We bought our house, which was built in the 70s, 11 years ago – it was a B&B before we purchased it. Unfortunately, the previous owner fell into financial difficulty and the house was not maintained. The upside is that we got to purchase the house at a very good price. It took us 10 years before we could renovate the house to our liking.

My best friend’s dad had a construction company (he unfortunately passed away recently) and he and his team managed to transform our house within 11 days. His quote included all the finishes like the bath, showers, basins, tiles etc. Our house was renovated from top to bottom. This included breaking down walls in our kitchen, bathroom and living areas. All the cupboards in the house were replaced, the entire house was tiled throughout, all the lights and fittings were replaced and both bathrooms were remodelled (one was made larger by breaking through to the outside toilet).

I’m proudest of the kitchen makeover. It had been built in three separate sections: one section for cooking, one for washing up and the pantry (it probably made sense for the B&B). The walls were knocked down, new ceilings installed, and the pantry entrance moved. Two of the three sections were converted into one which makes up the new kitchen. The pantry is now being used for our appliances.

We knocked down walls to create an open-plan living space, allowing in more natural light. Previously, the house was very dark. The only room in the house that was not renovated, except for repainting it, is our study which we plan to do later this year.

Overall, I am very happy with the result and won’t change anything. We managed to stay within our budget with some cash to spare for interior decorating items to go with our ‘new’, beautiful dream house.