Deciding which room to renovate first can be far trickier than building a house – particularly if you're planning on living on site throughout the process.
Building a new home means simply working from the ground up, whereas the final answer on where to start when renovating a house will be somewhat dependent on how big your plans are. The reality is that even cosmetic changes can be disruptive and difficult to navigate, let alone those that leave you without power, running water or heat.
Ask the experts which room to renovate first and the answer isn't always what you might expect. Why? Because it's usually about the bigger picture instead, Get that right and the room order will follow next.
Take a whole house approach
If you're renovating a Victorian house, or renovating a listed building, there's a fair chance you'll be taking on work that requires you to strip back your home to the basics. Rewiring, adding more insulation and even changing the type of heating you use may all form part of the bigger picture.
And it's for exactly this reason that asking 'which room to renovate first' isn't always the best approach say the experts. Instead, you need to prioritise the essentials first.
“The best advice is to avoid thinking room by room at the beginning," says Ran Ankory, founder and managing director of Scenario Architecture.
"Start with a whole house plan, even if you intend to renovate in phases. If you redesign a kitchen first for example, without deciding where walls, services, kitchen ventilation and heating are going across the home, you can end up undoing expensive work later," he warns.
“In practical terms, start where risk and disruption are highest. Resolve the building fabric and the fundamentals first, things like damp, insulation strategy, ventilation, wiring, plumbing and any structural changes," advises Ran.
Clive Holland, build expert and broadcaster at Fix Radio agrees.
“I always say get your priorities right before you touch kitchens or colours. A good survey should help you put the work in order: structure first, then services, then aesthetics," says Clive.
"People are often surprised when I say the first ‘room’ you renovate is not the kitchen or bathroom, but the shell of the whole house, but, investing in the invisible essentials like home insulation, structure and systems matters most," he expands. "A home that is warm, energy efficient and safe will always be worth more than one that just looks good on the surface. Once that is right, then you can renovate individual rooms with confidence.
"I have always said the priority is the outer skin of the house: the roof, walls and windows," he continues. "They tell you most of what you need to know about a property and they are where most of your house renovation costs should go."
Scenario Architecture is a RIBA-chartered architectural practice founded by Ran Ankory in 2007, specialising exclusively in bespoke residential projects for private homeowners across London and the Home Counties. With over fifteen years of experience, the studio is known for creating contemporary homes that are deeply tailored to each client’s lifestyle, both now and for years to come.
Clive Holland is the former host of Cowboy Trap on the BBC. Now a broadcaster on Fix Radio, the UK’s only national radio station for builders and tradespeople, Holland is one of the UK’s leading property and DIY experts.
What to do once the fundamentals are in place
Once your house structure is sound, your roof, windows and doors secure and all the necessary changes have been made to your heating and ventilation, it's then time to start on individual rooms.
But, which room you tackle first can depend on a number of different things including your lifestyle, budget and what other space you have, or need, to be able to function in your daily life.
"Every home needs a different starting point, but if you’re living on site, I almost always recommend working from the top down," says Jessica Smith, interior designer and founder of Curated Spaces.
"Prioritise the rooms you need to sleep, shower and function in, then move your way through the home, finishing with the kitchen," she advises.
As even though it's one of the busiest and most used rooms in your home, renovating a kitchen, "is the dustiest, noisiest phase," she explains, "and having a completed space elsewhere in the house where you can retreat to will keep you sane throughout this final stage."
Of course, it may be that you prefer to get the dirty work out of place quickly, in which case, "once the foundations are in place, you can renovate kitchens and bathrooms next and with confidence because you know exactly where everything needs to go," says Ran Ankory.
Jessica Smith is the founder of Curated Spaces and Studio Smith, and created a company to help homeowners see the possibilities of their home, spend strategically, and create a home that supports how they live. Whether you’re reworking a single floor or tackling a whole-home renovation, Curated Spaces aims to help you make confident, informed design decisions.
Why flexibility might be essential
Over the years I've renovated a number of homes, and lived both on and off site in the process. Living off site is by far the easiest and will give you the option of following the most similar schedule of works to building a house as you can strip, gut and start from scratch.
Living on site while renovating, especially at certain times such as renovating in winter can push even the most patient of people towards a meltdown. Add in children, pets and potential delays and there are days when you will question your sanity.
But, even with the best plans in place, my experience of renovating a new build (a 1980's built house on a housing estate) was a good example of how always need to be flexible with your approach and be prepared to sometimes switch up the order of work.
On paper, the renovation plans weren't too tricky. Renovate a bathroom and leave an en-suite until later on, strip out the kitchen and utility, knock down some internal walls to turn a broken-plan ground floor layout into an open plan one, decorate the new ground floor, the four bedrooms, change the internal doors throughout and replace the uPVC front door with a composite one.
My approach? Get the building work done first, the kitchen and bathroom next, replace the doors, decorate and the job would be done. The reality? Knocking down walls ended up identifying the need for a new steel lintel, kitchen cabinets were missing when the new kitchen was delivered (and took ages to arrive), the bathroom sanitaryware was delayed, and we all slept on mattresses on the floor and ate dust daily with our dinner for far longer than I had hoped.
In the end, some of the bedrooms were decorated before the kitchen was installed, the bathroom installation ran over which then delayed the en-suite renovation, and the front door went in after the hall had been decorated and the walls around it had to be made good.
My point? As the experts advise, it's really not always as linear a choice as deciding which room to renovate first. It's about making sure the bones of your building are in the best condition they can be, and that any structural and service related changes are done properly. The rest, as they say, really is cosmetic and the final icing on the cake.
Keen to make sure your renovation isn't something you repeat too soon? Find out what makes a renovation look cheap and gather inspiration for an entrancing entrance in our guide to hallway renovation ideas.
