Fallen out of love with your home? Kunle Barker reignited the romance renovating on a £15k budget

I was sitting in an airport lounge on my way to the South of France with my wife.

Over a Pret salad, we realised we were no longer in love…with our home.

We bought our house 12 years ago, and it holds fond memories; it’s where we started our family and created our first home. I proposed to my wife among the rubble of our half-built loft; our children took their first steps in our kitchen.

We love it, we just weren’t in love with it any more.

The rigours of time have left their marks. Over the decade since we last renovated we have had two children, two rabbits, a dog, parties — lots of parties — and long-term guests, all of which meant that the house required