The most common pitfalls in remodelling projects

Overspending on lavish statements
You should definitely try and give each room a statement, be it a fireplace, a range cooker or a window. You can then save money on other aspects of the room. However, many people can get terribly carried away here; spending hundreds of pounds per square metre on glitzy tiles for your understairs toilet is never a good idea. Shop around, use the Internet and be creative. Don't commit to buying everything until you are sure other integral parts of the building work have been covered.

Use of space
A side-effect of not having a creative architect or design-led builder is that you will fail to maximise your space. The feeling of space is vital to healthy, modern living and, more than anything, is the one thing that will truly transform your home. Gone are the days of creating as many rooms as possible; premium homes maximise the space available for flexible living and the property market will always reflect this. Take a property down the street from one we recently converted. In the loft conversion of the other property, the owners put in two similar-sized bedrooms and a small en-suite shower room. In an identical property, we added one large double bedroom and very generous en-suite bathroom. Ours sold for £40,000 more.

Kitchens and bathrooms
Your kitchen and bathroom are the most important design statements in the house. They have the ultimate wow factor and this is where you should be spending your money. Shop around, draw an outline of the space on graph paper, photocopy it and sketch out lots of different designs. If you are not that hands-on, ask your architect or builder to come up with a few ideas. Seek professional advice from kitchen companies, specifically regarding how much space you should allow for door openings, walkways etc. Don't, however, be tempted to try and save money by using the kitchen company's fitters. These type of fitters have a very bad reputation and although they may appear cheaper it is a short-sighted view; something will invariably go wrong. It is better to leave your builder in overall control of the project. He will ensure your kitchen is properly fitted and will not disappear for weeks at a time.

Overlooking the garden
The garden is one of the key selling points of any house and is often overlooked during refurbishment. It is relatively inexpensive to develop and you can do a lot of the work yourself. A good garden creates a harmonious relationship with the house and becomes an extension of it, increasing the idea of space and flexible living. Think about things like lighting and other construction work in the context of your renovations when builders are on site.

Felix Milns started his own renovation company after organising renovations of his own properties