When youre redesigning your home, the first question you need to ask yourself is whether youre going to hire a professional or do it yourself. The answer depends on what youre planning on doing.

There are plenty of things that you can do yourself quickly and easily: painting, putting up shelves and cupboards, all that kind of thing. Anything you can find in the DIY shop will come with instructions that should let anyone who is reasonably experienced in DIY put it up.

However, if you want to do something more complicated converting a room into a bathroom or a kitchen, or building an extension, for example then youre going to need a professional.

When it comes to home design, however, it can be tough to know exactly who to hire. For basic things, you need a handyman, but for more complex projects you might need a builder. To do anything in the bathroom, you probably need a plumber. If youre giving your whole house a makeover, you might even want to hire a professional designer, who will look at the overall picture and come up with ideas to make your house a better place to live in.

While pro designers can be expensive, they are usually worth the money you wouldnt think it from the amateur jobs you see on some TV makeover shows, but they really do know what theyre doing. There are some cowboys out there, though, so make sure the person youre used has all the relevant qualifications: its best to ask for references, as that means you can go and see for yourself houses that they have worked on previously, and see if you like them. Be careful on judging them simply because theyre not your taste, however remember that a good designer will reflect what the people asked for, not just force their own tastes on people.