We bought our first house in 2016 and it was a renovation project. The house was in good standing but it needed some modernisation. You can see what we did in our old house by visiting this link. We sold our house in 2020 and bought our current home in 2021. This house was built in 1930s and was in need of full home renovation, including complete electrical rewire, plumbing and sorting out damp issues. We are in our 4th year of our home renovation and have learnt some lessons along the way, which I am sharing with you today.
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You can see our journey to becoming house owners here.
1. Your house will look worse before it looks better
This was one of the hardest things throughout the renovation. Living in a mess is hard and this mess lasts for a long time. I am not just talking about dust and dirty floors, yes that’s hard, but what I mean is, imagine boxes and stored things everywhere. Living in a renovation project is challenging and even a “small job” creates chaos. I must have spent most of the days constantly moving things and boxes from one room to another. Trying to find something you know you already have?? Forget about it, you will be in constant state of rage and (frustrated) tears over trying to find something you know you put in the place, never to be seen again until you sort everything out.
2. Every job uncovers another job
Lift one floorboard and suddenly you are redoing insulation, pipes, or electrics. Removing the wallpaper in this house was nerve wrecking as we never knew what we will get – from crumbly render falling down to damp issues, which needed addressing before we could pick a paint colour. Renovations are not good for your blood pressure!
3. Budgets stretch in sneaky ways
You have budgeted for the bathroom renovation – the tiles, sink and the bathtub but have you included items like the plywood for the floors, screws, timber, filler caulk, sandpaper, paint and sealer? It may seem like small expenses but trust me it all quickly adds up. The prices have also gone up massively in the recent years so don’t forget to use a discount code, shop during sales or apply for a trades card to get discounts on your purchases. I used Top Cashback for any purchases I made online and earned back some money!
Why not sign up for Top Cashback – visit this link to get a £10.00 sign up bonus.
4. Dust gets everywhere
Everything will be covered in dust and not matter how many times you clean or hoover it will still be messy! You will find the dust in drawers you never opened, on clothes you didn’t wear and in rooms you kept “sealed off”. The dust was one of hardest things to live with during the renovation and I am so glad that stage is now over. Invest in a good dust barrier to keep some of the dust out!
5. You will be exhausted which can lead to burnout
Renovations are not for the faint hearted. We have been working on the house for nearly 4 years and trust me, it is not easy. Social media tends to romanticise the renovations, but it is far from the truth. It is absolutely exhausting!! We both have a full time job, which means we spent any spare time renovating the house – weekends, evenings, I even went home on my lunch hours to finish a “small” job. We didn’t go on holidays for years and spent bank holiday weekends working working working. This is not sustainable and you will burn yourself out. Working when you are supposed to rest, substituting freshly cooked meals with takeaways and drinking alcohol to celebrate small wins in the house was what we did, but I ended up burning myself out and my health took a massive toll. You can read about it here. I am now learning to take things easier and rest when I need to. Renovations can wait.
6. Your relationship will be tested
Choosing paint colours is one thing, but trust me when you are both exhausted and you have deadlines to keep up with, everything becomes ten times more intense. The number of times we “argued” over something trivial is absolutely crazy. I remember crying over flooring because I was so frustrated and tired and we couldn’t agree on which was the best way to install them. Have you ever argued over laminate flooring?? Breathe, walk away and come back. Trying to do something when you are angry, frustrated and tired will never work – walk away!! Your relationship is more important. This is so frustrating, but trust me it is absolutely normal and you are not alone.. I would say there is something wrong with you, if you haven’t argued with your partner during your renovations..
7. Decision fatigue is real
I never appreciated how hard it is to make a decision! I thought it will be so exciting and easy to finally pick something I always wanted but there are so many choices and you have to pick one! You think you are choosing “a sink”. What you are actually doing is you are choosing: the bowl shape, tap hole placement, overflow style, waste type, underside finish… and that’s just the sink. I ordered countless samples of tiles, flooring and paint just because I liked everything and couldn’t decide. You change one thing and the whole room changes! It also costs a lot of money so you need to make sure you make the right decision so it all lasts and doesn’t need to be replaced any time soon.
8. You will wish you had more plug sockets
No matter how many you add, you will still end up saying “Why didn’t we put one there?” One of the first major things we had to plan in the house was the amount and placement of the switches and sockets for the whole house including the extension. The extension wasn’t even built yet and we had to anticipate where we wanted them. I thought I had added enough, but on reflection, I do wish we added a few extra sockets in the bedrooms.
9. You will massively underestimate timelines
If you think it will only take a weekend, plan for three. If you think it will take a month, plan at least for two. All jobs take longer than you think, whether it is painting, installing skirting boards or building an extension. There are delays, everything needs prep work, sanding, fixing, priming, it all takes time and don’t forget there is waiting time in between coats of paint. If you are doing most of the work yourself you only need to consider your own timelines, however, if you have different trades you will need to manage them as well as their availability and make sure they are all aligned.
10. Storage becomes the biggest luxury
Renovations force everything into boxes… and then those boxes into other boxes. Boxes you will move around from one room to another all the time. Every renovator has that one room of doom, that is packed with everything possible, room that becomes a dumping ground for the foreseeable future. If you have storage – consider yourself lucky!
11. Paint colours look completely different on your walls
Make sure you test your paint colours and samples on the walls in your home. I usually get a small paint sample pot and paint on a white sheet of paper and place the sheets on different walls and even ceiling. The colour will also look completely different from the showroom. The colour will also change throughout the day depending which side your home is situated so keep going back to the room to see how it will look throughout the day.
12. You will become a regular at B&Q and Screwfix
Sign up for the trades and discount cards, you will need them and you will earn points and what’s even better get nice discounts and deals, which will come in handy during the renovations. You will soon know which aisle has the screws and fixings and where to find the best timber and mouldings. I can’t tell you how many times I would have to nip over to the shop to get a sealant or some additional s crews during a project.
13. You will spend as much time sorting your tools as using them
DIY means your sink becomes a paintbrush-cleaning station for months and you will have a box of tools you will use all the time. Every project you will need different set of tools so you will end up organising and reorganising your tools all the time. The batteries will also always be out of charge just as you need to use the power tools! Our favourite pastime at home during the renovation was trying to find a measuring tape. We have about 20 but we can never find one when we need it! Sort the tools you will need in a separate box and also keep a box of tools you will use the most on a day to day basis.
14. The small details bring the biggest joy
Soft-close hinges, brass finishes, a perfectly level shelf – these become your new source of pride.
I can’t tell you how happy I was with the little sensor light that came on every time I opened the new wardrobes or the soft close hinges on our kitchen cabinets.
15. You will be more attached to your home after
We are almost done renovating (not really but all the big jobs are finished) and we absolutely love the house. We loved it before, but now it has become even more special to us.
It is because we didn’t just decorate it, our blood sweat and tears has gone into it. This house has changed so much and we can see the love, care and our effort in every corner because we did it ourselves.
