Making Home Repairs and Saving Money: Real Example from London

Alex Stedman — a popular fashion and lifestyle blogger — together with her husband bought this London house in 2016. The new owners didn't hesitate to move into the property in winter, without hot water and functioning heating. It took about two years to get everything in order and make the space cozy and stylish.

The house was in catastrophic condition: damp, with mold on the walls and old hanging wires. The bathroom was especially depressing, with peeling tiles and a kitchen like from a horror movie, which Alex and her husband called the "gloomy dungeon."

There was no money for a major renovation, so the couple worked on each room one at a time. They started with the bathroom: they picked tiles with a trendy pattern and painted part of the walls. "Many ideas I found on Pinterest," Alex recalls. "For example, using a golden brass edging for tile decoration — I wouldn’t have thought of that myself."

To save on hallway finishing, they painted it in a clean white color using the cheapest paint. Then they spent money on one can of Farrow & Ball almost black paint. It was enough to paint the door and frame, moldings, and parts of the walls. This made the interior look more complex and expensive.

In almost all rooms, the walls were painted white. The "gloomy dungeon" was transformed into a home office with stylish blue walls. The floor had oak parquet, and the table was custom-made from natural wood. It turned out cheaper to make the countertop separately and buy the legs than to find a ready-made model.

Another problem to solve was the presence of a boiler in the office. "We decided to hide it in a cabinet, and the first contractor quoted around five thousand pounds for it," the blogger recounts. "But in the end, our builder made it from MDF, painted it with Farrow & Ball paint, and I picked out nice handles. We spent five times less."

In choosing furniture, the owners relied on collections from popular stores: H&M Home, Habitat, IKEA. To decorate the walls, they decided on posters and paintings: Alex framed the simplest illustrations — from trendy posters to a map of Los Angeles bought for just one dollar.