One of the biggest mistakes home owners make when renovating or giving a space a face lift is skipping out on the finishing touches. Most people simply don’t know what they need to pull the room together. Why doesn’t my room look like one on T.V. or the magazine? Quite frankly by the time the project has reached the finishing touch phase most people are either overwhelmed, burnt out or simply have no idea what look it is they are trying to achieve. Some are trying to keep their marriages together...
Here are a few do's and don’ts for selecting finishing touches:
DO: ALWAYS (and we cannot emphasize this enough) put in a kitchen back splash. Whether it be tile or stainless or mirror, your kitchen will look unfinished without a back splash.
DON’T: Leave purchasing your light fixtures to the end of your budget. When you have installed fabulous lighting people notice! Would you not prefer to walk into a room everyday and covet your lighting choice? When selecting light fixtures go for over scaled. They will have a much greater impact.
DO: Dress your windows. If you really want that custom designed magazine look hang draperies. Select an up to date fabric that works with other upholstery pieces in the room. Hang them close to the ceiling and let them puddle...unless you have cats...(wink)
DON’T: Use too many toss cushions. We love love love toss cushions. Especially the large 24 x 24 ones that are hot right now. However if you are constantly throwing them on the floor every time you sit down, you may have too many. They may look great, but end up being a pain in the butt. No pun intended.
DO: Wallpaper. Yep. Sorry folks, but it's back and it's fabulous! Totally over scaled patterns, subtle colours, wild colours, modern, traditional, for kid’s rooms, you name it! You don’t have to wallpaper every wall. If you are still removing that country blue wallpaper with the geese wearing hats then you may want to start with just one wall.
DON’T: Buy the paint first. Paint comes in virtually millions of colours. Purchase your big budget items first or something that inspires you to decorate the room around like an area rug or even a fabulous toss cushion. The paint colour should be selected last.
DO: Build in a decorating allowance as part of your budget. As an example let’s say you are renovating your kitchen. It’s relatively simple to work out how much your cabinetry and counter top will be as the kitchen cabinet company is happy to provide you with this information. Your contractor will also provide you a number for the very basic in finishes and the labour. Are you going to be happy with a $4/square foot tile budget? What about funds for lighting, window coverings, back splash, pulls and knobs, faucet, wall coverings, stools, table and chairs and so on.
This is where the average homeowner feels overwhelmed and ends up with a renovation that is a great improvement over what was there before, but are still left feeling like its missing something...on top of your renovation cost add about 30% for finishing touches. Remember this when setting your budget from the beginning.
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