Renovating a home is exciting, but it’s also complicated, expensive, and occasionally chaotic, something I know first-hand after several years of doing exactly that to our own house.
In this category, I share practical, honest advice covering every stage of a renovation project, from budgeting and finding the right tradespeople to the details of plumbing, electrics and structural work. My aim is to help you avoid the costly mistakes we’ve made along the way, so you can get through your renovation with your sanity (and your budget) intact.
Renovations rarely go entirely to plan, and mine certainly haven’t, but with the right preparation, you can avoid a lot of the common pitfalls. I’ve covered everything from kitchen and bathroom renovations to protecting your home during building work and choosing the right contractors, and I’ll keep adding to this category as our own renovation journey continues.
If you’re just starting to plan a project, it’s worth reading through a few posts on budgeting and contractors first, as they’ll save you time (and probably money) before you get stuck into the more hands-on posts.
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Whether you are taking on a property renovation because you want the challenge or you’re doing it because your property is in dire need of a refresh, managing the costs can be daunting. Neglecting ongoing property maintenance can cause severe structural damage to a building, so it’s essential to deal with problems before they get…
The UK’s home improvement market is worth many millions of pounds per year and shows no sign of slowing down. Many homeowners are looking for ways to improve their property, keeping it up to date with the latest trends, making it appealing to buyers and potential tenants, or simply maintaining its fresh look for themselves….
Building your own home is no easy feat and one that most people can only dream of. How often, like me, have you spent watching Grand Designs, imagining what you would do if you were to design your home? Mostly glass or mostly wood? Traditional house or something more suited to your personality? …
Having undertaken one home renovation so far in my life, there’s a lot that I learnt, a lot I would have done differently, and a lot I’d do again. But the key to a successful home renovation is in the planning. And planning is something I would do much more second time around….
This is a subject that’s been on my mind a lot recently because we’re currently in the throes of having our garden and driveway redone. But I’ve been thinking, how much value does a garden add to a property and will it be worth it? Will it actually add the value that we’re hoping it…
My inspiration for this post came partly from Meera at First Sense Interiors who wrote this fab post about introducing colour into the kitchen, and partly from my House Beautiful magazine which arrived earlier this month. Originally, I was just going to do an inspirational post about what colour schemes and styles you can go…
*This article contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking a link. These days, everyone seems to be switching to combi boilers, but have you thought about why you should actually keep your hot water tank system? People are choosing modern combi boilers because you never…
If you’re anything like us, you’ll have a list of 20 jobs that you’ve been meaning to get around to, but somehow haven’t… What better time to start than the new year? A new year is a time for new starts. You might be considering moving house, or there might be a tonne of DIY…
The bathroom may be one of the smallest rooms in the house, but that doesn’t make it any easier to renovate. In fact, it’s one of the most difficult and costly rooms to renovate thanks to all the plumbing, tiles, taps and bathroom accessories you need to purchase. All of these elements need to come…
We’ve all got skirting boards at home, but do you ever think about why? Today’s post is a little bit different. I love looking at how trends change through the ages. What we see as a necessity now wasn’t 50 years ago, and might not be in another 50. It’s currently normal to have all…
Whether you love gardening or hate it, simple gardening is the way forwards using technology to turn you into a green thumb! If you’re an avid gardener, the chances are you’re always looking for ways to improve how your garden looks and develops. An effective way of making sure your plants, seeds and shrubs stay…
Building your own home is not an easy task. At first it sounds amazing, like a dream, until the windows arrive in the wrong size, you’re up all night doing finance calculations, and you have to borrow more money from the bank. Me and Jay want to build our next home. It’s a huge task,…