Where do we start?

[zizu73]

Hi

We are about to remortgage. There is a fair bit to do on the house so we want to borrow some extra money. We could either borrow £120k to fix an old existing back extension to make a kitchen/diner or borrow half of that to sort out the bathrooms upstairs, get built in wardrobes in the rooms, fix floors, get shutters etc.

We just feel that we need to start doing some of the work as the state of the house is impacting our quality of life but we are not sure where to start. It's a bit scary to borrow the larger amount for the extension as it would mean that we will not be able to do the other work for foreseeable. On the other hand, we were told that it's best to start with the bigger job which is structural, before doing the rest.

Any views? Many thanks.

Could you post some photos / a floor plan so people have some ideas what we are looking at?

I'd tackle the bits that are mostly decor and therefore cheap to fix but not related to the new extension first so I had at least some 'completed' bits to take refuge in before and during the build, and to save up. Then I think I'd do the major building stuff that got me more space, because that only ever gets more expensive if current trends continue- and so the second thing you get is space and a great kitchen diner ( because that's where I at least spend a lot of my time). Then the rest.

Question

What HAS to be done as thats where you start, then go on to whats nice to get done

Apologies for the delay in replying. Thanks for your replies. Here is the current floor plan. To do a side return extension, we are looking at £150k+. To work with the existing space but remove some internal walls, pillar in the middle of the kitchen (old corner of the house), etc it will be £100k+.

Above the dining room which is closer to the kitchen is one of the bathrooms which needs renovation.

[image deleted by MNHQ at the OP's request]

We definitely need to do the bathrooms or at least one of them as they are falling apart. The downstairs space would be great to redo as we are currently not using the dining room closer to the kitchen as dated and using the kitchen only when we cook as not a nice space.

We could potentially just refurbish the second dining room, remove a large chimney which would provide more space, redo the floor etc to make it a nicer space. Do a toilet under the stairs etc. but leave the kitchen and the internal walls as is as that when you need I think all the steels = ££££.