I don't think you should have to explain yourself in this situation. I'm far from being able to buy a house, but if I did and I was renovating it, finding out that the whole place needs rewiring would definitely be such a pain! Just because you're lucky to own this lovely house doesn't mean that you can't be annoyed about unexpected and stressful things that come along with it 🌞 Also that window seat looks great! I've always dreamed of having a cosy nook like that 😊

Everyone is allowed to just let it out, you have never sounded like you are complaining. You are telling it as it is, keeping it real. If this was happening to me I would be ranting and apologising in equal measures. Well done for holding it all together

i like that your reno vlogs arent just a before and after but the whole messy proces in between :D Ive moved so much and i know things never fully go to plan and its fun to see other peoples experience with it. Cant wait to see the end result! The kitchen is comming along so well tho! you can tell it'll be gorg by the time youre finished with it

I don't know if this will help anybody but you don't necessarily have to buy a Victorian or Regency or Georgian era house for electrical issues. Our first house was built in the 1950s and wasn't grounded at all! And the pipes were clay. We fixed everything and we sold it for significantly more than we bought it for but we didn't actually make a penny off of it because of the cost of improvements.

It's quite refreshing that you don't gloss over all the messy little obstacles that pop up in a renovation. It's going to be beautiful for sure. It's ashamed that so much money is spent on the things you can't see, but peace of mind is so worth it.

Just started watching the vid and I have to say you are so stunning! I always look forward to your uploads 💖

Your both doing a great job. The highs and lows of DIYs its absolutely exhausting but so worth it in the end. All the best.

My husband is a fireman. So glad that you are taking the time to do things right! Always safety first. This all comes with buying and restoring old homes. I've learned to slow down and enjoy the process........

Maddie and Alex this is true when you buy an old home and you go to renovate you just don't know what you're gonna find behind the walls. We are really enjoying these vlogs and thank you for sharing your journey. Hugs from across the ocean❤

The changes you’ve made (wall and cabinet colors and tile) while all similar colors are each so much fresher and brighter that it will make a huge difference. Subtle difference but huge impact!!! ❤️❤️❤️

My partners an electrician & so we lucky that it’s just material costs for our huge renovations we doing in our 5 bed,2 bath,2 kitchen,2 reception 3 story Victorian house also in Cornwall 🇬🇧 that as you say we brought it on ourselves buying it 😂 & it can become so over whelming with all the rooms still to do! We been doing it slowly for over 5 years now because of the cost & other things in life getting in the way. My Brother told me to think of it as a marathon & not a sprint & that’s so true with old houses. Good 👍 you have that part of it sorted as important as you said

Alex, your so right 2 days of renovations feels like 4 wks. Our kitchen deadline is now on hold for another month waiting on new customs cabinets doors. Open cabinets but able to move everything back in. Don't even mind the break yeah

I admire your patience and efforts to make such huge transformations on a house which needs so much love and care. I'm happy to see there's people who still care for these stunning houses!

You two are such hard workers ~ the kitchen is looking fantastic, and the whole house is going to look just amazing! Just love following all of your projects✨

I just want to say that I’m so grateful for your renovation videos and your attitude towards discovering “hiccups” when renovating old houses. I’m a little over a week into renovating our 60’s house here in Finland and after the first week I was crying my eyes out, panicking about every “new” discovery within the walls and the floors. Watching your videos is like peer-therapy and a personal support group for renovators! Thank you so much for your videos and sharing your experiences! ❤️

We pay a price to live in an idyllic cornish cottage as we also found! But well worth it. You are absolutely right safety before all the rest. You are both doing so well. If you try the new Neighbours app for where you live you may get a recommendation from a local for a tiler etc. Really appreciate you taking us all on this renovation journey. Thank you🦋

I'm truly enjoying watching the renovation process with all the blood, sweat and tears included it makes it more real then just here is the gross beginning and the beautiful ending. I really look forward to each update! 👍😊

Hi Madeleine, thinking about getting water outside to get to flush the toilet... I was organizing a stay away weekend for Teenagers and children for Out music club and OF COURSE the water source of the toilets broke during our stay and we had to refill the toilets manually. We pulled bowls, buckets and whatever we could find in the kitchen and went Out to the little beck outside to fill everything with water. We built a human Chain passing the buckets to the house to store in the bathrooms. I wanted to make Sure that they can use the toilet whenever they needed. Well... Small disaster for me, but this is the memory the children (now Teenagers) are still talking about - it happened 6 to 8 years ago. 😂

Definitely enjoy your reno videos. Yes, it can be overwhelming, but just take a breath and focus on each smaller bit and the progress at each step. Looking at the big picture can definitely be overwhelming. It is a step by step process and you are doing a great job! Keep up the great work!

The last look of the cupboards and the window was sooo bright and lovely 🔥

Another great use for your wine rack above the fridge is to store rolling pins and rolled up placemats. For those extra holes not filled with wine.

You will just be so happy once it’s all done, the reno is worth it. I always get the same feeling when I start a room in my house 💗💗💗

I just moved into my new house which is 110 years old and, even though there's a new panel, I definitely have to get an electrician in to go over the whole house. There's a mixed bag of receptacles throughout - some in odd places and some which are not grounded. VERY important to take care of this early on, as you stated. Moving in and making improvements at the same time is completely over-whelming. I keep shifting things from place-to-place which is frustrating.

what a nightmare, that woulda terrified me, but i'm glad your house is electrically safe now!!

The safety and peace of mind is priceless, knowing the electrical is done right. You have both been working so hard…you’re a great team. The kitchen is going to be just BEAUTIFUL!

Your painting efforts are shining through!! The light is taking shape for sure! I’m so happy to always we your heart, D

Love the Reno videos 😍 they're really interesting and informative and it's great to see the progress. You're absolutely allowed to have a moan about unforseen problems without it sounding ungrateful , we're lucky that you're sharing it with us! 😁

So with you on gender roles - I do cooking, painting and most of the gardening, he does most of the cleaning and washing and we share building projects. Do what you enjoy and what your skills are :)

Loving all the work you are doing but especially love the honesty about renovating. I think the tv shows and the you tubers really mislead the average person into thinking they can transform a room in a day or week and then when you get in the thick of it they give up and live in a mess. Thinking they are a failure. As you said when you look back you will be so proud and also it will be a big laugh about how awful it was and how the heck did we get through it. Keep up the vlogs. Loving every minute. Thanks for all your time and hard work showing us all the transformation.

I love watching these updates! dont ever feel bad about a crazy upload schedule, sometimes life gets in the way and you have a lot going on right now!

Lovely to see things come together. It is a process for sure, and it makes total sense to check things well and take care of the basics before the end result. You got this! Enjoy your day! 🤗

Can't wait to see it all finished but definitely enjoying watching the journey. I look forward to your videos every week. I love your ideas and style

Don't forget about checking your chimneys , they could be and issue too. Fire places/ (soot etc) roofs and electrics are the basics and most important elements in any house old or new. Focusing on decorating can come afterwards

You are really inspiring with all these stuf that you are talking about! that you really love your DIY ! good for you and am so happy for you😘

Loved this video. You made such a good point about the home was our choice to buy it and its just our responsibility now. I really needed to hear that. Dedication is key. It’s so important for everyone to see the “real” realities of Reno. It is so interesting seeing how everyone negotiates through the problems and fixes them. We bought a historical home 18 months ago and i have been working every single day on it. We got to the point of bringing in help for bathroom because we wanted the plumbing and electrics done and found major problems with plumbing. The previous owners just did a mess. Three plumbers refused the project because it was so terrible. Finally, got it done and it sucked away all the money. So now…no bath tub or floor completed so…its paused while we continue to save and work it all out. I love this home though and it feels really good inside saving it . I wouldn’t change it for nothing. Your cabinets are looking so bright and lovely.

It’s looking really good! Great Job!!!

Adele Boulter I really really love how your window seat and cabinets are coming along. The rattan grid things is gorgeous, I want something similar for my plain cupboard door in my bathroom. Xxx

I have witnessed an electrical fire starting in an older house this year… and had to run me and my family out of the house. Be very grateful for new wiring! And so thankful our fire started during the day and not while we were sleeping.

Lovely video with lots of home updates! 💕 “I’m going to get out of my clothes and start painting” made me chuckle 😂

100% yes on the being anxious about electrical fires. my dads house burned down at the beginning of this year and living in new england, a LOT of the time, (including where i live now) the outlets arent grounded and i hate it! so much!

Your work are just fabulous ❤️

So enjoy your vids. Have done a lot of DIY in the past. Once did a house in the Midwestern US that was put together with square nails. Don't know how old that one was. Thanks.

Really enjoying watching you both do all these jobs x

Oh boy, do I feel your pain. We have been renovating our old house for three years now and we are only just starting to get to the things that actually make it look pretty. Between the budget, Covid and the ‘surprises’ it’s taken much longer than I ever imagined it would. As you say though, getting all the boring foundational stuff done first is so important. And when it’s all done hopefully we can enjoy it for a good few years before we have to do it all again 🤣

I Really enjoy your renovation vlogs! Love it!

I feel for you! I ended up getting my house rewired before I moved in. Completely worth it, but I was clearing out dust for weeks and all the walls need a skim... Best of luck with the painting. I quite like painting too, but doing a whole house is a massive job.

Hoping to buy and renovate a house before the end of the year and bracing ourselves for all the unforseen stresses involved! Thank you for your honest uploads, still excited for it even though I know it's gonna be a long hard road 😂🌻

Thanks for your talk on the mess that happens and not the instant makeover.

Hello dear, wine should indeed never be stored above 13/14 degrees or anywhere with variable temperatures or sunlight - if you do want to store white wine for a longer time and you don’t have a cellar or a wine fridge, store it in the normal fridge, or even red wine will be fine in the fridge so long as you let it reach room temperature and become well oxygenated before drinking 🤙🏽🇫🇷

I'm in love with your hair! I have a natural kink and frizzy with humidity I wish it was curly like yours 😍 I'm loving your house and garden transformation so far. I appreciate your advice on the eletrics to me it seems the obvious thing to do I agree when you first buy a property esp old ones to get the eletrics checked, but it's not obvious to everyone. O and the mdf paint tip thats a great idea I wouldn't have thought of the leak problem so that's great advice

the cabinets are so exciting!

One bit at a time and it will all come together, but it looks pretty good so far! Deep breaths and carry on!

Another excellent vlog Madeleine and the renovation is progressing. Well done job on it 👏 love 🥰 your video's and love & 🤗 💕❤ Madeleine and Alex.

Merchant and mills is amazing for fabrics, I have their 'spot check' linen for my window seat cover and it's beautiful x

Good positive attitude! Keep on soldiering on!

Love your honesty hun, keep it up 👍🏻 ❤️

We've been looking for tiles exactly like that for our kitchen as well!!! Thank you for telling us where you got them! I will have to order some samples!

That window seat is dreammmmmyyyyy. Sorry about the rewiring, that's such a huge pain! Hopefully it'll all work out and come together.

I know how you feel I had to get my house rewired and a boiler put in as my house was that old it still had a back boiler. Then reroofed and double glazing put in, my god it was costly but worth it in the end as its such a beautiful house ❤️

I'm excited to see the end result.....you have my dream house and it's beautiful.

We were meant to be moving into my grandpa's old house in about a months time after much needed renovations, but we had a burst pipe in the house we were renting and have been forced out early. So we're currently living in a building site and I related hard when you were talking about all the unexpected issues that come up (my grandpa built this house 1970ish and loved to patch things up in his own unique ways rather than getting it done properly...), and my life atm is also painting, painting, painting! Ironically enjoyed watching this vlog amongst the chaos 😅💕

You should consider doing the tiling yourself, it's a fairly easy job to learn and you don't need a lot of specialist tools to do it, I did my whole kitchen with a cheapo tile cutter from b&q and a borrowed angle grinder. There are lots of videos on you tube that can help you learn, but the best way is to do it! I'd recommend seeing if you can find some old tiles (ask friends/family if they have any) to practice cutting so you get a feel for it. Also key is measuring to get the best layout, you want to avoid having thin slits of tile anywhere, especially anywhere visible or around sockets. Don't forget to allow for grout spacing when you are measuring, and for a good line of silicone at the worktop join. I'm sorry for the electrical dramas, the boring practical stuff is important and usually expensive too! You'll feel safer when its sorted though. You both are doing such a great job, I always enjoy your videos and seeing the progress you have made, so thank you for sharing :)

It seems this can get stressful so I’m glad you have each other to get through it. The progress is looking amazing.

Really enjoy these videos by the way! :)

definitely at the overwhelmed stage with our renovation. As we're doing more than one room at a time and it's not huge it feels like EVERY room bar the downstairs loo is in a mess! It's hard but it will be worth it and I keep trying to stay present and enjoy the journey! Loving the reality renovation videos!!

Love watching your vlogs!

I wondered about those metal light switches and outlets and electricity in such an old building. I'm glad that's being dealt with. You're so right about genders roles. I love that you're vlogs are realistic as far as renovating an old house. I'm sure that it will be gorgeous when you guys are all finished, but watching the process is real life. Gorgeous doesn't happen in a renovation painlessly. I so love the window seat!

Loved the vlog

Write every single layer of paint you need to do on a list and slowly tick them off. You’ll feel so much better seeing how you get closer and closer to the finish

I think the pine looks beautiful as it is, maybe just a little polyurethane. You are doing a great job. Thank you for sharing.

Bless you. Hope things get easier. X

Glad you’re getting the electrics safe. A bit of a worry that they didn’t notice anything wrong as they’d gone through the whole house, and it was only that Alex mentioned the switch that led to the faults being found …

Ur absinthe rote about that house re molding my mother in laws house n boy is it a lot of work we have done the same at my house when we bought it .. thanx for sharing love ur vids

Years ago my family renovated their kitchen and the electricians discovered the previous owners diy'ed all the electrics in the house and it was a massive job to fix. And this was even a newer house.

Always love your videos, I’ve been following for a long time! I think your window seat will look fantastic. Can you show us some samples of patterns you are considering in your next video? Also, not sure what type of blind you are planning on but I picture a sheer white light filtering blind would look lovely.

This electricity stuff looks very scary but it will be worth it in the end. I am the same , I need to feel safe. The cupboards are looking amazing btw. And can I just add that I was patiently waiting for the video to pop up…watching dachshunds pick what they want to eat, finding out which vegetables have the highest protein 🤣🤣

it's SO VALUABLE to see the disasters and delays. i'm getting to the point of being able to buy within the next year, hopefully, and i know i'm very starry eyed about renovations/restorations. but like, no, it's going to take YEARS and MONEY. i'm not going to be able to do it all myself for under 30k like the homestead craftsman.

You two are so entertaining! I am totally excited about watching the progress with your beautiful house and garden. Love your little rant about gender roles. I totally get that you are not complaining about some of the work that needs doing. My house needs roofing work, new windows and the boiler is on the way out. I keep putting it of while I keep trying to make what I can see look cute but you are so right! Get the house in a safe place and then do all the lovely stuff. Your videos are so inspiring and I am always looking forward to see what happens next. You are both doing a fantastic job. ❤ 😍

We bought a house3 years ago built in the late 1990s...ours also needed major Electrical work... you are so right, you never know what will be found, even after having a survey...lol

i don't like painting now......refurb story - found a beautiful parquet floor under the lounge carpet. However, this saving was absorbed when plastering the walls and ceiling and it was discovered the 'suspended' ceiling was in fact not suspended anymore and started to crack. It was hanging on by a few pieces of string that had popped over the years! As you say it is better to discover the problem early on and fix it (£3,500 later). The joys of refurb. x

Was just writing a whole thing about the knot and knot block and then you said you were already going to do it 😂 I was worried your painting would have been wasted!

I went to a big 4 bedroom farmhouse today which has just has £170k spent on it to refurbish. And there is mould rising up every sciritng board because there is a serious mould/ fungal issue underneath because it was never addressed at the start. Now all the brand new carpets, marble floors, timber floors have to be pulled up and there is a serious amount of work that has to be done. House refurbishment is a serious matter, like you said Maddie, Instagram and KZfaq have made people think it's a glamorous world of before and after photos haha.

Lol yes! Love the comment 'well I have anxiety so I do' 👏 so true!! ❤

Hope your window seat is deep enough to accommodate back pillows and a bum. Cheers 🌝

Soooooo not to give you more anxiety, but since I live in a 140-year-old house and dealt with this issue, does your house have any layers of lead paint on the interior or exterior walls? Drilling into them can release lead dust that's VERY difficult to get out of carpet. And while around adults it's not great, that lead dust persists and it's really bad for kids. You might want to run a lead paint test if you aren't sure, particularly anywhere there are rugs/carpet, and also check the dirt around your house for lead. Lead paint dust persists pretty much forever wherever it lands (very difficult to get out of carpet/rugs completely, pretty easy to get off of smooth surfaces, just vacuum the cracks in floorboards carefully... vacuum has to be a sealed container one with a HEPA filter on the exhaust to contain 100% of the lead dust), and also persists in soil. It can be reduced over time in soil by regularly adding loads of organic matter (i.e. compost), but short of replacing all the dirt it's hard to actually get rid of. You might also think about this before painting the exterior or having windows replaced, just so that if there is lead paint it can be managed properly so it doesn't contaminate everything around it. Our landlord uses painters whenever the exterior needs painting that just scrape loads of paint off into the soil and so the soil right around our house is BADLY contaminated with lead. Like many, many times above the safety limit. We ended up planting a native plant garden there and sheet mulching the entire area so that it was all covered with several inches of mulch so our young child wouldn't get into it, and we won't allow him to dig in the yard. In fact we only found out about this problem because our next door neighbor's son got lead poisoning from playing in the dirt behind their house, and they warned us about it. Not a lot of people think about it so I just wanted to bring it up so you can test that issue and have some peace of mind for the future.

I agree about unexpected costs, especially with old farm houses. Trust me. Glad to see work not divided by gender. But can Alex share his dal recipe? Looked delicious.

we had to re-wire and re-plumb our entire house when we purchased it. it was built in 1944. we also replaced siding, roof and windows.. house is like new now:-)

I wonder if it's the quality paint that dictates how many coats you need? I recently had some painting done in my house and our handyman estimated 2 gallons for this one small room, but he was surprised he only ended up needing like half a gallon, one coat and it covered really, really well. We used Benjamin Moore paint (in the US) which I guess has a lot better coverage than some of the hardware store paint he normally would use, which is how we ended having to use a lot less.

I need to do my electrics as well

As my dad would say the can of worms you opened turned into snakes. Hope it all works out. I’m currently painting my kitchen cabinets solely on my own. I took some inspo from your green cabinet colour.

So glad that I randomly found you during the lockdown! 💕

Will it be safe for the window seat to be so close to the top of the radiator where the heat comes out?

Have the two of you seen THE MONEY PIT with Tom Hanks?? If not, you must!! It’s right up your alley!

Having to undo poor workmanship is so frustrating. I’ve had to redo enough of my own over the years. Any idea when the two rooms were opened into one large kitchen? Edit: the electric issues made me remember the time I was changing a wall socket and my partner turned off the power to it. I said I felt like it still had power, could feel it in my arm when I was using the screwdriver. There was continued insistence that the “circuit breaker was off”. Turns out the top and bottom plugs were wired to different breakers. Only when I got a large shock was I believed. Now I always test both plugs myself before putting fingers or metal near a plug. Lucky it wasn’t UK voltage.

It’s called team work.

🙏 it gets better soon

Don't forget to take your old tiles out before your new benchtop goes in :)

Would it be better to get the walls painted so that you wouldn’t worry about getting the paint on the new worktops?

Oh 😆 & so true about renting 😂 I think about selling all the time & renting a lovely ☺️ finished house that’s someone else’s problem 🤣

Damn! You two are so damn real! Love it :) keep it up Maddie and Alex! Cheers from Lisbon!