What to expect when starting home renovations

When we moved into our 1850's cottage that used to be a farmhouse and own the land around the village, we fell in love with the symmetry of the double fronted windows and central chimney stack, complete with billowing white puffs of smoke. It reminded me of the house that you imagine when you are five and asked to draw a picture of home.

Although the land had long been sold off, what remained was a lovely cottage garden that stood where the piggery used to be. Whilst we loved period properties, we were far too busy traveling and enjoying life to really commit to a project and so luckily for us it had undergone some renovations a few years prior.

It had all the charm of an old house but with mod cons like underfloor heating, double glazed sash windows and a roll top bath. But, it was not exactly the layout we would have wanted, with a separate dining room and kitchen and missing one extra bedroom than we would have ideally liked.

We chatted excitedly about how one day we would knock through, redecorate and go up into the loft to get an extra room. This is where our naivety showed, as little did we realise there were restrictions with going upwards in the house and that such an old house would not be very well insulated.

Thinking we had researched and read everything we could before buying our first home, we soon learned that there is a never-ending list of things to know about buying and renovating an older house.

Fortunately, we have room around the property to develop and extend but we want to do it sympathetically. To keep the balance right with living space and garden, as keeping a connection to nature and the outdoors is so important to us.

We are about to begin a renovation that will see us getting a bigger family living space and an extra room, but we are wiser for our previous follies. Not to mention now we have the Little Inspiration with us and we want to get it done efficiently, quickly and cheaply to avoid any unnecessary fuss and disruption for her sake.

That’s why we’ll be going along to the Homebuilding and Renovating Show in London on 21st to 23^rd September to get advice and inspiration from the professionals. They have masterclasses from professional architects and interior designers on maximising your project and we’ll be visiting exhibitors to find the best (and most cost effective) suppliers for our extension.

If you fancy going along to get inspired for your next project, big or small, or to help you buy the right house, then use my code here to get FREE tickets. Even if I didn't have a project in the wings I would still go for a nosy. Property and interior design are my catnip! 

Have you ever done an extension or building project with little ones in tow? I’d love to hear your tips and advice about how to manage the chaos.