A couple has shared the incredible transformation their home has undergone after giving the house a full renovation – which has added £80,000 to the property value.
Molly Bell, 26, and Sam Heptonstall, 29, from Staffordshire, bought their 1930s home for £185,000 in August 2020.
The house was painted in bright colours with dated furnishings, and the couple were desperate to give it a makeover to better suit their tastes.
The detached property had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, lounge, and conservatory.
When they first bought the home, they were “naïve” and thought it just needed redecorating, but they quickly realised they needed to rewire and plaster the entire property.
“When we first looked around the house we fell in love with it straight away,” Molly, a marketing manager, told Jam Press.
“We wanted to put our own stamp on it and create something we could call our own, so we decided to go for it and do a complete renovation.
“It soon turned into a building site!”
While renovating, they also decided to make the kitchen open-plan to incorporate the dining room by removing an internal wall.
They then decided to re-work the conservatory with a new roof, bi-fold doors and creating a separate lounge in the space.
While they hired professionals to carry out the larger jobs – including removing the wall, working on the conservatory and the electrics – but Molly and Sam took charge of the cosmetic work.
She said: “The majority of the work took place in the second lockdown so we had evenings and weekends where we could just crack on and get stuff finished – we would sometimes be here until 9 or 10pm at night finishing off bits.
“Me and Sam were useless going into this – I’d never even painted a room before and Sam hadn’t used a drill, but you just kind of learn as you go.”
The thrifty couple have cut costs wherever possible by using clever DIY tricks and upcycling furniture to suit their tastes without splashing out on new items.
Molly gave their downstairs shower/utility room a makeover on a budget using some leftover Frenchic black paint and marble vinyl cover which cost £10. She painted the chrome shower doors, then painted the utility cupboards and covered the work surface in the marble sticky roll.
She also upcycled an old storage box using leftover paint from another project, giving the box a stunning makeover without spending a penny.
Molly also turned a £17 plain glass vase from IKEA into an on-trend neutral toned decorative pot using a sample pot of concrete-effect spray from B&Q which cost £5.50. She estimates a similar stone vase would have cost £40.
She even tried her hand at arts and crafts, creating her own abstract art piece for the lounge, spending £20 on paints and a canvas – as opposed to an estimated £300 that a similar art piece could have set them back.
The couple also did the panelling in their bedroom and the dining room themselves, following Instagram video tutorials and spending £150 on materials.
They finished the interior renovations in just under four months, moving in on 19 December 2021.
In the garden they removed old decking and added a patio area and grass, finishing work on the outside in March 2021.
They also gave the property a lick of paint on the exterior, brightening it up to a fresh white colour.
The couple got their home revalued and found it had increased by £80,000 and is now worth £265,000.
In total, they spent £37,000 on the transformation – including £10,000 on new bifold doors and the conservatory roof, which was the most expensive aspect of the renovation.
Molly said: “We are completely finished now and it has completely transformed our home.
“We’re really pleased with the results – we’ve created our dream home, which we can see us living in forever.”
COST BREAKDOWN:
£10,000 – conservatory
£8,000 kitchen
£3,000 – plastering
£1,400 – electrics
£1,500 – wall removed + steel beam
£2,800 – bathroom
£3,000 – flooring + carpets
£4,000 – garden
£3,300 – paint, panelling materials, furniture
=£37,000
