On the ground floor Donald would like me to introduce as much natural light into the dark, central spaces, while creating a good size utility room, cloakroom, and ground floor toilet and entrance hallway. On the first floor they would like more efficient bedrooms and a more interesting architectural spaces. Their budget is £60,000.

The Solution

I sketched around 12 different ways of arranging this house before going for this option. There are so many ways of arranging the spaces with advantages and disadvantages for each scheme. In order to get as much light into the centre of the deep plan and the make the central spaces as usable as possible I’ve decide to relocate the main staircase. By moving it to the centre of the plan with a large skylight in the roof over-head means that what was once the most boring and dark part of the home become the most spacious and exciting. The staircase becomes the main focus of the house and it is flooded with natural light coming from the new double height window to the side of the house as well as the large skylight above. I would suggest a very minimal open riser stair so the natural light can flow to the very depths of the plan. Moving the staircase to this new position means that you can create lots of much needed cloak storage and a bigger toilet on the ground floor. To minimise costs I want to avoid moving too many of the main plumbing and drainage runs so I have kept the utility room, toilets and bathrooms on both levels in a similar position, but made them more efficient and spacious.

The hallway and corridor have been redesigned to provide a direct route to the kitchen and dining rooms.

The living room becomes larger as we have absorbed what space was left over from the old reception room into the transformed living room with lots of built in storage.

The new utility room is access directly off the new kitchen and is much more efficient in its planning. Most of the old utility room was wasted circulation space.

I have removed the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make one large open plan kitchen/diner with a new breakfast bar.

I have decided that the new staircase actually becomes part of the new kitchen dining space, but if the owners wanted the staircase to be separate then I would move the door that divides the kitchen from the hallway to be alongside the utility room door. I would then install full height and full width glass to divide the staircase off from the dining area.

Upstairs the new staircase transforms the space and is flooded with natural light. The old ‘cranked’ corridor is removed and replaced with a simple straight corridor, which makes the plan work so much better.

Bedroom 5 at the front of the house and the new family bathroom are made much bigger due to the staircase being repositioned.

The compromise is that bedroom 3 in the centre of the plan is reduced to a small bedroom or study to make way for the new staircase.

Top Five Tips: How to set your budget

1. Firstly work out what you can actually afford without overstretching yourself. Don’t take on excessive debt to do your renovation work. It’s not worth it!
2. Speak to estate agents and work out the maximum value of similar types of homes that have been renovated in your area. There will be a maximum level that your home will be worth even after you have done the work so don’t over invest in your home otherwise you will be wasting your money.
3. When you have a sketch design scheme and basic specification of what you want to do to your home ask your architect or a local builder to come up with a provisional budget estimate. Some very early estimates will give you a reality check and you can then very quickly amend your designs to suit your budget.
4. With renovation projects I always set a 15% contingency to any budget. You will always come across problems so you must allow a contingency at the very beginning.
5. Don’t forget about VAT! I’m amazed at how many clients just don’t budget properly for VAT and remember it has gone back to 17.5% from January 2010. Unless you are substantially demolishing your existing home and rebuilding from scratch then you will be liable to pay VAT on all labour and materials. Please check with your local VAT office before starting work, as there are exceptions to this rule (but not many!).

2010 was the first year for me at the show and it was also the first year of it being under the new ownership with event organisers, Media Ten. The transformation was incredible.

We worked incredibly hard in a short space of time to reinvent the show and drag it into the 21st century. Visitor number went through the roof and the team were rewarded with a collection of prestigious event awards. The Ideal Home Show is a great British institution and I can honestly say that I’m proud to be part of it.

This year is going to be even bigger and better. As you have probably seen in recent press I’ve redesigned No.12 Coronation Street.

There are over 25 million existing homes in Britain that are incredibly ‘eco-unfriendly’ that are wasting energy and producing levels of carbon emissions that are just too high. It really doesn’t take much to make a big difference, but we simply aren’t doing enough to make our massive existing housing stock more ecological and to reduce our own energy bills.

I chose one of the most famous streets in Britain to make my point.

No. 1 Coronation Street has been transformed into the ‘Ideal Home Show Eco Refit’ where the public can experience a familiar home that has been given an ecological makeover. Whether your own eco budget is £50, £500, or £5,000 there will be a products in the Corrie home that are affordable and worth the investment.

Sitting alongside the Corrie house are a number of other show homes including ‘The Natural House’ by The Prince of Wales. This is a new build sustainable home that has been developed by The Prince and The Prince’s Foundation for The Built Environment.

With over 700 exhibitors at the show and seminar programmes covering everything from Home Improvement to Food, Gadgets and Fashion The Ideal Home Show really does have something for everyone.

Check out my diary on my website to see which days I’m there giving talks and signing my new book, The Home Bible. The show runs from the 11th-27th March. It’s a brilliant day out so don’t miss it.

If you are more ambitious and want to increase the amount of space in your home then you will be looking at adding an extension, conservatory or loft conversion. If you do this I suggest you consult a local architect. Architect’s have the creative skills to see opportunities that can make fantastic improvements to your home even on the lowest budget and if you go ahead and employ their services they will do so much for you.

An architect will produce design drawings to help you understand what your new home will look like, they will advise you on local planning policy, make the necessary planning and building control applications to your local council, they will advise you on building costs, help to recommend good local builders and they will also supervise all of the work on site to minimise any stress to you.

Yes, I’m an architect so this does sound like a sales pitch, but it’s a mistake to think that architects just draw pretty pictures. They are at the very heart of the building process and a good architect will be there for you every step of the way.

To find an approved local architect contact the Royal Institute of British Architects (www.architecture.com) or contact your local planning department who may be able to make recommendations.