OFFICE worker Khanyie Sowerby was desperate to get on the property ladder, but knew she would not be able to afford new-build prices.
So the 29-year-old, who is married to Daniel, 35, a builder, with whom she has son Jonah, 18 months, set her sights on an ex-council house in Haltwhistle, Northum.
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And over four years, the couple spent £16,000 on renovations to turn it into a light and airy modern home.
Khanyie, who worked three jobs, hunted for bargains and upcycled to complete the transformation, says: “The red brick three-bedroom house was terribly decorated inside, but the price point was amazing at £132,000.
“And we knew that we could do quite a lot of renovating ourselves.
“It was dated, dark and grubby and needed lots of TLC but I could see the potential.
“We fell in love with the layout, the space and the garden, which was huge, even compared to our neighbours.
“We bought the property in February 2019 and moved into my mum’s home for the first seven months, while we had big jobs done, like rewiring.
“I love a modern, minimalistic style – essentially the opposite to what this house was.
“I had dreamed of having my own home for so long and I’d made mood boards with light and airy designs for each room.
“Our budget was £16,000, which sounds a lot but it really isn’t when doing a full renovation from floor to ceiling – especially when taking into account plumbing, electrics, building materials and furnishings.
“We started on the big jobs and we cut out a lot of the labour costs with Dan doing 95 per cent of the work.
“We had a friend doing the electrical rewiring at mate’s rates of £5,000, and Dan’s brother re-plumbed the whole house for free.
“The whole place needed repainting and we had to scrape off three layers of wallpaper from every single wall and even the ceiling.
“We then had the whole house carpeted for £600 which brightened things up immediately.
“We bought three sturdy column radiators and chrome fittings from eBay for £341. These would have cost us thousands if we hadn’t been so savvy and just bought them on the high street.
“I wanted an expensive aesthetic but only ever shopped at Primark and HomeSense for crockery, all of which cost me pounds but looked worth £50.
“I did the same for home furnishings too — all my throws and cushions cost less than £10.
“After the first four months we could see it already taking shape just by getting rid of dark wallpaper and giving it a lick of old-fashioned exterior of the house they can’t believe how modern the inside is with its brass fittings and white soft furnishing.
“Friends and family thought we were crazy when we showed them the house at the start as it was so different to the fresh, light look of a home we like. Now they tell us it’s their dream house.
“It has been four years of hard graft and I had to work so hard to continue to save for the things I wanted.
“I worked my nine-to-five office job, then at 6.30pm would go to my front-of-house job at a hotel until 1.30am, then spend the weekends working in a cafe.
“There’s a stigma about council houses and I don’t know why. You can make them into beautiful homes.
“The lady who lived here for 50 years before we moved in was the first person we showed the finished house to. She was in tears and so happy. I was so glad we got her approval.”
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