House renovation - where to start

[thebluehen]

Friend going to move into a new house soon after separating from her husband.

She's going to have to live in it whilst the work needs doing. She has the funds to do everything needed.

Nothing is "terrible" and can't be lived with, but basically it needs;

New windows
New boiler (currently in v small kitchen)
New kitchen
New lounge flooring
Completely redecorating
False fireplace knocking out and corresponding electrical work.

She's feeling overwhelmed with everything and she's worried about doing things in the wrong order and creating twice as much work.

How would you go about getting the work done?

Apart from decorating, she'll need to pay someone to do the various works.

Personally I’d do it in this order
fireplace
windows
all of upstairs decoration
boiler
lounge floor
kitchen
downstairs decoration

that way at all times she’ll have areas of the house that are nice to escape to!

but obviously get advice from trades

If she starts by identifying why each job needs to be done - cosmetic or functional. Then prioritise the functional ones. For example, if the windows need to be changed because they're ugly, that would have lower priority if it was because they're broken or draughty.

Decorating goes last. That's the easy one.

All other things being equal, the messiest ones first - fireplace before floor, boiler before kitchen.

Remember that most jobs make lots of mess so I would leave decorating until as late as possible.
Windows will almost certainly make a mess of the surrounding plaster. Electrics, plumbing, heating etc will make holes in the walls/ceilings and require floorboards to be lifted. Kitchen, well that could mean the whole room being a bomb site depending on what she is having done (straight replacement or complete remodel).

With so much to get done she needs to step back and think long-term. Moving rads, additional sockets, ethernet points, lights etc is all easily done now but will be awkward (and messy) later.

Upstairs first then you don't have to walk all the mess through downstairs if it's done.
Windows and heating first to make sure it's water tight and warm.

Structural, security and weather tightness first. Decorating and new flooring last. When decorating, start at the top and work your way down.

It's a good idea to live with it for a bit as is if poss, then all the irritating things will come out and she can get them all done with least disruption.

Don't do the boiler until kitchen has been worked out, it may need relocating. Double the amount of sockets. Upgrade the consumer unit if budget allows for it whilst doing the electrical work.

When knocking out, make sure they plastic sheet doorways to minimise dust.