Sometimes It's Better Not to DIY
DIY hacks are everywhere. Go to YouTube or TikTok and there’s whole lists of them. But are all of them worth it, really? DIY experts would say no. Some DIY hacks look impressive to start off with, but don’t last, leaving your home looking cheaper than it did before. Here’s a list of 35 of the worst offenders.
Peel-And-Stick Backsplash Tiles
They seem like an easy kitchen upgrade that will jazz up the room, but adhesive tiles often peel or warp from heat and moisture. Then, gradually the edges curl or collect grime, making them look cheap and incredibly nasty. They’re unhygienic and just not what you want in your kitchen!
Temporary Wallpaper
Renters are often tempted to put temporary wallpaper on the walls, but this is a bad idea. Peel-and-stick wallpaper is trendy and it often comes in fun patterns, but it rarely adheres well to textured walls or humid rooms. It can bubble, peel, or shift over time. And then, when removed, it can leave residue or even tear drywall.
Painted Floor Tiles
Painting old tile floors seems like a budget-friendly way to get more color in your house, but actually walking over said tiles quickly wears down the paint, even if you sealed it. Chips, scratches, and discoloration can appear within months, especially in high-use areas like kitchens and bathrooms.
Zip Tie Cord Management
Using zip ties to tidy cords seems trendy and organized - until you need to add or move a device. The ties must be cut and replaced, making future changes incredibly annoying. Use Velcro straps for your ties instead, they’re much better.
Faux Stainless Steel Film on Appliances
This is another one that looks great for a few days then quickly gets ruined. Stainless steel adhesive films are easy to apply, but they bubble, wrinkle, or peel with time, especially around curves or corners. They usually end up looking way worse than the original surface.
Painted Countertops
Do not under any circumstances paint your countertop. Wear and tear from cooking, spills, and cleaning will soon destroy the paint, as will heat and moisture from the cooking. It’s a cheap, horrible and dangerous hack.
Hot Glue for Home Repairs
Hot glue might feel like a quick fix for things like loose door handles, but it doesn't hold up under heat, moisture, or stress. Don’t use it – instead, go to your local hardware store, tell them the kind of job you want to do, and let them pick out a glue for you.
Command Hooks for Heavy Items
While great for light items, Command hooks usually fail when holding heavy frames or kitchen utensils. Over time, or in humid environments, they can detach from the wall. If you insist on using Command hooks, expect to lose whatever you hang up on them eventually.
Laminate Over Old Laminate
Do not do this! It seems easy to install new laminate sheets over old ones, but poor adhesion, uneven surfaces, and long-term wear means the top layer won’t stay secure. So many people have done this as a shortcut and regretted it massively.
Fabric-Covered Cabinet Doors
Covering cabinets with fabric for a boho look is creative, to be sure, but not practical. Cooking grease, dust, and regular old kitchen debris quickly stains the fabric, making it hard to clean. Fabric belongs on furniture, not kitchen cabinets.
Contact Paper Countertops
Covering countertops with contact paper is an appealing low-cost hack, but it’s no match for water, heat, or cutting. Seams lift, corners peel, and bubbles form. Just leave your countertops alone already, they’re fine the way they are.
Painted Upholstery
So many people think this is a fun craft project and don’t realize how much it can ruin their home’s aesthetic. Painted fabric can soon turn stiff, scratchy, and uncomfortable, and then the paint starts to crack. You’ll end up with a total mess.
Epoxy Resin Overlays
Epoxy resin is something you don’t want to mess around with unless you’ve had a lot of experience in it. Come into it as an amateur and your work will often result in bubbles, uneven curing, or yellowing over time. It’s not worth it.
Mason Jar Light Fixtures
Yes, these look nice (although they’re starting to go out of fashion now) but they’re dangerous. DIY mason jar lights often trap heat, which can lead to overheating and even fire hazards if you’re not careful. Best to avoid.
Pallet Wood Furniture
So many people make furniture out of pallet wood because it’s so cheap. But it’s not a good idea. It’s usually untreated wood that will give you splinters and warp over time, and eventually it’ll break. You should really get proper furniture that will last a long time.
Tension Rod Shelving
Using tension rods for extra storage feels clever—until they slide, fall, or can’t handle the weight. They work best for lightweight items, but even those can tip them out of place. Stick with proper shelves and you’ll feel more secure.
Caulk Whitening With Bleach Pens
Using bleach pens to “clean” or whiten old caulk seems like a great idea until you actually think about it. The underlying mold or mildew remains and returns quickly, and the bleach may also damage the surrounding objects.
Magnetic Knife Strips on Drywall
Mounting knife strips without proper anchors seems quick and easy - until they rip out of the wall and take all your knives with it. Not mounting a knife strip properly isn’t just silly, it’s outright hazardous.
Painted Bathtubs
Basically, you shouldn’t paint anything in your house that didn’t have paint on it originally, and that includes the bathtub. The coating often chips, peels, or yellows within months, because daily use, cleaners, and hot water wear it down fast.
Faux Brick Panels
People go for these because they want an industrial look, and soon end up disappointed. They’re often made from fragile foam or plastic and they chip, crack, or sag over time. Plus, when you go up close to them you can see how shoddy they look.
Spray-Painted Faucets
Spray painting outdated faucets in trendy finishes seems like a good idea if you want a stylish bathroom, but the paint wears off quickly with water, soap, and frequent use. Most people who try this end up with something worse than what they had before.
Adhesive Floor Tiles
People are so often lured in by how easy adhesives are. But with regular foot traffic, adhesive floor tiles will shift, curl, or unstick entirely. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also really easy for mold to grow underneath them.
Cardboard Drawer Organizers
Cardboard isn’t good for much except storage boxes. Folks think that cutting up cardboard to use as drawer organizers is clever and cheap – but then they realize they’re wrong. The organizers bend, sag, and absorb moisture or oils from items like cosmetics or utensils.
DIY Concrete Countertops
Do not try to install your own concrete countertop – always get a professional in to do it for you. DIY kits without proper reinforcement crack, chip and stain, and improper mixing or sealing leads to long-term issues that will ruin your nice kitchen.
Paint Markers for Grout
Using paint markers to freshen grout lines creates a cleaner look temporarily – but only temporarily. The paint quickly wears off in wet or high-traffic areas, which is what your bathroom is. And the paint also traps dirt if not sealed properly.
Fabric Covered Switch Plates
People have really got to stop covering everything in fabric. The fabric on switch plates stains, collects dust, and frays around the edges – but that’s not all. Heat from bulbs or switches can discolor or loosen the glue.
Painted Light Bulbs for Mood Lighting
For some reason, instead of buying tinted light bulbs, some people decide to buy regular ones and paint them themselves. This is a terrible idea, because now you’ve got a bulb giving off paint fumes whenever you turn it on. Just don’t do it.
Book Page Wallpaper
This seemed like such a clever idea when it first came out – using book pages glued to the wall instead of wallpaper. It did not work. Turns out paper curls, tears and yellows, and many people who tried this hack just ended up with a total mess on their walls. Plus, they ruined a book!
Soda Bottle Irrigation
Those who like to recycle may be tempted to use soda bottles for irrigation in their garden. But it doesn’t really work long-term – sunlight degrades plastic bottles, makes them brittle, and finally destroys them. Find another use for plastic bottles.
Window Film Privacy Treatments
This is a tempting one to try if you don’t have much privacy in your home, but it doesn’t work. Frosted or decorative films peel, bubble, or fade with sun exposure, and humidity from showers or weather weakens the adhesive.
Tape-Framed Mirrors
People love washi tape and don’t realize it’s not really all that great for home décor. Some people put it around a mirror to add a pop of color in their room, and then it quickly peels, loses stickiness, or just plain looks tacky.
Tile Stickers in the Shower
Vinyl tile decals are great for temporary decoration, but in damp, steamy showers, they peel, slide, or grow mold behind them. Even waterproof versions struggle to stay put long term. Don’t even think about trying this one, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
Wood Stain Over Laminate Furniture
This is another one you shouldn’t even attempt. Trying to stain laminate furniture for a rustic look is a very bad idea - the surface isn’t porous enough to absorb color. Most of it wipes right off or appears streaky.
Painted Rugs
This one raises a lot of eyebrows in the home décor community, and yet it remains popular. Painting a rug on the floor seems fun until you realize you actually have to walk over it, and all that foot traffic will fast remove the paint.
Marble Contact Paper Desktops
Everyone loves marble, but some people take it too far. Marble-look contact paper on desks or tables looks stylish in Instagram photos - but it scratches, wrinkles, and stains quickly. Coffee cups, laptops, or even just writing can tear the surface.
