12 tips for tackling a slow renovation

Taking on a renovation project? Consider our tips on doing it in your own time and undertaking the work in stages to avoid the pressures of a strict deadline

- DEBBIE JEFFERY

The increasingly popular slow renovating movement embraces a more relaxed attitude to time - ensuring a renovation project remains fresh and affordable, while avoiding rushed mistakes, decision fatigue, and the stress of a self-imposed end date. With homeowners reporting difficulty finding builders or having to put a hold on planned renovations due to increased costs, taking a phased approach to the work can make more sense and have financial benefits, too. So if you're planning a large-scale house renovation, could a slower pace be the way for you to go, too?

1 Get to know the house

There's nothing like living in a house to make you re-evaluate your initial plans. Observing how the sun moves around the plot and which spaces you gravitate towards will inform your decisions on layout, garden planting and even paint colours.

"View this initial fallow time as an investment," advises interior designer and developer, Nigel Young (on Instagram @nigelalexanderinteriors). "Get familiar with the flow of the house before you start knocking down walls or making any major changes."

2 Let your home evolve

You bought the house for a reason, and working with the existing structure can prevent a character home from becoming just another soulless box. Slow renovating is about respecting the building's history, while making it your own, allowing it to evolve with your family's needs.

Henry John has devoted years of his life to physically rebuilding Charity, a secluded 15th-century Herefordshire retreat that once belonged to his father. "It will be a labour of love for the rest of my life," he says. "If you love a place, you'll keep finding ways to enjoy and improve it. The valley setting is magical, and new ideas reveal themselves as the seasons come and go. I'm hands on, so new thoughts emerge from the living and doing."

3 Avoid stress and decision fatigue