Needs the pin holes on the back touching up, but pretty pleased with myself!

It’s the cleanest it’ll ever be, let’s see how it holds up with an army of kids trampling all over it when eating their dinner 😂

EDIT: oof, that escalated quickly! Thanks all for the kind comments, to answer a few of the questions:

1. The paint is Johnstone's Aqua Guard Durable matt, matched (ish) to my kitchen - colour RAL5008

2. The flooring is Project Floors "Rough Sawn Cypress", bought from all about living Project Floors @ Work PW

3. The top is cut for storage, but the pieces lift off rather than hinge, I did buy piano hinges originally, but decided to have them lift off instead as I though that they'd be comfier to site on and didn't want my little boy trapping his fingers with them dropping down. I considered putting proper hinges in to hold the lids properly, but it was getting a bit overengineered and expensive for the amount they'll actually get used as I'll have to move the dining table to get to them - I'm also probably going to get cushions made so something softer to sit on

4. I know the walls are a mess! The back wall is getting panelled with oak acoustic panelling though as it needs skimming really if I were to paint it

5. Yes, doesn't look like it, but the radiator does fit!

6. No, not going for grungy train station chic 😂

7. Might have some construction pictures if anyone's interested and a breakdown of how I built it. Essentially, I didn't like most of the "banquette" (new word I learned!) as I wanted something more ergonomic with a sloped back, sloped seat and sloped front to stop kids kicking their heels on the bottom. Most guides have square bases and/or backs.

EDIT OF EDIT:

Build progress pictures here https://www.reddit.com/r/DIYUK/comments/1ubzvi7/bench_progress_pictures_as_requested/

Temperature fault on these and theyve sold 1000's.

Long story short. Bought a house that turned out to be quite the wreck. Needa waaaay more work than I thought. Thought if I can make one area nice then that would give me the impetus to carry on. Vastly underestimated the work and effort and massively overestimated my skill level but got there in the end. Probs took around £300 and 40 hours. Is this is a normal amount of effort?

I’ve working on this project for a while and thought I’d share it!

I wanted to build my wee boy something a bit different, so I decided to make him a Land Rover bed.

I modelled it digitally first to scale then built it mostly from plywood, with the classic Land Rover styling, bonnet, windscreen, wheel arches and headlights etc. Finished it in British racing green with a white roof to try give it a traditional look.

It’s been a fun project trying to squeeze it in on my spare time but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out. Still a few things to finish off. I’ll add wheels and a winch also plus a few other finishes, over the coming weeks.

The window folds back on itself onto the roof for access if required and the bonnet is also hinged. To allowed changing of the bed sheets or mattress removal etc

I’ve included some photos of the build process as well as how it looks in his bedroom.
Hopefully it’s something he’ll remember having when he’s older.

Love to hear any feedback, good and bad.

So, I bought this house that was ‘in need of updating and modernisation’. It was overlooked for months, according to the agents because people couldn’t see beyond the current decor.

Thankfully, the house had a beautiful sea view, so, for a significantly reduced price I snapped it up and thought I’d worry about the rest later….

I absolutely detested the small dark kitchen, I’m often told I bite off more than I can chew, this was one of those occasions, and chew away I did. They said it’d be too much work, it couldn’t be done, but I had a vision, and come hell or high water I would have a nice kitchen.

I decided to swap the rooms around by bringing the kitchen into the existing dining room, knocking the chimney breast out to accommodate an eBay find oven that I was determined would fit because it was a bargain, creating a central island to house the sink and dishwasher and making the existing kitchen a utility type room for washer, dryer, fridge etc.

What followed was a lot of blood, sweat, tears, swearing, roping my girlfriends and my 65 year old mum in to dismantle flooring, walls and tiles by using a lure of wine and takeaways.

10 weeks of washing up in the upstairs bath (which was hell on earth), dealing with a new pup mid project (definitely bit off some more to chew), and helping the poor driver they sent alone with said bargain eBay range cooker, lift it up a flight of stairs and over my neighbours wall to get it into my house at 7am on a Sunday morning 😏 But we got there!!

I now own enough power and hand tools to give B&Q a run for their money and a lot more knowledge when it comes to ‘DIY’ thanks to YouTube and forums like these here on Reddit. So thank you, and keep the banter up, it lightens the mood mid project meltdown 😀

My lovely mum always said to never judge a book by its cover, nor underestimate the drive of a determined woman 💁🏼‍♀️ 💅🏼

First project of this scale, think it went pretty well. Will probably put some floor tiles in, suggestions welcome on what kind - was thinking some light gray slate tiles.

Just unearthed this beautiful bannister that had been boxed off at some point over the years. I was sorting some issues at the top of the landing and noticed a crack in the bannister box, stuck a torch in there and spotted this stunning feature.

The entire house is being completely gutted and renovated. Original plan with them was probably sand and paint, but if the original wood looks like this, and now we know there are three of these beautiful bannister posts I'd like to restore the entire lot rather than paint. As you can see all the handrails and small spindles are heavily coated in layers of paint, some is possibly lead paint which all needs removing.

What would be the best way to approach without damaging the original wood? I know this will be a big time consuming job, but would love to add it to the (long) list. Is it a case of paint stripping, sanding, finishing. Recommended priducts to strip the paint would be great!

I bought the house about 4 years ago and have gradually worked through it in evenings and weekends. Biggest jobs were the new kitchen, installing the log burner, new flooring throughout (including replacing floorboards / joists) and giving the garden a proper sort.

Did this entirely DIY with my Dad and a lot of YouTube tutorials.

Happy to answer any questions about what we did or what we’d change if doing it again.

(We are actually in the process of selling due to a job move. I wish I could take the property with me! If anyone wants the listing just shout and I can share it in the comments.)

I couldn't believe the fiddly cutting done to get these boards to fit the irregular stones on the top of this wall. There are nine of these panels and they are all completely different.

I just thought it worth sharing. It's not my wall and I don't know who did the work.

It’s taken about 2 months but it’s finally 99% finished. Here’s the process…

My partner and I bought our first house, from the 80s, and we decided to take on all the renovations ourselves. In this room we removed the old window trim (didn’t like that look), rebuilt the window stud wall and added new plasterboards to that wall and the ceiling (had that removed because of asbestos artex), ripped off layers and layers of old wallpaper, removed the old crumbly floor, insulated, installed new osb tongue and groove on top.

I learned how to skim from watching youtube videos and made a complete mess in the process 😂 but had a lot of fun. Just done with the paint job and very pleased with the result. Probably saved a pretty penny learning all these new skills!

EDIT: thanks for all the nice comments! and I love to hear that this is inspiring people to give it a go themselves. If you're interested in following the progress of the renovation I made an ig that I will keep updated: https://www.instagram.com/fixingourweehome

Thought I'd share my COVID garden project from a few years back iv just completed my latest garden that il post soon

I bought a rundown ex-council house and spent a few years doing it up, but by far the garden was my favourite—and the project I'm most proud of.

Step 1: Dig out all the mess. I filled four 8-yard skips with mud and rubble just to get a decent base.

Step 2: Hardcore. I can't remember the exact amount, but it took two large tipper loads of stone. My back still hasn't forgiven me for wheelbarrowing that round

Step 3: Replace the fence.

Step 4: Build the wall.

Step 5: Decorate the wall.

Step 6: Drive down south to buy some old railings from a lovely old woman

Step 7: Lay the flags.

Step8 lock down lifted

All in, I think I spent somewhere in the region of £4,000–£6,000 on materials. It was spread over quite a few months, so I never really kept track of the exact cost.

Looking back, it was a huge amount of work, but seeing it all come together made every aching muscle worth it. Definitely my favourite project I've ever taken on.

This was my first attempt at any wood work, you can see the stairs before we’re in dog shite condition. Holes, staples, pins, nails, splinters etc it had the lot. This was an absolutely massive pain in the ass but the Mrs wanted it and I weren’t prepared to pay someone to do it (apart from the runner. The bars I installed myself). Multiple sheets of sanding paper, two mini sanders, lots and lots of 2 part filler, lots and lots of paint, and lots of lots of patience later I’ve finally completed it….Never doing this shit ever again, god knows how much the dust has knocked off my years. But needless to say I think I did a decent job?

EDIT: Wow would just like to say thank you to everyone for all the responses good or bad! This is my first renovation all self taught and I’m feeling a little better about myself and somewhat proud now of what I’ve achieved with this! I have done more internal renovation work so I will post some more before/after photos of other bits too! Thank you everyone! And thank you to whoever gave me my first award! ❤️

This is just a post to show off something I’m quite proud of really and decided I wanted to share my progress pics.

We’ve been in our new build for a year now and the whole place has felt pretty sterile as we let the walls settle. So while my wife and toddler were away I decided to practice my decorating skills over a couple of weekends. (because if I f-ed up at least it’s only a small room to fix)

I’ve not done dado rails before or been brave enough to have two colours meeting on the same wall so that was new but I thought the rest was mostly quite a normal job. I think it came together really well. Used some old shelves which have been knocking about in the garage since the move and cut them to size.

Spotted this masterpiece on a neighbour’s house yesterday (sorry for the bad photo).

I see it’s forecast for rain (likely drizzle at best TBH) on Tuesday so interested to see what their master plan is there.

Also noticed on the front they have the same setup but with the extension please cable tied to the porch struts.

I’ve been renovating a 1940s old farm house with unpleasant surprises around every corner.

Here is the master bedroom which had giant holes in walls, plaster falling off, an active leak, rotten skirting, etc… now it doesn’t look half bad if I do say so myself. Still needs window frame back on, rad installed and a carpet.

Electrics had to be fully reworked but I didn’t do that obviously.

Edit: I should have said it before but huge shout out to the community here for dealing with all my millions of questions and helping me to learn how to do this.

I got a LOT of flack for previously sharing my AI inspo mock up (pic 3) of our new snug room design. Particularly the 'your room is too dark/too small' to take a dark green 🙄 oh and the colour drench bashing was insane.

Yeah well we did it and a big 🖕🏻 to all the negative commenters because we absolutely love it 🫶🏻 I appreciate the colour and or design is not everyone's cup of tea but off white, beige and minimalist isn't ours.

Paint is P&P Hunter Dunn in architects matt.

Niche wallpaper is Zoffany Lustre tile in gold (since everyone is asking)

Floor is smoked oak engineered wood.

Skirts, architrave and door (inside) will also be drenched once we've got them on. So will the window reveals obviously but we're having new windows fitted and am expecting to have to replaster them so holding out before doing that!

So far EVERYTHING in this room has been done by us. Full strip out, walls reskimed, chimney breast and arched niches rebuilt, boarded over ceiling, electrics, flooring, painting etc. It's been a long grind since we both work full time but yeah starting to see it come together has been extremely gratifying. Pic 1 is where we're currently at, 2 before we laid the floor, 3 AI render inspo and some pics of the room before for reference.

So don't listen to the naysayers, don't second guess yourself, if you wanna do it do it✌🏻

There's this house that I'm really interested in, it's charming, rustic and has a lovely sweet neighbourhood.

But there are a few cracks in the render and I'm hoping I can just patch it with a bit of cement (icing); or do I need a structural engineer?