A mother-of-one has revealed how she transformed a dilapidated £415,000 Victorian house with a crumbling roof into a stunning £1 million family home with a huge open plan kitchen and luxurious master suite.
‘Property obsessed’ Lucy Kemp and her partner, Dan Nash lived opposite the neglected house in Harborne, Birmingham for seven years and decided to take on the challenge of completely renovating the ‘wreck’ after falling in love with it.
The couple paid just £415,000 for the property in August 2017 due to its state of disrepair but now, after a £250,000 renovation, it has been priced at over £1 million.
During the renovation Lucy, 39, became a full-time ‘Interior Influencer’ after the house’s Instagram account, which she created to keep family updated on the renovation process, unexpectedly became a social media hit with over 30K followers.
After its stunning makeover, which took just over a year to complete, the property is now also a coveted filming location for music videos and photoshoots.
Lucy Kemp, 39, outside her Victorian house that was a crumbling wreck when she bought it, but her and her partner Dan transformed it into a dream home in Harborne, Birmingham
Pictured is Lucy’s front room before and after the stunning renovation of the crumbling Victorian property in Birmingham
The difference in the fireplace in the front room of the property is also stark, going from a crumbling wreck to a stunning, ornate design
Lucy Kemp, 39, inside her Victorian house that was a crumbling wreck when she bought it but is now worth over £1 million
Lucy admits their friends and family were nervous when the couple initially decided to take on the crumbling home – which needed its entire roof and back exterior wall knocked down and replaced.
Lucy – who has a 15-month old daughter, Mabel, with 36-year-old Dan who is managing director of glass company, Nash Glass – said: ‘Dan and I have always been totally obsessed with property. We watch so much Grand Designs and George Clarke programmes so we could immediately see the opportunity in the house and we weren’t scared.
‘All of our family told us we were mad and were slightly concerned that we had bitten off more than we could chew but we could see the end vision. Of course it was only when we started work on the house that we realised the huge project that we had on our hands.
‘The whole house had to stripped back to bare brick, the back of the property as well as all the floor joists had to be replaced. The upstairs rooms were damp and some of the internal walls were so weak that if you merely touched it, they would wobble!
‘But we ploughed on ahead anyway and have created a family home that we love – whether we’re entertaining friends or staying in.
‘It feels ridiculous saying we live in a million pound house now. It’s nice to know but we definitely see this as our forever home.’
After knocking down the six outhouses which were previously at the back of the property, the six-bedroom home now boasts a 70 square metre kitchen extension and open plan living space.
After its stunning makeover, which took just over a year to complete, the property is now also a coveted filming location for music videos and photoshoots
The back garden has been completely transformed by the couple, from a bare, misshapen mess to its new, stunning design
The back room has also been completely redesigned, with Lucy taking advantage of the light that floods in from the huge window
The filthy, dilapidated box room has been utterly transformed and is now being used by Lucy as a children’s bedroom for her daughter Mabel
Lucy admits their friends and family were nervous when the couple initially decided to take on the crumbling home
Lucy and her partner Dan spent £250,000 on the renovation, which took a year to complete, after buying the house for £415,000
During the renovation Lucy, 39, became a full-time ‘Interior Influencer’ after the house’s Instagram account unexpectedly became a social media hit with over 30K followers
Lucy and Dan also changed the upstairs two bedrooms and kitchenette to create an entire top floor dedicated master suite for themselves.
They are also constructing a studio in the garden which could be used as an office or gym.
Lucy and Dan lived opposite the derelict house that would eventually become their own for seven years. With a huge passion for property programmes and interior design, they said always knew that they wanted to buy the house if it ever came for sale and take on the challenge of renovating it.
When the owner of the property passed away, Lucy and Dan purchased the house for £415,000 – with the sale going through in August 2017.
Lucy – who ran a social media agency before changing to become a full-time Influencer in September 2019 – explains: ‘We lived directly opposite the house for seven years. It looked dilapidated and we hardly ever saw the old lady who lived in the property but we always said that if the opportunity arose, we would definitely like to buy this house.
‘You could see the roof was wobbly, the roof tiles were loose, the guttering was a mess and the windows were slightly rotten. The warning signs were all there but we knew we wanted to take it on and make it our forever home.’
The hallway entrance of the property, which has a reinforced glass floor looking down into the cellar in an incredible design
The stairs to the master suite inside the property, before and after the renovation. Lucy kept some of the designs, though she improved them immensely
The ornate hallway entrance to Lucy’s new home, complete with the reinforced glass floor that looks down into the cellar
Inside the master suite of Lucy Kemp’s Victorian house when it was a crumbling wreck and after its incredible transformation
Lucy and Dan changed the upstairs two bedrooms and kitchenette to create an entire top floor dedicated master suite for themselves
The redesigned bathroom of the stunning new home, which is worth more than £1 million and is in Harborne, Birmingham
A landing and hallway inside Lucy Kemp’s Victorian house that was a crumbling wreck when she bought it in August 2017
‘In 2015, a for sale sign came up and Dan came back excitedly saying that our house is up for sale! The old lady had passed away and with no family or kids to deal with the estate, the house went to sealed bids.
‘Our offer was accepted in September 2015 but because there was no-one to deal with the estate, the house was in probate for two years and we didn’t get the keys for until 4th August 2017.
‘During that time of course, the house became even more dilapidated but Dan and I were really confident in our vision for the property.
‘We had always been property obsessed and had watched loads of shows about renovations. Furthermore through Dan’s job, he works with a lot of architects and he drew up the plans for the house and got a great builder we knew on board super early.
‘So even though we hadn’t tackled a renovation project of this size before, I feel like we weren’t complete novices. We had our heads screwed on and knew what we were taking on with the house.’
Lucy – who was pregnant with daughter Mabel for most of the renovation process – admits there were bumps down the road.
Lucy looked to boutique hotels and her favourite local pubs for decorating inspiration – as well as Instagram and Pinterest
The master suite over an entire floor is dedicated to the couple and is a world away from the previous design before their renovation
The open living space kitchen extension that was built from scratch inside Lucy’s stunning new £1 million family home
She explains: ‘We had a really clear vision with the property. But of course there were moments when it got tough and I was pregnant for most of the renovation process. To conceive Mabel, we did IVF. We started IVF in January 2018 after buying the property and got pregnant the next month.
‘The house hadn’t been changed for 40 years and the roof and the back of the house had to be knocked down and replaced. I was really upset when we had to knock the back of the house down because I thought that the bones of the house would be ok. So we lost some of the rooms which was sad to see.
‘You could also smell the damp in some of the upstairs rooms and the internal walls were incredibly weak so we had to strip the whole house back to bare brick and all the internal walls were rebuilt. At one point, the only existing thing of the house left were the four outer walls!’
Lucy looked to boutique hotels and her favourite local pubs for decorating inspiration – as well as Instagram and Pinterest.
She also shopped on eBay to bag furniture and fixtures for low-cost prices and used the beams of the property to construct a unique dining table for the kitchen.
Speaking about their project, Lucy said: ‘We had always been property obsessed and had watched loads of shows about renovations’
Lucy shopped on eBay to bag furniture and fixtures for low-cost prices and used the beams of the property to construct a unique dining table for the kitchen
Lucy started her Instagram account to document the renovation process for her family and friends in October 2017 – however it unexpectedly turned into a social media hit
Describing the renovation, Lucy said: ‘The house hadn’t been changed for 40 years and the roof and the back of the house had to be knocked down and replaced’
She added: ‘We had a really clear vision with the property. But of course there were moments when it got tough and I was pregnant for most of the renovation process’
The garden now has a cool bar space, giving it even more character after its stunning renovation, which took a year to complete
Lucy explains: ‘I would never recommend trying to cut costs with builders or contractors because you get what you pay for. Technically, we could have got cheaper builders but we decided against doing so because we wanted someone we could trust and they did a fantastic job.
‘But we saved money by sourcing things for the house such as fixtures and fittings on eBay. Our dining table was also made from old beams for the house and getting a joiner to fix it together. We managed to save loads on furniture by being flexible like this.’
Lucy and Dan moved into the property in June 2018 – and they estimate that they spent around £250,000 on renovating the house. The couple love entertaining friends in their incredible house and Lucy admits it’s hard to pick a favourite room.
She says: ‘It’s hard to choose a favourite room – it changes all the time and with the seasons. At Christmas, I loved the front room because its warm and cosy and looks fabulous with a Christmas tree.
‘I also live most of my life in the kitchen open living space. After I put Mabel to bed, I love lighting a fire and watching TV in this extension space.
‘Our bedroom is another favourite. Our brief when making our bedroom was ’boutique hotel’ and it feels really luxurious having a double shower. It’s hard to choose! I can’t pin down a favourite room.’
Lucy started her Instagram account to document the renovation process for her family and friends in October 2017 – however it unexpectedly turned into a social media hit and is now a full-time career for Lucy.
On becoming an accidental influencer, Lucy says: ‘I started the Instagram account so I could keep my family who live in Northampton updated on the renovation work. I also didn’t want to bore my friends about my renovation. So I thought that it would be nice to find a renovation community on social media instead.
‘But my Instagram unexpectedly took off and by July 2018, I had brands getting in touch and I realised being an influencer could be a career.
‘The house is also registered with a location agency so we have everything from music videos to sock brands using the house so that brings in a good income.
‘But most of all, we’ve created a home that we love being in. Staying in is definitely something we love to do these days.’