Nate And Jeremiah Teach Us A Lesson On How To Recover From A Big Renovation Blunder

Mistakes happen during renovation projects, but what matters most is how you respond and bounce back. By being flexible and maintaining a positive attitude, you can often find a way out of profound blunders. For instance, stars of HGTV's "The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project," Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent, once had the wrong floors installed for a project but didn't have enough time to change them, so they had to quickly recalibrate to make the new color work (via YouTube). The lesson here is to be quick on your feet and focus on moving forward instead of dwelling on a mistake.

Nate and Jeremiah had decided on and purchased dark, hardwood floors based on their clients' desires, only to be met with light wood floors installed in the home upon inspection. It was a big miscommunication among the involved parties with serious impacts on the end result, but they acknowledged that things can slip through the cracks once in a while and started brainstorming solutions. By thinking and moving quickly, they were able to salvage the situation and satisfy their clients, showing that it's challenging but not impossible to recover from a big renovation blunder. 

"We're just going to have to roll with it," said Nate upon discovering the costly mix-up. "But we're going to have to figure out a way to still make it feel like Brandi and Steve," added Jeremiah (via YouTube). First, the duo agreed that they had to keep the floors because they lacked the time and money to refinish them before their clients' move-in date. Thankfully, however, the existing flooring was worth keeping.

The seasoned design experts acknowledged that the floors themselves were beautiful, just not what was planned — or requested by their clients. Looking at the situation and finding something positive helped them realize they still had something to work with. Renovations always have an ideal blueprint, but this rarely comes to fruition, so thinking about the next best scenario is always important. Whatever the renovation blunder is, whether it's your mistake or something out of your control, your next steps will come from identifying what you have at that moment and thinking about the best way to use it.

Naturally, opting to keep the hickory-colored floors presented new challenges. Since the new flooring wouldn't afford them the intended contrast with the light colors of the walls, ceilings, and surfaces, Nate and Jeremiah had to devise a way to create aesthetic tension throughout the home. They started discussing painting the beams and adding some wood tones to introduce dark colors that could balance out the lightness.

When faced with renovation blunders, after you assess the situation, explore alternatives, and think of the next steps, you need to move forward. However, focusing on budget-friendly and attainable fixes may produce superior results to complicated, costly options. For this reason, don't fall in love with the first solution you find — especially if it will take a sizable chunk out of your reno budget.

Overall, it's crucial to take renovation blunders as learning opportunities. Understand what went wrong, why it happened, and how you can prevent avoidable mistakes in the future. This may mean improving communication between all parties involved and double-checking every decision. Of course, only some things can be anticipated, so you should also ensure you have room in your budget for unforeseen issues. Luckily, the knowledge you take from a renovation calamity will benefit your future projects.