Kate Sandhu, 38, from Cheshire, is a DIY aficionado and purchased a three-bedroom, terraced home for £745,000 in June 2017 with her husband, Chris, 37.

The 1800s property – called ‘ghastly’ – now has an additional £105,000 on its value.

While the couple could see the potential in the home, they ‘hated’ every room and wanted to entirely redo it.

Now, they have completely transformed the space using their upcycling and DIY skills.

‘The house was ghastly, like a living room for hobbits with pokey bedrooms,’ said Kate, who runs courses teaching renovation to beginners.

‘It’s taken us a while to finish, but then again, a renovation is never really finished.

‘While we had builders to complete the main build, we did everything that we could possible between us – from painting to decorating and building a home office.

‘It’s always a real family affair, as my parents help with everything. I’m from a family of renovators and grew up in mid-renovated period properties.

‘As we didn’t have loads of money, my mum and dad did everything, and they taught me all I know.

‘We wanted to use our skills to completely transform the house on a budget and make it our own, while also making a profit – both of which we did.’

Kate and Chris rebuilt the kitchen entirely, then removed the downstairs toilet in order to expand the space.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

She said: ‘We made it much more light, open and airy – but our one big splurge was on the Crittall doors at the end of the kitchen.

‘Everything else we had to do on a budget and we went for a Wren kitchen, as we could get some interest-free credit and a ton of IKEA bargains for shelving.

‘We also made shelves from some reclaimed timber from a guy down the road, which we get lots of comments on, as they only cost around a fiver.

‘A family friend also made us a table out of scaffolding boards and the legs are from my parents’ old dining table, which I painted.’

They still wanted a downstairs toilet, though, so decided to convert their old dining room into this space.

She said: ‘The whole thing was built from scratch and I knew I wanted wild wallpaper in there, as it was a tall ceiling, so although it was a small space, it could take it.

‘We then built some panelling on the bottom half, so we didn’t overwhelm the room and it’s a super fun space.

‘In the living room, it used to be tiny and grey – totally grim. We decided to rip out the internal walls and make it into one big room.

‘We added in an exposed brick wall to separate out the front door, as the hallway had been removed, and this tied in with the kitchen.

‘I’d seen this restaurant decked out in pink and green, which I loved, so I took that as my inspiration and did half the space in green and half in pink with gold accents.’

After finding some reclaimed boards from old apartments in Notting Hill for the flooring, they also found a second-hand sofa from Marks and Spencer – this all helped keep the costs down.

Kate said: ‘We cut out doors under the stairs so we could use that as storage and then we used an old internal door, which was painted.

‘I wanted some bling, so I upcycled an old TV stand and also the stairs, doing them both in black paint and gold leaf to tie in with the rest of the room.

‘In the spare bedroom, we ripped out the fireplace, which was sad, but it wasn’t functional and we made the room a proper double bedroom.

‘In the third bedroom, we extended this out so it doubled in size. When we moved in, it was just a white room and I knew I wanted it to be a playful and fun space for our son, Raf.

‘In the end, I landed on day and night as a theme, with lots of colours and things to look at like rockets and rainbows.’

Victorian aesthetics were part of their inspiration, especially when designing the bathroom.

Kate said: ‘Our bathroom before was so tiny, you could go to the loo, brush your teeth and shower your feet at the same time.

‘I found some monochrome tiles and built the rest of the room around those.

Another stamp duty holiday set to be announced on Friday

Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen talks going maximalist with your home: ‘Screw the neighbours’

Thousands more to get £400 energy bill help after discount is extended

‘We also built an outside office, turning an old outbuilding into a cosy space with a treadmill and some homemade wardrobe-type shelving to hide things like a lawnmower.

‘We also took out the windows and doors, added sliding doors and retiled the patio, as well as redoing the entire garden.’

Overall, the transformation took them six months to complete, and they spent £223,000 on the entire revamp.

The home has been completely modernised.

Now, they want to take on a new renovation – this time a rural Georgian farmhouse after selling this 1800s property for £950,000.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

MORE : Couple who met on a walking Facebook group get engaged – on a walk

MORE : An unusual but stunning triangular house in on the market for £700k – with four bedrooms, idyllic views and historic remnants

MORE : Two-bed house could be yours for just £20,000 – but of course, there’s a catch

Not convinced? Find out more »

Get us in your feed