There seem to be better times than others in the year to start a project, on paper and on site. One needs to consider weather conditions, our own work commitments, school holidays etc etc, correct? In reality we feel that there is never a bad time to start a project. Apologies, there is, and it is usually when construction starts, as this is most likely too late to make meaningful and thought through decisions. There are certainly better and less good times to start certain works on site. For one, the weather in the UK is unhelpful to external works from about early October until early in the following new year, as there are more and more rainy days, and the days are getting shorter as well. Moreover, since a lot of people seem to want to "move in before Christmas", which is of course completely understandable, a lot of good builders have their hands full and may postpone your project to after the New Year, unless you have secured their involvement early on. However, and us here at Vorbild cannot stress this enough, there is never a bad time to start thinking about an upcoming project. The sooner you start thinking about the "what" and "when" and even possibly the "how much", the better and in the end cheaper for you. Besides, we would not charge you more if designing your project would take you 6 instead of 1.5 months. The fee would just be spread out more. Think about it - let's assume you are planning to do a rear extension to your house, and some redecoration here and there, and also there is this feeling you had that something could be improved in how your house "works" or "flows", or you are simply in need of a visual change, interior design wise speaking of course. You have researched that you need some planning permission for the extension (2 months), the drawings need some time as well (2-3 weeks at least), and knowing builders, they won't give you a price sooner than after repeated reminders (another 2-3 weeks). This is a good start, the process is already about three to three and a half months. Again, this is a reasonable, completely doable, yet in our experience, unnecessarily tight timeframe. Think about your work commitments - how often would you be able to spare an hour for a good concise meeting with your architect? You may need two or three before planning submission, and depending on the size of your project, more would help. Think about it this way - the more you tell us about your plans, expectations and ideas, the more the end result will be to your liking. Your time in this case is a very well spent investment. Advice If you are planning a change to your flat or house, or planning to make a purchase in a certain area, please give us a ring. I am happy to meet for an initial chat over coffee after seeing the site with you to discuss the best way forward - info@vorbild.co.uk

I'm glad that they are all different from each other, with a bit of character in each. I'm working on 5 bathrooms in a house now - the client instructed me because her architect designed every one of the 5 bathrooms with the same colours and fittings.www.saralevydesigns.com

Thank you one and all for your suggestions, a good few things for us to think about. My apologies, I didn't really do a good job in explaining the style or anything! but the second image Carolina has suggested is the look and feel we would be going for. I really like the idea of using different materials and levels for the garden which we can achieve quite easily (I hope!) I have cleaned and stored all of the bricks from the chimney which was removed in the he house reno, and will be planning to build a flower bed, seat area along the left side (attached). I'm steering toward patio more so than decking especially given I can use the cover for the inspection chamber. Thanks for info on the cover guys! I am looking for low maintenance and have even considered adding (dare I say it) artificial turf. Better for slide tackling the kids! The idea of using diagonals is very clever and I shall give them some thought. Time to start sourcing materials and getting some quotes me thinks!

Hello, I'm looking for some guidance regarding my property situation. We are a young family and we've owned a new build from new for several years but we are ready to move to something slightly bigger and something that has the potential to be our 'forever' home. We are looking for scope. Whilst 'window shopping' on property listing websites we came across something of interest so we decided to book a viewing and get the ball rolling with putting our house on the market. Whilst preparing our house to be placed on the market we have actually received a private bid we are in the region of what we are looking for. At this point, we know there is enough interest in our new build to make a sale quickly and use the equity for the next house. From snooping around the empty property we could clearly see that it needs a good amount of work to bring it to a standard where we feel it would be livable for the family. From the outside, we identified things such as new windows, and doors (all rotten wood and single glazed) and I could see what looks like the overflow pipe and another which looks like the boiler flue both dripping away! To be fair the overflow pipe is vertically above the boiler flue so this could be the only issue and nothing wrong with the flue. It just looks like they are both dripping at a quick glance. Despite some noticeable issues on the exterior, the location is absolutely perfect with amazing views. The property's garden is big which is another huge selling point of this house, two reasons why we are looking to move is our current location and the desire for a bigger garden. Today, we got to view the inside of the property and it was clear that this is a large renovation project even for someone like myself who can DIY but has no knowledge of what would be required to renovate a house which is 1900-1930 I would say. Inside the property the floorboards are weak and definitely need lifting up, I would guess there isn't much below the ground floor ones either! There were a couple of rooms carpeted on the first floor so I can't be sure of the state of those floorboards. Although there were signs of some cracks on the walls I felt like these were just signs of neglect as opposed to anything seriously wrong structurally. All skirting boards and door frames would need ripping out and doorways were low so for someone tall like myself my preference would be to get them raised if possible. Room heights were absolutely fine! This house was described as livable but the reality is, it needs gutting! Obviously, a home buyer's report would highlight more serious 'hidden' things such as electrical, plumbing, roof (new in 2015 apparently), the structure issues etc. but I was wondering if anyone could give a ballpark on things such as (short term goals) - knocking walls through to make rooms bigger - plastering/skimming (most rooms) (walls were probably the best thing tbh) - ripping up floors and replacing (concreting if required) - Replacing skirts, doors and door frames - installing new double glazed windows - installing new front / back doors (the porch is in dyer condition too) - new kitchen - new bathroom - new en suite - replace a utility room (connected water) with a downstairs toilet There is a lot of interest in the house and despite its current condition, there is likely to be a bidding war at its listed price. Having said that, after viewing today, unless it's a builder or cash buyer I think many will leave feeling the same as us. A big job ahead. I have lots of contacts in the trade and also very good friends with a builder who will take care of everything that is required (hopefully at a good rate of labour) but I was wondering if anyone can advise of giving examples of what they achieved within a specified budget? I'm struggling to gauge how much I need to get this house livable! There is so much I would want to do such as look into planning for extensions etc. but I would need to save more pennies and would be happy living in the house until it can be realistic. In a nutshell, the house clearly has a number of things that need renovating but we feel it has the potential to be our home forever! Having said that we are a young family, am I crazy to move from a new building into a property that needs so much work. I have the option to put all my belongings into storage and move in with a family member for 4/5 months whilst building work takes place. I am under no illusions that should I have a bid accepted there are stressful times ahead but I keep telling myself it will probably all be worth it even if it's 10 years down the line. I've probably missed a load of things so any advice is much appreciated, my head is spinning here. Thanks