First-time house renovation

latecomer

flying visit

@kr15snw - welcome. Sounds like you've got ambitious plans but think you'll be hard pushed to stick to your budget. good luck

@andby - sorry to hear about MrsB - hope it all gets sorted out.

@maggie - looks great - quick question - what carpets have you got in the hall and do you remember what they cost? we're looking for a cheaper alternative to what we had but are struggling a little.

We're hopefully on the verge of settling the insurance but everything takes forever we're running out of time and patience. Then its a case of get it finished and on the market asap. moving for defininte just as soon as its possible.

ukmaggie45

Latecomer, carpet is this one and the colour we chose is Curlew. We loved the Gardenia but it was a bit pale to be practical. And the Filbert was too dark for us.

I can't remember the price now, but I expect OH has got notes on it in The Big Book. We have it through the whole house except utility and shower room, kitchen and bathroom, which are all vinyl. So we got a deal on it, but can't remember what now. Oh, and we got the underlay and fitting and the thresholds etc included. OH negotiated pretty hard. Will get back to you when I find out (OH is cooking roast beef for tea and we're watching The Apprentice and by then I'll be shattered ).

Welcome to the Thread kr15snw. I'm afraid to say that I tend to agree with Latecomer that I think your budget will likely get stretched. You must start a blog to share your progress (we love blogs and photos on this thread, and you will be glad you did when you look back at it all in future years). Having said that I didn't have the energy to blog our renovation and extension, but it's all here on this thread anyway! :rotfl: And lots and lots of photos on Flickr. Good luck with it all! Have you got planning permission yet?

typeractive

Welcome kr15snw!

Sounds like you have a good project. Remember the pictures and progress updates!

To be fair, I think as your other half is a builder and you obviously know some of the trades, you'll get quite far on ya budget. Maybe not finished to the exact spec you want, but shopping in the right places etc - I reckon you'll get a lot done with the initial 35k!

:beer:

kr15snw

Yeh we know we're pushing it, but I think we're hoping to get the frame work done with the 35k. So get all the building done and rooms plastered. We might not have furniture, paint on the walls or carpets for quite a few years...... Lol. But if we can get the basics done then we can do a room at a time with decorating etc. We also arn't expecting to touch the family bathroom for a while but as it's just us 2 we'll get the ensuite done and then we can ignore the other bathroom :P

We have the advantage that Im a designer (not an interior one Ill admit, lol) but I know my colour combos etc. So I tell hubby what to do

Oh I'll be blogging Just going to find a decent platform, any reccomendations?

Nope, no planning yet as we're not in yet. Lol. We're hoping to complete in 5 weeks and then its GO GO GO!

Im looking forward to meeting with similar minded people

Anyone else find they keep looking at the small things that I shouldn't care about yet? Like what appliances can I put in my new kitchen and what jars can I have to keep my cooking stuff in?

typeractive

kr15snw wrote: »

Yeh we know we're pushing it, but I think we're hoping to get the frame work done with the 35k. So get all the building done and rooms plastered. We might not have furniture, paint on the walls or carpets for quite a few years...... Lol. But if we can get the basics done then we can do a room at a time with decorating etc. We also arn't expecting to touch the family bathroom for a while but as it's just us 2 we'll get the ensuite done and then we can ignore the other bathroom :P

We have the advantage that Im a designer (not an interior one Ill admit, lol) but I know my colour combos etc. So I tell hubby what to do

Oh I'll be blogging Just going to find a decent platform, any reccomendations?

Nope, no planning yet as we're not in yet. Lol. We're hoping to complete in 5 weeks and then its GO GO GO!

Im looking forward to meeting with similar minded people

Anyone else find they keep looking at the small things that I shouldn't care about yet? Like what appliances can I put in my new kitchen and what jars can I have to keep my cooking stuff in?

We have a lot in common. I'll be doing the same with my house. Get a lot done, move in and finishing touches over years. As for your occupation, I'm in a similar field - though I find finalising my ideas harder than designing for anyone. Always an alternative.

Platform for blogging - I like wordpress due to it's aesthetics, though there are others that could be more simple to manage.

Shameless plug of my blog

:j

arroli

Kr15snw....welcome to our world!!

We started our project last September, and so far things going well, now doing second fix electrics and plumbing, painting commenced too...although may be next year before new kitchen is chosen!! Found a lot of valuable help and advise on this forum thread.

I use "blogspot" for my blogging and find it very easy to use and upload pics too..you can view mine under my profile

Good luck with your completion day!! I also found that my head was way ahead when thinking about final ideas...found it a good idea to make a folder in which I put scribblings of ideas, magazine articles, pics etc...for future refence

kr15snw

Ive started buying every home magazine i can get my hands on.... Lol

Already picked my ideal kitchen

latecomer

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Latecomer, carpet is this one and the colour we chose is Curlew. We loved the Gardenia but it was a bit pale to be practical. And the Filbert was too dark for us.

thanks maggie - OH found a good deal at Behar but as its an end of line/roll its probably not going to be avaiable by the time we are ready to order. Will keep the one you have in mind though - we managed to negotiate a good discount last time due to quantity we ordered.

latecomer

Quick question while I'm here:

Anyone used any kind of wetwall or panelling in the shower instead of tiles?

The appartment we are staying in has some in the en-suite and it looks great and we would happily use it in our showerroom upstairs to get it finished quickly. The good thing about it is that they are large panels so there are no joins inside the shower cubicle itself which is a definite plus in my book

they are still building some of the flats so I'm going to try and see if I can get hold of one of the builders to find out what make they are (and maybe see if they have an extra couple they would be willing to part with for cash )

stolt

hi, everyone has been quite quiet on here. just a quick update, as we have now turned out attention to the dinning room, (some may remember this room was the old kitchen which we moved into the extension) the rooms skimming has all dried out, we have had some plaster coving put up, the lower one will hide a light so he cast a slight glow on the upper coving. Thats going to take a week to dry and then we can get on painting it and installing the light. managed to get all the burglar alarm sensor moved by digging out the wall and found that i had a inch or two of wire spare behind there so i could move it down without having to add more wire (which is lucky as it doesnt normally happen like that or me)
























Oh forgot to update about the birds that were nesting (robins and blue tits) both robin nests hatch 9 babies in all and all flew the nest, unfortunately i wasnt around to catch most that flew the nest however i did catch one that was in a nearby bush that had just flown the nest. the mealworms did the trick and the robins become really friendly.











and lastly we have two new arrivals. there now 8 weeks old and are brothers.....

i introduce..... salt and pepper!!! the are little lionhead rabbits..