We have lived in this house for 10 years, and I thought today I would take a bit of time to look at what changes we have made during that time. When we first moved in, the house was nearly 10 years old, and during those years the owners hadn’t done anything. We had a pretty good idea from the day we moved in what needed to be done. The paint work and flooring was very tired, we didn’t like the coloured bathroom suites and toilet and we wanted a more open layout between the kitchen and dining area.
The first thing we did was live in the house for a while, maybe a couple of months before we started any changes, and that’s something I really would recommend to anyone wanting to renovate a home that is just tired as ours was, and still in a liveable condition. It gave us time to make arrangements on how we were going to pay for the changes and figure out what our budget was and any contingency we might need. My husband is the king of a spreadsheet!
Following this, we began on the biggest job, and the one we knew would make the most mess and that was the kitchen. We knocked between the two rooms, and got a kitchen designer in to help us choose what to do with the much larger space. It worked out really well in the end, as we managed to get a kitchen, dining and comfy seating area. We also took the opportunity to change the flooring and add under floor heating.
We then tackled the main bathroom, en suite and downstairs loo. We did them one at a time, as this always gave us the option to use one of the bathrooms so we didn’t need to move out. I found this to be the most stressful of the stages to be honest, and the designs that we chose back then have both been tweaked around 3 years ago, as they didn’t quite work for us. I’ve definitely learnt that bathroom design isn’t something I’m good at.
We also added a real fireplace, something we had always wanted in a home.
It was then we looked at paint colours which were mostly whites and off whites and the flooring everywhere. We chose quite economical flooring choices when first moved in, as we knew this would be something we would be changing in a few years. The flooring in every room was in terrible condition (definitely not a matter of getting them cleaned) though, so we just wanted something that was neutral and clean for a few years until we decided what we would do in the long term.
One of the areas we have had the most fun with over the years has been the flooring, and we are so happy with how it’s turned out. It’s a mixture of hardwood, tile and luxury vinyl tiles.
Our youngest daughters room and below the hallway both have patterened luxury vinyl flooring.
When you have children, you can try to future proof their bedroom as much as you possible, but during the 10 years these have also changed quite a lot, especially Nia’sour teen which you see below.
So here we are 10 years on, since we’ve owned our home and made these improvements our house value has increased, this handy tool on SunLife can show you how much your house has increased in value. We have other small plans, but nothing major any more. I really love this house, it’s not perfect but I honestly can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Philip Pasma says
Love it! It is so worth it to invest the time and money to upgrade your home. Not only do you feel better about living in it, but it increases your home value. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Karen Ching says
Your home looks so beautiful! Loving the look of that hallway, by the way. Hoping to upgrade our home sometime in the future too 🙂
Jacquie says
Just beautiful!!! Currently I’m thinking about remodeling of my bathrooms your ideas will be very very helpful for me. keep going.
Kristall Spaces says
Your house looks gorgeous! It is always inspiring to see people`s creative ideas of house makeover! Thank you for sharing!
Ava Joseph says
Amazing blog!! I really like it especially the images which you have posted. You have such a gorgeous home. After reading your blog, I feel so inspired. Now I will also think about the improvement of my home.
Amanda Cottingham says
Thank you Ava, for your kind words about my home. Good luck with your renovations!