The Essex house that put its living room upstairs for the view

At Aquila in Great Bentley, Enid Crowther’s first kitchen and living space sat above a garage. The artist’s home later gained a larger kitchen and studio, but its upper windows still explain the original choice.

Repair or replace a conservatory roof? Count the whole finished job

A new roof may rescue a useful garden room. Before choosing a system, find out what the frames and foundations can carry, what still needs repairing, and exactly where the quoted price stops.

The Sussex cottage less than 3m wide that found room to breathe

A kitchen looking straight into the garden and views between three levels make the most of this Shoreham-by-Sea cottage’s tightly constrained footprint.

£15,000: move house or improve?

Changing address can use most of a £15,000 allowance before you buy a dearer house. Could improving the home you have solve the problem instead?

£353,050 before VAT: what a flexible London terrace renovation actually cost

A timber-and-glass screen and a burgundy kitchen pod make this Hackney home distinctive. Its reported build figure, and a separately published kitchen price, show why a renovation budget needs more than one impressive number.

The old MOT garage that became a light-filled family house

At the Coach House in East Dulwich, a courtyard gives daily life an outdoor edge. A separate pocket of light at the rear reveals the more useful idea: every room need not face the same way.

The pink London house that looks like an architectural daydream

At Cloud House in Gospel Oak, arches and stripes connect a remarkable pink exterior with a very colourful family kitchen. The pleasure is in seeing one idea change scale.

Two flats, one family home

Reuniting two flats meant giving familiar rooms new jobs. In this Kentish Town house, a kitchen moved downstairs, a reworked stair and a table beneath a dormer help make space for one household.

Before knocking through, draw a wider doorway

A generous opening can connect two rooms while leaving enough wall to make both useful. Before committing to open plan, compare what each layout gives you, what it takes away and the complete cost of building it.

The house is finished. So why are there still jobs left to do?

One exposed shelf bracket in Wiltshire, two rooms deliberately left alone in Suffolk. There is more than one reason a house can feel finished before all the work is done.

What a £50,000 renovation budget actually buys in 2026

A better kitchen, an extra room or a warmer house? We look at five ways to use a £50,000 budget, with the costs and compromises behind each.

An extension that works with the steps, not against them

At Newhaven in Edinburgh, Pend makes an awkward change in level part of the design. The lesson starts with the route through the house.

What replacing one roof window really puts in the budget

A same-size replacement can be a contained project. Changing the opening, specification or surrounding roof is a different quotation.

Bifold or sliding doors? Start with the view you’ll have all winter

The biggest opening is only one part of the decision. Sightlines, furniture and the everyday route to the garden deserve just as much attention.

The 15m2 extension that transformed an entire Victorian house

Renovation materials are 5.9% dearer than a year ago: what that does — and doesn’t — mean for your budget

One material, four jobs: inside the London loft built around cork

Three builder quotes, three different prices: the 10 lines to compare before you choose

How to give a standard kitchen a bespoke look

A standard kitchen can feel carefully made for its room. Before spending more on the doors, look at the exposed sides, the joins and the details your fitter will need to finish.

Before you top up loft insulation: storage, damp and ventilation

More insulation may be a useful autumn project, but first establish what is already in the loft and how the space is used. Storage boards, moisture and access can all change the work required.