When we bought our house, I distinctly remember saying to Oli, ‘it just needs a bit of paint – it’ll be finished in six months!’ Well four years later the house is certainly not ‘finished’ but I definitely feel like if we did it again, I’d have a much better idea about where to start. So with that in mind, here’s my ten tips for first time renovators based on my journey: what went well, what went wrong and what is yet to come.
1. Be realistic when it comes to time and money
Renovating a house will cost a lot more than you think. It will also take a lot longer than you think – especially if you are doing it yourself and have any of: a job, a child, hobbies and so on.
So far we have spent around £50k on the house. We sorted out the electrics, put in two new bathrooms, have had the house more or less replastered throughout, put central heating in downstairs, redecorated throughout and renovated the garden. We did a lot of little jobs that took an immensely long time, such as peeling away the layers of paint from all our original plasterwork.
We are still going too. Projects planned for this year include finally finishing our loft, spare bedroom and dining room. We also plan to remove old engineered wood flooring and finish off the garden.
The more money you have, the less time it will take and vice verser. If you have plenty of cash to throw at tradespeople, the work will be done more quickly than if you plan to do it yourself. And if you plan to DIY your renovation, it’s going to take a long time.
You might need to spend periods of time saving and doing no renovation work. We took some extra borrowing when we remortgaged. You should always speak to a financial advisor before deciding to borrow any more cash against your house though!
2. Don’t buy your furniture first!
I’m putting this tip quite close to the top of the list as it’s such an easy trap to fall into!
It’s your first home, you’re excited. It’s completely understandable that you want to dive right in and start buying furniture. I ordered furniture before we had even completed on the house purchase! I don’t regret it because I was so excited and it brought me joy, but I must admit we have since sold that furniture.
Pick your furniture once you have a good understanding of your space and for goodness sake make sure the sofa not only fits through the front door, but also the living room door and around any corners!
3. Plan, plan, plan
Get a notepad for your new project. It’s so handy to have all your thoughts and ideas in one place. It will also really help when it comes to planning any rooms. If you get a pad that’s at least A4 size, you can also use it for moodboards – every time you come across a photo you love in a magazine, cut it out and whack it in your notepad. If you’re not sure what your style is yet, it will help you work that out too. You can also use Pinterest for this. Each time you plan a new room, pin everything you love and then go back through that board and be ruthless removing photos that won’t actually work in your space (e.g. massive walk-in showers when you have a tiny bathroom. With a bath.)
It’s really handy to sketch out potential room layouts as you go along and make a note of any brands you think will work well with your plans and so on.
Plan what order you will do the work. Not just which room you will renovate first, but all the jobs that need to be done in that room. Having it written down helps jig things around and hopefully you’ll make fewer mistakes. It will also really help when it comes to organising tradespeople.
Basically your notepad will be your reno bible.
Work logically
It will be really tempting to get the jobs done in whatever order you can afford or by starting with the easier things first. Or you might just go steaming ahead without have a proper end result in mind (which is what we did). This will probably lead to more expense in the long term.
For example, we have decided to remove the engineered wood floors throughout the bottom floor of our house. But, having have alcove units built in, we will now need to redo the skirting boards, which will not reach all the way to the original floorboards. If we had had a plan in mind about how the house would eventually look, we could have started with the floors and then done the alcoves, which would have meant no need to double up on carpentry.
All that said, sometimes plans just change or develop organically – and that’s fine too – just be aware it’ll come with additional costs.
Ideally think about each room, work out what needs to be done, and plan it in order. We are currently redoing our spare room so the order will be:
- Strip back all the wallpaper and old carpet
- Take radiator off the wall
- Replaster walls and ceiling
- Put up ceiling rose and cornice
- Build in bespoke carpentry
- Redecorate from top down: ceiling, walls, woodwork
- New carpets*
*if we were stripping back the floorboards I’d get that done after the replastering. No worries about plaster spills then and leaves them ready for polishing up at the decorating stage.
The main point is to have a plan. It might not be a perfect plan but at least make it a bit more logical that we did!
4. You need more storage than you think you need
No matter how big your house is, you will always run out of storage. Whatever room you are designing, be sure to include plenty of storage.
Add storage under beds and build in cupboards. Personally I prefer built-in wardrobes, as they can go all the way to the ceiling. The same goes for kitchen cabinets. If the don’t go to the ceiling they will gather both dust and clutter.
You will be grateful for any savvy under-stairs or garden storage solutions.
5. Think about functionality
Rooms needs to be functional, as well as look pretty. Before planning any room, think about who will use the space and what they will use it for. For example, a bedroom for older children might benefit from having some built in desk space for studying. A family that loves to cook and eat together would get on well with a big kitchen and maybe an island. Place the prep zone facing into the kitchen, so the chef of the family isn’t excluded.
So before diving into a new room renovation use a page of your notepad to jot down how the space. That should help when it comes to planning the layout.
6. Do your research and think safety first
I sometimes see social media DIY-ers doing things that make my toes curl.
You must do your research first. Don’t rely on people like me to give you the full picture of how easy or safe a job is. For example, I recently saw someone on Instagram stripping an original Victorian door, complete with stained glass, using a heat gun. The glass eventually cracked due to thermal shock. You should always be careful (or ideally avoid) stripping glazed doors with a heat gun for this reason. But more worryingly, lead paint was used until the 60s and you should not be stripping lead paint with a heat gun, due to the fumes it can release. We used peelaway to strip our original plasterwork, as this is safe to use on lead paint.
Your house, especially if it is a period home like mine, is a potential hotpot of hazards. Hopefully you had a survey done before you moved in, which will have flagged some of these up. Even so, before you embark on any DIY job that involves removing something, you need to do your safety research.
Asbestos is another risk you need to always be aware of. It could be lurking in an old Artex ceiling or the glue used on your parquet floor or vinyl tiles. You should always test these areas before you go ripping them up.
Just google absolutely everything before you do it, even if it seems like it might be completely harmless. If there’s any concern at all, get a professional over to give you an opinion first.
7. Learn a bit about colour
You already know what colours you like, but spending a bit of time learning about the psychology of colour and different colour families will pay dividends. Sophie Robinson runs all sorts of fantastic courses to help you learn a bit more about your colour personality and what will work best in your home. If you fancy learning a bit at home first, Farrow & Ball’s How to Decorate is a good book to invest in.
Your whole house will flow best if you use a colour palette from the same colour family throughout. This won’t limit the number of colours you can use, but just means that whichever colour you do choose, they will sit well with one another. As a result, the whole house will feel more considered. Designer paint brands helpfully position these colours together, which makes choosing easier!
8. Learn a bit about paint
One of the easiest DIY jobs in the world is to simply repaint a space. But not all paint was born equal! Make sure you are using the right paint for the job.
If you are choosing a dark, rich or bright colour, I personally think it is well worth investing in a good quality paint ‘designer’ paint. The depth you get with them cannot be replicated with synthetic paints (not even colour matches!) I personally love Little Greene; the paint is a dream to use.
Get loads of colour cards and always use a tester first. Make sure you check the paint in a few different areas of the room, and at different times of day, because the light will vary.
9. Think Long Term
If you’re planning to stay in your house for the long term, then you need to think long term. Will the layout work in a few years time? Are you planning to have kids? These questions are worth thinking about.
That said, there is nothing wrong with a budget makeover to make a space bearable whilst you save up for a big change. We have recently transformed our kitchen on a tiny budget so that it is at least a space we like, if not yet the dream extended kitchen.
Likewise, if you only plan to stay for the short term, then it is probably worth thinking about how the plans you will have will affect the value of your home. If you only plan to stay for a few years, then you will want to see a return on your investment.
10. Enjoy it!
Most important of all, you should enjoy your renovation journey. Ours hasn’t always been great, because I like to do a million things at once and my partner would prefer not to do anything at all. Try to reach a compromise and don’t take on too much at once. Have fun! This is your first house and something you should be really proud of. Enjoy the ride.
I hope you have found my tips for first time renovators useful – let me know in the comments!
Brilliant article. Very informative. Wish I had your DIY skills. My husband is really good but I am so impatient I would love to be able to help.