What if the renovation you’re convinced you need… isn’t actually the problem?
That’s the question behind this week’s episode of Decorate or Renovate? I’m revisiting three of my favourite makeovers where the homeowners were seriously considering major changes to their homes: new floors, French doors, and fixing finishes they were sure they couldn’t live with. Altogether, they were looking at roughly $85,000 in renovations.
But before spending that kind of money, we decorated. And once the rooms were finished properly, with the right scale, colour, lighting and styling, something interesting happened. The renovation suddenly didn’t feel nearly as necessary.
I’ve watched this happen over and over in more than 20,000 consultations, and it’s exactly why I keep saying decorate before you renovate. Once you properly finish a room, you’ll be able to have friends over. In fact, you might never want to leave. That renovation that has felt like a burning problem for so long might go on the back burner forever.
An unfinished room will make perfectly acceptable finishes look worse than they are. And sometimes the most expensive “problem” in the room disappears once everything around it finally makes sense.
Watch the Full Episode
Here are three homes that prove it.
Should You Decorate or Renovate First?
Decorate first, unless something is genuinely broken or not working. When a room is unfinished, your finishes get blamed for how the whole room feels. Finish the room with the right scale, colour, lighting and styling, then decide whether the renovation is still necessary.
If you’ve never finished the room around them, you don’t know yet. Finishes you don’t love often look worse because nothing else in the room relates to them, so your eye has nowhere else to go. If you still can’t live with them once the room is properly decorated, that’s when renovating makes sense.
Almost always. In these three makeovers, the homeowners were considering roughly $85,000 in renovations, and the decorating budgets totalled [$X]. And decorating isn’t wasted money if you do renovate later, because the rug, lamps and art come with you.
Related posts:
Why Good Decorating Starts with the Right Advice
The Style of your Home vs. Your Design Style
Ask Maria: When is Black Timeless (And 4 Design Traps to Avoid)
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