How much do decorating and renovating cost, on average?

[MoreIcedLattePlease]

Just as the title, really. I realise it is probably a really stupid question, but as first time homeowners we have limited experience of what things cost.

We have rented for the last 15+ years (my whole adult life) and whilst we have done painting, wallpapering etc, we have never had to recarpet or fit a kitchen or bathroom.

The house we have just bought (YAY!) is perfectly liveable, so no need to do anything hastily, thank goodness as we now have no money for a few months whilst we build our savings. We would like to recarpet the lounge/diner, paint, remove fitted wardrobes from the bedroom, paint, fit carpet and so on. We will retain the kitchen for now and just paint the cupboards, possibly wrap the countertop until it needs replacing.

We have been carpet browsing and had quotes for the (standard size!!) bedroom of around £1000 just for carpet and fitting, is that normal?! Do I need £10-15,000 for a kitchen? If I want a new en-suite shower room eventually, do I need to spend another £5000?

How much should I expect to budget, roughly, to make it feel 'ours?' We don't have luxury tastes, average is fine.

This is going to depend so much on where in the country you are, how much you can do yourselves, how high a spec you want… our last bathroom cost £13k. Labour was more than 50% of that. We painted the house ourselves, would have been about £1k per room otherwise. Kitchens can be anywhere from £10K for IKEA - £100k for Smallbone, etc.

Depends where you live and what spec and finish you looking at🤷‍♀️

I do realise it can vary based on area, we are in the South East, but not near London. Happy to do cosmetic stuff ourselves, and willing to learn with maintenance, but very much novices!

East Anglia

2021 - £5k small bathroom P shaped bath, electric shower plumbed in, towel rail, toilet/vanity, boxing in of a window in the wall to hallway, plastic shower paneling throughout and ceiling as bathroom is tiny and more of a wet room - super easy to clean and no grouting to mess with.

2021 - £8.5k Howdens kitchen and appliances, floor, spotlights, new boiler, plastering of one wall and ceiling, 8 new internal doors and frames, 4 new radiators

Today - underlay and carpet on stairs (4m) and vinyl at top (3m) and bottom of stairs (2m) - £239 fitting, £650 the rest of it - although I didn't get InTouch for a couple of weeks after getting the quote and they knocked some more off

If having washable flooring is important (pets / children/ allergies etc) you can get some nice thick textured vinyls, they are softer and warmer than laminate and I prefer it. They are very different to the dodgy linos of the 80s only downside is they can get a bit indented with heavy furniture but so does carpet.

You need to find a wholesale carpet warehouse and browse their rolls ofeftovers. So much cheaper than a carpet shop! My larger bedroom (around double the size of the smaller ones) cost slightly less/arojns the same for carpet when from wholesale

Yes the figures you quote in your op do sound like the base cost. I understand this may come as a shock if you have always rented. You can basically spend as much money as you have.

We just got a carpet from tapi for around £400 Inc underlay. Room was 12ft by 14ft , fitted it ourselves . Was £14.99 a metre I think and is fairly decent quality very soft. There are carpets that are £60+ a metre so it can be as pricey as you make it

Thank you. I did pull those numbers from thin air, but to know they're at the lower end of the scale is helpful.

It's not so much a shock, more just useful to know so we can plan in when/how to do work we may want to do.

Appreciate all answers so far, it's so helpful to see a range of what to expecct.

Do not do this unless you wish to replace in 2 years!
Buy cheap, buy twice IMO

Heartily disagree - roll ends/remnants are not low quality. You can get pretty big bits of carpet as roll ends - won't do lots of rooms in matching carpet, but if you need a single room doing, it's a great option.

The key with carpet is to invest in underlay. Good underlay can make cheaper carpets feel much nicer, and also make the carpet last longer (along with providing insulation ans noise reduction benefits).

They are thr same carpets....just what was left from the original roll that the expensive ones are produced from. Like all carpets, you just jave to pick the quality and maybe be slightly flexible on exact shading. Maybe the one near us is just better than most, but we have never had any problems and the carpets have lasted well. My living room needs replacing now....12 years since last done and a very heavy traffic room

In my experience it always costs more than you think and things have gone up. If you can do as much yourself as possible that will reduce costs.

We pulled out the fitted wardrobes ourselves, ripped up carpets, stripped, sanded and painted. I went to an independent for carpets and it was £600 for both bedrooms. But I didn't buy wool.

With the lounge and hall I paid someone locally to fit the flooring so that's worked out at £800. My windows and outside doors were £6k.

If you can buy the best you can afford. We need a new kitchen next but it's not the cabinets that will cost a fortune, it's the taps, fittings, lighting and labour.

You can save tens of thousands over the years by becoming a DIYer, but a DIYer that knows their limits.
All the information in the world on DIY is on YouTube and Reddit. The enemy of DIY is lack of time and incorrect tools.

I agree that your best investment would be learning some DIY. As the previous post says, you need plenty of time and the right tools. Your local adult education may have basic carpentry/plumbing courses, but you can learn loads from YouTube. Painting and decorating cost a lot to outsource but are easy to do yourself. Carpets - buy it from an outlet and fit yourself. Or you can find a separate fitter, which is often cheaper than getting the fitting and carpet together.

Ripping things out is generally not skilled!

If you are time poor (as I am) you have to outsource even quite low-skill jobs and take the hit on cost.

Also, if you just go with the 'standard' way of doing everything (for example, going to a high street carpet shop, choosing a carpet and getting them to fit it, or going to a bathroom company that design and fit the bathroom for you) you will usually pay for the convenience of that compared to separating out the different elements, which usually involves a lot more legwork from you.

Decorating the figure is usually suggested at £4,000 but depending on DIY, pro, quality etc... can all vary.

Reno depends what needs doing, I'm in the north an general:

Flat roof = £1,000+
Roof = £5,000-£25,000 (lower a basic tiled roof replacement, structural replacement slate roof)
Velux loft conversion = £15,000+
Garage conversion = £18,000+
Adding under stairs toilet = £1,000+
Small extension like porch or utility = £6,000+
Large extension (I have no idea, never researched it but a lot)
Rewire = £5,000+
New boiler = £2,500
New bathroom = £5,000
New kitchen = £3,000-£10,000 (depends on size, quality, DIY vs fully fitted)
New windows = estimate using £600 per window
Flooring = £1,000+
Damp proofing = £1,000+
Chimney breast removal = £4,000
Replastering everywhere = £4,000+
Replacing internal doors = £30+ per door
etc...

Obviously prices vary from a Studio Flat to an 11 bed mansion... these are based on a standard size 2-3 bed home.