Real Life Renovations: How to Upgrade Your Home Without the Hassle

Home renovations aren’t always as simple as they seem on TV. They’re notorious for showing the mostly glamorous parts of renovating—20 minutes of planning, building, sweating, and then boom, final reveal.

Nobody knows the pains of renovating better than Chicago-area homeowner Emily Mason, who has tackled home projects big and small for over 3 years. Some go according to plan, while others, not so much. Ask her about the time she spent over 10 hours whitewashing her wood ceiling and shortly after realized that she used the wrong primer.

“We learned the hard way that mistakes happen—expect things to take longer and cost a bit more than you expect,” Mason tells The Spruce. “In these moments, we had to laugh, maybe cry a little, and push through, keeping the end goal in mind.” 

Renovating in real life isn’t always cut and dry, but with the right tools (literally and figuratively), many projects can be DIY-approved. That’s why we curated this practical roundup of tips alongside a celebration of all things home renovation.

Like Mason, DIYers tackle renovations themselves for a variety of reasons: saving money, wanting to customize a space to their liking, or just to see if they can pull it off.

“We started DIYing due to unexpected costs of a home renovation that got really out of hand,” she says. “We thought we could fix up our home over many years, but turns out, it needed a full gut within the first year of owning it.”

While Mason and her husband ambitiously wanted to take on big projects with big rewards, they decided to start small with issues that didn’t require a professional (and the sometimes thousands of dollars that come with them).

“We tackled all of the projects that didn’t take a large amount of skill, just some hard work and time,” she says. “Would I recommend stripping, sanding, and hand-painting a wood ceiling? Definitely not, but gosh, did it save me a lot of money.”

Mason’s project recommendations for real-life renovators include removing old baseboard heaters, painting walls and trim, revamping the kitchen backsplash, and peeling off old, crusty wallpaper, which she insists she found “relaxing.”

Through the sweat, mistakes, and mishaps, she reflects fondly on her renovating projects and considers them all a win.

“The most rewarding part of the process is looking back and seeing what we accomplished together,” she says. “We bought a house that many people looked at and questioned. While it cost us a lot more than we initially expected (both financially and emotionally), we turned it into the perfect home for our family.”

Renovating is best when it’s a fun challenge, not an impossible one. From where to save or splurge to the trends designers and contractors recommend skipping, we covered everything you should know throughout the process. Go on, grab your drill, paintbrush, and primer—we can’t wait to see how your project turns out.