How to Completely Renovate Your London Home in 6 Weeks

I've now finished my Asian tour and now back home in London as I'm missed my dog Charlie, family and home. Talking of home, I recently saw a 3D property scan by my friend and guest editor Pete Brooker from 3D Property Scanning.

After a quick chat we agreed it would make for an interesting feature on the blog. Rather than regurgitate everything that Pete and I spoke about, I wanted Pete to tell his own story on how he managed to completely revamp his 2 bed apartment in Chiswick.

Hi all. The flat was primarily sold to us on ideal location, close to where my girlfriend works in Chiswick. You can see in the before 3D scan, that there was a lot of work to be done.

KITCHEN

We had a great team of contractors in and they noticed immediately that the Gas Boiler was buried in a cupboard, barely accessible in the kitchen. We had to raise that out of the floor and rehouse it directly above.

The kitchen had some hideous blue tiling, fit for a bathroom not a kitchen. We completely retiled the kitchen, added a breakfast bar and installed a dimmable helicopter.

(If you’d like to purchase any of these products you can find the links in the 3D property scan. For transparency I’m not affiliated with any of the brands and all the products were paid for, not gifted).

Yes it was a bit of a crazy idea, but we wanted the kitchen to be a fun place to be. The faux brick wall wallpaper was added, a slight homage to the last act in Skyfall. 

TOP TIP

Don't throw anything out. We bought the wood for the breakfast bar and used the offcuts to make the shelfs above the sink. When we asked the builders if this was possible they had to go back to the skip and dig out the offcuts. Ask your builders and contractors to not throw any offcuts away without asking you first.

BEDROOM 

We got some bespoke mirrors made with concave framing to bring the illusion of space. The bed is an Ottoman from Dreams and I can't recommend these type of beds enough.

Perfect for storage and very accessible. We haven't had a chance to fit the blinds at the time of writing this, but have discovered that John Lewis are very competitively priced.

TOP TIP

If you're mounting a TV in your bedroom, always check the bracket compatibility. If in doubt contact the manufacturer, we did. Also plastic boxes from Muji are perfect for storage in cupboards. They do multiple sizes.

BATHROOM 

We completely gutted the bath and installed a bespoke fitted shower. We put a mirror on the back wall again to offer the illusion of space. Also if there are two of you, extra mirrors and dual sinks are a must.

We also installed under-tile heating which will be perfect in Winter and for any household pets to lounge on. A heated towel rail is also very convenient, no more arguments over damp towels.

TOP TIP

Get a shower douche. We didn't have no space for a bidet but a shower douche is the next best thing. The amount of time and toilet paper I now save is just unbelievable. Plus it's a nice feeling, down there.

STUDY

We got a corner desk and married the wood close (but not exact) to the shelfs. You'll notice throughout the flat there is a running theme of dark wood, walnut or black trims. Such as on the dining lights or myriad mirror.

The myriad mirror by the way is fantastic. A real wow factor for the room and I can't recommend the customer service at Habitat enough. Ask for Dawn at Habitat on Tottenham Court Rd, she is fantastic.

The sofa bed is also convenient for guests that come to stay.

TOP TIP

Don't be too precious in having all the wood matching. It was a big fear that the room would look naff with different wood themes. As long as they're closely matching in colour, it's not imperative to get matching wood.

ATTIC  

This was the biggest challenge in many respects. We have a lot of storage space in the eaves so wanted to house a chest of drawers and have them accessible from the outside. The contractors were indifferent at first.

We went and secured the drawers cheaply and had them framed and put some good handles on them. Rather than hide them discretely, we made a massive feature and it works really well I think.

The dining furniture we sourced from Barker and Stonehouse. We really mix and matched all the furniture. I recommend you visit their store in Guildford and spend an hour or so in there. Don't be afraid to rearrange the furniture in the showroom. We did.

MASSIVE TIP

When shopping for furniture ensure that the delivery men are insured to deliver to a second floor flat. (If you're no on the ground floor that is). We had great issues with this from another buyer and it got quite ugly at one point.

The couch we sourced from DFS. We do love the couch but have had some issues with the customer service team. That aside, be sure to put the L of the couch in the best possible position so it can add flow to the room, rather than corner of any space that will see a lot of traffic.

The fireplace also made for a great feature. Be sure to do your research and read all the terms and conditions before buying. Warranty, delivery, installation etc.

Lastly the TV, or as I call it 'the anti-gym' is a curved Samsung Tele 65" from Amazon. We shopped around for the best price versus quality and thought this the best. It does reflect quite a bit of light, but we only view in the evening with the blinds closed.

TOP TIP 

If you're having SKY TV installed, get friendly with the engineers and ask for what engineer discounts are currently on offer. We got the sports package the same day of installation much cheaper than if we paid for the package before or after.

Be sure to check out the video of the before and after renovation and if you need any advice or wish to discuss anything 3D property related I’m available on peter@brookerpublishing.co.uk