One of my requests when we purchased our first home was that it had to be a project home. I’ve always wanted to renovate property whether it was my own or someone else’s and well, at the tender age I was when we first bought our house, I had watched enough Homes under the Hammer to know exactly what I as doing. Side note: I still don’t know exactly what I’m doing but its a rough guide. Like, really rough. Sandpaper rough.

That said if we were to move again I would still choose a home that was in need of a renovation and likely would again and again so thought I would state why as I can imagine some people would be looking at me like I’m crazy right about now.

Cost. They tend to be a little cheaper because of the amount of work that needs doing and you don’t have to spend the difference all at once, as long as the house is in a liveable condition and everything works as it should the rest is aesthetic. Before we moved into our house it needed the plumbing and electrics doing before we even moved in and we decorated the living room and bedroom so we had two rooms to relax in but the rest of the house for a long while was a mess. It still is and I still love changing the rooms up.

Satisfaction. That feeling when you stand back to admire your handiwork and you beam because you’re just so incredibly proud of it. You can flip this and there have been plenty of times in the early days where I have stood back to see something shockingly awful and instead of a beaming smile it was a roar of laughter and a sigh. The sigh is knowing it either needs redoing or that it’s staying and you’re going to have to stare at it in its hideousness before you can change it. However, most of the I’m proud of a little DIY job, like the tiles in the kitchen, and I would happily learn a few more skills to have the satisfaction of seeing it finished and likely finished cheaper than getting a tradesman in (unless I have to of course!)

Bare Bones. You can take a project home back to its bare bones, add your own stamp and start from scratch pretty much making it whatever you want it to be. You can keep elements of the homes history and character or you can decide it’s not your cup of tea and take it out and with limitations you can maybe move walls or extend the property. With the right house there is so much potential to make it ‘yours’ and I love that about home renovations.

If you have anything to add in favour or against buying a project home let me know. Maybe I will do a list of the reasons why I wouldn’t buy a home to renovate one day…a lot of work…the hidden costs…being covered in dust regularly…