When it comes to designing homes we know firsthand that creating the space you’ve dreamed of can not only be a lengthy, complicated process but one that’s quite frankly… costly! Renovations, big or small, require funds that can get used quickly and the once distant contingency fund you thought would never be touched can easily become depleted. That’s why, when we chatted with Zopa, the FeelGood Money company, whose mission is to “make money fairer, simpler & easier for everyone”, we thought one of their hassle-free home improvement loans might be useful to some of you. (Representative APR 17%).
While Zopa’s the finance expert, we’re the DIY experts so we’ve teamed up with them to show you what a £15k loan could look like as a living room renovation. For the purpose of demonstration, we’ve created a Pinterest board that sums up a £15k living room renovation to perfection. So let’s unpick the board below and offer some great tips & advice on how to make the most out of a living room space…
Source: Pinterest
The £15k budget.
With a £15k budget for a living room renovation, you’ll have a lot of flexibility with what you can do. Whether it’s laying down all new flooring and paint schemes, installing crittall doors or even knocking down walls to make a room bigger – £15k will allow you to do this! So in our Pinterest board, we’ve added some examples of the kind of results you can expect to achieve. We particularly love the idea of knocking down a wall joining two rooms to make one bigger unified space and then installing glass Crittall style doors to create a contemporary space whilst also maximising light. Not only is this look stunning but creating something like this in your own home will add on a value – it’s a win win!
Source: Pinterest
TOP TIP: Try buying Crittal doors on Ebay if you want to save a penny or two. They’re much cheaper second hand and can save you thousands.
New flooring in a living room space is also key and can be achieved with a £15k budget. As much as we love carpet, wooden flooring is much more practical in terms of low maintenance cleaning and makes a space more versatile when it comes to adding layers with rugs. Try a herringbone pattern which will add a modern twist on an old classic and suits any style of property.
Top Tip: Laying Herringbone patterned flooring will cost you more due to the amount of labour time required to put the pattern down. Make sure when you are in the planning stages of a design you get your contractor to quote for this type of pattern in advance to avoid any hidden costs down the line.
Next up you’ll see we’ve pinned plenty of cast iron radiators. These guys are a real game changer when it comes to on trend interiors and can take the dullest of corners into a sleek, contemporary space. What’s more, you can get them in all shapes and colours and they’re easy to install – however, don’t be fooled, they’re heavier than they look!
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest
Next up, you’ll see we’ve pinned some amazing gallery walls. Adding artwork to your space is the key to polishing off any design. We particularly love grouping posters & prints in mis-matching frames to create a unique and dynamic feature.
Top Tip: Get a newspaper and cut out your frame sizes and put them up on the wall with non-damaging sticky tape so you can plan your gallery wall layout. Or alternatively, lay all your frames on the floor first and play around with combinations until happy!
Source: Pinterest
Lastly, and arguably the most important…your furniture! This is where most of your money is spent. And easily too! Think about what key items you’ll need e.g. sofa, coffee table, media unit and work around them to build up your overall scheme. We love using velvet sofas as they add a great opportunity to mix textures such as combining velvet with linen, cotton, wood, jute, rattan etc. On our Pinterest board you’ll see some great examples of these and ways in which you can combine them in all sorts of design styles.
Source: Swyft Home
Source: Pinterest
So there you have it! Insight into what your space could look like with a Zopa loan amounting to £15k – the possibilities are vast and exciting! Follow the Pinterest board for heaps more exciting & pretty pins to look at. For more information on Zopa head to https://www.zopa.com/.
This blog post is in partnership with Zopa, the FeelGood Money Company, which provides hassle-free home improvement loans from £1,000 to £25,000. You can apply online, with no fiddly paperwork and your loan is easy to manage on the Zopa app. Find out more https://www.zopa.com/loans/home-improvement Representative APR 17%
