Decorating on a Budget – 5 Mistakes to Avoid

Home decorating is both a pleasant pastime and a way to improve the value of your home. Its easy to get carried away though and spend far more money than you ever planned on doing. Before you end up to deep in debt over your decorating avoid these five mistakes that people make when decorating.

1. Make a budget and keep to it! This is the number one mistake people make – deciding they don’t really need a budget and that they will just buy materials as they need it. Don’t do that – make a spreadsheet up and include everything!

2. Getting excited in the show room. You go to the show room to buy one item of furniture, but the side tables were on sale right? Wrong – if they weren’t in the budget they aren’t a good deal. Not unless you can save the money elsewhere.

3. Keep the project constrained. If you only planned on recovering the sofa don’t end up repainting the lounge as well – don’t laugh; been there, done that!

4. Not having a contingency budget. Sometimes you do need to spend more than you initially hoped – the wall might need replastering not just repainting, the taps need more than replacing. Have a contingency – if you get to the end of the job and you still have your contingency – well done!

5. Letting a friend or partner add their “good ideas” once the project is underway. Sure you should probably mention to your partner that you want to paint your bedroom hot pink before you do so – but don’t seek new ideas half way through the project. Changing plans and priorities are a great way to blow the budget!

Well I hope now you understand some of the reasons that decorating and renovation budgets sometimes get out of control!