To think I can do all this for £10,000?

[Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady]

My house desperately needs a revamp, to the extent that it's causing my depression to rear it's ugly head just living in it.

(I realise I sound horrible and entitled...at least I have a house etc)

I was hoping to get additional borrowing on our mortgage and do a renovation for about £45,000 knocking through some walls etc but OH says we can't afford the payments.

So I've been looking at what the minimum we would need doing to make the house feel nice and this is my list.

Laminate floor in living room and kitchen/dining room

're paint downstairs

Get kitchen cupboards sprayed and over professionally cleaned

New sofas

Coffee table/tv stand

New interior doors

Carpet upstairs

Paint 3 bedrooms

New floor in bathroom

're tile ensuite
New floor ensuite (more like a cupboard, very tiny)

New bed x2

New garden fence on one side

I've spent the day on Pinterest and looking for ideas of costs and I reckon we could do it for £10,000 if we are careful.

Both of us are shit at DIY so would have to pay for everything except the painting which we can do ourselves.

Are we kidding ourselves that it can be done for 10 grand?

[quote SarahAndQuack]@BungleandGeorge, the house I live in is c. 1700 and has no straight lines anywhere!

It's really easy - you just need to take it slow and be patient.

I will admit, our house is rented and dilapidated and we've never aimed for a magazine-perfect finish, but the doors we've re-hung open and close smoothly and don't have visible gaps, and I think that's as good as you need to get.[/quote]
Some people are handier than others! I’d struggle with that I must admit although I could do other jobs. Probably also depends on the style of internal doors, it would be easier with a plain door than with any type of glazed or moulded style as you then have to make sure it’s all central

Repainting cabinets is extraordinarily expensive. When I was repainting the house it was more for the cabinets than three large rooms and all trim! Perhaps (and I hope) you will find differently.

Oh, it's not me who gets the credit, it's my DP! And you're right, we've never done glazed doors although some of them do have mouldings - I just accepted they are not quite symmetrical, because what we were replacing didn't either, and we know from a survey that the frame spaces are a very long way from regular rectangles.

But even so, I would say, it's really worth a go. If you live in a modern house it needs to be absolutely perfectly lined up or it will look odd - but, you'll be working (one hopes!) with straight lines to start with. If you live in an older house, you will have lots of wonky lines. Sometimes people worry too much about 'fixing' houses and you lose the character. IMO, if you're doing work on a budget (and we truly were, because ours is rented and we couldn't afford to put in more than would have taken the rent up to market rates), then I think often what you need to do is think what will look good, and in keeping, without getting hung up on what the Joneses do.

Unless you buy the cheapest of cheap, in which case let's be honest, what is the point?

What do you mean by cheapest of the cheap though?

Big items I'd be buying are:

Floors - do you mean vinyl wood look rather than real wood? Well for me the point would be that it looks like wood, doesn't scratch as easily and cheaper to replace if damaged.

Beds - already sourced 1 - handmade frame sturdy. It doesn't look cheap. It's very well made with a 10 year guarantee. £500
Sofa bed will hardly ever be used so I don't care if it's cheap tbh.

Sofas- maybe it's how I was brought up but £1500 for 2 sofas is not cheap!

Carpets - I have a dog and a cat. Buying expensive carpet would be silly!

If you mean getting the kitchen separated rather than buying new I can see your point there. But We cannot afford the extra 10 to 15 grand it would cost for a new one. And theres nothing actually wrong with the kitchen, everything works its just a bit dated. Spraying company ive looked at also offer a 10 year guarantee against chipping, peeling etc.

Maybe I just don't have expensive taste. Maybe I have cheap taste! But the point would be I'd like to like my house and feel happy in it

*spray painted, not separated!

I reckon you can do it!
I managed to redecorate and furnish (from scratch) a 2 bed semi for about 8k. That included all new flooring, a new fireplace and mantelpiece , paying for decorators and having a ceiling skimmed and some plastering done.

I bought mid pride range carpet (when it was on special offer) and decent quality luxury vinyl tiles for the bathroom floor and the downstairs. The furniture is a mix of Ikea and Next. I put in a lot of fancy light fittings and all new blinds and curtains.

I don’t feel I cheaped out on anything and 18 months later am still really happy with everything.

Why not start with the flooring, painting and kitchen spraying and then go from there?

Repainting cabinets is extraordinarily expensive

Between £750 and £1000 here depending on size of kitchen. Lots cheaper than a new kitchen though!

But you absolutely can respray cabinets yourself.

Why not start with the flooring, painting and kitchen spraying and then go from there?

That would be a workable plan. I'm not saying I want everything doing all at once exactly, just that I don't want to/cant do 1 room, save up for 6 months, do another room etc etc

We used that method when we moved in 8 years ago...The living room was decorated and my son's room. And that's where it ends.

OH doesn't like doing anything he's not good at and he's not good at decorating. Most of what's been done was done by me or my dad.

I think you could do a lot of it for that price.

I tiled our kitchen and laid laminate flooring heavily pregnant and before YouTube was a thing. I was a teenager though and didn't care about the finish as much as I would now, although I know for a fact the floor is still being used over twenty years later.

@RJnomore1

You could def do everything except the fence. No idea how much fencing is sorry. At a push you could get beds and sofas on 0% finance, even carpets too.

We were told to estimate about £90-£100 per 6 feet wide fencing panel, fitted and gravel boards installed.

We were told to estimate about £90-£100 per 6 feet wide fencing panel, fitted and gravel boards installed.
Is that for posts too or just replacing boards and fence panels?

@Kottbullar

We were told to estimate about £90-£100 per 6 feet wide fencing panel, fitted and gravel boards installed. Is that for posts too or just replacing boards and fence panels?

It was for everything, panels, posts, gravel boards and labour, took three days, mainly because of poor weather to fit 8 panels.

My bedroom was £1400 for a professional decorator (with training and insurance) to prep and paint (inc woodwork and beams). That’s pretty standard around here. God knows how people are getting it for so much less, unless they are paying Facebook handymen/cowboys with no insurance to come in. The poster with pretty much a full house for less than £400 is baffling! The paint alone must come to that.

I'd consider getting used sofas. I got mines via sofology. They were customer returns and half the cost of new. Grade A condition I think which means like new. I'd also consider used coffee table/ bedframes and buy new mattresses.

Doors are easy to buy wholesale try and get something that doesn't need bits trimmed off and it'll save you in joinery fees.

I think when they say 400 it's just for labour and you buy the paint. A lot of trades do it as they can stay out the VAT threshold if the customers purchase all materials.

My entire kitchen including ceiling and woodwork was just shy of £400. My decorator takes £70 to paper a wall. Definitely not cowboys a well known well respected small local business with insurance. I do remember my friend paying almost £900 to get a hallway papered and painted years ago but she does just pick someone and phone them and go first quote.

I’d recommend asking around for someone who has done a good job at a reasonable price elsewhere. Word of mouth is worth a lot in my experience.

@Kottbullar

We were told to estimate about £90-£100 per 6 feet wide fencing panel, fitted and gravel boards installed. Is that for posts too or just replacing boards and fence panels?

I've just agreed a new fence which is going to cost approx twice that amount, although it is featheredge rather than panels and includes clearing a conifer hedge which adds to it, but approx 50m so economies of scale. I've had a number of quotes and they are all coming in around the same level. I'm in Cambs.

I posted on MN earlier in the year and a couple of people in Wales had recently had theirs done for far cheaper.

Op I've just done up a house and your figures are extremely unrealistic unless you cut some serious corners or buy some really cheap things...the cost of labour to hang a single door is 80 pounds so by the time you buy a door the locks hinges etc you could be looking at 200 pounds although you could buy cheap doors but they won't last so better to do a few things properly so they will last longer.

Also with the laminate because it's going in the kitchen you really can't choose a cheap one you need a good grade that can withstand any water spills.

If you were doing the labour yourself you would save hundreds but you get what you pay for.

You've also left out so much if your tiling you need tiles grout and trims and thats if the surface underneath is good for tiling. For laminate flooring there is underlay and those trims for around the skirting unless your lifting the skirting so the floors go underneath the skirting.

Carpet upstairs will need really good underlay for soundproofing or you will hear everything downstairs.

In my opinion don't cheapen out on the things that are meant to last ie your floors and tiles

Oh I supply paper, he supplies paste. Kitchen was all materials but to be fair had just been replastered so no/little prep needed.

Of course it can be done. Just don't ask a load of people who think Farrow and Ball, John Lewis and artisan traders is where normal people get their homewares.

We had a large living room and stairs and landing with good quality carpet from a local carpet shop for under a grand and it's lasted really well. It's only just starting to look tired over a decade later.

The same place did a small double bedroom in the same carpet for about £200.

We got an offcut of lino for our small bathroom for about £20. Even if you need to hardboard the floor first, and it really is a small bathroom, you can do it for £50. For flooring, look at independent carpet shops in shabby parts of town and tell them you want decent but not high end carpet.

For your furniture, just go to Ikea. Just about everything is pretty much bombproof and you won't get cheaper for decent quality. We have a load of stuff that's 15-20 years old and as solid as ever.

YABU to think depression can be cured by renovating your home. That’s no different from people thinking going shopping will cure their depression. You’re just shopping for different stuff.

You need to find root cause of your depression and tackle it, not try and buy your way out of it.

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

Unless you buy the cheapest of cheap, in which case let's be honest, what is the point?

What do you mean by cheapest of the cheap though?

Big items I'd be buying are:

Floors - do you mean vinyl wood look rather than real wood? Well for me the point would be that it looks like wood, doesn't scratch as easily and cheaper to replace if damaged.

Beds - already sourced 1 - handmade frame sturdy. It doesn't look cheap. It's very well made with a 10 year guarantee. £500
Sofa bed will hardly ever be used so I don't care if it's cheap tbh.

Sofas- maybe it's how I was brought up but £1500 for 2 sofas is not cheap!

Carpets - I have a dog and a cat. Buying expensive carpet would be silly!

If you mean getting the kitchen separated rather than buying new I can see your point there. But We cannot afford the extra 10 to 15 grand it would cost for a new one. And theres nothing actually wrong with the kitchen, everything works its just a bit dated. Spraying company ive looked at also offer a 10 year guarantee against chipping, peeling etc.

Maybe I just don't have expensive taste. Maybe I have cheap taste! But the point would be I'd like to like my house and feel happy in it

I'm with you Stunned at the prices people think are normal for some of the items on your list.

I think you'll struggle to get the doors purchased and fitted for £500, and also need to factor in hardware costs (handles, hinges, etc) which are surprisingly expensive.

If you're getting white doors you'll likely need to repaint the frames and skirting as they'll look really yellow next to a new white door. Not an issue if you have wooden doors though.

We had our 20 year old kitchen painted and it was money well spent, definitely better than getting a new kitchen. But it cost over £1000 by the time we factored in undercoat, paint and new handles.

It's a surprisingly time consuming job with having to take the doors off, cleaned the cupboards, done 2 coats of primer, 2-3 coats of paint and then refit and straighten up the doors.

Ours was an inset shaker kitchen though, so maybe extra fiddle with having to do the frame and the door. Definitely get a few quotes, if you go cheap and it's not done well it could look awful,

I think you are massively under estimating labor costs.

Get quotes for parts and labor for the big ticket items, kitchen, flooring, doors, tiling and then you'll have a clearer idea.