After my six-month odyssey to find a flat in London, following on from decades of family living in Nappy Valley in Wandsworth, I finally had a new home - but fresh challenges lay ahead.

Lucy Russell, of Quintessentially Estates, who had found the flat, reckoned that it would cost about £20,000 tops to knock it into shape. When I questioned this, she said: “Well, you could pay more but only if you really wanted to go for the ‘bling' factor.” In the event, it cost about four times that amount - even with various deals, and the support of my model bank manager at NatWest.

Since, dear readers, my travails are meant to be instructive, let me say this: if at all possible do not do what I did. Do not, in other words, go it alone.

Find yourself a builder who has been highly recommended by friends and get him to bring in his own team of electricians, plumbers, carpenters, painter-decorators and so on. His fee may sound expensive but it will save you money in the long run and, more importantly, your sanity.

My first choice was Les, plumber extraordinaire, and a friend of a friend. He is, however, based in Brighton and when he came up with his quote for all the work it seemed too much. This was surely, I reasoned, because of travelling time and petrol.

Big mistake. If anyone could have saved me heartache and headaches, it would have been Les - but I was not to know that at the time.

The two main considerations were knocking down walls to open up the space and creating a second bathroom. This was such an anxiety for me that I paid three separate fees to establish that the walls were not load-bearing. The second bathroom was a particular concern. Les was completely confident that this could be accomplished with ease - and had done something similar many times before. I tried to get my head round soil pipes and lowered ceilings but it bothered me that I didn't really know what he was talking about.

In the end, I contacted an old mate, Danny, who is a gifted artist but pays his bills with building work. As he lives up the road from my new gaff, it made sense for him to carry out the bulk of the job. He brought in an electrician, Russell (the spitting image of Richard Gere), and the flat renovations began to take off.

If Lucy Russell was the heroine of my last story, Danny Levy is the hero of the refurb. He was sorely tried but then, I would have to say, so was I. All the men, even the lovely ones (which most of them were) became exasperated by my barrage of questions. Danny would draw sectional designs on reams of plaster-coated paper but the only way I could comprehend his ideas was when he would make Blue Peter-style 3-D structures out of cardboard.

While Dan was smashing and bashing on Regents Canal, I was on the internet in Brighton sourcing lights and radiators. Who knew that the humble domestic rad could become such an object of desire? The range by Bisque was by far the most attractive (amazing colours and shapes) and that was what I went for, even though they were the most expensive.

I discovered that John Lewis offered an interior design service and was assigned the effervescent and ever-helpful Louis Dayanc. Louis was punctilious - from overseeing the laying of the carpet around a tricky landing (the fitter came back three times) to discussing blinds and fabrics and making sure that the kitchen appliances arrived. He also provided much-needed light relief, going into a lilac swoon when the gruff carpet-man announced: “Just push hard against the crotch.” Some aspects of the job went like a dream. The National Grid people were tremendous and fast-tracked an engineer to come round and move the meter. The Farrow&Ball main office was incredibly helpful both with supplies and sending one of its top designers, Joa, to inspect the property.

I had completed on the property at the end of August and my aim was to move in by Christmas. There was a real deadline, as for personal reasons I needed to have a home in London for my younger son come the first week of January. This news was greeted by mass tut-tutting from the blokes - “Unrealistic”, “isn't going to happen” blah blah blah - but I was the Boadicea of this building project, and was resolute that it would.

Over Christmas - when the entire workforce took three weeks off - I managed to find some young men who were prepared to put down the all-important wooden floor downstairs. The floor was a success, so I asked the same team to install the new glass doors. This was the beginning of a sorry saga. The wrong measurements had been given to the glass supplier (who to blame?), which the chippy discovered only after trying to make them fit in the frames without success. He did not come back and it took me weeks and weeks to find anyone else who was prepared to rectify the problem.

The new bathroom was another challenge: so many men, so much effort and such a lot of money for such a tiny space. It is, however, now my pride and joy.

I am pleased with almost all my decisions about the design. Early on, I went to the top-end kitchen people Poggenpohl to pick their brains about how to get their look for less. They recommended that I go for mid-range appliances but invest in a composite worktop that would lift the whole kitchen. I followed their advice and find it a real pleasure to use something all the time that is understated but looks and feels so good.

Six months on and my younger son and I - (the older son, at university, is pleased to have a room when he's back, too) - are looking forward to our first summer exploring the area as the canal-lined trees burst into colour and the houseboat owners start to sun themselves on their decks. It has been a long journey but it's good to have a home of our own again.

Cast list

Architect/consultant: Furnell Associates. Bathroom: World's End Tiles (which also suggested its own tiler, John, and Ben the Mastik man); C.P.Hart (which offers a design service); Burge and Gunson.

Beds: Vi-Spring. Blinds: John Lewis.

Glass: Fusion Design.

Lighting: Forbes and Lomax, Lumino (Lithoss), Freedom of Creation, London Lighting. Paint: Farrow&Ball.

Radiators: Bisque; Brighton Designer Radiators. Wallpaper: Jocelyn Warner. Worktop: Expert Marble and Granite.

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