Episode 40 - Top 40 Hits

 This is episode 40 and to celebrate, we're playing our top 40 hits - a rapid fire discussion of a favourite highlight from each of our previous episodes. If you're a longtime listener, this episode is a great summary of all of our best tips. If you're new here, this is the perfect place to start to help you to find which of our previous episodes will be the most useful for you.

Transcript

Top 40 Hits 

 [00:00:00] 

Podcast Intro

Welcome to Rip It Up, the renovations podcast. I'm Jenny. I'm Kate. And between us, we've renovated a lot of houses and it hasn't scared us off. In fact, we loved it so much that we can't stop talking about it. So in this podcast, we will give you all the tools and info that you need to tackle your own renovation like a pro.

This is episode 40 and to celebrate, we're playing our top 40 hits, a rapid fire 

Discussion of our favorite highlights from each of our previous episodes.

Before we dive in, we have an ask of you. We want to grow, and we want you to help us to do it by sharing this episode with somebody that you think would enjoy it. Thank you so much, and on with the show.

Welcome back to 

the podcast. 

Hi Kate. 

Hi Jen. 

Episode 

40, 

episode 

40. 40. Big number this

year, isn't it? I 

just 

turned 40. 

40. 

is a huge, you just turned 

40. I 

[00:01:00] turned 40 a

few months before you did. 

We're on episode 40. 

40 is gonna be our lucky number.

It is Yeah, 

it is. I can feel it.

feel it And both my kids off to Montessori tomorrow, so I'm like, it's a 

bit of a milestone. 

It is a milestone. 

half my days left, you know, back.

you won't know 

yourself. 

Yeah, I know. 

So I

thought being 

episode 40, it 

is a little bit of a

milestone. Um, I thought it, might be 

good as a summary kind of episode because we have a

lot 

of good stuff in what we've recorded

so far.

So we, we

thought 

that maybe a summary of that for anyone who's slightly new or 

maybe hasn't made their

way through all 40 episodes, 

see 

This is like 

your cliff

notes. This is your, your quickfire rapid round. I'm Gonna pull out. I love this 

idea. I think well done.

You're, you're a genius. I, uh, 

it's gonna be so 

fun to record. 

Okay. So we've gone through all of our 

previous episodes and pulled out like our number 

one, kind of 

highlight each [00:02:00] from each one, 

and

we're gonna spend a minute

max. 

On each one

And, uh, strap in. 

be quick. It's 

gotta be, 

Get your notebooks at 

the ready,

because 

this is gonna be gold.

Absolute chaka Block

free 

gold. Free 

gold. 

Yeah, so 

number 

one, 

you're gonna start,

off. 

I'm gonna 

kick 

off. The first episode we 

did

was our little intros about finding a house. 

Remember 

when we were talking

about our, our like house 

search journey? 

And 

my biggest

takeaway from that, and still to 

this day, 

and 

if I write a 

book,

it's gonna 

be the title 

of my book, is Buy the 

House and Nobody Wants,

I think you get

the best Value for Money.

I 

think

you get the

best.

Locations when you're trying to buy somewhere that's kind of, you know, highly sought after. And sometimes

I think the prettying up that people do of houses 

is actually worse in the grand

scheme 'cause they tamper with the structure a little 

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. 

Especially in old homes, 

If they've seen lots of bits of

work throughout [00:03:00] the years, 

chances are 

they've wrecked the overall kind of structure and you're gonna be doing more works. Whereas I actually 

think my

first house was completely derelict

because sure it was derelict, you know, nothing was done. 

So I always say,

buy the house that no one wants. 

You'll get the best value.

Now this is not for the fainthearted.

This advice is not for the fainthearted, But if you're up for a challenge, 

I totally agree. 

Don't be scared off. 

That's all I'll say.

Don't be scared off. 

Don't be, and don't be swayed by just fresh 

paint 

everywhere, either. That's the main thing. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. So episode two 

and three. Were kitchen. So let's do one each. 

One each. Okay. So episode two.

number number 

number two for kitchens. My absolute favorite piece of advice, 

and I think this

is even more true these days because there's so many apply, 

like I actually, it'd be such a fun exercise

to redesign the kitchen anyway. Sorry. My number one piece 

of advice for kitchens is no overhead cabinets, 

floor to 

ceiling cupboards. 

Yes.

Overhead cabinets

with opening doors on top of your countertop. 

[00:04:00] No. I think, I 

just think it would be so much fun to

redesign the kitchen for a modern kitchen because 

If you're somebody who loves using the oven, that's great. If you aren't or 

if you don't even, 

you don't

cook that much.

I think my modern 

appliances, we just

did an episode on kitchen gadgets. Modern appliances are off the tarts. We have a mutual friend.

Who 

was 

singing the praises of the Thermo mix to me recently, and I went 

down such a rabbit hole on the 

thermo mix, like it does 

everything for you and Air fryer is, and it just, I don't know.

It just, I think there's so many cool things out there that you could completely 

redo a kitchen now

and

overhead cabinets are just not necessary. 

hit your head and die. I think that was your one liner from the episode. 

because there's people out there who will leave 

that cabinet door 

open and that's a death trap.

Episode three was also kitchens, part 

two kitchens, and my takeaway from that was Keep your island 

free if you can at all. Keep your island free. So don't put a sink on it. Don't put a ho in it. Obviously, 

that's if you have the luxury of space. If you have to. you

have to. I would probably 

put the HO 

on it before [00:05:00] I put the 

sink on it, because the sink always has stuff in it, or beside it, or it's 

a bit messy. But generally speaking, if you have an island, I would try and Keep it clear

If you 

can.

Yeah,

that was my takeaway 

from that episode.

Is that as good advice? 

Okay. Episode four was about furniture. Now I'm being a bit specific here to 

my 

home and other 

people who live in really 

tiny homes and are spatially challenged. I would say try to think about multifunctional 

furniture as much as you

possibly can. So 

this is storage 

Ottomans, for example. This is benches that have storage underneath.

Um, this is uh, Murphy beds, which I just think they're the best thing ever with desks on the back of them. So if you've got a home 

office that you need to convert into a spare room every now and then,

I 

think a Murphy bed 

with a 

hinge desk in the back is the way forward.

Um, I think anywhere you can, I just love furniture that 

has

a dual purpose. 

Yeah. I agree, Storage Ottoman. So you can move around, It can double up as a chair. Changes Chas, either side 

of the sofa. Yeah. I'm totally 

[00:06:00] sold. 

Number five, 

the renovation

process. I 

actually 

love this episode. It's very technical.

It was probably one of our first quite technical episodes. Um, it's just about the building process and renovation process in

general. And I

think my key takeaway from that, if you haven't listened to it 

and you're about to go through renovation, go back and listen to it because you'll get a bit of that.

kind of Technical terminology and all that, but my kind of key 

takeaway is understand what like first and second fix means. what does that actually mean in the renovation process, and what do you as the homeowner or renovator need to have picked for the builder or trades or whatever by those

times? 

Yeah. 

that's, I think that's just so important.

I think 

if you're a new listener or you've only recently started listening and you haven't. Gone through the whole back catalog, I would go for episode five 

as the

first thing to listen to. if

you're about to embark on

renovation. It's so important to understand those timelines and what's

needed from you.

when. 

just the 

terms, like just the 

terminology in general can be quite confusing. If you've never done a renovation before and they kind of trades and builders or whatever, just tend to throw it out a lot and just

[00:07:00] even.

You know, 

I 

suppose familiarizing 

yourself 

with those and that 

timeline and that

kind of order of events before you go into a renovation 

will make you

feel a lot more confident personally.

that's what I think.

Yep. 

Oh, episode six, your fa one of your

favorites, lighting. 

My favorite topic is lighting. 'cause I think lighting is one of the most important things that you can do to totally transform your home, and it does not have

to 

be expensive. So

I

detest overhead lighting. I just 

don't like it. There are a couple of places 

in your 

so I'm seeing a pattern. 

No overhead lighting. 

No.

more anything. 

Just never approached Jen from above.

So I 

It takes me by surprise. I don't like it. 

It's dangerous. I will do a caveat. I do love really dramatic

chandeliers. 

I have, I have these friends who renovated a home recently, and they, they

have the most stunning pink chandelier in their home.

So there is a place, like

if anyone's watching 

this 

on 

YouTube, you'll see 

I have the, um, image feather,

um,

EOS pendant

hanging. So I think there

is a [00:08:00] space for pendants

for kind of, you know. Drop down lighting. 

I 

think ultimately what 

I really hate though is just over-reliance 

on too 

many 

spotlights 

and that has been a feature

in too many 

Irish 

houses

over

the past 

few years and it's 

unnecessary. So there are a few 

places

where

you have to have overhead task, lighting, overhead spotlights, 

uh, 

in your kitchen you 

have to have a few because you just need that 

task lighting

in your bathroom.

It can be helpful and 

maybe in

a work area,

like in a 

desk or something,

I will 

concede that you do need overhead lighting. 

Always put

them on a

dimmer.

Um, 

and I 

don't think you 

need them 

anywhere else in the 

rest 

of your house. 

Just get rid of 

them.

Stop putting them in.

everywhere. Builders what is, just stop.

It 

looks like a 

runway. Hate It 

A runway is exactly what we called it, I

think in that episode. A runway. Yeah. The less is better. So 

on 

episode seven, paint colors. 

Oh my God, I learned this 

in this house. because we have south facing 

extension and oh my God, like colors I loved before were like

yellow and like like the, the undertones came through so 

strong.

So in terms of paint colors, and I get 

questions from people, but like, what [00:09:00] color 

should I paint my living room? 

And I'm like, I dunno what your living room looks like, you know? So I couldn't answer that question. 

And I always

say, test the paint 

in every

room. Even if like your little 

trick painted on a big a three sheet of paper or something That you can bring it through into the different rooms, bring it into the different rooms.

that You're gonna

paint

at different times of the day. And even on sunny 

days like today, or like really cloudy gray 

days because that color changes So dramatically at different times of the day. You know, different weather days, whatever.

So that's what my

kind of 

key nugget I suppose would be from that paint episode. Yeah, 

Yeah, 

couldn't agree more. You'd won like, like tiny little nugget from that episode that I love too. It doesn't really work for like pale paints, but for any darker paints you'd a tip to take a little bit and put it

into plain white

kind of 

paint and 

that will reveal what 

the undertones are, so, I think, did you have like a dark 

Brown color and 

Dark brown That came out. Lilac. 

Lilac. 

so much. There's so much kind of purple 

in the 

undertone. So it was almost over Jeanie when you painted it and really light. But like when I put a drip of that paint, [00:10:00] thought I'd get a

Beit, you paint and it went out 

completely Lilac. 

It's crazy. 

Undertones are So important. Okay, episode 

eight was bathrooms. 

My

beef with bathrooms is that vanities are the biggest.

Rip off, 

Rip off 

of all time. I don't understand why they're so expensive. I don't understand why there aren't 

more models

available. They're just bloody 

MDF like 

slapped together. They're 

not much better

than the carcass of

your kitchen.

So my 

advice, my

key tip from that 

episode 

in your, in your in

your 

bathroom is to buy a very, very

plain, cheap vanity, potentially from ikea.

You 

can put whatever countertop on it you want and then pimp it out 

with nicer handles, nicer legs. I got all mine

from super front. 

Um, and spend your money in doing it up.

don't 

spend 

Don't

overspend on some crappy vanity. You had a great one where you got a second

hand. 

I 

hate overpriced 

vanities. They're just not worth it. 

I don't understand. It's an absolute racket.

It's [00:11:00] a rocket. It's a rocket. 

You had a great tip result from that episode 'cause You 

bought, uh, a secondhand 

gorgeous Credenza 

kind of

like 

side 

it was an actually an antique. Yeah. 

Wash stand. It would've been the old 

school wash stand. So You would've had a jug 

and a bowl on. 

So I Just 

plumb that, 

that's a really cheap way of doing.

it. You get those for like a

couple of hundred quid.

Yeah. All you need 

to do is you need to cut a hole in 

the top to plumb through, it, and then you need space for the 

piping through the back. Might, you might need to cut into the, the drawer a whatever was underneath it. 

Yeah, yeah, 

Yep. 

yeah. that's a great one. 

Um, next 

episode was another painting one but

I loved

this our first,

that our first guest? Yeah. 

I think it was. Yeah. 

Yeah. And like 

I just loved that it was a real 

technical episode 

again about painting the absolute experts in kind of painting and restoration. Farley and co. 

The lovely 

Rachel and Alan,

And Alan's tip. It was a tip kind of, was it

a, 

would

you call it a tip?

But he just said,

I think 

it's Tiff. 

[00:12:00] I don't think 

should be.

70 

to 80% 

prep 

and 20 or 30% actual painting. And I think that'll take a lot of people 

by surprise 'cause people think like 

you just mask the room up and start painting. Absolutely. You don't. You fill you sand whatever. And I can attest 

to that 

because Farley and

Co were 

here for weeks 

before 

like They

actually painted the house, 

you 

know,

there was so much 

prepped on 

like masking 

the 

place off, sanding, filling, sanding again, like it was just, 

he was big on sanding, wasn't he? Did he sand like three 

times? 

Yeah, 

there 

like that. Paint 

sand. Prime sand. 

and then sand. it back

again. Yeah. Yeah. Um, 

and so 

70 to 80% prep, 

it's all about the prep

painting.

If you have a good surface, the paint will look better. If you don't, it'll look 

crap. So that was 

my key 

takeaway from the painting episode. 

That was a great tip. they were lovely. I 

Yeah, 

They're just, they're such pros. They're brilliant. Okay, number 10. We were talking about flooring. 

I'm 

gonna give a shout out 

to 

my personal favorite 

flooring on the planet, which

is LVT Luxury Vinyl Tiles.

I absolutely

love

them. If you're somebody 

who [00:13:00] Prefer is wooden floris. That's 

absolutely fine. 

If you're somebody who's looking at laminate or other

different 

styles of 

flooring, 

really strongly 

recommend LBT. It works brilliantly with underfloor heating it. Um, it's basically bulletproof. Like I was told I could have a bonfire on mine.

I haven't tried that yet, but I've tried everything else. 

I've 

a 

dog, I've dropped things, I've whatever. 

It's the easiest thing in the world to clean. It's, it goes in

the kitchen, which I love. So I've just the same flooring.

all throughout My 

downstairs. 

I love it. 

I have, modular 

is my brand. They were a

lower

cost option and they use a lot of recycled materials as well.

So that's my big number tip for flooring. 

that was a great one actually. Um, I totally agree. And it still looks 

great to this day. 

Yeah. 

Our next episode number 

11 

is windows and Doors. 

Uh, from experience. 

Is 

Is something 

that's very big in a renovation. It's a big important 

piece of the renovation 'cause a lot of things have to come together and work together.

Um, we 

kind of went with. 

Supplier 

in our last house that was kind of promising us 

a lot, but we hadn't seen, I [00:14:00] suppose that exact style of 

Mm. 

doors or 

before they hadn't done it before. They were an absolute disaster. Never came back to finish our windows. We ended up only paying 50% 'cause they never even bothered coming back to get the other 50% because they were

such shambles. so, much so like that the handle of the doors came off in my hand when I was like heavily pregnant. I fell on my butt in.

the kitchen. So like 

All I 

can say about windows and doors

is, it's a very

important 

piece. Use a reputable 

company. And ask around if you haven't heard about them before. Make sure you get a

few references or see

jobs they've done,

um, that have been in for longer than a few months.

You know, and if you can at all windows and doors hold a 

bit back until the install is fully complete.

Mm.

you

know, we just, there's a lot 

that can go wrong 

and Windows doesn't doors, so just you someone reputable would be my.

Yeah.

There's certain things in a house that I really think you can scale back on budget wise.

And that's definitely not one of 

them

because it's way too expensive to go back and 

redo it

If it's not [00:15:00] right. 

It you

can, it can, just cause so, and Leaks. Anything that might potentially

leak, you just don't 

scrimp on that. 

yeah. 

agree. I agree. 

Oh my God. Number 12,

come on the queen storage. 

My favorite topic aside 

from lighting is storage. 

I just love finding little looks 

of storage. So my favorite thing 

that I did to both save and also just really, really get what I wanted

in in the

storage world.

It was in my 

wardrobes. I found wardrobes quite difficult. It's hard to get really, really nice wardrobes 

because. First of all, amazing wardrobe designers

or amazing designers, like furniture designers they don't tend to do wardrobes 'cause they're not very much on display in houses. You get like beautiful tables, 

beautiful chairs, beautiful whatever. Not 

so much in 

the wardrobe. So I find it really

difficult to find. 

It 

was kinda one of the last things I

designed 

for, I was getting quotes like 5,

6, 7, 8 grand for like the sliding kind of slide robes. 

Not necessarily that brand, but like, 

you know, sliding door wardrobes. So I decided not to 

go with any of those companies. 

I got 

the 

[00:16:00] alpha system.

Which 

I 

got, I bought

from the organized 

store, uh, and on drum. 

There's also a similar system in Ikea called the Bow. Axle, I think 

it's called. This is like you buy one rail, 

one horizontal 

rail, and you screw it 

into 

the studs in your wall,

and then literally everything else hangs out that rail

and it is infinitely customizable And you can design it whatever way you want.

And then I 

just had doors, my builder got 

doors made in the paneling center. Sliding 

mirror doors. So from the outside it looks like it perfectly nicely installed slide rope or sliding door 

wardrobe or whatever. you want to Call it and then on the inside

and I do swap it and change it quite a bit. 'cause you can like wait, you can change out.

Even winter, summer kind of 

stuff because you have different things. 

I've like 

full, 

length

things hanging more often in

like, in certain times of the year. Like I wear a lot of

like 

full length dresses kind of in day dresses in wintertime, summertime, 

I've more like shorts, t-shirts, whatever. So I often just swap around 

like the, the, configuration 

I can 

agree with you here it is

infinitely 

customizable. 'cause I went with 

the alpha 

when [00:17:00] we moved into this house before 

we renovated, we just didn't know what the wardrobe situation was gonna be. And you were like alpha, you

can change it around. So

we 

originally put it in the box bedroom here which 

we 

didn't even have a baby at the time.

So that was just like a little wardrobe room and it ended up being kind of a nursery and a wardrobe room. But we took all that down

before you 

renovated. I put it all up into the attic, stacked it to the side. You can disassemble the whole alpha. Like system. It's just literally 

like.

hooks 

with you to your new house, 

even. 

took uh, put it all to the side in the attic.

and when we moved back 

in 

here, hung the rail 

again in the master bedroom, in this

kind of funny nook we have where the original wall meets the extension and 

I 

just relayed it out 

in a totally different

configuration and it works 

in the space perfectly. 

I bought

one additional longer vertical bar just because I didn't have that based on the, the, layout I had in the other room.

Um, but I had that in 

now 

and we've 

literally taken up the whole weird 

shaped space like perfectly. 

It's brilliant. I love it. 

Yeah. 

Um, and 

thanks

to 

the organized store, 

actually, because [00:18:00] they 

gave me a little 

They sponsored that 

drawing. 

eh? Yeah. 

they gave me a little

rejig drawing. 

I said, look, this is my new space. This is what I have 

from the last

time that

I got the alpha stuff from you.

And, uh, Nina 

and 

Olive came back with a lovely little rejig to kind 

of 

like 

configuration for me. And I installed it like that 

They're Great. We love the organized. 

story on this 

podcast. 

really is 

customizable. Like 

really worth, the visit. yeah, 

customizable.

Yeah. 

So the next episode was.

layer. And I think

we both 

probably agreed 

that everyone, 

if you're doing any kind of interior 

design or kind of lay, 

it, you should

have the book,

the

Interior 

Design 

Handbook by Frida Ramstad. Like it's 

just a Bible. 

It's The Bible. I, 

anything in 

never 

far from

my reach, like

I'm,

I just, 

it's just such a good 

reference 

book. The sizes of rugs,

like the

height of lighting, 

like what kind

of 

space you should have for circulated or tables and chairs and beds, 

whatever, like it has.

Everything in it. So once you're talking about layouts, like we talked about 

different kind of software 

tools and whatever you use, but just as a [00:19:00] reference guide, I think that book. the Interior Design Handbook is gold. 

It's brilliant. It's dogeared. Mine is, I just, it's so good. I keep going back to it all the time.

I always find what I'm looking for in 

there. It's Brilliant. I Really recommend that.

Yeah. 

Okay. Episode 14, 

we spoke about 

gardens 

and my tip for garden was that if you plant it really well, it can actually, this is 

again, probably

even better for small homeowners, but if you plant it really

well, it can be turned into an extra room in your house. So like, this is Ireland. We've just come off the best summer we've had since 1996. as I remember.

Um,

But,

uh, if you plan your garden 

well, 

if you think 

about 

awnings, if 

you think about 

heating, if you think about covering, if you think about the, what you're gonna actually use it for,

um. 

seating dining.

So 

mine is basically like an, 

you know, an additional dining space if ever need it. Uh, it. 

can be used as an additional room in your house. So don't just think about it as an outdoor space. Think about it as an 

extension of your living 

space, and how would you use it in

that case, and how can you make the best out of it all year round? 

[00:20:00] And 

I love the way you've kind of designed your glazing around it like that they can open back. So it's the circulation is like, 

it really is 

part 

of the house 

then and you Can

slide back those doors, you know? Um, but I love that. I really agree 

with that. It can be an extra room, 

especially 

in 

the summertime. 

Uh, 15 was thrifting. Oh my God. I love thrifting. I love searching adverts. And

we spoke about 

this recently. 

I have a few 

little 

key search terms. I don't really want share them, but I share them This. Don't be going

looking for the big name stuff. 

If you wanna 

find bargains, look for things like heavy, solid wood. And when you're buying and thrifting, I always think like be willing to do a tiny bit of 

upcycling,

tiny little bit of upgrading way, but light sand and maybe an oil and new, new varnish or stain or 

paint or something. And you will find way better furniture 

than buying

new stuff for flat pack prices. You know, 

know, 

I think one thing that comes outta 

thrifting and antique shopping is people are 

like.

I think one thing 

that pe that's good for people to know is that you can mix and match

modern and [00:21:00] antique. 

Like, just because you start antique shopping doesn't mean you have to have a whole home

filled with like solid wood, this, 

and, you know, antique all that.

Like you can absolutely 

mix and match, uh, modern antiques. So just don't be afraid to buy a few little 

pieces dotted through your house here and there. 

there. 

Yeah, I agree.

Um, 16. We covered grants. 

We spoke about grants. Grants is confusing. Number 

one tip from grants. First of all, go through, uh, the SEAI 

website and the citizens information 

website. They have it really, really well laid out. Uh, the number one tip is any grant you're 

going for, go 

through the grant process before you start

doing any of the work, 

before you engage any contractors. If you're intending to apply for a

grant,

you cannot avail of it. 

If you've

started the work before applying for the grant and there could be a whole bunch of conditions in

it. um, 

that might disqualify you.

So just make sure that you really understand the process that you've applied, 

you've gotten things approved, that you're working with a registered

contractor.

Uh, because If you're 

relying on getting 

a grant, you could be really [00:22:00] badly disappointed. 

Yeah. 

It is worth it, but it's a tricky 

process, so get it right.

Yeah, it's, it's well worth

it. but Just be aware of the process before you start the work.

yeah, 

Uh, 17 

was finding 

your style. Uh, 

I was thinking about this one and the one thing that sticks in my head was yours. I 

think it 

was from, uh, Matt, about the

house. What's her name? 

Mad about the house. Kate

Watson's my 

Yeah, so she had this little 

thing, it's kind of the wedding 

mantra, whatever, something new, something old, something black and something 

gold for interiors. and I suppose it just shows 

like what You said about

furniture. You can mix 

and match 

old and new.

I think 

that's important. You don't wanna have all new 

IKEA flat

back or all

new span, 

new furniture.

There'll be no kind of character there. But then if you have all old,

it can look

a bit,

uh, I 

dunno, Like a museum. 

Yeah. 

And then the black, I 

just think is a good, it's a good 

kind of indication of contrast or high contrast 

in a room. You need a little 

bit of [00:23:00] contrast 

or else everything's a 

it doesn't have to 

be black,

It could be again, 

anyone on YouTube. like there's the,

the 

dark color 

on that bottom 

half.

My wall 

Dark brown, or, 

yeah. Yeah. 

dark, something just 

to anchor, you know, and provide 

Absolutely. And then there's something gold 

I took that as more a flash of, something 

like a flash of, it doesn't necessarily need 

to be gold, but something that kind of stands out 

versus other things, you know, a little, I won't even call it 

bling 'cause I don't really like bling, but like 

Something

Something reflect, yeah, yeah, yeah, 

Exactly. But I just, that

stuck in my head 

That's something something new, something Oh, something black and something

gold. Yeah.

That was my 

mantra. 

Any room 

if you're looking at your 

room

and you're like,

oh, it just needs a bit of Something 

just run through that I just, think it's a very, yeah, it's a very clever thing.

Okay, 

number 18 

was another 

of my favorite topics. Uh, approaching your renovation if you're on a budget. So I 

was regimented about my budget 'cause it was 

fixed. 

And uh, I have a budget tracker. You can download 

it for [00:24:00] free. Go onto 

my Instagram at Workers Cottage.

Um.

And the way I approached it

and the way 

I'd encourage anyone listening 

to approach their budget. is to first of all be incredibly detailed. 

And 

I always joke, but 

I'm serious that I literally listed my toilet roll holders 

in my 

budget. And the second thing was 

I went looking for everything.

I put prices in for absolutely

everything I

could find. but I 

put in two 

prices. One was 

what was the thing that I really wanted, 

and then

where possible I put in a second price,

which was the cheapest possible alternative that I would settle for. And then 

as you're going through

your entire budget, you put in

the actual price 

that 

you paid, and you can see if you're going over, it, if 

you're going 

under, and then you know 

where you 

can start scaling back 

if you need to or 

where you can splurge if you really want to. and you gave me another really good tip as well that I used for my.

Budgeting, 

which was so helpful, which is like 

the big

ticket items. Get three quotes, just Get three quotes, '

cause 

you could be all, you could be endlessly searching 

for quotes, 

which could wear you 

out,

or you could just get one and you could get screwed over. Um, 

so just go

for three 

and then 

whatever, take the average or, or take the one that sounds most reasonable.

[00:25:00] Yeah. Very good. Um, what are we on 19? 19? 

Oh my God. Georgina 

was a Great one. 

She was 

great. Um, if you 

haven't listened to 

Australian architect. 

such 

an unbelievable architect, 

Um, but I, she kind of

said some very controversial things I 

would 

Yeah. She's not afraid to stake her. 

Her 

Opinion. 

And one 

thing that sticks 

with me, and to be honest, I haven't 

put

Pendants

over an island

since then.

It's like pendants over your island in the kitchen can look like a warming 

station and I can't get the visual outta my head. and I think she's, right 

now I 

do 

like still

like a kind of a 

minimal an off fitting over an island, but this three

big drop, lights, all I can think of is a warming 

station. When I see them now, 

It didn't take I 

I 

totally see where you're coming from in a can for some, I still don't mind 

pendants over, like over an island 

though. 

Yeah. If they're 

nice and simple. But 

this kind of, 

there [00:26:00] was a bit of a trend 

for like 

three 

big metallic kind of looking ones. Or 

you know, that were 

quite. 

they were, They were all you saw 

when you came into a kitchen. And sometimes 

they were at the kind 

of level, they were almost blocking your view 

out to a garden Or 

whatever was 

behind.

You know, so I kind of, agree with her on that. 

I 

still think there's a

there's a place 

for pendants, and I'm not

saying 

it's completely off 

the cards, but I 

think 

they 

had gone a bit nuts So, and I think that's where 

yeah, 

yeah.

Yeah. 

Okay. Number 

20 was gadgets. Oh God. This was an 

episode, 

right? I was a little, we, we planned this episode 

and I was kinda thinking,

God, I don't really have that many gadgets. I'm not really into like 

smart home stuff or anything. Oh my God. We 

could have done

five episodes on this topic. Like there's so many gadgets. 

Anyway, 

My number one, I

have so many, I have so many. 

my 

favorite gadget that I couldn't spend a day 

without is 

my

KitchenAid and all the 

attachments that come with it. just love it. It does absolutely everything. [00:27:00] Um, I keep saying it like 

I haven't bought pasta in years because making fresh pasta is so 

easy. Uh, And 

it's such an it's an investment, but it's so worth it. It's just, Something, 

think 

about cost per use, that thing is 

paid for 

itself. 

Absolutely. And like how many people have you seen 

with like KitchenAid and Kenwood chefs or whatever, those kind of big stand mixers that have been around 

like decades. Literally decades. Like they're bombproof. Um, I have the pasta attachment

for the Kenwood one.

I have the Kenwood stand

mixer, and I I love it. I 

Or this 

summer I 

have 

the ice cream bowl attachment 

for

my KitchenAid. Oh 

my God. It's the 

best thing ever. It's so good.

I love it.

I love it. 

Um, after gadgets.

We went to beds. 

And I love talking about 

beds because I actually sold beds 

in cases 

in Limerick after college.

Uh, and I would not be without of pocket spring mattress. I

always say it. Um, 

I 

know 

there's memory foam And I know there's all this, but I just think Pocket Spring gives you like that lovely individual sport without being really hot in 

a bed, which I 

think can come from full memory foam personally.

So I would always go pocket spring and if you really [00:28:00] want 

like memory foam

you

can do it 

at the topper or you 

can do a lovely

pillow top if you want that kind of hotel feeling Mattress.

that's my top tip. I

would say go pocket, spring and go high-ish,

spring

count. 

Anything over like 

two and a half, 3000. You're getting 

quite firm again. 

So maybe, you 

know, 1500 to 2000 pocket springs is your sweet

spot. 

I'm 

with you and I'm on the lower end of, I have pockets 

sprung too, and I 

wouldn't go without as well from listening to you.

I'm also a side

sleeper, so I like the lower 

end that I'm about the

1500 mark I think. and that's perfect.

I love it.

yeah. 

Also

memory foam. I just 

find 

it

too hot. I sleep, I run 

It is very

hot. It is very

hot for 

sure. Yeah. 

Yeah. And I know there's all these different ones 

there where they, that cooling gel, 

top layer, whatever you're sharing a bed with 

someone, memory foam just gets 

sweaty. It 

just does. 

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. 

Um,

Keep it 

simple. 

10th fixes in rental 

was 22. Remember that 

this, so 

This is a brilliant one. 

So 

if you're, again, if you're listening and you 

haven't listened to all the back episodes, if you are somebody who 

is renting and

you. [00:29:00] Just are sick of your house 

You wanna change it, but

you can't make many permanent fixes.

Or you're 

like

taking 

on a renovation

and you 

need to live in the house for a few months, a year, whatever,

before you 

do the actual big 

work. 

This is the episode to 

listen to. and I think the key takeaway 

here is, first of all, there's loads

you can do

in a temporary home

to just give it a facelift

and a refresh and make it livable and even warm, 

uh, 

even if 

it's freezing 

now,

uh,

for, you 

know, up to a year, 

whatever.

Um. On, on a very low budget that's all easily kind of reversible. My number one tip from that episode was command hooks just hang everything on the wall. 

Command hooks are like the 3M 

thing. You put them on the wall, 

they, they, they can hang like up 

to fairly heavy things.

Um, and that's unbelievable for storage It's unbelievable for just hanging up posters or pictures or anything else that you wanna be hanging 

It's just personalize a space as well, you know, 

'cause rentals can be so.

yeah, Just 

impersonal and cold and you'll have your pictures up and you don't have some artwork up and stuff. So I think that's a nice one. 

And then they come off 

and it's damage free. Just read the instructions is my number [00:30:00] one thing. Don't just go ripping it off.

Read 

the 

instructions for taking it off 

Command talk. 

The next 

one was live with the Ideal 

Home 

Look.

I wouldn't say 

We love the Ideal Home, 

thing here, but we go to the ideal home every time it's on. We're on the stage 

both times, 

so come and 

see us next time. But like I just looking out the Ideal Home show and 

even as a renovator before we were ever on the stage 

there. I just look down to the 

Ideal Home show 'cause you can get all the suppliers in one place. If you're going through a renovation and just have your checklist of what you need to see, you might see five different

Windows suppliers or door

suppliers or whatever, and just having them all in one place and just do 

the 

legwork 

for a day.

It's so 

worth, so worth a

like the people there 

to talk to. 

And then also the 

products 

there 

to 

be hands on

to be

like, oh, that's 

what this window looks like, or That's

what this couch looks like, or that's what this 

fabric is like or whatever. 

Um, yeah. 

It's brilliant. It's well 

to all the experts on 

grants and all that.

We were talking about grants

earlier, like all like SEAI

and all that are always there as well, 

so

If you're undergoing a renovation, just plan to go there I think makes, 

and we will be 

there. We'll be on stage 

again this 

October, uh, at the next Ideal, ideal Home

Show. Still come along and see us, please. [00:31:00] Um, Okay, the next one, we were talking about window 

dressings. Okay. Our key this So window 

dressings, by, by, by this

we mean like

window treatments, 

so curtains lines. Um, anything, uh, in that

uh, in that space, uh, what I was given out about 

most in that was. 

was. 

Curtain rails and 

curtain rods.

It's really, really

hard to find good, inexpensive 

ones. I think

it's, it's just really, really difficult. So my number 

one advice for people to go, uh, shopping for Curtain res and curtain rods. that look good 

and are inexpensive is Harry Corey. 

same. and I bought them again for this house. I think they just have 

such a good selection for, they're actually really really, well priced.

I actually bought a 

couple of sets of curtains there 

this 

time as well for.

Uh, my son Matthew's room. Lovely kind of blue, dusty, blue cotton, twi Ones a little pink pattern, one for Jess's room and I bought this 

lovely, I dunno, gold goldy 

kind of 

color. 

Liney ones

Um, about three different pack curtains and all the 

rails there this time as 

well.

Yeah, I would second,

second

that 

Yeah, it's the rails 

that

love the rails [00:32:00] Another one, another great recommendation for that episode was to, for fabric to go to the fabric 

outlet. If you're 

open to making, your own 

curtains go to the

Fabric outlet down in, in Kilder. I think they're, are they in cork as well? 

Um, Yeah. I think that went in cork.

I've

never been to cork one though. 

though. 

Little bit 

ahead of time

here, but this was an excellent,

like

decorations one 

Christmas decorating. 

I just

said, and

this goes for a lot of 

stuff, not just

Christmas decorations, spray paint, old

bubbles,

new lease life. Everyone went off the 

sparkly bubbles a few 

years 

ago and everyone wanted mat bubbles.

Just spray paint them. I think it spray paint cost you seven euros.

Spend a half an hour, an 

hour, hang em up in the garden. You 

spray 'em all 

and now you have a 

whole new set of

decorations. I still have mine spray painted from like four or 

and yours are very like, if you go for a certain color 

or

if

like, you know some, so 

I'm the 

op 

with Christmas. I like

an explosion of color.

I want to

look like Santa threw up in 

my living room. I like white tinsel. I want.

Color delights. Like I just don't care about 

it being like aesthetic. But if you're somebody who does 

like a certain 

aesthetic and maybe like,[00:33:00] 

you know, 

want to 

stick to a certain 

color palette

and have

things a 

bit more refined for Christmas. 

then that's the Way to go. And then

you can, you can switch your color 

palette as

much as you want.

Yeah. 

But don't go 

throwing out all your bowls. Just spray paint them. 

Don't throw them all. 

The next episode was also about Christmas. We did a gift guide. Uh, it was 

episode 26. So if you're thinking about present buying and a gift

guide for Christmas, Uh, you can go back and listen to that episode if you want to really get ahead of

things. 

Um, 

But 

But also, I

think a lot of the stuff we're

talking about there stands for 

like 

housewarming gifts and 

Yeah. Any 

We were 

just kind of home 

focused presents, weren't 

they? 

I think my favorite present that I had said to give somebody, and this is again, 

more true of somebody in a

really small home that's like spatially challenged, is this nesting, 

uh, bowl thing that my aunt got me from

Joseph.

Joseph. I love Joseph. Joseph. I think they're 

one of the best brands out there. Um, but they have this brilliant, I think I have like seven bowls 

in one, so it's like measuring spoons, a sieve, a colander, a mixing bowl, 

uh, 

a 

whole bunch of 

other stuff. And they all nest into each other. So they just take up 

Like [00:34:00] the same space as one big bowl. They're fantastic. 

Great present.

Next episode, 27. s. Also my favorite as well. 

One 

my favorite guest, 

granny Gillette. 

I think she is just inspirational. If you don't follow 

her 

like most 

of the country, follow her anyway, but just, she's

just like.

she's really inspirational, like 

how she got 

into her 

renovation and

into the picket things and just like dug in. 

she did her floor insulation for God's sake. Like she 

just really did anything. but what I really love about her, her

page is it's such a truthful account of

renovation. Sometimes I think 

These home renovation accounts, they're like, 

this, the before this, the the after. 

Like, I did my whole house 

on a weekend. Like that's a lie.

in Dunga, and 

I 

still look really cute. You're like, 

and that wasn't that easy. Like, whereas I think Ronnie shows 

you like warts and all, like what was hard, what

worked 

well,

what didn't. I 

just really love that approach and that honest kind of approach. But

I find her account generally just really, um, inspirational and like, I think she shows like, you know, things don't always go your way in a renovation, but she always finds the solution, which I love.

Yeah, She's brilliant. 

[00:35:00] She's brilliant. If we're not 

following her, go follow, follow, 

her. 

Grown your Gillette. um, 

I 

loved as well. She did very, 

her

piece of

advice

was just like, just try it. Just try 

something. Let's Give it a go. She, said her attitude 

was 

just, I 

thought that was, 

she was brilliant. Yeah. 

she 

was. 

Um, okay. Number 28 was all about renovation mistakes. One 

of the biggest mistakes that we 

see people making that we've made ourselves, 

that, 

you know, 

you listener, if you're about to embark in renovation, 

uh, should avoid. So definitely go back and listen to that one because.

Um, 

there's lots in there and the main one 

was

not budgeting properly and not budgeting 

accurately. And I know we already 

have a

budgeting episode, 

but

budgeting 

Does two things for you. One, 

it just makes sure that, you 

don't overspend. And two, it gives 

you a

plan so you know what you want. You know when you 

want 

it. and that means 

that things will come together from a design 

perspective a bit more seamlessly.

And also from 

a 

timeline perspective a

bit more seamlessly. so you know what tiles you want, you know what the order

timeline for 

those is

gonna be. Same for your kitchen, same for your furniture, whatever it

might

be. So budget. 

And by budget I mean, I also mean plan,

Just, [00:36:00] just, A planning. It's like back to painting.

It's 

like 70%

planning and then

30% actually do it.

Absolutely. 

Yeah. 

Oh, 

Oh, 29. This is your crush. The gaff got us. Laura Debar. she like, that was an 

absolute

like 

hell a minute. Like She 

is 

hilarious. 

go back 

and listen to That 

episode 

Yeah, 

she is the, she is the gaff goddess. But 

like the one thing that

always

sticks with me with her, just even when I follow

her on 

Instagram, is buying 

Connect considerately for your

home, not just 

Willynilly buying stuff.

And then whatever 

she has, 

she really takes care of, and 

I think that's 

through her clothes

and everything, but

also.

you know, Maintaining homes and the way she teaches you and like the gaff Goddess book to

like silicone your 

shower, 

which you're gonna do for us

That we're doing a 

live episode, I'm all ready to go 

at 

the silicone of the gun. 

Yeah,

it's happening.

Yeah. 

Um, 

but that was 

my kind of takeaway, buying 

considerately

and then just taking care of what you have, maintaining 

kind of your home and that maintenance piece then makes things last 

so much longer. 

Yeah, I'm gonna come out and 

say it's my favorite

episode. I just 

[00:37:00] loved 

Oh, I loved it.

It was such a good episode.

Such. 

a good, 

Okay. 

Episode 30, we were talking about heating. Um, 

and I think one thing to really think about with 

heating is, number 

one, the world's 

getting a 

bit hotter. So also think 

about cooling. If 

you're

just 

embarking on a renovation and you're, you're planning out 

your heating system,

um. 

Think about installation is the number one thing that's gonna really help the most with your heating whatever system you get. 

Um, it's a little bit irrelevant if you 

don't have the right 

installations. Installation is really important both for heating and for 

cooling.

Um, 'cause things are getting hotter. And then also think do, you, is it right?

Do you need to 

implement some kind of a cooling system as well? And that could be reverse heat pump.

So a lot of the modern 

heat pumps are also

now cooling systems or one of those vents that go in the 

walls.

Uh, just something to think about. 

Yeah. 

Very good utility design. This is actually pretty 

timely because I was

tidying up my utility yesterday. 

Um, and I think a utility 

does not have to be very big to pack a punch.

you can fit a hell of a lot in the [00:38:00] utility. Like our utility is literally the 

width of. 

Our 

two appliances, the washer dryer, side by side, we could have 

stacked them, but I 

thought if I put them side 

by side on 

the floor, then I had space for hanging in shelves

above. So

I 

just put in some long shelves above 

them, um, a countertop on top of them, And then on one side, I have one the fold down drying racks. and the dehumidifier in 

there. So like, I just feel like there's

so much

space 

in there. 

It's only. 

1300

millimeters by probably the same depth as well. And like it's just loads of space. Like it fits everything. It fits everything I

need. Like 

my Hoover's in there with the 

dock for the charging and all that. like, my sweeping brushes. 

I have two big long shelves with 

all my cleaning stuff. 

It's 

actually 

the plant 

room as well.

So we just gonna have to put a panel in front of all that stuff. But like you don't need a lot

to have 

kind of 

clever utility design, just like lean on

gadgets, You know, as 

in to hook things up and get 

Hooks on walls. Hooks on walls are critical, aren't they? Yeah. 

like, I 

mean, utilities, 

they 

don't 

have to be pretty, but they have to be functional, so like, you know Lean into all the 

gadgets 

and all the

folding

things, I would 

say.[00:39:00] 

I think that's a great one.

Um, okay, episode 32. We were 

back on stage at the

Ideal Home show and there was a there was a huge amount of nuggets.

it was Joe.

Linehan was, um, 

was interviewing us and I just love Joe.

I think

She's 

she's absolutely fantastic. 

Um, 

but, uh, one of the main 

things that we were talking about on

stage, there was loads, Um, 

was about planning your home. and we talk about 

this in every episode, but It was about approaching your home. by thinking about how do

you use it 

first, and then thinking about

the design.

So I, 

you always 

talk about this as well 'cause you've got an

engineering background. I actually have a master's,

my

degree in 

human computer, interaction and 

ergonomics. Ergonomics all about like

how you use a

space and I think. 

It's one thing we talk about a lot, 

but we talked about a good 

bit in that episode is how do you use the home If you're approaching

your 

design, think about the colors 

last, think 

about the aesthetics last.

Think first about how do you use it, how do you move 

through the 

space? Uh, what's your daily life in that 

space? Like, how

do 

you 

how do you make sure that things you 

need are in reach [00:40:00] and 

just design your home for How 

you use it and design your room for use it. 

Yeah, 

absolutely. 

Um, lighting again.

Oh my nugget from this actually 

was think about lighting circuits. 

I'm feeling that a 

little bit now. 'cause the Lighting circuits and how we

plan them out. You know, we did do a walkthrough and everything, but there's a few 

little ones I'm like, oh, I kind of wish that was wired with 

that. Now that everything is installed and I

just see the way they come on. But like, think about 

your lighting 

circuits. Really do those walkthroughs and like how you think 

you'll enter and 

exit rooms and whatever. Think about the controls of them, you know, what one's a grouped together versus individual. 

Um, smart bulbs and smart lighting. I'm always a fan of that. 

Do you know, if you can do that for kind of complicated systems and putting dimmers

on

all, 

I won't say everything, but like a lot of

things, you

know, bathrooms, 

stuff like that.

Living 

rooms where you wanna be able to dim the lights and have it nice and cozy at night. Put dimmers on 

Yeah. There's no, no reason not to 

have a dimmer. We talked a bit about kinda smart lighting and stuff like that in that episode as well, and if you don't have dimmer 

switches installed, you can buy smart bulbs 

that have dimmers on 

them. [00:41:00] 

them.

Yeah. 

like all the Phillips U bulbs, I

think they, they can be dimed. even if you're a switch. It's Not a dimer switch. 

there 

are some other kind 

of cheaper brands than 

Philips Hue. and I bought, 

I actually bought ones 

for 

the kids' rooms 'cause they love Colory lights. So like 

they, you can turn it on, it

flashes to the music that's on in the room and all this.

They think it's great. They have a 

little discos in their rooms. But I will say it's a bit 

like,

it's a bit of a 

pain day to day 

Because 

the 

apps are rich shit 

and stuff. Whereas 

the 

Phillips Hu ones, 

the 

integration is much cleaner and smoother if you do have

any smartphone stuff. So like Yes, you can get cheaper models.

No, they don't function as well. I would say 

they also fit in every light 

fitting. They've, they've just expanded the range so much. So, yeah. it's pricier.

but it is got very, very good. 

Okay. 

episode 

34, we're on the home stretch

decluttering. 

Wait. I love decluttering. 

I love decluttering. I love not cluttering 

in the first

place. That's my key,

but my number one tip for decluttering.

There's lots of

stuff that you can, 

that. There's lots of good 

advice out there in terms of like one-on-one out and don't buy what

you

don't

need and [00:42:00] all that's 

well and 

good. 

what I find though, when it? 

comes to like clearing out your space 

is that there's some stuff that you

definitely wanna throw away. there's some stuff that you definitely wanna 

keep, and then There's this whole maybe pile that you have to deal with and I think 

that's

where 

the difficulty lies

in people cleaning out their houses, cleaning out their wardrobes, 

is this stuff that's just in limbo and they're like, what do I want it? Do 

I

not want it?

So my advice to you is have a box 

or have a bag

or something for your maybe pile. 

Put it away for a while, like put it into storage. Don't throw it out, but put it away.

And if you go back and 

you get something, 

outta that

box, or you get something,

a piece 

of clothing or whatever outta that bag within the 

next

few 

months, 

then you can put that 

back into your regular rotation, that's fine.

And then after a 

few months, get rid of it if you're not using it.

Have employed 

this 

because I'm 

bit too ruthless and I'm doing clear out sometimes, And I've thrown stuff 

out 

at the wrong times of the month that I then

regret 

it later. 

So I am using this limbo pile now. 

It's, 

as I 

have 

this kind of clear 

taxing job to declutter. It really 

is. 'cause

it's 

it is. a lot of [00:43:00] decisions and 

everyone gets decision fatigue. So 

throw stuff in 

the baby pile 

Yeah, For sure. 

Um, the

next one was our episode with, uh, the interior podcast, Tanya 

Newell Flanagan. And one of the things 

that came outta that, and 

I think we all 

agreed it was a pretty 

smart one, was 

one 

of my 

clients

that you know as well actually has

a room that they call the Evolution

Room. So 

it's kind of like a playroom 

now, 

but they're not sure what it'll be in a few years. 

So.

it was About designing 

that, kind. and a lot of families have this room, right? Their 

kids are 

small now 

and 

they need a lot of toy storage. couple of years later, they'll probably just own

have a tablet. 

like they won't have all this toy storage. So what does That room become then?

Does it become a 

den room, and I suppose it's important to design these rooms.

That they're going to evolve with your family. So not doing too much expensive built-ins that are gonna be redundant in a few years. Or 

designing

it that like 

you have 

TV points if

you do wanna put a TV in, or you do want lighting. 

If you are gonna put in a bar and it's gonna be an adult rooms, just thinking about 

that 

room, that evolution 

room in your [00:44:00] house.

If you have

a kind of changing family or growing family. 

That was brilliant 

tip. It was brilliant tip. and there's Lots of 

good tips in that episode as that. Episode 

36 was Should you project manage your

own renovation? And this is where we went through like what different 

experts are

available from your architect to your interior designer, to your Qs, to your contractor, whatever it might 

be. 

And 

there's a 

lot of reasons why 

employing somebody 

who is going to oversee the execution of 

the contract and check.

obviously you have to get people to sign things off at different 

times,

but somebody who's going to be that central 

point of a project manager 

is so important, so it can save you time and money, I think.

I got 

quite a 

few 

messages after that

episode being like, okay, so I shouldn't project 

manage my own,

my own, renovation is what I've 

decided 

after. Um, and that is a 

very reasonable outcome. Uh, but it's just going through

like 

who does what, who is the owner then like who is the 

kind

of who manages

the contract and who signs off in different stages of

the contract And how does that

actually work and who's, what's worth it? Um, And who 

Do you watch. Um, do 

you [00:45:00] ever 

watch Clarkson's farm? 

No, Jeremy Clark, something. 

yeah, 

slightly off topic, but like 

it's an excellent program. Really, really amazing 

program. But like the latest

episode, he's 

renovating 

a pub restaurant, 

but also 

like there's other stuff going on at the 

farm 

he runs, but it's just 

a 

really 

It's a real eyeopener for project management

and thinking you 

can kind of 

project

management, but all the decisions were going through him. 

Yeah. 

it

was 

just showing

like 

how he

couldn't get

anything done 

because 

every time 

someone came to ask a question about one thing, another thing would spring up, whatever.

So it's just like it was a real

life eyeopener for

kind of

project

management in general and being able

to hand off some stuff that 

other 

people will just be more efficient at anyway, 

but 

just 

deciding not 

to do everything.

Yeah, I think paying experts in 

some instances 

is, 

will save you time and 

money 

and heartache.

Yeah, 

totally agree. Totally 

agree. 

Yeah. 

Uh, the snag list

still working 

through mine,

the snag list. We shared a snag list kind of checklist 

after that 

episode as well on our early word 

[00:46:00] list. 

Um, but

yeah, that's 

a good one to 

break down 

just kind of by 

trade, by room, whatever, and

just working through your renovation after you've moved in for all those little snags that

need to be completed.

Yeah. 

and 

then we did episode 38 was like 

an evolution of 

SAG list, which was, 

some things are just 

not reasonable for someone to 

come back and 

fix. Or it might be like 

Or they just 

won't come back. 

Well, Yeah.

more often it just won't bother. Um, but sometimes it could just be a crack or it's like a year 

later or something.

There's loads of things like that come with

owning a house that you can

just fix

yourself. So,

uh, my number one tip is that it's actually

not that hard to res silicone your bathroom. And we, keep threatening this,

I 

promise, but before 

Christmas we will 

do a live episode where

I resili my bathtub and um. 

there's 

actually one great tip as well. I was talking about this on news 

talk one day,

and

a listener texted in with a

brilliant tip which is

so true, which is if you're doing a bathtub as opposed to maybe just a shower 

tray, fill it fully 

and then silicone it because you'd be surprised how much, how much 

weight a full [00:47:00] bath.

Um, can hold and it can just sink a tiny little bit and you just wanna make sure that you don't go through the whole 

process of silicone and

then only to have it 

And then it pulls away. Yeah. 

Yeah. exactly. 

That's a very smart one. Um, and 

I actually 

put my 

money where my mouth as 

well. 

You said you were gonna silicone and I said I'd hang shelves and being 

totally honest, I always 

just got my 

husband to hang shelves. like I know how

to do it and

I've observed him 

doing

it like.

Tens of

times, but I was 

like, 

do you know what? No. I wanted to hang all the bookshelves

back 

in my kids' room. And I was like, I'm just gonna do it I'm just

gonna do it. I'm

gonna 

get 

the roll plugs out, I'm gonna

get the drill, I'm

gonna 

get the screwdriver. And I 

did it and I 

hung like, I dunno, six shelves 

since

Yeah. 

heavy 

enough 

shelves.

So 

I'm proud of myself. So 

now I haven't asked them to 

hang 

a shelf in the 

last 

month 

or two. 

Well 

done. It's not easy. 

yeah, Uh, and then, oh my God, we're up to date. Um, the latest and greatest appliances. so

my LA 

yeah. 

38. [00:48:00] So the last one 

before this episode was latest and greatest appliance.

Um, I'm gonna say something that I used just last night. Um. we talked about kitchen appliances, and I cooked steak last night and I used my Bo hub. And You know, 

like steak is

the smelliest smokiest 

thing. You 

can pretty much cook in your house, I would say.

And oh God, I missed my 

bo hub, 

like There

was no smell 

of steak in my 

house and I 

was like. 

you know, Really hot pan. I 

actually 

took a video, 

but I might 

share it on

my Instagram 'cause it was like, you

could see it's 

sucking that a kind of smoky air 

into the extractor, which 

just the VRA 

It's so satisfying. It's 

I mean, 

if I had to pick one 

appliance that I would

absolutely splurge on again.

Again, it's that. 

Yeah. 

Now 

you have a lot of really 

cool appliances in your new kitchen, so anyone 

who's kitchen shopping go back and

into that 

previous episode. Episode, 

39, 

um, 

The jewelry's out of 

the cooker 

tap will report 

back. I'm still assessing. 

I'm still assessing.

Yeah. Okay. Then I've got a surprise question for you.

So this is episode [00:49:00] 40

and we, uh, we've

done the last 

39 episodes. What 

is your 

favorite tip 

from this episode of all the things that we've 

just gone through 

there? what is your number one

favorite tip?

Oh

my God. There's so much 

I know that is gold. That is solid 

There's a 

lot, there's a lot 

there now.

And if I 

was to,

pick one. Oh my God, I, I love

painting, right?

And 

I 

do a 

lot of 

painting and 

I just think people being aware that painting 

is 

80% prep is really important.

Yeah. 

I 

do actually think

I totally agree. It's agree, It's true for 

painting,

I, think it,

it actually applies to a lot. of DIY

stuff 

as well,

Like the more 

effort you put 

into prep and 

planning and just knowing the steps

ahead and being ready. 

Hmm. 

Then 

it's just really easy when you

go to

do it most things. Baking,

cooking, do you know 

yeah, Yeah. Yeah. have things laid out first.

Meison plus. 

Portioned out. Yeah. I just 

it's words to live by, I 

painting 

is something a lot of DIYers 

take their hand 

to, I 

think.

Or 

think they can take their hand to, and when [00:50:00] you skip that prep,

you just get a shit finish, 

Yeah. 

You know? 

Um, but I dunno, I probably, 

that was one of my

favorite episodes. I just loved the technical kind of side of painting and I loved watching 

Far and 

Co when they painted my house this time. just 

like, you?

know, watching them going over and over and sanding, whatever. It's 

cool. It's cool. 

What about you? 

From

all those, oh my God, there's

so much there.

Um, I 

would say 

lighting. I'd say storage. I think

it's probably about the budgeting, 

it's 

because we're talking about, there's lots of stuff I love when it comes to 

houses. We're talking about renovation though. If you're embarking on a

renovation. 

it is, 

get your 

budget locked down and by extension, get your

plan for your renovation. Lockdown. That's, it. yeah. 

If you're That sorted, guys. You're sorted. 

Just go on to Jen's page there. Download her planning. Eight 

70% Planning.

80% Planning. 

Yeah, 

that was actually,

wow. We've gone through a lot of episodes 

very 

Yeah, 

we've gone through a 

lot of 

Lot of good info there. And if any, 

the penny dropped 

with any of you

on any of those episodes [00:51:00] in particular, go back and listen to the full episode.

I'm sure you'll get more. 

Definitely, And we'll be back again in two weeks

with episode 41. Bye. Thank you, everyone. Bye.

Outro

 If you found that episode useful, please do us a huge favour by giving us a like and a few stars and especially click that subscribe button. Thank you!