Could we do anything with this house to make it a family home?

[RedPencilPot]

this house?

I know it looks as if it has been owned by an elderly couple so needs modernised. We've never 'done work' to a house before so not used to thinking about the potential a house might have.

Budget of about £20k for EVERYTHING!

I'm usually amazed at how some people can make houses look!

Thanks for any input!

That looks like a great house, bags of space and nowhere near as bad in terms of decor as your post made me expect! The kitchen and bathroom could do with bringing up to date, but the bedrooms etc look fine - neutral walls and laminate floors. You could just replace the curtains with ones to your personal taste and move straight in, then make cosmetic changes later. I would think that budget would be enough to do the kitchen and bathroom easily, assuming the windows and central heating are as good as they look in the photos.

Looks like it's already been modernised to me! I don't know any elderly couples with a house as modern-looking as that!
From your OP I was expecting floral wallpapers, stencilled borders, swirly patterned carpets, polystyrene ceiling tiles and an avocado bathroom!

Nowhere near as bad as I expected from your description. New kitchen and bathroom and the rest just cosmetic as long as the windows and heating/boiler situation is good. Beautiful blank canvas with a fab garden, very spacious.

You only need to update the kitchen and bathroom, as others have said looks like a blank canvas otherwise.
Looks lovely

I don't know elderly couples with a house as modern looking either, I can't see what your problem is with it from the pictures. The kitchen and bathroom/flooring may not be your taste.

Looks fine to me, its a blank canvas (I'd probably do the bathroom though)

When you said it had been owned by an elderly couple and needs modernising I thought it was going to look like this one we have in our Rightmove saved list and are contemplating;

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43056184.html

Looks lovely. I would spend some of your budget on brightening up the garden - fruit trees, maybe a greenhouse if you're interested in that kind of think. For the kitchen if the cabinet carcasses are okay you could save money by just getting the cabinet doors and fixtures replaced.

My Mum's house is more modern than this, and she is 89!!! Not all older people live in a time warp!

However, this property is not that bad and just looks forlorn and empty. I would put a small tree in the front garden and plant a flower bed to make the front look more inviting. Not much kerb appeal. Is the garage usable for a car? Looks really narrow to me. I might make this into a room at the front and possibly a laundry room or shower room at the back. Put up a car port in the space next to the garage with storage for garage type things at the end of it. Should be able to do this for £20k. I would update the bathroom and kitchen later.

It looks like a great family home. If I lived in that area I'de be fighting you to buy it. It just needs a new kitchen and bathroom, a lick of paint and some curtains.

Go for it!

Lots of great suggestions. I was wondering if there was any way of extending the kitchen by possibly knocking through to the room to the right. Would this make the living room v small? Any where I could fit a downstairs cloakroom?

Really appreciate any help

Obviously it is all downstairs but I'm aware there is only one bathroom and no ensuite for the whole family!

Looks great. I wish I could have a detached bungalow for that price! Our semi detached one cost over twice that (bloody south east).

Is it the bungalow thing that is putting you off? If it is don't let it. We love ours and it has so much land and potential compared to houses in that price bracket. We are extending ours, rearranging the layout and adding a loft conversion. All a lot easier with a bungalow :)

I would:

redo the bathroom. Say aim for £5-£6k this is realistic.
What state are the kitchen carcasses in? If good keep them and put new worktop/door/sink on. Even if new kitchen needed you could get it done for £7k-£8k
Walls seem okay. Maybe create some colour on one wall in the rooms i.e feature wall it.
The corridor is too white! I'd change that flooring to a darker tone. Ditto kitchen floor.
£20k should get you what you want if electrics/boiler/roof ok and you don't have to do it all at once. Mostly it just wants "warming up"

Ps you could convert the garage into whatever you want and create a car port to the side.

Gosh that is a lovely blank canvas to work on. Nothing like I expected from the OP!

There's loads you can do simply. Coloured curtains, change the doors on kitchen units if you don't like the current ones, rugs on laminate floors, colour on walls or feature walls.

I'd say the only thing that needs doing is the bathroom and I'd expect 5k for that. You might want to splash out on fitted units in the bedrooms as you have 20k to allow plenty of storage.

Just noticed the size of the "garage" and that it is not used as one. This is the space for a second bathroom and laundry. It already has the water supply.

I would describe that as a family home anyway. The changes you need to make are cosmetic, and I agree about changing the kitchen and bathroom. Unfortunately the deal breaker for me is that there is just one bathroom and no extra loo.

I think you could make it lovely. It's a bit bare and stark outside for me, but that's easily remedied. It's a shame there's no floor plan as it's the location, footprint and layout that count most for me.

I'd convert the garage into a proper shower room/utility incorporating into the house proper and put a car port on the side with some lockable storage at the back if needed.

I actually don't mind the kitchen, it's the kind of retro you could tart up, I think I'd lose the breakfast bar to open up the space more and paint the interior door white.

Mostly the place just needs decorating and furnishing to your taste, so as long as the roof, windows, heating and electrics are sound, it should be doable well in budget.

Just realized kitchen probably would need some work, it looks as though the hob at least has been specially lowered to suit a wheelchair user? not much of a job to reposition it though I wouldn't have thought.