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How can I save money on my home renovation?

What are the biggest renovation mistakes that cost homeowners money?

How can I avoid a renovation budget blowout?

How much contingency should I allow in my renovation budget?

What is the best way to budget for a home renovation?

Why do renovation projects go over budget?

How can I renovate without compromising on quality?

What are the most expensive mistakes homeowners make when renovating?

What should I do before starting a renovation?

How do I plan a home renovation properly?

What should I know before renovating my house?

What is the first step in a renovation project?

How can I avoid costly renovation mistakes?

How much planning should I do before hiring a builder?

What decisions should be made before a renovation starts?

Should I hire an architect before setting my renovation budget?

What should I prepare before meeting an architect?

What should I know before hiring a builder?

How do I choose the right builder for my renovation?

How do I compare renovation quotes properly?

What questions should I ask before hiring a contractor?

How much does a house extension really cost?

How can I save money on a house extension?

What are the hidden costs of a renovation?

How much should I spend on my renovation?

How can I maximise value during a renovation?

Can a renovation consultant save me money?

Do I need a renovation consultant?

What does an interior designer know that homeowners don't?

How do professionals plan a renovation project?

What do architects and interior designers do differently when planning a renovation?

, hello everybody! Welcome to this masterclass. If we haven't met before, I'm Tash and I am a renovation consultant and an interior designer, and all the work that I do I do through my London studio called South Place Studio. And so I want to welcome you to this masterclass. We are going to talk about some ways to save your to save you money on your renovation because I guess that's why you're here today. And now I'm sure we all know renovations are expensive, right? If you've renovated before or if you're currently renovating and that's why you're here, you'll know that the cost of labour, the cost of materials, everything is going up even since COVID, even recently, with everything else going on in the world. So I think that anywhere we can save is going to be a real benefit. So in this masterclass, we're going to talk about how to save £40,000 on your renovation. And I just quickly wanted to tell you about this later. If you decide to go deeper with this, I want to show you this: a prospective budget tool that I use inside my Reniversity program. And so when we're talking about money and budgeting, this is a really useful tool that I use for all my own projects, and it really helps you manage your budget and save money and track everything as you're going through your project. And I use this, like I say, my own projects and with my client projects as well. You know, I always think saving money on your renovation isn't always about cutting corners, it doesn't have to be about cutting corners, it's about being clever with your money, knowing where to spend, knowing where to save, and making those decisions in the right order. And I think that's really where most homeowners get stuck. Not because they're not capable, but because they don't have this clear process to follow. So you are in the right place and you're going to get so much value out of this lesson if you are a homeowner and you're about to renovate, of course, and if you're excited to design and start that home that you might have been dreaming of for such a long time. I'm quite passionate about all of this because I have been there before many, many times. So in this session today, it's a little bit different because compared to other masterclasses out there that I've seen and lessons about renovations, um, I want to show you actual real examples. I'm sharing real actual examples from projects I've done. And everything I show you today are things I've actually done in projects, and I've either worked on for myself or I've worked on for clients. So they're these real examples, real ways you can save money if you would like to do so. And also why I think this is a bit different is because of what I do. So I'm a renovation consultant, so I actually go in and help people before they're about to start renovating. Usually I always say that's the best time, and there's this gap. I don't know if you've renovated before and you've noticed this kind of a gap of information, of knowledge that you need to have, and I find that so many people spend lots of money on the architect before they've really thought about their project and what they want their home to be and to do for them. So I've worked in interior design and very practically with architects, contractors, structural engineers, I've been on site, and so all that very real experience has given me a really deep knowledge of the entire process of a project from start to finish, from concept to completion. And so that's why I also do all of these masterclasses and these lessons. I do what I do to provide all of this information for homeowners who are about to renovate because I really think that people need to explore what they need and what they want before they start spending thousands on architects and contractors to come in to quote and to draw plans, which might just be the wrong thing for you. So I've been working in this industry and design for 17 years I've been renovating now. So these are just some of the projects, personal and client projects that I've worked on over the 17 years I've been in renovations now, and including also a complete house build from scratch and all using my five-pillar reniversity system I've developed over the years of renovations. And this same system I've developed has really helped me and allowed me to move through renovations quickly, effectively, and successfully. And that is what I'm going to share a little bit more about at the end of this masterclass. So I've had the opportunity to work on all of these projects, as I say, and I've also had some amazing opportunities to be featured in some publications and work on some really, really lovely things, including charities like Princess Trust and so on. And I've also taught online to other interior designers. So that's just a little bit about me and my experience. But for you, perhaps you're thinking it's time for a change. Perhaps your home has become a kind of point of frustration in your life, and you really feel like it's time to change it. And perhaps you've felt that way for a while. Because I know renovations are expensive, and it does take a long time to get those funds together and to get around to doing those renovations. So I find that people get to a point where they become frustrated with their homes, they've kind of had enough, it's not functioning for them, and they just want a fresh start to start again to make their homes really function for themselves and for the other members of your

household. And perhaps you're here because you're feeling the same way, and you just need to make that change now. So, my promise to you today and in this session is to help you find ways to save money on that renovation. Because I always say a budget is a budget, whether you've got half a million pounds to spend on your renovation or whether you've got 30,000 pounds, that is a lot of money to you, and you need to make it go as far as possible. So let's get into it. I want to show you how to make some big savings on your renovation. And I know we've only got limited time today. I want to give you as much information on how you can save that £40k on your home renovation project. I know everyone is super busy, so make sure you've got a pen and paper to make some notes because I'm going to be sharing some great tips with you today. So let's get into this. Perhaps you're facing some challenges on your renovation. Perhaps you have no idea where to start. It can be overwhelming. There's so much out there in terms of choice. People don't sometimes know where to start. They don't know if they should start with an architect, do they start with a contractor? And I found that people really struggle with this one. Or perhaps you're afraid of making expensive mistakes. Another big issue I find that renovators have is because really, I mean, it's nobody's fault, but loads of people have never renovated before, and actually, after purchasing your home, renovating is probably the next most expensive thing that you will do in your life. And so I think it makes people rightly um afraid or scared to start about making the they're scared about making the wrong decisions and making expensive mistakes. But with the right planning and decision making and becoming really clear on what you want, you can truly avoid this. Um or perhaps I also find people are sometimes not confident in their decisions. That's this is another big fear I find when it comes to renovating. People just don't sometimes know how to choose, what to choose. They're not sure, they don't know in terms of materials, for example, what might perform well, what won't, what will last long, which contractor to hire, which architect to hire. There are hundreds of decisions you have to make when you're renovating. And so I do find that people, when they're not confident, that kind of stops them from taking those next steps as well. So in this masterclass now, we have an opportunity to attack one of these. We have an opportunity to save some money on your renovation. We can make some big savings here, and to achieve that, we need to know where to save in advance. So pre-planning when you're doing your renovation, way before you start, way before any builder even comes into your home, you need to think about everything in advance. And this masterclass is going to show you how you can make some of these decisions in advance to save you some money. So today we're going to talk about knowing where to save in advance, how to plan for that, and then also budgeting better. Before you start planning, before you start speaking to those architects or those contractors, you need to experiment with what you want. You need to know where you can make some savings, and then you need to relay that to your professionals, to your architect, to your contractor, so that they know what you have in mind and they know your budget and then know the ideas you have of where you'd like to save, so that they can then work that into their plans for your projects. And then also, I want to show you how you can plan like a pro. So, this is how the professionals do it. We look at everything right at the beginning. We look at the budget, we look at the allocations for everything, we look at what the building work will cost, we look at how much everything will cost, down from the taps to the tiles, and knowing all of that information before you start will make you feel really in control of your project and able to budget better. Because you know, this is your home and your project, and you do have control. I know sometimes people feel like renovating is out of their control. Things happen, honestly, things come up that you weren't expecting, and it does give you that sense of wobbling a bit and kind of not being in control of your own project. But if you have a clear plan and a clear budget, and you know your choices, and you know how to manage these things when they come up, and you know that there might be some options for saving or compromising on something else to mitigate for any issues that do come up or any surprises, and then that even adds to that feeling of being in control, and it just makes a whole renovation run more smoothly, less stressful. It makes you feel more in control of your own home and your own project and your own money because you know your home is important, but it's also getting that budget right that's important because spending your money wisely and in the correct places is important for your future because no one's got an unlimited amount of money to spend on their renovation, so you've got to look after yourself as well, you've got to look after getting your home right, but you've also got to look after your future financial situation. Okay, everybody, so let's get into it. Let's help you find those ways to make some big savings on your renovation. So, today I'm going to share with you these three big strategies that I use when I'm renovating, and I have to be really conscious of the budget. So, my first strategy is to shop smart. So, why shop smart? I always say thinking about everything in advance is really going to help you with your renovation planning and also your budget because if you're shopping smart, you're thinking about what you're going to purchase right at the beginning of your renovation already. So you're not waiting till the point where your builder is asking you for the tiles, for the flooring, and you're only then going out to shop for that product. You need to think about everything in advance, and I mean absolutely everything. So, this strategy also helps you to prioritize where to invest so you can decide where you want to spend which chunks of your budget early on, and then also shopping smart actually will help reduce the stress of your renovation and also help avoid that decision fatigue that you might have if you're making decisions as you're going through your renovation. So, let me give you some examples of Shopping Smart and exactly how you can save. One big way that I like to shop Smart is on the glazing. So using reclaimed return or pre-loved glazing can save

you an absolute fortune, everybody. Quite often I've seen perfectly good like buyfall doors, patio doors removed from properties only to end up in the skip. But also, it doesn't have to be used, it doesn't have to be pre-loved. There are actually companies out there on auction sites and so on, where you can buy fully made windows, doors, buyfall doors, patio doors, all sorts of glazing at a much reduced price. Because what happens is sometimes things are made to the wrong spec, to the wrong size, and they can't be used because whatever project they were meant for, those builders were expecting something of a different size so they can't be installed. But here, let me give you this really really hot tip. If you can go and find those items and know the sizes and have them ready before your architect even starts drawing out how big your windows and doors are going to be, they can then work backwards and draw them to the size of the windows and doors that you are going to purchase. Means that you can save up to 50% on your glazing packages, and that is a lot of money when it comes to glazing. Quite often, glazing is one of the huge chunks of a renovation budget. So if you can work it this way and find items that will work for your project that you like, that the size will work for your project, and you can let your architect know and run it by them, make sure that they can check the spec, if it's all suitable, if it's double glazed, whatever you need for your thermal regulations and your project. If they work for your project, then you can save a ton on this, everybody. So to find these companies, try Googling words such as customer returns, pre-loved, resale when searching for your glazing and your windows and doors, and then look at those in your area as well. So let's look at the savings on this one. So number one, glazing. So a typical glazing package for a two or three-story home renovation could cost £20,000 to £30,000. And that's quite conservative, I have to say. If you're thinking about something like doing a rear extension and adding all new glazing to that, and maybe you're doing a loft conversion as well, adding some roof lights and windows to that, easily £20,000 to £30,000. So using Return or Pre-Loved can save you between £45 and 50%. So really there's a potential saving there of around £15,000 if you are willing to do this. Okay, and then moving on to number two here under Shopping Smart. So this one is coving and skirting. Now you might think this is a bit of a strange one, but I find that skirting and coving are often forgotten in a renovation. They might seem quite minor items, but they can really add up. So a standard plaster coving, which is kind of you know the standard one you'd tend to usually use in a Victorian home here in the UK, that costs around £45 per linear meter. But if you switch to a different material, like a dura polymer, so a dura polymer is like a lightweight material that is it's kind of like foam, but it's lightweight, it's also easier to cut, it's easier to install, it needs fewer coats of paint, and the cost per lineometer could be as low as £6.50 for quite a similar size and style to the plaster version. So I always think because coving is high up, it's never actually touched by hand, the material really isn't a problem. So there's not actually that many materials in a home that I would say that about where I would say switch it

out for something that's so much more of a cheaper price material, but because this is high up, it just looks the part, it's painted, so you can not really tell what it's made of. So it really isn't a problem. Once it's painted, you barely notice the difference between the plaster and the duro polymer. So considering that you will need probably around a hundred meters of coving for a standard kind of four-bedroom, two reception kind of London terrace, standard UK home, let's say. The total for the plaster coving comes in at around £4,500, whereas a dura polymer option comes to a total of around £625, everybody. So there's a potential saving of £3,875. And I've not even included the skirting here. If you're going for perhaps a more value-driven material, perhaps you go for MDF over solid pine for your skirting, the savings there could be even more. So over half of renovation projects, everybody, exceed their budgets. And this was sourced from the Financial Times. So renovating a home in the UK often leads to budget overruns due to unforeseen factors, usually. And this recent analysis by the Financial Times highlighted that over half of renovation projects exceeded their budgets, with many also facing delays. So this trend has been exacerbated by the increase in material costs from around 2019 up until recently. And then, of course, we've also got the increase of labour costs as well, which I have seen over the past few years. So obviously, I want to help you save on your project because it's actually quite common that projects got over. So I do think that just planning and knowing these tricks and knowing this information in advance can really help you just track your budget and try and keep it on track as you're going through your renovation project. We're moving on now to number two clever swaps. So, why clever swaps? It's because if your budget is what it is and you need to allocate it to get everything you want out of your renovation, and perhaps some things are coming in above budget and it's exceeding what you're willing to pay on it, then you have to compromise somewhere and you have to consider these clever swaps. Now, these swaps I think are really great ones where you can make these swaps, but you can still get that really quality feel that you'll want in a finished project. So let's get into it, everybody. So the first clever swap is to flat pack or standard size the kitchen cabinets. Now, this is one you may have heard of before, but it really can be a huge saver in a renovation, and I've used it many times in my own renovations where budgets have been tight. So let's look at the savings. So let's take a standard size 4x4 meter kitchen with base cabinets and approximately four tall cabinets, let's say, and an island as an example. So let's look at the cabinetry costs only. So for flat pack, this type of setup will come in at around £3,000,

everybody. And a mid-range, kind of ready-built cabinetry could come in at around £4,000. But a high-end or bespoke cabinetry for this exact same kitchen could set you back over £10,000. Now, these are just the cabinetry carcasses we're talking about. You can always upgrade on the things that you touch, like the cabinetry doors, the handles, and the worktops, which we will be talking about as well, to kind of to get that bespoke feel that you still want. So, really, taking in all those figures I just mentioned, we're looking at a potential saving of £7,000 between the bespoke cabinetry at £10,000 and the flat pack cabinetry at £3,000. So there is a huge saving to be made here if you're willing to do this. So moving on, everybody, to number two. So number two is swap marble for quartz countertops. So I do this a lot actually because marble it is beautiful, it's so gorgeous, but it's also quite difficult to look after. It does stain a lot easier than quartz, and I find a lot of people don't really have the time to commit to that maintenance, and so they do tend to choose a quartz over a marble when it comes to um when it comes to maintenance. So let's look at a standard kitchen size that has two cabinet runs of approximately 2.5 meters long each, and then an island with waterfall sides. So you know the waterfall sides is where the countertop material extends down the sides down to the floor. So for a kitchen like that, you'll need around 10 meters of material, and so for real marble, that's a total of around £4,000, and I think that's quite conservative. But for the cords, the total would be around £2,000. So and those prices include templating and installation costs as well. So you can see how you can save nearly 50% here, the potential saving of £2,000 on swapping out those countertops. And then moving on to number three, we're talking flooring. Another thing to consider at the planning stage of your project is whether you prefer plank or herringbone flooring. So whether it's tile or wood, actually, a herringbone pattern will cost a lot more in labour than straightforward plank or straight line design. So really think about that. Planning stage lots of people don't realize that when they're planning their budget, and then when it comes to fitting, and your fitter or your installer or your contractor sees that you want herringbone or herringbone tiles, there will be an extra cost for that that it will need to go on top. So know that from the start, and if you really want herringbone, then you can factor that in, can't you? And if your budget starts to kind of go off track, you can perhaps decide that you are going to buy plank when it gets a little bit more down the line. The large plank flooring is easier to lay as planks all uniform and they follow that straightforward layout. So your labour cost will typically be around £50 per square meter. So I'm looking at average UK prices here. So in an average London home, the entrance floor, let's say so the whole ground floor, is typically around £50 meters square. So going for plaque over herringbone, just over that one floor, that ground floor alone, can save you around £2,500, everybody. So there's quite a big difference there. And then of course it also depends on the flooring you choose. I'm I'm taking here into consideration just the labour. So just on the labour, if you go for plank over herringbone, you have a potential saving of £2,500 here. And the reason is because if we're looking at engineered wood as an example, herringbone flooring just requires more intricate cutting, more precise alignment to achieve that pattern. It often involves a lot more wastage, so you'd need to buy more flooring because a lot more of it will be thrown away, increasing that cost for your material as well. So all that extra work could really cost you double per square meter in labour to lay herringbone over plank. So that's really something to consider when you're choosing your flooring and you need to carefully consider your budget. Okay, so let me tell you about my lovely clients Julian Morris. So this was our beautiful project Claremont. So the situation here was that Jules and Morris wanted a dramatic stone countertop and backsplash for their kitchen. But the challenge was that the quotes for the real marble were coming in at around £7,000 for this kitchen, which was over their budget. So the strategy was a clever swap. We swapped out the real marble for the courts and saved £3,000 on this project, everybody. So I want to tell you a little secret, everybody, and I don't think that lots of people know this when you see those amazing pictures and features of interior designers and architects in those glossy magazines. This is the kitchen of Sarah Sherman Samuel, and she is a very well-known interior designer based in the US. And this is the really minimal, gorgeous kitchen by architect Luke McCalland. And this is a kitchen of a project which was one of my own projects I designed, and this is the kitchen

of my home. And I want to tell you a secret. All of these kitchens are flat pack cabinetry inside, and I want to tell you just to when you're considering to go for flat pack kitchens, please don't see that as something inferior because they can look like this. If you're just a little bit more creative with it, and you can perhaps swap out some doors, some handles, go a bit more luxe on the countertops, choose where you want to spend a little bit of extra money so that you can save this big chunk of money on the cabinetry, then this is these are all looks you can achieve in your home. I mean, I'll tell you a secret now. Us designers, architects, we do not spend tens of thousands of pounds on our kitchens. We want things to look streamlined and sophisticated. We will spend the money on things like the flooring, things you touch, the door handles, gorgeous taps, beautiful lighting perhaps. But when it comes to showy things, we just want the homes that are simple, sophisticated, but that look expensive. So you just need to know the secrets that I'm telling you here in this lesson to achieve that and also to save yourself tens of thousands of pounds. Okay, number three, everybody, we're moving on to the last strategy, which is advanced planning. Okay, let's look at number one underneath advanced planning. So this one is number one, it's leave the plumbing where it is. So if you're carrying out a large renovation and you're considering moving bathrooms or kitchens to different locations in the house, do consider that moving all the plumbing and drainage to a location where there isn't currently any could add a huge amount of money to your budget for these rooms. So this is a tricky one, I do admit, because sometimes the whole reason people renovate is because they want to move a kitchen or move a bathroom elsewhere or install a kitchen or bathroom elsewhere in the home. So explore your layout, look at your floor plan, explore all your layout options, make sure that if there is a possibility of keeping the plumbing in the same areas, that it still works with what you want to achieve with your renovation, then that's going to save you a lot of money. And also think about stacking. There's this thing we call stacking in the industry, and it's just simply if you think about a home that's more than two stories high, so two or

three stories high, quite often the plumbing is stacked, so all the bathrooms stacked on top of one another on the floor plan, or the and the kitchen perhaps downstairs in that same area where the plumbing runs down to the ground floor, that is stacking. And if you're keeping the bathrooms and kitchens in those areas as you go down the building, that saves you money as well, because then you can easily access the water, the drainage running down that one area of the home. So that is also a way to plan in advance. Think about it in advance. If you know that you need to stack and you know where the kitchens and the bathrooms will be, where they will cost you less money to install, then you can plan around that if it works for what you want to achieve with your renovation. So just explore your floor plan, exhaust all your layer options to see if there's a possibility of keeping the plumbing in the same areas. And that's not to say you can't move items around within that original area, so you could move your toilet slightly, you could move your bath, so you can still relay out the room if it's not practical and not working, but just moving to a totally new location can easily add an additional £3,500 per bathroom or kitchen. So if you keep it in the same area, you're going to be saving that money. So there's a potential saving there of £3,500 per bathroom or kitchen. And then next, we're looking at number two for advanced planning. Number two is don't tile to the ceiling. Now I actually love this one, not only for saving money, but I find that tiling bathrooms or kitchens all the way to the ceiling gives that kind of clinical feel. And I find that using tiles only in the wet areas and then combining that with a paint colour or a polished plaster or a different material actually adds to the design and it makes the room have more personality. You've got you've got more opportunity to add more colour, perhaps, or pattern, if you're not just tiling everything floor to ceiling. So the average cost per square meter for tiles is around £50, and the average labour cost to install those tiles per square metre is around £100 per square metre. So if you consider that the average UK bathroom is approximately £2.5 by £2.5 metres, I know small here in the UK, right? And if you're tiling all the way up to the ceiling, that would require about £15 square meters of tiles and costing around £2,250 for the tiles and the labour cost. And if you think about using those tiles only, let's say half of those areas, only in the wet areas, you're looking at a saving of around £1,150 per bathroom. So let's say you're doing two or three bathrooms in your home, that really adds up everybody. So really consider that one. And then finally, in advanced planning, is number three, and I feel like probably you know what I'm going to say here. It's just to plan meticulously. So I know after so many renovations that the planning can be the saving. It's because the planning helps to avoid so many costly mistakes. I mean, this could range from avoiding extra costs like having to have builders undo mistakes and make changes. The wrong items perhaps have been ordered. Something was installed before another thing was supposed to have been installed. Planning also saves on delays because time is money, is never more true than it is on a building site, everybody. There are so many costs racking up literally every day that the bill goes on for. I mean, there's your team costs, there's your mortgage costs, you might be renting elsewhere, there's bills for perhaps one or two properties, on and on and on, and you do not want to delay work or keep anyone waiting for materials or items or your decisions when they haven't been ordered in time, they haven't turned up, or you haven't had the confidence to just make the decisions about what you want from your project. So I would say that good planning is priceless. I'm being really conservative here, but I would say that if you don't plan well, you really stand a risk of losing thousands, maybe even tens of thousands. I'm going to say £5,000 here because I think on average you could possibly easily make £5,000 worth of mistakes on a renovation project if you don't know what you're doing. So I'm going to say there's a potential saving here of £5,000 if you plan really well meticulously in advance and you really get on top of your project and arm yourself with the knowledge and the confidence to take control of your own project. I have been called to clients' homes who have already spent close to £10,000. This actually makes me quite emotional. I went to a client's home and they had paid their architect £10,000 already, and they had these drawings sitting on the kitchen table when I walked in. Only to realise once they'd actually looked at it more clearly that the layout just wasn't going to work for them because they didn't take the time to research and really explore what they wanted from their home. And they had to start again because the architect did the work. They just didn't think about the best way to use the space, the best way to use the home, the best function, the way the family used the home, the way they wanted their home to support and frame their lives. This was so sad, but but really a true story. These are these are the actual drawings of the home that I went to. These were sitting on the kitchen counter when I walked into this client's home. If you look at the level of work that went into these drawings, everyone, I mean look at this. These are detailed drawings, 3D renderings. This would have taken the architect hours and hours and hours. And why didn't they plan? Why didn't they think about what they needed the space to be? This is one just one of the saddest things I've seen as a renovation consultant was that day when I looked at these drawings and the upset the clients were experiencing because they just had realized that they'd spent all of this money, they had all of these drawings, and they could not move forward from that point with what was being suggested. So I would just say planning in advance, start early, get your brief together, start looking at your style boards, explore your floor plans yourself. You can do that easily, it's not that difficult. You can get together a schedule of work. It's basically just a list of what needed needs to be done. You can start putting your budget together yourself, really. You can you can't really put in exactly what the construction costs are going to be, but you can start to form a picture, you can start getting some questions together for your contractor, for your architect, you can start getting some recommendations for your team. So start planning early, do not leave it to the last minute because it will not be a good experience, and it can be a great experience. Renovating is exciting, you're creating your dream home, and I just want you to be ready to feel in control and calm so that you can actually enjoy the experience as you go through it because it is really exciting, especially when you get on site and you see it all starting to come together, and you can kind of visualize yourselves living there, so it can be a really exciting thing. So I hope that resonates with you. I hope you can see how knowing that don't be underestimated, know what you want, make your decisions early because you don't want to be caught in a situation where you're flustered, you're on site, you got three or four different contractors or trades asking you different questions, and you don't know which answers to give them. All that is going to cause delays, it might cause disputes, it might cause costly mistakes. So really try and get on top of what this all entails before you begin. Okay, everybody, let's do a quick review. So, number one, shop smart. So remember we looked at the glazing and choosing pre-loved or returned, £15,000 saving there. Then we looked at the coving and we swapped the plaster for the dura polymer. That was a saving of £3,875. Then number two, we looked at those clever swaps, remember? We looked at flat pack the kitchen cabinets, £7,000 saving there. And that little secret I told you. Then swap the marble for court so that that was for the countertops, or you could even do that in your bathrooms as well. £2,000. Choosing plank over herringbone because herringbone is tricky to lay. Remember that everyone. So that was a saving of £2,500. Number three was that advanced planning we just talked about. Number one was leave the plumbing where it is, and we saved £3,500 there per bathroom or kitchen. And then not tiling to the ceiling, which I love, and that one is £1,150 saving. Planning meticulously, everybody. We talked about that quite a lot, didn't we? I'm

a bit obsessed. And there I very conservatively say a £5,000 saving. So the total savings are coming in at £40,025. So that is a huge saving when you consider that on just one renovation, I think. And can you just imagine how that would feel when you got to the end of your renovation and you've done it in budget and you've saved that amount of money. So now that brings us to the end of the masterclass, everybody. But if you're serious about doing this properly and you want some help doing it properly, step by step, I would like to invite you into my program called Reniversity. So Reniversity is a clear step-by-step system to help you plan, design, and deliver your renovation in the right order. So you avoid those costly mistakes, overwhelm, and the constant second guessing. I built Reniversity to help you create this clear renovation plan for your dream home so that you can stay on budget, you can stay on schedule, and you can stay in control. So this is how it works. I have developed this five-pillar framework over my many years of working in renovations, and inside Reniversity, I guide you through the entire renovation process in this clear, structured way through these five pillars, so that nothing gets missed or rushed or done in the wrong order. So the five pillars are planning, number one. Number two, preparation. Number three, people. That's getting your team together. So important. Number four, practical management. That's where I show you how to manage your project on site, manage your contractors,

manage your trades. And number five is perfecting. That's just doing all the checks and getting all the paperwork in order. So you have everything, all your snagging, and you end up with a really, really beautiful project at the end. So let's look at everything you'll get inside Reniversity. So after you've completed pillar one planning, you will have the confidence and the tools to plan your dream home's layout and style. You'll have lessons like setting out your big picture budget and setting out the vision for your dream home. And in pillar two preparation, you'll learn about the planning application process, the architect's role, preparing your budgets, the professionals involved, so that the quotes that you are getting are as accurate as can be, and your vision for your new home is communicated in a crystal clear way. And after you've completed pillar two, you'll have prepared a detailed brief to hand over to your architects and to your contractors as well. Then you'll have pillar three, your people. After you've completed pillar three, you will have learned how to put together your dream team. And inside this pillar, you have video lessons like how to interview your professionals, so how to interview your contractors and your architects, and how to understand quotations. So this pillar is just about making sure you get that dream team together so your project goes really smoothly. And inside pillar four, which is practical management, after completing this pillar, you'll have learned how to manage your team on site. So important because this is where lots of mistakes are made and a lot of the overwhelm comes from. So there's loads of lessons in here about how to manage disputes, how to manage your project on site. It's absolutely crammed with lots of info and advice so that you don't get overwhelmed during this phase of your project. And then, of course, we have that pillar five perfecting. This is just showing you how to wrap up your project really well at the end, making sure all your paperwork and all your snagging is in place. The programme also includes everyone these seven masterclasses. So this is really useful for those that want to go even deeper into their home design and their home planning. So this is more of the interior design aspect, and you can go really deep with these masterclasses if you choose to. And so these masterclasses include lessons on how to plan your dream kitchen. Go into really quite deep detail about that. How to plan your dream bathroom, space planning, layout, so important for making your home flow and function properly. So these are all included as well. Also included in the program are these guides, cheat sheets, and checklists. These are all downloadable, immediately available for you to start planning your project. There are some on space planning and layout, there are even some architect and contractor interview questions, so you can print them out and take them along when you're interviewing your contractors and your architects, and you can ask them the questions, you can note down the answers, and so all of these templates are available instantly within the program as well. And inside the program are these tools and calculators. Now, everybody, these are time-saving gems, and these are real tools and calculators that I use on every single project I work on. Here's that prospective budget I mentioned right at the start of the lesson. So this is a really, really good document. It's a Google Sheet, you can download it instantly and you can start plugging in your project figures to start getting that budget together. This will help you not only get to an overall view of what your project's going to cost, but also helps you track as you go along and as you move through your project. There's also a prospective schedule of works. So this is so that you know the list of jobs that you are doing on your project, and it has some content in there already, so it gives you a really good idea of the sequence of works to help you get started. You also have this line item calculator that helps you figure out how many square meters of tiles or flooring you might need, and then you plug those figures into your budget. There's

also a building program, so you can have a bird's eye view of your total building program and timeline. So all of these will come instantly included in the program as well. Also, inside the program, everyone, you'll get live coaching QA's with me. So I would like to help support you through your renovation project. So these will be online calls once a month. You send me your questions and any problems you might be having with your project on site, and we'll do a group call once a month, and I will answer as many questions as I can within the group, just helping setting you up for a successful project. And because I know how busy everybody is, we're all really busy and we're all juggling a lot. And now you have to plan an entire renovation on top of everything else you do as well. I've introduced these shortcuts for you. So these are really great time-saving shortcuts that I've added to the program. First, you have this on-demand AI Reniversity assistant. And this assistant has the entire Reniversity program loaded into it. So instead of searching through the lessons when you don't have time and you don't have time to search through all the video lessons, you can now ask a question and get a clear answer from this GPT. So when you're stuck on anything from layout to materials to lighting and you need a quick answer, this tool will give you the exact next step using the Reniversity method. It's like having expert support exactly when you need it. And the second time-saving resource that I've recently added to the program is the full Reniversity program on a private audio experience. So you can learn while you're commuting, while walking, or just doing whatever you need to do in your everyday life. You can listen to it as a podcast. All of the content is available for you as a private audio series. And then we have bonuses, everyone. I also have these special bonuses for you. I have supplier discounts and I'm really proud of these. I've been working with these companies for years. Francesca's Paints, you'll get 10% off her gorgeous eco paints and such gorgeous colours as well. Fritz Fryer is a lighting company. They are going to give you a half an hour free lighting design session when you're inside the programme. That's valued at over £60. Lusso London is going to give you 10% off as well. So they are a bathroom supply store, so you can get your bathroom fixtures, fittings, but also they do flooring and tiles, and they're going to give that 10% discount. And then I also have these additional bonuses for you. So this is a lesson on how to really go deep with your kitchen renovation project. And if you really want to take it to another level and that interior design standard, it's called How to Plan Your Kitchen Cabinetry Internals for Efficiency and Productivity. So in this one, I go really deep to plan the actual internal, so the internal cabinetry of your kitchen. Where do you put everything from your pots to your pans to your dishes? You want to make sure you've got enough space for everything, a place for everything, enough storage, and that's also included as a bonus. Another great bonus I've got for you is this lessons in styling mini course, and this is a really lovely one to finish off your project to a really elevated standard. So in this mini course, you'll have lessons on things like how to use your style board, how to use colour, how to use texture, layout, your furniture plan, kind of where to place everything, how to plan for your placement of your furniture, the size of the sofa to buy, all of that kind of thing. And then there's also a really fun lesson in that mini course called room by room styling. And this is where you can get that really gorgeous elevated styled look at the end of your project. So it looks like you've had an interior designer help you. So these bonuses are available for a limited time only after this masterclass. So if you're thinking about joining me inside Runiversity, this is the best time to do it. So this beautiful kitchen belongs to Esther and Robin. So Esther and Robin had to say about the course. They said the advice we received was invaluable, expertly delivered to suit our lifestyle and provided a clear vision for each room and the roadmap of how to achieve it. We find delight in the result every day, and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. So I am very proud of this testimonial, everybody, because Esther is actually an architect and Robin is a designer. And I was completely shocked when they took the course. I thought, with you know, with jobs like that, they they must know how to run their own renovation smoothly. But they just found so much value in the course, and it was because they just wanted to be on the same page, they both ran through it together, they used the materials together to develop their plan, planned their home really well for the outcome they wanted, and they just I think really enjoyed the process, and now they've got this amazing home. And this is Jenny. Jenny says, Reniversity

was a wonderful comprehensive guide to all the questions I had and didn't know I had about manage our home renovation. The programme is well laid out and it's easy to find the information you need if you're looking for something specific. It's like having a friend with all the answers to hold your hand through the process, which is exactly what I wanted Reniversity to be. And then this is Jules and Morris, who we talked about before. They had that stunning kitchen, and they say we would recommend Tash wholeheartedly to anyone and feel very lucky to have had someone with her class ability and I to help us with our major project. So they did a full home renovation and just really ended up with a stunning home at the end that they are so happy in now. I still see them every now and then, and every single time I see them, they tell me how much they are enjoying their new home. And so I'd just love you to do this little exercise with me, please, everybody. I just want you to imagine that let's say you got into the program, and three days from now, where could you be? Just think about that. You could be at a point where you've done all of your style boards for your home, you have a clear vision of which direction you want to go in with your home renovation project and design. You could have your big picture budget together in three days of what you have to spend on your project. And now I want you to imagine perhaps three months from now, where could you be with your new home? In three months' time, if you start now, you could be on the road to getting your planning permission. But can you imagine how that would feel to finally being on the road to getting that permission to actually make your home into what you've always dreamed of? Just imagine how that would feel. And then finally, think about maybe one year from now, what are you doing? You could be sitting at your dining table with your friends and family and finally being able to put it all at the back of your mind and just enjoy what you've created and have your home work for you. So I have a confession to make, everybody. This is not really for everybody because you have a decision to make. Either you can go about your renovation with trial and error, you can risk expensive mistakes, you can risk hiring the wrong people, and you can risk your renovation being overwhelming and really stressful, or you can use this proven process, the step-by-step five-pillar process, avoid costly mistakes and feel really calm and in control of your renovation instead of second-guessing every decision. And I would say this is not for you if you're not willing to put in that time to plan your renovation for success at the end of it. And it's definitely not for you if you want to wing it and plan and make decisions as you go along. And I would say that reniversity is for you if you're willing to put in some time to implement the process so that your renovation comes out as close to on time and on budget as possible. And also if you've had enough, this is for you if you've had enough of the discomfort and the lack of functionality of your home, and you're willing to step out of your comfort zone for a short time to create that home that will support your family and make your daily life a lot easier. So if you're ready to make your renovation a lot easier without the stress and the overwhelm and the worries about making the wrong decisions, you can get started with Reniversity today. You have two investment options. You can have a one-off payment of £497 and you'll have instant access to everything I've just covered. Or if you prefer to split the payment, you can make three monthly payments on our payment plan of £184 each. And I want you to feel really comfortable about joining the program. So I'm going to give you our money back guarantee. So if after 14 days you're working through the program and you're not happy with the product, just show me your work, show me what you've done so far, tell me why you're not happy, and I will refund your money. No risk and no hard feelings. So Reniversity is open right now for enrolment. You can go to selfpleestudio.com forward slash reniversity for instant access to everything we've just talked about, or you can just click the link below wherever you're watching this masterclass and you'll be able to get into Reniversity straight away. But now I understand that you might have some questions or concerns. I understand that you might be thinking, I'm already about to spend so much money on my renovation. Why should I spend more money? Well, I would say

that this will actually save you money. Um, if you rush into your renovation and you don't plan it properly, you can make costly mistakes by hiring the wrong people, doing the thing in the wrong order, not knowing the correct sequence, um, not knowing perhaps which fixtures and fittings and materials to choose. There are so many mistakes to make. So I really think that spending this money is money well spent. And that's not even taking into consideration those supplier discounts. Another thing people might say is, oh, I don't have the time. Well, I would say that you need to make the time. Whether you're renovating with or without this course, you will have to take the time to plan your renovation because I know that the time saving and the money saving in any renovation is in the planning. So you have to take the time to plan anyway, because if you don't, you're

going to go into your renovation flustered. You won't know the decisions that you will need to make coming up, you won't know this correct sequence of when to expect things, you perhaps won't know the correct sequence of the build process, when to order things, when to have things on site. So I would say by taking the time now and really planning for it now, it's going to save you time throughout and stress and overwhelm and money throughout the whole process. Because this is an expensive investment. Besides actually buying your home, I find that renovating is probably the next most expensive things people do in their lives. So you have to make the time to do it right. And then this is one actually I get asked is won't my architect or contractor help me with all of this? Now, this is a tricky one because I mean they might, um, the architect might. So if you hire the correct architect, they will and should take the time to explore with you, to find out how you want to use your home, to go through all those iterations of the floor plan with you, to go through the style boards with you and find out what you want and really examine what you want from your home and how you want it to function. Um, but a lot of the time I find that architects are busy and they um for what they're charging per hour, they can't always do that. And if they are doing that, they are going to charge you for their time. And architects here in London don't start anywhere below £100 an hour. So I always say, you know, it's it's your home. You must take control of your own renovation, you must take the time to think about what you want because only you know how you want to live in your home and how you want it to function. So take the time to make it right for you. And then when it comes to the contractor, will your contractor help you with all of this? Probably not. Um, contractors are really busy, stressed-out people. I mean, their work has become pretty much crazy since COVID. They are working really hard, the cost of materials has gone up, they all they want when they're on site is for you to know what you want and to tell them what to do. Um, unless you're working with a bigger company, like a design and build company, where they might have an architect on your project or allocated to your projects, the contractor is not really going to have the time to make help you make these decisions about your materials and how your kitchen should be laid out and what your flooring should be. Um, you need to know what you want. And I always always say this is that contractors love educated clients, they love it when you know what you're doing and you can make quick decisions and you know where you want things and you've got some knowledge of what you're doing because the last thing they want to do is sit there with you and have to talk you through everything and educate you about everything. I mean, of course, they'll help you where they can and they'll give you their advice, but I always say you need to need to take control of your own renovation project. This is your home. So I think that nicely wraps up the answer to that question. But that's it for me, everybody. Thank you for spending time with me today, and I hope that you found loads of value in this masterclass. And I also hope that I've shown you that you don't have to leave your renovation to guesswork. With some help and some planning, you can get it right, and it doesn't have to be overwhelming. There's so much involved with a renovation, and you want to approach it with clarity and with confidence and a clear plan. And I would love to help you inside Reniversity, and I hope to see you there. But it's bye from me for now, everyone.