Inside the cosy family home of Victoria Kader

When she moved to Edinburgh from Hampshire two years ago, making her home in an unknown city was a daunting prospect for Victoria Kader, but throwing herself into an ambitious renovation certainly kept her busy and she turned her dated Edinburgh flat into a cosy family home.

Nicely settled in and with a brand new baby to ogle, we caught up with her post-Christmas to hear what she learnt along the way.

Photography: Cat Thompson

Victoria's top tips for if you're planning a project

MAKE A BUDGET AND STICK TO IT

I always have 10% of the purchase price as a budget imprinted in my head, I don’t know where or when I decided this but have stuck to it with each of the properties I’ve renovated and it’s got me through so far.

SELL, SELL, SELL

Rather than filling skips with things we didn’t want in the property, we sold everything we possibly could on Gumtree. The old kitchen we ripped out, peach bathroom suite, extra long curtains, leftover building materials; it all sells well in Edinburgh and adds a little extra to your budget.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM

While it’s a good idea to retain period features where possible, it’s also wise to modernise a property in the process of renovating-anything to make busy lives easier. I currently love anything I can control from my phone...lightbulbs, heating etc.

SIDESTEP STRESS

Be brave, and flexible with your plans, choose tradesmen wisely and remember to take a step back to see how far you’ve come when it gets stressful.

BE CAREFUL WITH COLOUR

It can be overwhelming to paint whole rooms in one bold shade straight away. Maybe consider painting everything white first unless you’re very certain on your colour scheme.