Planning your first major home renovation? Where to begin

A first big renovation is exciting, but it is easy to let enthusiasm outrun the planning. A few sensible decisions made early can save you money, time and a good deal of stress later on.

1. Set Your Priorities Before Starting Work

Before you browse paint colours or worktops, list everything you would like to change, then split it into two groups. One covers essentials such as damp, tired wiring or a failing boiler; the other covers upgrades that are mainly about appearance. Dealing with the essentials first stops you decorating over a problem you will only have to uncover again, and a ranked list gives you something firm to return to whenever a tempting extra appears. It also helps to note which jobs depend on one another, since plastering cannot begin until the electrics are done.

2. Create a Budget That Allows for the Unexpected

Start with a realistic overall figure, then break it into labour, materials, fittings and professional fees, remembering smaller items such as skip hire and building control charges. The Federation of Master Builders advises keeping a contingency of about 10 per cent, rising to 15 per cent or more for older homes and structural work, because hidden faults often surface only once walls and floors are opened up. Gather at least three itemised quotes as well, so you can judge fairly what the work should cost instead of relying on a single optimistic estimate.

3. Plan Bathroom Changes Before Choosing the Finishing Touches

Bathrooms demand more forethought than most rooms because plumbing dictates what is possible. Which? notes that moving pipework or the waste pipe adds to the bill, so ideally the new suite goes exactly where the old one stood. If your plans include walk-in showers as part of the renovation, check that the floor has room for the drainage and the gentle fall it needs and that the existing waste can cope before you commit to tiles or fittings. The same logic applies to kitchen layouts and built-in storage: settle the practical details first and the decorative ones second.

4. Decide Which Rooms Need Attention First

Renovating everything at once makes costs harder to track and turns the whole house into a building site. If the bathroom is tired but the kitchen still works perfectly, put the money into the bathroom first and revisit the kitchen later. Going room by room also lets you live with each finished space, learn from the experience and refine your plans for the next stage. Staging the work this way also means you will always have a working kitchen or bathroom to fall back on.

A first renovation goes best when it is treated as a series of manageable decisions rather than one enormous task. Please rank your priorities, protect your budget, sort the plumbing early and take one room at a time.