Home decorator and content creator Leah Hodson is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on overhauling a home with clever DIY and decorating tricks. See the rest of her articles here.
We’re used to seeing renovations play out online in quick snippets and fast transformations; dust, delays, and decisions carefully edited out. These perfect before and afters of dream kitchens installed in weeks, and a hallway project completed in a quick 4-part series, isn’t a fair representation of reality. Instagram and TikTok are my favourite platforms for inspiration, but it’s also quite frankly exhausting to see these fast transformations. So in 2026, I’m choosing to stop comparing my home to someone else’s highlight reels online, and start enjoying it for what it actually is.
