One minute you're telling yourself you're taking pictures of the renovation process for nostalgia; the next you're checking your phone in the middle of the night to see how many strangers have 'liked' them.

When I started documenting our renovation journey I vowed to capture everything I could to preserve the memory of the process and be able to look back at how far we’d come.

The archive of before-and-after pictures and videos is already mounting up and the incessant sound of lump hammers and pneumatic drills I’m sure will live rent free in my brain long after the project is finished.

As precious as it is to have albums of my children surrounded by insulation and broken bricks being the one behind the camera has brought with it a level of pressure I wasn’t expecting.

Taking a break from behind the scenes content to get the job done

placeholder image — Taking a break from behind the scenes content to get the job done

Having to constantly break off from a DIY job to ensure I’ve captured it on camera before cracking on, and the fear of missing milestone moments when the builders are here is exhausting.

I can't settle; I'm on constant alert. If I hear the builders firing up a noisy piece of equipment I'm there, camera in hand waiting to document the process. If my husband dares to start ripping up some of the original parquet flooring without me capturing the moment you better believe I’m asking him to put it back to retake the shot.

I told myself I was capturing behind-the-scenes content for our own archive and putting them on a home account on Instagram just made good sense to keep them all in one place. Next thing I’m researching how to monetise my reels, buying birthday candles to blow out to celebrate '500' followers and looking at what music is trending on social media in a bid to go viral.

What has happened to me? Have I been sucked into the world of social media influencing without even realising it and more tragically without the followers to back it up?

Reporter Kate Mason is taking on the renovation project of a lifetime

I feel pressure to post daily updates, which would be all well and good if I had millions of followers waiting to look at them, if I was watching my bank balance grow as my account did and if I was being inundated with freebies to furnish my house—but alas this is not the case.

The irony is that a reel I posted of my husband uncovering the original flooring did become quite popular with 88,000 views and climbing. And as we watched the viewing figures soar, prepared to field the mountain of brand deals coming our way and embrace our new social media stardom something strange happened….absolutely nothing.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not going to stop posting but I am going to stop comparing myself to others and trying to fathom why their mundane picture of a skip has one million views and mine has 100.

Social media is a vital tool when renovating, there is a plethora of inspo pictures, DIY hacks and money saving solutions so instead of feeling the pressure to compete with the social media stars I think I’ll just enjoy scrolling and stick to the day job (as well as being project manager and official tea maker of course.)

Keep up to date with all the progress by following @ohgodweboughtavicarage on Instagram.