Adventures in Home Renovations

We bought our house 6 years ago "for the potential".  I married a WONDERFUL man, who isn't the most decisive so it's taken us this long to get to the "almost there" stage of actually doing the building work.  Due to covid, the Race for Space has meant a long wait for the right builder.

Anyways, we've scrimped and saved and are ready to tackle this project! 

Went to a kitchen design studio where THANK HEAVENS their rendering gave a visual and realised there was a fundamental flaw with the build - revised plans through now.  Whew.

We made appointments with two different bathroom designers.  First was on Saturday, gave us a really great sense of our budget and how best to maximize what we are willing to invest.  My husband, "Ooo, I like that showerhead."  Salesman, "Yeah, that's £8,000, but this one is £300".  Awesome.  Left feeling fabulous and really excited about what they are coming up with. 

Then we went to one yesterday....  it was the scene out of Pretty Woman.  I had sent through our plans and our desires ALONG WITH OUR BUDGET a week and a half ago.  The guy would NOT RELENT on our budget.  Wanted to go through room by room to see what we could actually afford.  I get that bathrooms (and kitchens) are very large ranges.  I know you can spend £5,000 or £50,000 on a kitchen.  There's a big ole gap for what individual budgets allow.  Our budgets are generous and well thought out.  Our budgets do NOT stretch to the moon.  But we hope to get a few pointers of "this will achieve that same overall look by incorporating some off the shelf items with some special pieces". 

Had a good conversation with the husband last night as yesterday's guy was supposed to come out on Friday to look at our home to get a feel for our style.  And I just thought NO POINT. 

I called the Saturday place back today, the one that had us excited with what they can do within our budget.  She said, "your budget is not an issue, I'm hoping that two bathrooms are under what you had planned so I can give you some options for splashing out on the master".  So, EASY CHOICE.

Husband called snooty place from yesterday where we won't have so much as a radiator in the bathrooms because MONEY.  The guy continued to try to convince my husband on the phone AND has sent me an email.  FFS.  Dude, you made me feel like I would be lucky to get something at Ikea for the budget I had allocated.  Sucked any and all "fun" out of the experience.  It was all "what can we cut".  And he's surprised we DONT want to go there?

PEOPLE, I just CANT.  And we haven't even started knocking down walls yet....   

There are such jerks in that business aren't there?

Just before Covid started, I was planning to update a bit too.  Although I could probably stretch to a new kitchen if I really wanted to, it's just not a priority for me so I want to give the one I have a bit of a new lease of life with new counter tops and a new sink and tap. I want to paint the units, they are fine and still perfectly serviceable.

One place I went to doesn't even sell just work tops, you have to buy a whole new kitchen!  I got total Pretty Woman vibes from there too as I was directed  to their budget range!

At one point  I finally succumbed and allowed a designer from another place to have a look (no intention of buying) and the plan she came up with was pretty much exactly the same layout as I have now!

Finally I met with someone who was happy just to show me sinks and worktops, miracle!

I'm excited for you that you're at this stage though and I hope you only encounter the good ones from now on.

Larabee, it's exactly that.  I could throw the budget at the bathrooms... but then my return on investment SUCKS.  I'd much rather mix and match a bit.  Just like you say, an update to your kitchen could be done on a budget but completely change the look and feel.   No reason to fill a landfill with old cupboards if they can be repainted!!!!  We are putting budget towards a lot of unsexy things - like a new plumbing system and reconfiguring a few things to improve the layout of the house.  That's real money that's going out which is taking away from some of the fun stuff.  If we can't do what we want now, it'll just have to wait.  But LORDY, I can't go into the contingency budget before we've broken ground (and it not be building related).

I love a good bargain - don't we all?  I'm also willing to pay for someone's time and expertise to pull it together for me - within my building budget.  I'm not looking to get something for free.  I will pay a design fee.  I will pay an hourly rate.  Whatever that may be.  Just make it look good!  And ideally "timeless enough" where we won't want to redo it in a few years time. 

I saw on TikTok that you can just redo your kitchen and bathrooms for £50 by buying some stick on tiles from Home Bargains and B&M.

Why are you ladies splashing out all this cash on designers when you just need to follow the right TikTokers?



I've been spending entirely too much time on TikTok.

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When we built our house, we had a kitchen designer.  Except she doesn’t like to cook. WTF, lol!! So she made the flow so unusable and not practical for actually using the space.  It looked cool, but nope!! My husband drew it all up (because he designed the house in the first place)and said, nope, we want it that way.  She tried to argue with us that it wouldn’t work,  and that we should have gone with something more modern that our Shaker style, and we were like ‘what do you know?’ Hahahaa.
Well, we got our way in the end, and guess what? It works brilliantly. It’s not a big kitchen at all,  if it’s extremely practical and we always get compliments on our colour scheme and design.

Good luck KFDancer! It’s your money, get what you want, for what you can afford!!

I LOVE your kitchen PB.  Those backsplash tiles are EVERYTHING and makes me think I should allow “a risk”.

Actually, if before I finalise a design, would you two be willing to cast an eye over?  I know your husband is in architecture. And as you guys are avid cooks, you may have some good insight we aren’t aware of.

A friend told me they learned the hard way to not have underfloor heating run under the BIN!!!!  I am VERY grateful for that tip!!!!!

Happy to help 

A friend told me they learned the hard way to not have underfloor heating run under the BIN!!!!  Ia am VERY grateful for that tip!!!!!

We have now dismissed the idea, but when we first moved here we thought we would do underfloor heating... bin placement wasn't a consideration yet. I'm rather glad we haven't made progress, and especially glad we're not constantly slow-cooking our rubbish!

We have now dismissed the idea, but when we first moved here we thought we would do underfloor heating... bin placement wasn't a consideration yet. I'm rather glad we haven't made progress, and especially glad we're not constantly slow-cooking our rubbish!

SO obvious the minute someone says it, isn't it?  But I bet it happens a LOT.  Nope, don't need my rubbish being warmed slowly all day and all night, thank you very much!! 

Imagine the smell, and MAGGOTS

Day 1

I feel like it shouldn't be this easy to completely destroy a house.....  just saying!

No turning back, I guess?

Exciting it's all happening!

Nothing a bit of duct tape and a Swiss army knife won’t fix!!


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Day 1

I feel like it shouldn't be this easy to completely destroy a house.....  just saying!

No turning back, I guess?

Oh boy! I wish you a smooth and uneventful build. Very best of luck!   

Wow!