Couple flip ‘unliveable’ flat into dream house – utilizing hacks so as to add £20k to worth

A pair revealed how they turned their “unliveable” flat in London into their dream house.

Rochelle Taylor-Butcher, 29, and her accomplice, Angus Ord, 30, a knowledge scientist, purchased their one-bed flat in Kingston, South London, on the finish of March 2023 for £260,000.

When they first moved in, the flat was in “disarray” with peeling wallpaper, mould on the partitions and a musty carpet. So the pair rolled their sleeves up and set to work.

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As they had been DIY novices once they launched into the challenge, Rochelle and Angus turned to YouTube to learn to do their very own plumbing, set up their very own kitchen and sand their very own floorboards. They have already saved practically £9,000 doing the work themselves – and added £20,000 to the property’s worth too.

Rochelle – who designs the interiors of Anya Hindmarch outlets – recalled shifting in. She mentioned: “The only way I can describe it is complete disarray, it was completely unliveable.

“The complete flat had a lived-in, musty aroma. I believe the carpet absorbed it, it was as if no air had been let in. I by no means thought I might personal a property… I grew up in South London and at all times lived in Housing Association property.”

“My mother and father by no means owned a property so it did not really feel like a part of life. It felt like a luxurious to have that. I simply really feel overwhelming contentment and peace that we’re settled and that is our precise area.”

“Blood, sweat and tears have gone into the floorboards and the partitions, we at the moment are a part of the flat.”

Rochelle stated that the kitchen hosted uneaten cornflakes behind the dishwasher and ancient, 1970s cabinets. She said: “Nothing may very well be salvaged from it. There had been stains, rust, crumbling tiles.”

The couple poured power into refurbishing their house over the previous 12 months – becoming renovations in between full time work and on weekends. To do jobs like plumbing and tiling, and to put in their IKEA kitchen doorways and cupboards, they spent hours watching YouTube tutorials.

Their house has undergone an excessive makeover – boasting freshly painted partitions, spanking new tiles, and a very revamped lounge. The IKEA kitchen they fitted themselves got here in at solely £5,000, practically halving the price of getting an organization like Howdens to put in it for them.

By banking on ingenious shortcuts, like having members of the family rewire the home, the couple managed to make important financial savings.

Rochelle defined: “We paid for the materials at cost price and all the labour was free of charge. So that really saved a massive dent. We’ve tried to think of ways that we can achieve what we want but with cheating the process.”

Rochelle used leftover paint and supplies from her office to spruce up the kitchen, even scoring half-price paint from Homebase. She believes in saving on supplies however not compromising on high quality.

She mentioned: “You don’t need to have incredible polished wood for your skirting board, it could just be a bit of MDF.”

The couple have now remodeled the flat into their dream area – with out breaking the financial institution.

By doing a lot of the work themselves, they saved a fortune. They saved £3,000 on putting in the kitchen, together with plumbing, £700 by sanding the flooring themselves, £3,000 by getting their household to do {the electrical} rewire, £300 eradicating the previous lavatory themselves and £900 adorning the kitchen and lounge themselves.

They splashed out £5,000 on kitchen models and home equipment, £3,800 on lavatory fittings, together with tiling, £2,800 on double glazing the home windows, £900 rewiring the supplies, £80 on paint and £200 shopping for instruments together with an orbital sander.

They have some phrases of knowledge for anybody trying to do the identical – and it is to do your analysis take issues one step at a time. Rochelle added: “You could probably build a house just by watching YouTube.”

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