Renovation on a tight budget

[Greyhorses]

Hello everyone, I've been directed here from my last thread and am looking for some tips and advice please!

I have bought stc an old falling apart semi for myself that needs renovation although I have a very limited budget (almost non existent! )
On the face of it the property needs a new kitchen, bathroom, double glazing, carpeting throughout, new fire, wallpapering etc etc. feeling a little sick looking at that list!!

I am looking for ideas to bring the costs down and make the property habitable?

The kitchen seems okay but needs new doors etc, can I buy these separately or do I need units? Will any door for my units and where do I buy them from?

Any other money saving tips would be greatly greatly appreciated!

[DENMAN03]

Can you just paint the doors and change the handles? If the doors are really bad you can replace them only as long as the carcasses are ok.
I have renovated a 3 bed victorian cottage, which had no heating and needed lots of work for just £15k.
Can you do a lot of the work yourself? I became an expert in tiling, laying floors, using power tools etc! Give it a go and you will save lots. Its much easier than you think.
Do one room first that you can escape into after a long day. I worked full time but spent every waking our on the house. I did the whole thing in under a year! A local pub was a godsend when I had no kitchen (cooked on a gas camping stove for a while!)
Look at B&Q end of lines.. I bought a sink pedastal for a fiver...it came with a lovely shell sink which was binned (or ebay?)...bought end of line tiles very cheaply.
Its hard work but worth it in the end.

[Geranium3]

congrats on your new home!
I think the cheapest, most effective and instant facelift is to paint!
could you paint the kitcen units?
I managed to paint a small bedroom last week with 1tin of dulux "endurance" paint,a very pretty blue, for the princely sum of £9.75!!!
Was in homebase, should have been £26, no idea why it was so cheap!
So get painting!
Also even if bathroom/kitchen are a little tatty, if you can keep them sparkling clean and perhaps have nice towels etc, i'm sure your house will look inviting

[lalalonglegs]

Just do the things that really need doing at first (ie replumbing/rewiring/anything that will keep the house watertight) and don't worry about the cosmetics.

If it does only need cosmetics then, yes, painting is the biggest difference you can make. Paint over any offending wallpaper - it may only be a temporary fix because you may need to strip and replaster eventually but that can wait. Ebay and freecycle like mad for bathroom and kitchen fittings (I'm assuming if it's a semi, there will be a garage you can store these goodies in) and wait to redo these rooms if they're at all useable at the moment: plan carefully so you don't make any mistakes with the new designs for these rooms.

Basically, if it's not falling down or dangerous, throw some paint on it, explain to anyone that will listen that you're saving up to do it properly and enjoy a couple of years (if necessary) of feeling very relaxed about spillages on carpets and scrapes on walls.