HOME RENOVATIONS AND THE LESSONS I'VE LEARNT

We've lived here now for long enough to know a little bit about DIY, or so you would think. In truth we probably know about as much as we did when we first moved in and held our first paintbrush - utterly clueless and completely winging it. But that's all the fun of decorating, right? Making mistakes and hoping you learn something along the way. Maybe we're an exception and most people do get it right after one or two shots, but we're still here years down the line trying to get our house exactly how we want it. I thought I'd share with you the tips and some advice I wish I'd knew when we started out all those years ago.

1- Decorating your house is probably one of the most frustrating times, it doesn't matter how good at DIY you or anyone in your family is, there will be arguments, so prepare for them. I discovered things about John during our decorating days that I never knew would irritate me so much - for example, he is really shoddy at cutting in with paint, incredibly so. He's also not very good at putting up shelves which is all well until you've just purchases ten ikea bookshelves and he decides to throw that news upon you. Such trivial things that you never thought would matter suddenly become life or death.

2- The details count, it's all well and good painting a feature wall and whacking up new blinds, but the small details are usually what completes a room. Adding little touches like new plug socket faces, mdf skirting boards and shiny new door handles can really make a big difference, especially if you don't have the funds to go all out on a full redecoration.

3- You will never be one hundred percent happy, I'm super fickle so I change my mind constantly and before the paint has even dried in a room I'm already eyeing up the next aesthetic on pinterest - I can't help it. I've settled for the fact I will never be completely content, whether that's because the colour looks five shades darker than the tester pot did or that it's suddenly spring and I've chosen an autumnal colour scheme.

4- Frog tape isn't your friend. You can pull it off when it's wet, pull it off when it's dry, whether you do it fast or slowly, it will always muck up a little bit. It has to be the biggest design flaw ever, if it doesn't rip part of your existing wall paint off then it's smudging your freshly done wall. I've tried almost every brand and variety, from any store you can think of and they're all the same. One day frog tape, I will beat you.

5- Hire people for the big jobs. In truth if it's going to be stressful, you have kids around and it'll require days off work, I would always hire a professional. Whether that's someone to paint the fence, the living room or build furniture, peace of mind and sanity is worth everything and there are so many jobs now looking back that I wish we'd just got someone else to do.

Overall decorating isn't as stressful as I've made out I'm sure, we're just two very un-diy friendly people. Always have a bottle of wine in the fridge and remember to rope in as many family members as you can, with promises to return the favour when they need it.