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An Ideal Home contributor says taking a slower approach to renovating her 1700s home has helped her make better-informed design choices, manage costs and waste, and protect time for daily life. The project began in 2023 and remains unfinished; the six benefits are the homeowner’s account, not a measured comparison with faster renovations.
An Ideal Home contributor says she and her partner have found advantages in renovating their 1700s house gradually, rather than trying to finish it on a tight schedule. The project began in February 2023 and was still underway in September 2026, offering a personal account of how a slower pace can shape design decisions, spending and day-to-day life.
The contributor, Amy Reeves, describes slow renovating as a deliberate alternative to quick, trend-led makeovers. In her account, the approach means making decisions carefully, resisting unnecessary consumption and allowing time to understand the home before committing to major changes. It does not mean the work has stopped: the couple have completed several substantial jobs while leaving other rooms unfinished.
The timeline in the report includes moving in during February 2023, rewiring, replumbing and changing the floor plan from December 2023 to January 2024, and completing a bedroom and installing windows in 2024. They added a wildlife pond in March 2025 and a kitchen in April 2025. Later work included a bedroom conversion, a new wall and, by July 2026, a completed bedroom. The contributor said upstairs plastering began in September 2026.
Reeves identifies six benefits: keeping renovation more compatible with relationships and everyday life; learning how the household uses the property; having more time to make purchasing and design decisions; reducing waste; lowering pressure to meet an arbitrary completion date; and taking greater satisfaction in the finished work. She describes these as outcomes for her own project, not guaranteed results for every homeowner.
How a Slower Schedule Shapes Decisions
The account speaks to homeowners weighing the pressure to complete a renovation quickly against the disruption, expense and uncertainty involved in building work. Reeves says living in the house for nine months before major changes gave the couple time to observe daily routes, evening habits and changing natural light. They then altered their initial designs, guided by how they actually used the property.
That waiting period also informed practical choices. For the kitchen, the couple used a freestanding dresser and table to test how much room they needed to move around before settling on an island size. Reeves says this helped them plan for their own routines rather than relying only on standard guidance. Her examples do not establish that a slow schedule will save money in every renovation, but they show how postponing irreversible choices can give a household more time to test its assumptions.
The trade-off is that some rooms remain incomplete years after move-in. For readers, the report is most useful as a personal case study: it sets out both the benefits the homeowner says she gained and the extended timeline that came with them. It does not offer a cost comparison, a project survey or a guarantee that slower work reduces the overall budget.
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From Move-In to Ongoing Work
Reeves says this project differed from an earlier renovation, which the couple completed before a job relocation prompted another move in about two years. For the current home, she wanted to restore character while preserving the history of a 1700s property, and chose to take time to learn how it worked as a home.
The report describes slow renovating as part of a wider reaction to rapid makeover imagery and quick fixes. In Reeves’s definition, it puts considered decisions ahead of speed and challenges the tendency to buy or replace more than a project needs. The couple’s work has included major services and structural changes as well as finishes, illustrating that a gradual approach can still involve substantial renovation.
At the time covered by the report, the cottage section had received a new roof in 2024 and replastering upstairs was just beginning. Two bedrooms, the staircase, a living room and an en suite were still listed as unfinished. The dates and status here follow the report’s stated timeline.
““I’m a big believer in letting the way you interact in a house lead the design choices.””
— Amy Reeves, writing for Ideal Home
Costs and Completion Remain Open
The report is a first-person account and does not provide a full project budget, itemized savings or a comparison with the cost of completing the same work faster. Reeves describes avoiding some mistakes and being more waste-conscious, but the material does not quantify those effects or establish that the overall renovation has been cheaper.
The house was still unfinished when the report described upstairs plastering starting in September 2026. It does not give a completion date for the remaining bedrooms, staircase, living room or en suite. The account also does not specify the full schedule for future work, how long the project may take, or whether any costs or plans have changed since the report was published.
Remaining Rooms and Finishing Work
The next steps described in the report are the upstairs plastering and work still outstanding in two bedrooms, the staircase, a living room and an en suite. No dates are provided for completing those areas. The couple’s stated approach is to continue without imposing deadlines that could undermine their home life, so the end date remains unknown.
Readers following the project can look for updates from Reeves or Ideal Home for confirmation of which areas are finished, how the schedule develops and whether the homeowner can report measurable effects on costs or waste. Until then, the six benefits remain her assessment of an ongoing renovation rather than a final project evaluation.
Key Questions
What does slow renovating mean in this account?
Slow renovating means taking time to understand a home and make considered decisions instead of rushing into quick fixes or trend-led changes. Reeves describes it as the approach she and her partner chose for their house.
When did the couple start renovating the house?
They moved into the property in February 2023. The report says they began major work later that year, including rewiring, replumbing and changes to the floor plan.
What benefits did the homeowner report?
Reeves lists six: a better balance between renovation and life, more understanding of how the house is used, more considered purchases, greater awareness of waste, less pressure from deadlines and greater satisfaction with completed work. These are her experiences, not outcomes guaranteed for other projects.
Is the renovation finished?
No. The report says upstairs plastering began in September 2026, with two bedrooms, the staircase, a living room and an en suite still to complete. It does not give a final completion date.
Source: idealhome.co.uk
