The Five Renovation Mistakes to Avoid (And What to Do Instead)

One of the most common — and costly — mistakes is getting excited about the look before locking in the layout. Selecting tiles, paint colours, tapware, and light fittings before you’ve finalised your floor plan is like choosing artwork before you’ve built the walls.

This is a classic among the five renovation mistakes to avoid because it creates a domino effect of expensive adjustments later on. You may fall in love with a pendant light, only to realise the ceiling height doesn’t support it. Or you select a vanity without factoring in wall clearances or plumbing constraints.

What to do instead:
Start with your layout. Nail the internal architecture — how each room flows, how much space you really need — before diving into surface decisions. A designer can help you anticipate problems before they’re built in.

Joinery is not just about function — it’s about form, rhythm, proportion, and permanence. Whether it’s a kitchen, wardrobe, study nook or laundry, great joinery helps define a room’s identity and flow.

One of the five renovation mistakes to avoid is thinking joinery should be a last-minute addition, rather than one of the main characters in your home’s design narrative. Poorly planned joinery often leads to clutter, wasted space, and awkward workarounds.

What to do instead:
Invest in bespoke joinery that is both beautiful and practical. Work with a designer who understands how materials and proportions impact the feeling of a room — and how to make storage seamless, not bulky or boxy.

You’ve selected finishes. You’ve installed joinery. The space is technically “done” — and yet, something feels… unfinished. That’s because it’s missing the third layer: styling.

This is the most emotionally resonant of the five renovation mistakes to avoid . Without styling, your home feels like a showroom, not a sanctuary. You need art. You need books. You need objects that tell your story.

What to do instead:
A full-service designer doesn’t just stop at architectural details. We stay through to the final layer — ensuring your surfaces are styled, your shelves are filled with meaning, and your space feels alive.

This is a silent killer in renovations. Your builder is brilliant at constructing the plan. But they’re not going to finesse pendant placement, ensure your vanity proportions work visually, or stop to consider the way natural light hits your hallway at 4pm.

Relying on a builder to manage design intent is one of the biggest five renovation mistakes to avoid . Builders want direction. And most expect the answers to be locked in early. If you don’t have someone guiding those decisions, the builder will make them — often based on convenience, not vision.

What to do instead:
Hire a designer to liaise with your builder. We translate your design into clear, buildable decisions — from grout colour to ceiling heights — and we’re there to catch the things that fall through the cracks.

You might think you can manage the renovation yourself — and technically, you can. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Between coordinating trades, making hundreds of decisions, answering emails daily, and keeping track of every invoice and delivery, project managing your own renovation quickly becomes a full-time job. It’s also one of the most stressful in the five renovation mistakes to avoid — especially if design isn’t your area of expertise.

What to do instead:
Hire a designer with experience managing renovations. At Gray & Co., we oversee every detail from concept to completion — ensuring consistency, clarity, and calm every step of the way.