I was lying in bed thinking about the random lessons we’ve learned over nearly seven years of homeownership and DIY, and I realized they might make a helpful post. These aren’t exhaustive, but they’re the things that jumped out at me when I thought back on our projects — the small failures, the fixes, and the surprises. Here’s what we learned along the way. Hopefully some of this saves you headaches.
1. Don’t blindly follow one-sentence tips without checking whether they apply to your home
Magazines and blogs love short, catchy tips, but a quick piece of advice can easily backfire depending on your particular house. Case in point: we read that stuffing insulation into an unused chimney helps stop heat loss. That seemed sensible, so we jammed a handful of insulation up there. A few rainy weeks later, without my contacts in and walking past the fireplace, I noticed small white rice-like things on the floor. They were maggots, crawling out of the chimney.
Apparently a leak in the chimney cap allowed moisture in so a fly laid eggs in the insulation, which hatched into larvae. A few days later flies were everywhere. We removed the insulation, resealed the chimney cap with silicone caulk, and learned that a one-line tip doesn’t replace inspecting how a solution interacts with your home’s systems.
2. Don’t invest in decorating around an eyesore — remove it if possible
We tried to make a giant stump look decorative by building an octagonal planter on top. It never worked — it just looked like a stump with a weird wooden box. Later, when we paved our pebble driveway for our backyard wedding, we finally had the stump ground down. Removing the problem gave us a clean corner of the driveway and saved us from years of trying to disguise something we didn’t like.
This idea applies broadly: if you have a feature you dislike (like outdated wallpaper or a clunky built-in), resist the urge to pick decor that matches it. If you can, save or schedule the work to remove or replace the offending element. Investing to fix the source lets you create a space you love instead of spending time and money hiding something that ticks you off every time you see it.
3. Plant at a safe distance from the foundation
We once planted a small tree closer to the house than we should have. A dwarf tree planted about four feet from the house may seem far when you stand next to it, but from the street it looks fine and it’s much better for both the foundation and the tree. Giving plants room to grow improves their access to sunlight and rain and reduces root pressure or moisture problems near your foundation.
4. Spackle and drywall mud must be perfectly smooth before priming or painting
Primer and paint highlight irregularities rather than hide them. Once you’ve painted over uneven spackle or mud, it becomes much harder to sand and match the smooth look you could have achieved before painting. Our process now is to spackle, sand, then repeat — at least two rounds — until surfaces are flush and smooth. It’s tempting to rush to the finish, but taking the time to sand thoroughly saves a lot of aggravation later.
5. Your first idea is rarely your best idea
Early plans often change once you live in a space and really understand how it functions. In our first house we initially planned to keep the kitchen layout and simply replace cabinets, but after living there and rethinking the flow we removed a door, converted a dining room to a bedroom, shifted the dining area, and created a U-shaped kitchen. The result was far more functional — we gained storage, counter space, and even increased the home’s value by adding a bedroom.
In our current house we debated an island, then a banquet, and finally landed on a peninsula — an approach that suits our space and traffic patterns much better. Give yourself time to live in the house and brainstorm solutions. Rushing into a major change without considering alternatives can lead to cramped or awkward results that are easily avoided by a little patience and iteration.
Those are five things we learned the hard way. Some were messy or gross, some were prideful, and some were simply the result of not pausing to think through a better approach. We’ve learned to check how a tip applies to our house, to remove problems rather than camouflage them, to give plants room to grow, to smooth surfaces thoroughly before painting, and to let ideas evolve. What have you learned the hard way in your home? Share your lessons — the good, the bad, and the surprisingly useful.
Update — Wanna know where something in our house came from or what paint colors we used? Click the button below:
