5 Frustrating Mistakes in Renovation You Can Now Avoid

Where to place supply ventilation? How to make gaps in tongue-and-groove paneling invisible? Why you shouldn't place a pendant light high in a child's room. Designer Olga Gashchenko shares her secrets. Watch!

1. Visible Gaps in Wall Paneling
Walls in Olga's hallway are finished with wooden tongue-and-groove paneling and painted. Over time, wood begins to dry out and gaps appear between boards. Olga periodically repaints these gaps with the same paint used for the walls. To avoid this in your renovation, the designer recommends pre-coating the boards on all sides before they are assembled. This way, visible gaps in tongue-and-groove paneling can be avoided.2. Supply Ventilation Harmful to Health
When planning supply ventilation in your apartment, place the air inlet where you wouldn’t be blown by it. Because supply ventilation has its own airflow pattern.3. Confused Switches
During renovation, it's essential to pay close attention to wiring and the number of outlets and switches in your apartment. Install as many outlets and switches as possible, wherever you think they might be useful. Olga planned the lighting in her bedroom and provided a socket and several switches near the head of the bed. But the builders confused the switch functions. Now, the nearest one controls general lighting, and you have to reach over to turn off the pendant light.4. Speaker Placement
During the planning stage of the living room area, consider placing all necessary equipment. If square footage doesn't allow proper speaker placement, speakers can be placed on the windowsill, as Olga did in her apartment.5. High Pendant Light in a Child's Room
In the children's room, there is one major drawback – placing the pendant light too high. Olga designed it with the thought that a child might bump into it during active play. But the child is calm, and such lighting placement is very inconvenient. You have to stretch to turn off the pendant light before bedtime.Full apartment tour from the analysis (14 minutes)