A couple who didn’t even know how to paint have revealed how they turned their 140-year-old crumbling cottage into their dream home using YouTube videos.
Chloe Grayling, 27, and husband Patrick, 27, from Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, bought a Victorian cottage for $700,000 (£395,000) in mid-2020 and have spent the last 18 months doing it up.
When starting their project, the couple didn’t have any DIY skills – having not so much as lifted a paint brush – but have since taught themselves how to fix crumbling walls, tackle damp and a sinking floor, and much more.
With Chloe working full-time at her candle company and Patrick working as a metal fabricator, the pair filled their evenings and weekends with the work in a bid to make their cottage more liveable.
So far they have renovated their bedroom, kitchen, office, living area, hallway, cellar and bathroom for a total of $40,000 (£21,000).
“It wasn’t our initial plan to buy a fixer-upper,” Chloe told Jam Press.
“We just figured that we’re at a pretty great stage of our lives.
“We’re in our twenties with no kids, so it was worth putting in the work ourselves rather than paying somebody else to have done it.”
Chloe and Patrick moved in mid-2020 and were met with rot, leaks and crumbling bricks due to the cottage being 140 years old.
Their most challenging problem came when hairline cracks grew bigger and saw part of their gaming room wall crumble.
The couple then had to learn how to plaster, before sanding it down and being able to decorate.
Chloe said: “We soon realised the cracks in the wall were more than just cracks.
“They were huge gaping crevices, which had been filled in with a plaster that wasn’t suited to the stone our place is made from.
“It felt so wrong to carve it all out like we were hurting our home.
“But it had to be done to make the walls structurally sound.
“Since then we’ve come across the same thing in a couple of other rooms, mostly where previous owners have decided to pop things in the middle of the walls.
“It’s less of a shock now but I still don’t like having to scrape away at the bones of this place.
“There were also leaks in the chimney, the wiring was crackly and the light flickered on and off with no notice.”
With the country in lockdown, the couple had more time to spend renovating their house.
Chloe said: “There wasn’t much else going on at the time so it was pretty easy to commit all of our night times and weekends to getting it done.
“That doesn’t mean we cruised through, though.
“My husband Patrick is a ‘do it slowly and do it well’ sort of person, and he’s always telling me Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“So it was finding the balance between being really excited and wanting to get things done and also making sure that we are respecting the history and materials of our place has been a big job.”
The pair had no DIY experience before taking on the project and had to teach themselves everything.
Chloe said: “We even had to learn how to paint properly. We really had no idea beforehand.
“We also had to teach ourselves how to plaster, sand the walls, mix plaster and cement.
“Patrick is very handy so we problem solved a lot as we went too.
“Then there was the carpentry and the interior design.
“With the kitchen and living area most of that was just freshening up, repainting the walls and ceiling that had slowly yellowed over time.
“We also changed some cupboard handles, light shades and curtains that were very fashionable in 2002 for things that felt a bit more timeless.”
One of the biggest transformations is the indoor greenhouse, located in the centre of the cottage – which Chloe dubs a ‘plant hospital’ as it is bursting with plants and greenery, giving the cottage a modern aesthetic.
She said: “There’s a translucent roof so there’s lots of natural light and there’s a drain on the floor that makes watering them with the hose I made really easy.
“There’s even a bench for plants that need a little TLC and even our friends bring theirs round.”
They are about to begin the second half of their renovation this year, starting by turning their log cabin into an AirBnB.
Chloe added: “We’ve spent $40,000 doing it up.
“Uber Eats doesn’t visit us out here and we don’t have time to go out for dinner or drinks all the time anymore so we save money there.”
“It’s kind of a win win; saving money, having a space that feels like it was made for us, and actually having a really great time while we do it all.
“We’d rather be dreaming up design ideas and painting walls submarine blue at midnight than out on the town.”
BREAKDOWN
Kitchen: $700 (£367)
Living: $3,000 (£1,570)
Indoor Greenhouse: $2,500 (£1,309)
Dining: $2500 (£1,309)
Hallway: $8000 (£4,190)
Bathroom: $12000 (£6,285)
Patio: $400 (£210)
Games Room: $3500 (£1,833)
Studio / Office: $3200 (£1,676)
Main Bedroom: $4000 (£2,095)
Cellar: $200 (£105)
TOTAL $40,000 (£20,949)
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