watch this video before you renovate a house 

this is so refreshing I am so bad at getting annoyed at myself for making mistakes or wishing I'd done thinking differently but it's so helpful remembering it's all things you can only learn from once it's happened! also that's for keeping it real with the realities of how difficult getting to a 'reveal' stage, people are so tempted to make it look easy as to not show the messy parts!

Shower value issue - perhaps you could just get a couple of nice stickers printed to go over the top? 😄

Light switch issue - you can easily fix this by getting a Phillips Hue (or similar) bulb and buying a wireless switch you can wall mount. Job done for £30 (also nicer how it will be dimmable)

It would be cool to see a video where you try and fix some of the mistakes - like the hacks and tips people have put in the comments?

I'm not even doing a renovation but I found this so interesting.

I have read about lead in the colors so I hope you are fine☺...great job done on your house and when it is in London you uplifted its worth even more! 🤩

It’s been so great to watch your progress over the last 16 months. My partner and I have just finished our full house renovation on a Victorian terrace in York. We also went for a loft a conversion. Your videos have helped hugely! Thanks for uploading

love the honesty and showing us the things to be mindful of, wish would show more as we al make mistakes and can learn from each other

Cannot wait to see kitchen!xxxx

I could have literally written this video word for word, we bought our house four years ago, it was an absolute dump but all we could afford but luckily we had money to fix it up. The popping screws in plaster board - check, ripping up the asbestos in the upstairs bedrooms - check, scraping and sanding unknown paint - check, light fixtures on wall not channeled in - check, dodgy tradespeople - check, I won't go on any more but you get the picture. Thank God now our house is done, it was three months of utter hell initially and had to end up buying new furniture as it got wrecked with plastering etc. Since then I've redecorated everywhere properly (rather than just grabbing anything we could as we were so overwhelmed) with nice paint (F&B, Fired Earth etc) nice wallpaper (Anthology, Emma Shipley) and we got the back garden fully landscaped (and painted it the same colour you've gone for, we have similar taste!) I'd love a loft conversion but can't justify it, we done the kitchen, bathroom, everywhere back to bare brick and floorboards and a new roof and garden so my other half is DONE with renovating and decorating lol we need to get a shed and I've been keeping an eye out for a cheapie on gumtree, would also love one of those lean to/covered pergola at the back of my house but that's next on the agenda. I'm addicted to doing stuff, I can't stop, but the same as you this was our first proper time at doing this type of stuff and we learned big time from our mistakes (despite owning a flat before that needed no renovation). Your house is looking beautiful, and your garden will be too, once it's done you will feel so relieved, but I'm telling you you'll always find there's something to do, it never ends, I'm starting on our front garden and it's on a slope so I'm looking for old decking boards for free to try and do something to cover up and old scabby retaining wall. If you're ever looking for some advice (from someone who's probably made every mistake possible lol) , or just in general to rant about things to I'm happy to chat via DM oh, also I'm so glad you got your neighbours permission to paint the fence, I was going to mention it but I knew you would have. We had terrible trouble when we got our fence put up as the old neighbours kids used it as a climbing frame, and somewhere to hang wet washing. I was so annoyed but they've moved (thank goodness) and we have lovely neighbours now, it makes such a difference and it costs nothing to be friendly and kind. I meant to ask, are you South African, I lived in Botswana for a while many years ago :) and have been to SA lots of times (edited to say-sorry for the huge paragraph, I do tend to ramble, if you've got this far and not fallen asleep... 😂)

How it exciting - your kitchen arrival! Plus, you are going to finish the dining and living room. Of course, the garden can wait, for now 😉 And you've come along in the garden so far already. So good to know that that dirt does not have to be carried through your fresh rooms anymore. Before you know it, you two will enjoy some warm summer eve's back there. And when it rains, you have 3 new rooms to enjoy. ❤ I like this " mistakes and wins" video. We are not renovating in the near future, I think 😅, but your suggestion are none the less great. I like thinking of stuff like this. As the matter of fact, it can be therapy, when needed.

For the shower can you not turn the dial upside down?

Super super helpful! Thank you. Autumn, I remember you saying your kitchen design changed considerably from all the feedback that you received. Perhaps a short video on what all that feedback was and what changes you made as a result?

Light switches also should be at the same height. Not sure why some of mine aren't, but we didn't replace the light circuit downstairs, so it was the previous owner's fault. Plaster screws can take years to stop blowing out. Er... I think the spindles I stripped might had had lead paint in it, but a heat gun is not as bad as sanding. Trade references can still be hit and miss - didn't like the firm who moved my boiler, but loved the oven guys, and both came highly recommended from a local FB group. It's hard to live in a house and clear it out totally. I think my brother would have preferred if I moved out completely. I think my biggest mistake is not working from the top down. I didn't have much choice, but when we start upstairs I am dreading the dust coming down. Did my pebbledash in magnolia. I just love it when people flex on FB on having theirs removed. LOL - there's a load of flexing going on - oooh look at what I've done, when you know it's expensive. Keeping a sense of humour is paramount, but you are allowed to scream at times.

“Empty bare bones clear space”, this was what we always aimed for when renovating……never happened!! We’ve renovated 8 homes and never achieved this ideal state. Every best intention goes out of the window when life happens. 😂🤣

In the US it's called the "punch list" love the channel.

Can't wait for the kitchen. Please do a review once installed. X

Of course your new kitchen trumps the garden! Having redone ours recently, it does require all your attention and love - so exciting! Our last big mistake was hiring the wrong builder. We relied too much on nepotism carrying us through rather than our gut instinct.

For lead paint you can also by tester kits really cheap. I bought a Victorian house and from the testing kit I now know there is lead in the paint on the banisters

I can relate to far too many of these :p

In the US plasterboard (sheetrock/drywall) installers have a special bit they use to inset the screw so that it doesn't pop. Might be worth getting to have when you do repairs?

ill met you guys where ever you are, autumn. its a renovation and it takes time and money and things will go wrong. im here for all of it. just stay safe.🥰😍

For the shower maybe you could get some little waterproof stickers to cover the symbols that have the correct symbols on?

If the shower plumbing shares the hallway wall can you not fix the plumbing from the hall side?

One off exposure to asbestos won't hurt. It's over prolonged period where it causes damage so you should be ok.

Kitchen trumps garden everytime! And dont forget thrift stores and estate sales for 2nd hand items!