The problem
About a year ago I looked around my home one day as if with fresh eyes.
My youngest had been at school for one year and I had finally accepted those hazy fabulous days of being a stay at home mum were well and truly done.
My home had massively been affected by my being a stay at home mum. It wore its scars proudly (stained carpets, bit of biro on the wall, worn out furniture, disorganised beyond measure and cluttered with toys).
It looked like no money had been spend on it in 9 years and that it had been neglected and well played in.
Absolutely as it was.
My stopping work when my son was born meant money was tight throughout the kids early years. They didn’t go to nursery so our home was often full of kids and very well played in. Keeping the house in order was often the last thing on my busy mind as I raised the kids, tried to earn extra bits and bobs and carve out a career as a writer at the same time.
So I understand why my house looked such a state.
I didn’t like it though. I wasn’t keen to invite new friends round and I wasn’t proud of my home. IT didn’t ’work’ very well either; finding stuff was hard, it wasn’t organised, the bathroom was falling apart , I had no sanctuary. The kids had no storage. Our lounge was drab.
The whole house needed a makeover.
The makeover
The makeovers in each room all called for a big clear up and clean, design, redecoration, problem solving and some key new items. Each project was a mix of hard work and effort, visualisation, practicality and good shopping!
We were lucky enough to be supported by some great companies who sponsored individual rooms throughout our makeover and provided us with some great products and services.
We want to thank each and every one of them.
We began with the lounge sponsored by Achica
The lounge makeover project
From this ….
to this….
Next we madeover the playroom with support from The Range
The playroom makeover project
From this….
to this..
Next we tacked the children s bedrooms. First we did Frankie’s bedroom which was sponsored by Argos
Boy’s bedroom makeover project
Then on to Annalise’s room which was sponsored by Vertbaudet
Girl’s bedroom makeover…from this….
to this….
Then the kitchen was madeover sponsored by Wilkinson’s
Kitchen makeover project
It went from this….
to this
Then we had the BIG project, the bathroom makeover by Victoria Plumb
Bathroom makeover project
And last but by no means least my haven was created by John Lewis
Main bedroom makeover project
to this…
And that is it!
Each room was, decluttered cleaned, repainted and injected with lovely furnishings to give it some oomph. Apart from the bathroom no room cost more than £400 to makeover and with the bathroom the cost would have only been more because of labour and tiles.
Lessons I learned were
- To vigorously clear out, declutter and clean up
- To plan and design well
- That key pieces can make a BIG difference.
I love my home now and everyone is welcome (steady! I didn’t mean all at once)
I still have a few other projects I would like to complete, a little home office area within the kitchen, a porch, the garden needs a big injection of love and a new patio, fencing out front, some art throughout the house, a new dining table and chairs…. It is not completely completed but it certainly looks 100 % better and we can add to that now.
Huge thanks to everyone that sponsored us, all your lovely comments along the way and to my family for putting up with months of chaos and to my friends for me being so boring about it all over many months
Special thanks to the multi-talented Jen Stanbrook who helped me plan and design many of the rooms (she offers consultancy at Love Chic Living Consults)
I would also like to thank filmmaker and award winning vlogger Penny Alexander for shooting the Victoria Plumb videos.
I would like to say thanks to Craig Rumford for his fabulous decorating throughout,and to Colin and his wonderful team at Bathroom Connections for their super bathroom fitting.
Next…well, keep tuned…. I have a whole new project to tackle and I hope you join me on that journey too.
Recently, I have been writing for first home news on things home and thrifty if you fancy a peek!
ooooh Becky, it looks amazing. I’m so impressed. I really need to revamp my house.
Cheers Emma x
WOW!! Utterly fantastic and so inspiring, I too am in the ‘whole house’ bracket and so overwhelmed I don’t know where to start. maybe one room at a time is the best foot forward.
Well done, put your feet up for a bit now 😉
Oh my goodness – What a transformation! You’re bedroom looks beautiful, enjoy!!
Oh Becky it looks amazing!
Wow, you’ve worked so hard, but then the house has also worked hard for you over the years, so it deserves some special treats.
Enjoy your new home. x
Thanks Liz x
Awesome Becky! Such hard work has paid off well! Be round in 10 for a cuppa 😉
See you then!
Wow, when you round it all up like that you really see the amazing changes that have happened. Phew! A lot of hard work but well worth it…. and thank you for the mention 😉
Most welcome
Such a fantastic transformation you should be so proud! Must have taken so much focus an energy.
It did ! #shattered!
Becky, this is flippin’ amazing! You must feel so proud of all you’ve achieved xxx
Ahh thanks Emily we really are (and we had a lot of help!)
What a fabulous transformation, well done Becky (with a little help from your friends!) xxx
I cant decide which room I love most. Becky, the house looks amazing and bright. Enjoy living in it…….
This makeover looks very inspiring. Personally I can not stand a house mess and having kids does make a mess. Having things better organized is lovely, but the issue is, keeping it that way with kids around:(((.
Thanks for the post,
Bibika
Wow Becky this is wonderful what a transformation, it looks like you spent a fortune!
such a cool makeover, I wonder how exhausted you were after all this hard work…..
wow ! that’s great ! I will soon move in another house and I will have so many things to do like buy a new kitchen, paint all the walls and stairs…..wonder how you made to have sponsors ???? what’s the best way to deal with them ????