Regrettable DIY Trends to Skip at Home
DIY trends come and go, but while some pay off, others make people hate how their own homes look. If you’re redecorating and wondering which trends to disregard, look no further! Below, you’ll find 21 DIY trends that homeowners openly regret trying.
Popcorn Ceilings
Though they’re old-fashioned, the issue with popcorn ceilings isn’t necessarily how they look. It’s that doing them yourself is a very messy job, and if you apply the putty incorrectly, the entire design will be uneven. Popcorn ceilings ultimately aren’t worth the risk.
Black Walls
Black walls may sound mysterious and classy, but they rarely look good. In many homes, they’re so dark that they make the rooms look small and dingy. It’s also a nightmare to choose the right lighting to make them look good.
Hand-Painted Cabinets
Getting cabinets refinished can be a pricey job, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that painting them yourself is easy. Unlike walls, cabinets have texture, and painting wood can leave the cabinets looking poorly finished. Sometimes, it’s worth spending some money.
Open Shelving
On paper, open shelving may seem like a great idea. After all, anybody can nail up some shelves anywhere in the house. Unfortunately, open shelving has become very unpopular because it offers limited storage and looks unorganized. Homeowners are reverting to traditional cabinets.
Sliding Doors
The farmhouse interior design trend has been big for a while, but many homeowners openly regret buying into it. Those who replaced their original doors with sliding wood doors regretted them because they’re difficult to maintain and often get stuck.
Fancy Lighting Fixtures
DIY lighting has become extremely popular in recent years, but it’s not right for every home. Over-the-top fancy lighting fixtures can overpower a space and end up looking gaudy, rather than sophisticated. Sometimes, less is more, and that’s not a bad thing.
Wood Paneling
We’re in two minds about wood paneling because while it can look good in small amounts, excessive wood paneling can look dark and make a house look very dated. If you use low-quality wood, the paneling may also look cheap and start to fade more quickly.
Carpeting Every Room
For any carpet lovers out there, we’re sad to say that hardwood floors are back in! Homeowners who choose to carpet every room are likely to agree with us because carpets get dirty quickly and don’t have the effortless, modern style of hardwood floors.
Animal Print
You either love it or you hate it! And it seems that most homeowners hate animal print and regret their DIY cheetah walls and zebra carpets. People have criticized it as “tacky” and “immature”, and there are far more sophisticated interior design trends to try.
Distressed Furniture
Distressed furniture is another DIY trend inspired by farmhouse decor. However, DIY distressed furniture won’t look good if you don’t know what you’re doing, and can lead to oversanding. Too many people have been disappointed by the end results to keep distressing on-trend.
Stencil Wall Art
If you’re not confident enough to paint or apply wallpaper, you might consider wall stenciling instead. However, this DIY art trend isn’t as easy as it looks, and often looks bad, too. The stencils are liable to shift, and they’re difficult to get rid of without damaging the walls.
Tiled Countertops
Tiled countertops are one DIY trend that looks great on social media, but quickly becomes a nightmare in real life. Many homeowners regret installing them when they realize how much dirt gathers in the grouting and how time-consuming they are to keep clean and dry.
Painted Fireplaces
Fireplaces are a classic, vintage decor feature, so why would you paint over them? Lots of homeowners ask themselves the same question when they realize that painting over the brickwork removes a lot of character from the room and looks terrible if it’s done poorly.
Bold Wallpaper
Wallpaper may be so ‘70s, but it can still look good. However, we’ve seen several homeowners regret putting up bold wallpaper because it draws so much attention and completely dominates their homes. Bright DIY interior decor can actually remove personality, rather than add it.
All-Gray Aesthetics
The all-gray decor aesthetic was a millennial trend that many have now come to regret. Having gray walls, floors, furniture, and decoration can be overwhelmingly dull, even if it looks classy, and it robs a room of all personality. People now call this aesthetic “soulless”.
Accent Walls
This one might shock you because they’re still so popular, but lots of homeowners wish they hadn’t painted DIY accent walls. They can actually make rooms feel smaller by drawing attention away from the rest of the decor, and they limit potential color schemes.
Neon Lights
There’s a reason why neon lights are typically reserved for clubs and stores. They're far too bright and overpowering for relaxed home spaces, and they don’t bring the beachy aesthetic that most people expect. It can also be dangerous to install these yourself.
Peel and Stick Tiles
DIY tiling is very difficult for novices, so lots of people use ‘peel and stick’ tiles instead. While this may seem like an easy way to cover up old tiles, these stickers will quickly peel and fade, ruining the look of your kitchen or bathroom.
Crushed Velvet
Crushed velvet is one trend that the majority of homeowners dislike. When it was trendy, many people jumped to install crushed velvet furniture, flooring, and even DIY decorative features. But now, they consider it cheap, outdated, and uncomfortably grainy to touch.
Two-Toned Walls
Like accent walls, two-toned walls were once quite popular. However, homeowners who did their own DIY two-toning have come to find that it ruins the look of a room by messing with the proportions. It can also look haphazard and messy if done incorrectly.
All-Concrete Gardens
We couldn’t end the list without mentioning all-concrete gardens! A green garden is a huge selling point, so homeowners who cut everything back and cover it with concrete soon regret their choice when they realize how much it ruins the look and value of the house.
