Couple transforms unlivable flat with IKEA purchases and YouTube clips, saving £9,000

A COUPLE who bought an ‘unlivable’ flat to get into the housing market have told how they have already transformed the filthy and moldy home.

Rochelle Taylor-Butcher, 29, and her partner, Angus Ord, 30, a data scientist, had no idea how to flip the single bed, but quickly figured it out with some YouTube videos.

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The couple say the flat in Kingston, south London, was in ‘desperation’ with peeling wallpaper, mold on the walls and a musty carpet – all for the price of £260,000.

The money-saving couple turned to YouTube to learn how to do their own plumbing, install their own kitchen and sand their own floorboards.

Rochelle and Angus say they have already saved almost £9,000 by doing the work themselves, rather than hiring professionals, and using free and recycled materials where possible.

None of it could be saved.

Rochelle Taylor-Slager

Although they are still in the process of refurbishing, they have already added an impressive £20,000 to the property’s price tag.

Even though the property was so dilapidated, Rochelle was thrilled to finally have a home she owned, which the couple moved into in March 2023.

Rochelle said: ‘The only way I can describe it is complete disarray, it was completely unliveable.

“The whole flat had a lived-in, musty smell. I think the carpet absorbed this, it was as if no air had been let in.

“I never thought I would own a property… I grew up in South London and have always lived in Housing Association housing.”

“Blood, sweat and tears have soaked into the floorboards and walls, we are now part of the flat,” she said.

Rochelle said there was uneaten cereal in the kitchen behind the dishwasher and old cabinets from the 1970s.

“Nothing could be saved,” Rochelle said. “There were stains, rust and crumbling tiles.”

The couple has spent all their free time doing DIY around the house, or watching hours of YouTube tutorials to learn how to do plumbing, trimming and tiling, and how to install their IKEA kitchen doors and cabinets.

The IKEA kitchen they installed themselves cost them just £5,000, almost halving the price compared to installation from an organization such as Howdens.

The couple was able to save money through many hacks, including getting family members to rewire the property.

“We paid for the materials at cost and all labor was free. So that really made a huge dent,” Rochelle said.

“We’ve been trying to figure out ways we can achieve what we want, but by cheating the process.”

Rochelle used paint from the sale or leftover paint from her employer to decorate and revealed that you don’t need the best quality to get the best look.

“You don’t have to have incredibly polished wood for your baseboard, it can just be a piece of MDF,” said Rochelle.

Another suggestion from her is that anyone starting to renovate their own home should consult YouTube and “do one thing at a time.”

“You could probably build a house just by watching YouTube,” Rochelle said.

“There is so much information available, you just have to look for it.”

They saved £3,000 on installing the kitchen, including plumbing, £700 by sanding the floors themselves, £3,000 by having their family do the electrical wiring, £300 by removing the old bathroom themselves and £900 by doing the decorate kitchen and living room.

They spent £5,000 on kitchen units and appliances, £3.8k on bathroom fittings including tiles, £2.8k on double glazing the windows, £900 on rewiring the materials, £80 on paint and £200 on the buying tools, including an orbital sander.

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