Couple who couldn’t stand their ‘pokey’ home add £105,000 to its value after dramatic renovation
An enterprising couple have revealed how they made over £80,000 in profit – because they hated their house so much they were compelled to give it a makeover, and added £205,000 to the value in the process.
Kate Sandhu, 38, from Warrington, Cheshire, and her husband Chris, 37, bought a tired-looking three-bedroom, terraced home for £745,000 in June 2017.
While the couple, parents to Raf, two, and Wilf, seven months, could see the untapped potential, there wasn’t a room in the house that they liked – and they decided to take the plunge and revamp the whole property.
Kate, who teaches courses on how to successfully renovate a home, told NeedToKnow.online, that the family were shocked to discover they had plenty of change left from their £123,000 renovation costs when they sold their home for £950,000 recently.
Kitchen re-build! Kate and Chris Sandhu, from Warrington, Cheshire, bought a three-bedroom Victorian terrace for £745,000 in June 2017 but couldn’t stand the lay-out and began a dramatic £123,000 makeover (Pictured: The kitchen when they bought the property in 2017)
A double extension featuring on-trend Crittall doors, herringbone oak floors and a dark blue kitchen wooed prospective buyers
The unremarkable white-washed living room before the Sandhu family, who say they love renovating homes, moved in and got to work
Green dream: The family exposed a brick wall to give the living room an authentic feel, and took up the carpet in the living room to reveal beautiful wood floors
Self-confessed DIY addict Kate explained: ‘The house was ghastly, like a living room for hobbits with pokey bedroom. It’s taken us a while to finish, but then again, a renovation is never really finished.’
‘While we had builders to complete the main build, we did everything that we could possible between us – from painting to decorating and building a home office.
‘It’s always a real family affair, as my parents help with everything. I’m from a family of renovators and grew up in mid-renovated period properties.
‘As we didn’t have loads of money, my mum and dad did everything, and they taught me all I know.
‘We wanted to use our skills to completely transform the house on a budget and make it our own, while also making a profit – both of which we did.’
Firstly, Kate and Chris tackled the kitchen and rebuilt it entirely, as well as removing their downstairs toilet in order to expand the space.
She said: ‘We made it much more light, open and airy – but our one big splurge was on the crittall doors at the end of the kitchen.
The family outside their Victorian terrace in Warrington; they now plan to tackle a Georgian farmhouse as their next project
Hard graft: The nursery as it looked during the couple’s transformation. And, now, the serene loft space has helped the Sandhus sell their home for a profit
A monochrome carpet runner, green and pink colour scheme and satin brass accessories made the home hugely desirable
Go bold: Kate says the couple did much of the decorating themselves, with bargain wallpapers – in bold designs – staying true to the home’s heritage
A double bedroom in the home; the couple added painted shelves in the alcoves as a style feature
Walls came down: The downstairs is now fully open plan; Kate says they hated the ‘pokey’ feel the house had before
‘Everything else we had to do on a budget and we went for a Wren kitchen, as we could get some interest-free credit and a ton of IKEA bargains for shelving.
‘We also made shelves from some reclaimed timber from a guy down the road, which we get lots of comments on, as they only cost around a fiver.
‘A family friend also made us a table out of scaffolding boards and the legs are from my parents’ old dining table, which I painted.’
As they still wanted a downstairs toilet, they decided to turn their old dining room into this space and added a pop of colour with jungle wallpaper – costing only £12 per roll.
She said: ‘The whole thing was built from scratch and I knew I wanted wild wallpaper in there, as it was a tall ceiling, so although it was a small space, it could take it.
‘We then built some panelling on the bottom half, so we didn’t overwhelm the room and it’s a super fun space.
‘In the living room, it used to be tiny and grey – totally grim. We decided to rip out the internal walls and make it into one big room.
‘We added in an exposed brick wall to separate out the front door, as the hallway had been removed, and this tied in with the kitchen.
‘I’d seen this restaurant decked out in pink and green, which I loved, so I took that as my inspiration and did half the space in green and half in pink with gold accents.’
How the stairs looked before the couple got to work, adding in a new runner and stylish slate walls. The three-bed terrace ended up being sold for £950,000
The less glamorous side to renovation: Chris takes a look at the loft extension while it’s in progress
Ta da! The back exterior of the home as it looks now, with a double extension adding lots of square footage
The shower in the bathroom has fashionable black accessories and black tile grout, while an ensuite loo used £12 a roll jungle wallpaper
After finding some reclaimed boards from old apartments in Notting Hill for the flooring, they also found a second-hand sofa from Marks and Spencer, which helped them save money.
Kate said: ‘We cut out doors under the stairs so we could use that as storage and then we used an old internal door, which was painted.
‘I wanted some bling, so I upcycled an old TV stand and also the stairs, doing them both in black paint and gold leaf to tie in with the rest of the room.
‘In the spare bedroom, we ripped out the fireplace, which was sad, but it wasn’t functional and we made the room a proper double bedroom.
The pretty Victorian terrace now lives up to its true potential, with a new green front door and a thorough revamp on the inside
Kate now teaches others how to renovate their homes successfully, offering tips on jobs to tackle yourselves…and when to employ a builder
‘In the third bedroom, we extended this out so it doubled in size. When we moved in, it was just a white room and I knew I wanted it to be a playful and fun space for our son, Raf.
‘In the end, I landed on day and night as a theme, with lots of colours and things to look at like rockets and rainbows.’
As their upstairs bathroom was tiny, they decided to rebuild this – but opted to have a Victorian theme throughout, to tie in with the crittall and monochrome vibe they currently had.
Kate said: ‘Our bathroom before was so tiny, you could go to the loo, brush your teeth and shower your feet at the same time.
‘I found some monochrome tiles and built the rest of the room around those.
‘We also built an outside office, turning an old outbuilding into a cosy space with a treadmill and some homemade wardrobe-type shelving to hide things like a lawnmower.
‘We also took out the windows and doors, added sliding doors and retiled the patio, as well as redoing the entire garden.’
Overall, the transformation took them six months to complete and in total, they spent £123,000 on the entire revamp.
The stunning home has been completely modernised and given Kate’s classic quirky touch.
She shared pictures along the way on Instagram (@renovatelikekate), where she has a following of more than 30,000 followers.
The mum-of-two is also putting her experience and skills to good use, launching a new teaching course for beginners who are interested in renovation starting this month.
Whilst the family are thrilled with the results, they have decided to take the plunge and do another renovation – and have just sold their home for £950,000.
Their next project? A rural Georgian farmhouse that they are set to give a huge overhaul.