where to start?

[MrsStressBall]

We'd like to get some work done on the house, which I think would benefit from a bit of a re-design. If only I could have Kirsty round to give suggestions on how to make the house work better for us by moving a few walls/knocking through and so on! What is the job of someone like that - who do I need to contact first? An architect? Builder? Some other person or company? I'm totally clueless on where to start but want someone to come in with some "big picture" inspiration (and an idea of rough costs so we can work out what's do-able and what's not! I don't want to pay a fortune for someone to come in and come up with over-the-top ideas we'd never be able to afford). Would welcome advice from those in the know! Thank you!

Following as I too need help in deciding what to do with our house! x

An architect or look at Houzz as they have designers on there.

An architect will cost ££££ before you even start work and they aren't always able to price the difference between different decisions. We extended, so needed proper plans and had to have drawings, which we did follow externally, but the internal bit we changed quite a lot with the builders, as they suggested ways to make it more cost effective (using existing pipework, not moving gas meter, etc).

I'd see a builder first and see what they suggest, particularly if you can sketch out a few possibilities. Depending on supporting walls/ building regs you will probably need technical drawings and structural calculations, but this is cheaper than full architect fees.

No!!!! Not a builder. Most have no idea how to make best use of space, light, how the owners visualise use and the orientation of a property. They have no qualifications to design anything. I wouldn’t have trusted a single builder I’ve used to think about how to alter a house.

It’s never going to be cheap so make the best decisions you can with the help of a professional. If the house is larger, you definitely need professional help. If it’s tiny, there are many web sites with good ideas but you still need plans drawn up.

We resited our kitchen and what a difference it’s made! The best views were previously from the downstairs cloakroom and utility room. Use of space, removing walls, utilising views for the living areas and storage solutions has made a huge difference to our lives! House now looks great and really works as a home. Would a builder have advised on this? Unlikely.

Thank you! I do think we need someone with some inspiration as, although we have some ideas about what might work, I'm sure someone with more experience and who knows about limitations and what's likely to reduce (or inflate!) costs would be better. I don't want a builder to just say "yeah, we can do that" to the first thing I say! However, I don't want to spend ££££ as you say on an architect - especially if, as everyone says, we should get several quotes. House in SE, worth around £550k, we have around £50k to spend, so not ££££. Is that it then - architect or builder?

I really think it depends on what you envisage. We had an architect appraise our house and sketch out 6 different alternatives for use of space. If you need to talk about a much smaller scheme (£50,000 won’t get you much) then a quick talk about ideas and then a discussion about fees might suffice. We had to consider removal of walls, significant changes to plumbing and other major changes such as a new staircase and a complete new kitchen. Way more than £50,000.

However it’s still worth thinking about how you use your space and what you want out of the work you are contemplating so you are not disappointed.

Are there similar houses on the road / surrounding roads? I have been looking at images and floorplans of local houses on Rightmove to see what other people have done with their layouts, it's been quite helpful to get a rough idea of what I like and what works for our current floorplan.

Sadly not. We're a 60s/70s infill in a street of Edwardian/30s houses

We are using ‘one plan houzz’ (Karen) to do exactly this. She is a home designer (we are doing kitchen diner knock through with home office- so reconfiguring layout. Wallss coming down but no actual extension. Lots of good reviews for her services- especially on mumsnet which appear to be genuine. She’s been great in comms so far. It’s surprisingly very affordable.

Thank you, I'll look her up!