experience as those people who are showing you how to do something. You don’t know their background experience and how many times they’ve done a certain project and a lot of times before posting on YouTube or Pinterest. 

Just don’t set yourself up for an expectation that this is going to be a weekend job because a lot of things happen in your real life that’s going to affect that timeline. So just please be aware that it’s going to take at least triple the amount of time for you to get something. 

Most “after” photos are deceiving.

The pictures that you see in magazines, the beautiful rooms – they don’t look like that to the naked eye.

It has everything to do with lighting and the lighting will of course change if you’re shooting on your digital SLR camera versus shooting on your phone. 

Photographers use external lighting to show you more details. They want to make things more beautiful to bring out the beauty and the skill and craftsmanship of the house. Therefore, we overexpose the photo to look even brighter and cleaner. And that’s perfectly fine. It’s creating the fantasy of a beautiful home. But don’t be surprised if your home doesn’t look like that.

In conclusion, those are things to know before starting DIY home projects. Best wishes on your journey! Do you have any questions or reflections? Sound off in the comments!

Sincerely,

Felicia.