How much it costs to refurbish new 2 bedrooms house?

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Mary P

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Hi all,

We are a couple without kids and currently in process of buying our first house in Douglas, Cork. We are on really tight budget for interior design/decoration. This is a new 2 bedrooms mid-terrace house, 80 m2, no appliances & furniture but with a kitchen & built-in wardrobes. Given that we do not need to paint walls etc, just wanna make it liveable with basic appliances and furniture, how far would 10K get us?

Is it worth consulting an interior designer?

We would really appreciate any advise.

Thank you!
 
My advice would be go for lower end appliances to start off with. That's a big outlay. They can be replaced with better appliances as necessary in the years ahead. Is there flooring included? If not, a lot of the laminate timber flooring is inexpensive and easy to lay, it's also hard-wearing and easy to keep clean. You'll easily get a couch / dining table / beds / beside lockers with the balance if you shop somewhere like Ikea or Jsyk. I wouldn't bother with an interior designer, but that's just me. I know what I like / don't like and what I can afford.
 
Hi Mary, congrats on your new house!
I'm in a similar position myself, as we recently bought a (second hand) 2 bed townhouse.
My first advice would be not to rush to buy all the staff straight away.
Of course you need a fridge, washing and cooking appliances quick, you can have a look at places like did.ie to get an idea of prices. I reckon it will cost 2.5K if you go for good enough models (fridge + oven + hob + extractor + washing machine).

It's probably easy to get a cheap basic bed. If you want something more specific, arm yourself with patience because of covid and bed suppliers having to get deliveries from the UK. We are 2 months in and still sleeping on an air mattress waiting for our bed.
Also the sofa is ordered but will take another 2 months.
Important not to get carried away with the biggest sofa just to find out a year later that it does not work out in the space and you need to sell it at a loss.

I would invest part of the money in building a good toolset. Get a drill, learn to hang blinds, etc. yourself. You can get the most basic stuff from ikea, etc. and make it quite cheap.
An ikea kitchen island will double as kitchen table and storage space https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/cat/kitchen-islands-trolleys-10471/

I would also not bother with an interior designer, I think you would get more satisfaction out of building the place bit by bit by yourself and making it yours, rather than someone arranging it for you.

Even if it looks bare at the beginning, enjoy, it is yours to make it yourself

Edit: forgot to mention, will you both be working from home? you may want to invest in some good desks where you can adjust the height.
 
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1. I know you don't want to do this but paint all the rooms including ceilings. Use good quality paint. It's your first house so paint the ceilings white and a light colour (even magnolia/sunseed) for all the walls. If there are any faults these colours will show them up before your next painting.
(2 gallons of Dulux €90.00, 1 Gallon of Dulux White €40.00 - Get your dad to buy the stuff in Woodies on a Thursday where there is 10% off for seniors). Rope in dad to do some of the painting too. Surprising what dads will do for their daughters. Ensure new son-in-law doesn't ask him!
2. Pull up all existing carpets and underlay. Shread with a Stanley knife (be careful) and dispose of in ordinary waste over time. Clean floors thoroughly after the hard work is done.
3. If you varnish the floors (you'll have to use some machinery to clean them beforehand) but I recommend you put in some reasonable quality plain carpets and don't skimp on the new underlay. You can pick up odd ends in various carpet shops not far from where you live. If you buy reasonable good quality carpet ensure what's delivered is the quality you bought - You won't get this advice from too many and surprising the amount of "gangster" carpet shops around).
3. Kitchen Table + Chairs - Have a look at DoneDeal. Failing that there is a flea market near Cork Airport (old external airport private car park).
4. Sofas - You'll probably buy these at the flea market too. Go on a Saturday 10.00am - 1.30pm. He delivers too.
5. Fridge/Freezer/WashingMachine/Cooker/Television/Microwave- buy these new and with the amount you're buying ask for a discount. O'Sullivans (Southgate bridge) just on the quay before St-Finbarre's Cathedral might be the place you want. Be intelligent though, the lady there could sell sand to the Arabs.
6. Clothes Line - You'll get the supports in St-Patrick's Woolen Mills near you. Your dad will fit them (what else are dads for?).
7. Clean the livin' bejazus out of all the windows.
8. Check attic - surprising what people leave behind!
 
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Always worth checking www.jumbletown.ie which is a website for people to give away items (furniture, beds, etc). You might pick up something useful that will do until you get more settled and have an idea of what you want and can afford.
 
Old carpet is great for under gravel in garden beds/paths. I am always looking for it, not that easy find anymore! But I gather it's a new house so you won't have any I'd imagine.

Agree with getting a few tools if you are that way inclined however if you are not then it's kind of pointless, not everyone is good at diy.

Leper has a lot of good advice but apparently only Dads do DIY :) I do all my daughter's diy and I'm not her Dad, my son in law ain't that hot on it either so I'm the one with the drills/tools etc. There are cheaper shops than Woodies but their selection is good and the Thursday seniors discount I find very handy too.

I wouldn't bother with an interior designer either and I'd go with middle of the range appliances for now anyway, washing machines are pretty basic and no one ever uses all those programmes, my recent one I picked up in Argos in an emergency (cheapest one there) and it's heading into it's 4th year now, they don't make them to last anymore so I like cheap and cheerful these days for some appliances.
 
Check with parents and friends, we bought a bed, and a fridge freezer. My parents just happened to be replacing two side chairs & kitchen table and chairs, we got the cast offs. Our friends were replacing their cooker, we got their old one. I had a TV. The only thing we needed and didn’t have was curtains but it is amazing how many awful old curtains parents have. And then every month we got paid after we moved in we saved for sofas & curtains next. We used to sit in the living room with the two side chairs, the TV and a bottle of wine on a cardboard box between us. Kitchen had cooker & fridge freezer, table & chairs and old cupboards. Bedroom had bed, lamps on floor and and old chest of drawers someone gave us. We just bought bits month by month as we could afford.
 
It’s not only about having the money to buy things, it’s about having an idea what you want and need, the only thing you need is a bed and some way to cook, store food.
Most of the things I bought immediately were wrong size ,poor quality etc as i didn’t know what I wanted felt under pressure to get things etc.
done deal or adverts were great between that and ikea and local shops it was more than enough. Got curtains on adverts and rest in sales. I’d avoid many of the websites selling furniture online like made.com etc found these poor quality and significantly marked up. Also some of the big furniture shops have big mark ups the can discount later.
Try finline furniture in cork if you want to get a long term sofa, they are dear enough but good quality and sell off showroom pieces , they also have a massive sale after Christmas .
Interior designer not useful unless you have no time and a fair bit of money you can get more useful advice from advisors in showrooms .
 
You can buy cheap furniture on adverts ie
Vincent de Paul have a shop that sells furniture in dublin
It's not new its very high quality
Or look on jumbletown.ie
Free stuff
Furniture free to take away
It's better to make sure buy high quality fridge washing machine
Maybe wait til the sales in January if you can
There's a shop in ballymun
It sells cheap furniture
Refurbished tables chairs
It's located around the corner
Near the church
Go down Longdale terrace turn left at the end pass by the church
It's about 500 yards further up the road on the left side of the road

Santry dublin
Surplus furniture at knock down peices
 
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