Interior designer and colour consultant Silvia Rajek has worked with families across Sydney for more than a decade, and one phrase comes up time and again: “I wish we had known that earlier.”
Renovating or updating your home is exciting. It is also expensive.
Between trades, materials and furniture, the budget can climb quickly. What often surprises homeowners is that it’s not always the big decisions that cost the most. It’s the smaller missteps along the way.
Through her work designing and renovating family homes, Silvia has seen many households spend money correcting choices that could have been avoided with clearer planning from the start. If you’re thinking about refreshing your home, here are five common interior design mistakes to watch out for.
- Choosing Paint Before Your Finishes
It’s tempting to start with wall colour. Paint feels like the easiest first step.
In reality, paint should come last. Flooring, tiles, stone, joinery and even large furniture pieces need to be selected first. Paint can be adjusted to suit those finishes. The reverse is not true.
Particularly in Sydney’s bright coastal light, something Silvia regularly considers when advising clients, colours can look very different once they’re on your walls. Always test generous samples in your own space before committing.
2. Buying Furniture That’s the Wrong Scale
This is one of the most common and most frustrating mistakes.
A sofa that looks perfect in a showroom can feel too small in an open-plan living room. Rugs are often chosen too small, which makes a space feel disconnected. Dining tables can either overwhelm a room or feel cramped.
In professional projects, proper space planning is always done before a single piece is ordered, precisely to avoid this issue. Measuring carefully and thinking about walkways, storage and how your family actually uses the space makes all the difference.
3. Leaving Lighting Until the End
Captured at Somnium on 02Dec, 2021 by Matt Horspool @Etchd Photography.
Lighting has a huge impact on how your home feels, yet it’s often treated as an afterthought.
Every space needs layers of lighting: general lighting, task lighting for practical areas like kitchens and bathrooms, and softer lighting for evenings. Without this balance, even beautiful finishes can look flat.
Planning lighting early in a renovation avoids rushed decisions later and creates a much more comfortable home.
4. Following Trends Without Thinking Long Term
Social media makes it easy to fall in love with bold tiles, curved furniture or statement tapware.
There’s nothing wrong with personality, but large investments should have longevity. Trends move quickly. Renovations do not.
A good approach is to keep your main elements timeless and layer in personality through artwork, cushions and styling. These can evolve over time without requiring a full redo.
5. Starting Without a Clear Plan
Perhaps the biggest mistake is starting to buy or renovate without an overall vision.
When decisions are made room by room, the home can end up feeling disconnected. A cohesive plan does not mean everything matches. It simply means colours relate to each other, materials feel intentional and the home flows naturally.
Even a simple mood board created before spending can prevent costly backtracking. This kind of overarching vision is what separates a well-designed home from one that simply feels put together over time.
Updating your home should feel exciting, not overwhelming. With a little forward planning, you can avoid expensive mistakes and create a space that truly supports your family’s lifestyle.
Silvia Rajek is an interior designer and colour consultant based in Maroubra, helping busy families create calm, cohesive and practical homes. With over a decade of professional experience, she is known for her thoughtful space planning, confident use of colour and careful attention to detail. Silvia works closely with her clients to ensure their homes not only look beautiful but truly support everyday family life. You can see more of her work at Interior Design Services Sydney I Silvia Rajek Interiors
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