How much does a living room renovation cost in Northern Ireland?
Prices checked October 2026 · Written by Darren Kearney, master joiner, Northern Ireland · How we price
A mid-range living room renovation in Northern Ireland costs about £2,500 – £3,300 for a typical 4.5 × 3.8 m room with trades doing the work, including materials, labour and a 10% contingency. Budget starts around £2,100; premium can reach £5,000. Doing the DIY-friendly parts yourself brings a mid-range job down to about £1,400 – £1,800.
Price my living room in 60 secondsCost by room size and finish
| Size | Budget | Mid-range | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 3.6 × 3.2 m | £1,800 – £2,400 | £2,100 – £2,800 | £3,200 – £4,200 |
| Medium 4.5 × 3.8 m | £2,100 – £2,900 | £2,500 – £3,300 | £3,800 – £5,000 |
| Large 6 × 4.5 m | £2,700 – £3,700 | £3,200 – £4,300 | £5,000 – £6,500 |
DIY or trades?
| Finish | You do the DIY bits | Trades do it all |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | £1,100 – £1,400 | £2,100 – £2,900 |
| Mid-range | £1,400 – £1,800 | £2,500 – £3,300 |
| Premium | £2,800 – £3,500 | £3,800 – £5,000 |
Where the money goes
Mid-range living room, trades doing the work, in the order the job is done.
| Stage | Who | Materials | Labour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protect, patch & clean | DIY-friendly | £100 | £150 |
| Electrics | Trade | £50 | £250 |
| Paint walls, ceiling & woodwork | DIY-friendly | £200 | £550 |
| New flooring | Skilled DIY | £500 | £150 |
| Skirting & architrave | Skilled DIY | £200 | £200 |
| Finishing touches | DIY-friendly | £150 | £150 |
| Total incl. 10% contingency | £2,900 | ||
The biggest items on the shopping list
- Laminate 12mm AC4: about £400
- MDF skirting 144mm primed: about £100
- Durable matt emulsion: about £100
- Curtain pole + blackout curtains: about £100
- Ceiling light fitting: about £50
- Floor underlay: about £50
- Satinwood trade: about £50
- Rollers, brushes, tape, filler, dust sheets: about £50
The full list for this living room runs to 23 items, with quantities and where to buy them.
Get the full list for your living room →How a living room renovation is done, step by step
- 1Protect, patch & clean
- Clear the room and cover floors, stairs and doorways you walk through
- Fill holes and cracks; patch-plaster any big damage
- At the end: hoover, wipe down, remove protection
- 2Electrics
- First fix: electrician runs new cables and back boxes before plastering
- Second fix: sockets, switches and lights connected after decorating
- Electrician tests it all and gives you a certificate. Keep it for when you sell
- 3Paint walls, ceiling & woodwork
- Fill, caulk gaps and sand
- Mist coat on new plaster, then ceiling first
- Two coats on walls
- Woodwork last, in satin
- 4New flooring
- Underlay rolled out, boards left in the room 48 hours first
- Undercut door frames so the floor slides under
- Lay the boards, 10mm gap at the walls
- Door bars and scotia beading to finish
- 5Skirting & architrave
- Old skirting and architrave off carefully
- New lengths cut, mitred and fixed with grab adhesive and pins
- Fill nail holes, caulk the top edge, then paint
- 6Finishing touches
- Light fittings and new socket fronts on (power off at the fuse board)
- Blinds or curtain poles up
- Door stops on so handles don't hit the new paint
Easy to forget
- Flooring goes down after painting, so it doesn't get splashed
- Book the electrician early: first fix is before plastering, second fix after
- Order everything at least a week before you start. Waiting on one part stops the whole job
- Keep 10% spare. Old houses always hide something behind the walls
Questions people ask
How much does a living room renovation cost in Northern Ireland in 2026?
A mid-range living room renovation costs about £2,500 – £3,300 for a typical 4.5 × 3.8 m room with trades doing the work, including materials, labour and a 10% contingency. Budget finishes start lower and premium can cost a lot more; see the table above.
How long does a living room renovation take?
About 5.5 working days of trade time on site. Allow roughly 2 weeks start to finish, longer if you do parts yourself.
How much can I save by doing some of it myself?
Doing the DIY-friendly work yourself (protect, patch & clean, paint walls, ceiling & woodwork, new flooring, skirting & architrave, finishing touches) saves about £1,300 on a mid-range living room. Leave electrics to qualified trades.
Do I need building control approval?
Usually not for a like-for-like refit. You will normally need building control approval if you remove or alter walls, change drainage, make a new opening for a window or door, add a toilet or bathroom where there wasn't one, or install or replace a boiler. If in doubt, ask your council's building control team before you start.
Is this a quote?
No. These are guide prices from RenoLab's pricing engine (price book v2026.10), built on Northern Ireland trade rates and current UK retail prices. Put in your own sizes for an itemised price, then get written quotes.
Check whether it's fair, what it should include and what to ask the trade.
Check my quotePut in your sizes and finish. You get an itemised price, a full shopping list and a step-by-step plan in about a minute. Free, no sign-up.
Price my living roomOther cost guides
- Kitchen renovation cost
- Bathroom renovation cost
- Bedroom renovation cost
- Hall and stairs renovation cost
- Utility room renovation cost
- En-suite renovation cost
- Home office renovation cost
Guide prices from price book v2026.10. Quantities come from the room size with waste allowances; materials use current UK retail prices including VAT; labour uses Northern Ireland trade rates (around £250 a day). How we price.