When to listen to your trades (and when not to)

My friend recently carried out a renovation of their home’s two bathrooms. Our studio, Cedar & Suede, provided the design concept so my friend didn’t have to make any design decisions. This is bliss for a home renovator because, let’s be honest, the design component can be a mind game.

Little did she know, she would receive a constant stream of unwanted advice from almost every tradesperson who stepped through the door. It wasn’t technical advice that pertained to building code, it was design advice, and she was not prepared for how much this would unsettle her.

There is a time and place to heed advice from your trades, but you don’t always have to. Here are some statements I’ve had said to me on site, and why they are wrong. 

‘The only colour that won’t date is white’

This painter doubted the colour choices I’d made in my friend’s bathroom. For context, there was next to no white in the bathroom designs.

It is profoundly untrue that all colours besides white will date. I’ve seen plenty of dated bathrooms and it had nothing to do with colour. But when you’re a home owner dabbling with colour for the first time, statements like this can be rattling.

This is not the time to second-guess your decisions. This is the time to double down and commit to what you love. The chances are that you’ve spent a lot more time considering your scheme than the painter who has come in, with no consideration for the other finishes specified for the interior. 

‘I wouldn’t paint the ceiling the same colour as the wall’

“Ceiling white” is a very flat paint finish which means it disguises any imperfections in the plastering, so some painters are nervous that they won’t achieve a seamless finish with anything but this. Wall colours typically aren’t available in a matte finish – a low sheen is generally as matte as they come.

This is a good reason to ensure your plasterers have done their job, rather than concede to painting with ceiling white. I’ve actually been on a project where the painter flagged the imperfections in the ceiling before painting it dark green and the builder had the plasterer re-do the plastering. That’s the way it should go down.

‘I’d never install mosaic tiles in the shower – too many grout lines to clean’

This one is just a matter of what you value. We have mosaic marble tiles in the shower of both our main-bedroom en suite and the kids’ bathroom and, seven years on, it still brings me joy.

Mosaics have been used in floors for centuries because the result is interesting, artistic and simply, beautiful. You will need to decide for yourself whether you’re willing to trade that for a false notion around mosaics being high-maintenance. 

‘We can’t install a pot filler. They don’t meet building code’

You can expect that a good tradesperson will be across any changes in building codes, but sometimes that’s not the case.

I’ve had people contact me in the past, seeing a pot filler in our own home and becoming confused as to why their builder has told them it doesn’t meet code.

It’s worth doing your own investigation rather than simply accepting what you’re told. But do remember that building codes vary from state to state and are not always clear cut.

‘I don’t know about that kitchen island colour’

This one I can laugh off. There’s no way you should be taking colour advice from anyone other than a colour specialist.

Like all the other selections in the home, paying heed to an opinion by anyone on an isolated aspect of a home before the rest of the interior is complete is a terrible idea. There is no context for opinions to be formed at this point.

Also, we all respond differently to different colours so what works for you may not work for someone else, which effectively makes others’ opinions on your home null and void. 

Renovation and builds are vulnerable times for home owners. Projects are expensive, time consuming and labour-intensive which means that reliable, collaborative, creative tradespeople who support you will be one of the best investments you can make.

Led by a passion for interior design, Carlene runs Cedar and Suede, a full-service interior design studio based on the Gold Coast.