The 7 Biggest Renovation Regrets, According to the Experts Who Fix Them
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Sometimes a design idea that looks great on Pinterest isn't actually all that practical in real life. Think elegant marble countertops that hold no chance against dribbles of red wine or open-door showers that create slip-and-fall hazards. Or maybe that wild wallpaper you took a risk on in the powder room turns out to be less fun and more headache.
Design professionals have hear about their fair share of renovation regrets, so we asked contractors and interior designers to tell us about some of the most common design issues they’re called in to fix. Here’s what they had to say.
Marble Countertops
Marble countertops are a classic. But the soft, porous stone is not always practical, which is why Laura Hammett, founder and creative Director of Laura Hammett Interiors finds herself frequently swapping out the material heavily used kitchens. (She recommends a sintered stone like Neolith.)
“Clients love the look of marble but then find the reality is you can’t spill a drop of food or drink before it gets stained,” she says. “For clients who love to cook, especially with colorful spices, we recommend stones which still look beautiful, but are much more durable and hardier."
Open-Floor Plans
With the rise in multi-generational households and a rapid increase in the number of people who work from home, Bethany Adams of Bethany Adams Interiors says her clients are no longer fans of open-plan living and crave a little more alone time. She started to notice this trend during the pandemic when people were spending a lot of time together. “To accommodate these requests, I've added hidden pocket doors behind new built-ins and sleek glass and steel framed partitions and doors to section off more open spaces,” she says.
Adams has found there’s plenty of ways to allow for separation without building full walls. Glass doors and partitions strike the right balance between the privacy the clients want, and the openness that they may have originally desired, she says.
Open-Air Outdoor Living Spaces
You may imagine yourself lounging outdoors with a book or enjoying al fresco meals and dips in a pool. But homeowners frequently change their mind about expansive loggias and open-air lounging spaces, Robert W. Burrage, founder of Palm Beach County, Florida-based RWB Concierge Builder, says.
Factors like humidity, heat, and seasonal storms can make it tough to enjoy those outdoor living spaces to the max. “As a result, we often find ourselves enclosing these outdoor spaces to create comfortable, usable areas that can be enjoyed year-round,” he says.
Barn Doors and Shiplap Walls
When the farmhouse trend started to explode around 2015, everyone asked their contractor for barn doors and faux shiplap walls—even if it didn't suit the house's architecture or family's needs, says Lesley Myrick, an Atlanta area interior designer. She has since removed several barn doors from clients’ homes, adding that they are a terrible choice because they let sound and light through. She has also scrapped plenty of shiplap walls, which are known to collect dust between the horizontal boards.
“Many people saw the farmhouse trend as both current and timeless and rushed to ‘upgrade’ their homes with these design elements,” she says. But when these types of additions don’t prove to be functional for your home or lifestyle, it's a design disaster. Some of her projects have included removing barn doors and tracks and installing a single-paneled doors, and in at least one case, removing a floating shiplap wall, which made room for a kitchen reconfiguration with a large kitchen island.
Trendy Tiles
Tile selection has been an issue on a number of projects that Alexis Woodbury Earman, Wilmington, a North Carolina-based interior designer with The Woodbury Home, has worked on. “Many homeowners choose tiles based on inspiration photos and current trends,” she says. “Though these tile choices can be beautiful in pictures, the owner can grow tired of the trend and want to replace it with something more classic.”
She ends up remedying these types of designs by choosing neutral-colored tiles and adding color to spaces with paint. That way, anytime in the future they want to change the color in the space, they can do so much more easily.
Clear Glass Doors
Kitchen cabinets or pantry doors with clear glass doors can be beautiful, but they come with a few practical challenges that make them hard to live with on a daily basis, says designer Ashley Macuga of Collected Interiors.
“Since glass doors reveal what's inside, any clutter or mismatched items are easily visible, which can make even a new kitchen look messy if not perfectly maintained,” she says. A quick fix is to update the clear glass to reeded glass, which obscures the visual, while still keeping the elegance of the material,” she says.
Doorless Showers
Doorless showers may look great, but people who have actually had them installed often find them to be more trouble than they’re worth, says interior designer Shiva Samiei, the CEO of Shiva Samiei & Co. Water tends to splash outside of the shower area, causing moisture damage and slip-and-fall hazards. They can also be decidedly un-cozy, leaving you feeling exposed—not a pleasant sensation when you're bathing.
Custom glass panels and new drainage solutions are usually the fix that strikes a middle ground, helping bathrooms preserve a modern look while containing all the water.
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