Renovation, I’m thinking, is just like life. We spend our time and energy focusing on the big things – the plans, the colours and the stuff (the furniture) we will fill our lives (and homes) with. The things we think will make the difference. The things we think everyone will notice.

Yet it’s the little things that make us the happiest. The often-overlooked details. The nuances. The things nobody really notices but that touch us in an unexpected way and make the biggest difference. A smile, a touch of a hand, a kind word spoken at exactly the right time.

Top of my renovation ‘To Do’ list this week was to get some window panes replaced as part of the girls bedroom makeover. While the glazier was here, I asked if he could also replace this yellow pane of glass in our front door. That piece of glass, I’d decided, was what was making our hallway feel so dark and dingy.

The hallway has always been dark and dingy.

It wasn’t a big job, or a costly one. It wasn’t part of the plan. But this one small thing, this one overlooked detail, this one thing that nobody except me ever noticed, has made the biggest difference.

Changing this one small, inexpensive thing has made a huge difference.

Renovation is just like life. It’s the little things that matter the most. Lesson learned.