renovations Conversations about

In the first of a new renovation series, Natasha Brinsmead shares her experiences of what it’s really like to carry out a DIY renovation project, including some of her top dos and don’ts

Let me be clear — given the chance to renovate my house all over again, I would, no doubt about it. But that doesn’t mean the project wasn’t without some very low points. To begin this new column, where I will be sharing my experiences of renovating a house with you, from the disasters to the triumphs, along with a few handy how-tos for good measure, I thought I’d give you a glimpse into the highs and lows of my project — just to prepare you for what may lie ahead with your own.

My husband Bill and I bought our Victorian cottage when our daughter was 17 months old and our son was three.we’d been hunting for a house to ‘put our mark on’ for two years, since selling the terraced house we’d previously renovated and moving into a hideous rental property on a soulless new housing estate, thinking we’d only be there for six months.

Perhaps it was desperation that blinded us to the work that lay ahead or maybe it was pure stupidity.

With very little in the way of savings, we had no choice but to live in the house, carry out almost all the work ourselves in the evenings and at weekends, and to save up as we went for each element.

We finally completed the project five years later, and along the way there were moments that had us all at breaking point — it sounds dramatic now, but at the time, right in the thick of it, there were moments that left me sobbing. That said, we have a house now that we completely love and would never have been able to afford to buy at the time. Plus the project brought some moments of real fun and adventure that I look back on really fondly (maybe while donning rose tinted specs).

When I think back on our project, we definitely made some mistakes, the main errors being:

• WE DIDN’T CREATE A RETREAT

A year or so in, we found ourselves ankle-deep in mud and puddles (in the kitchen and living room you understand, not in the

garden) making packed lunches for a primary school child while trying to put toddler down for a nap in a room with boarded up windows and tarpaulin covering the roof.which brings me to….

WE HAD NO PROPER SCHEDULE OF WORKS

There was not one area of the house that didn’t require stripping back. So, did we tackle the work ahead in a calm and orderly manner? Nope. We ripped it all apart as and when the mood took us — bashing down walls and tearing out sanitaryware in a frenzied state. Once the dust settled and we looked around, all we had done was create an almighty mess that we had to live in.the moral? Don’t touch anything until you have a concise schedule of works that will take you from start to finish smoothly and with the least disruption to your lives. Ensure you will still have cooking facilities, a bathroom and one comfortable room in which to relax in.

WE PLAYED IT TOO SAFE

Although we are happy with the end result of all our hard work there are times when we wonder if we could have got more out of the space — could we have gone out further on the ground floor and created an additional bedroom above? Was there space for a utility room? Annoyingly I think the answer is probably yes. Perhaps a job for the future — or maybe for the next owner.

But, while we undoubtedly made some stonking great blunders in the way we conducted the renovations, we also made some very good decisions:

WE KNEW OUR LIMITS

We weren’t shy about getting fully stuck into each and every element of our renovation, but there were times when we definitely did the right thing by taking a step back and leaving things to the pros. Examples include some of the finer joinery repairs to the original windows, plastering (we tried this on a previous renovation and it wasn’t pretty) and roofing. There are just times when taking the DIY route is a false economy.

WE STUCK TO OUR GUNS

Various tradespeople and visitors insisted that our new kitchen would be dark and gloomy and that we should include a run of glazed doors at the expense of more units. However, living in the house during work meant we could see how much light flooded into the new kitchen space as it emerged, even before the two big rooflights were fitted.we’re glad we didn’t listen to the doubters — our kitchen is always full of natural light and we didn’t have to compromise on unit space.

WE WERE REALISTIC

I remember standing in the garden the day after we moved in, and Bill saying: “Give it five years and it’ll all be done.” Five years seemed like an eternity. He was right though; it took five long years. Obviously during that time there were developments that made living there easier, but my point is, keep your expectations in check, low even, and then every win will feel more triumphant — it is the best way to keep up morale.

WE SPENT ON THE THINGS THAT MATTERED MOST

Even though our budget was limited, we spent on things that mattered — high quality kitchen and bathroom fittings, sturdy flooring, and skilled tradespeople. This has made all the difference to the end result.

So, why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to know what to expect if you are considering taking on, and living in, a project — and haven’t just won the lottery. I want you to know that it will be worth it and because, just maybe, I can help you avoid some of the mistakes we made.

I want you to know what to expect if you are considering taking on, and living in, a project — and haven’t just won the lottery