We moved into this 1970’s house in November 2005. We adored the area & road and could see huge potential for the property. At the time we had stretched our budget to move here, so modernisations have been gradual & evolving, as funds became available as time went by.
Initially, we reconfigured rooms to improve the downstairs flow:
We moved the front entrance to be centred within the house; the lounge became the
kitchen; some internal (non-load bearing) walls were knocked down and doorways changed. We also added 3 sets of bi-fold doors onto the garden to maximise light.
Upstairs, we added dormer windows, with the aim to make it more aesthetically pleasing and create space. The whole house was rendered in off-white.
In 2007, we started landscaping the garden (approx.. 70 x 70 ft). We wanted to add a
swimming pool. The original plan was to design the pool to be orientated at a right angel to
the house. When we started excavating, we came across a main drain which runs parallel
with the house (oops), so the pool is now orientated ‘landscape’ from a birds eye view
perspective.
Our biggest and most major transformation was a loft conversion in 2017. As we did not
have great head height within the original loft space the roof level had to be raised, meaning living in the house with no roof during the windy autumn months (all scary stuff). The overall result was the addition of a beautiful double bedroom, en-suite and dressing room. At the same time as this we added a garden room with roof lantern off the kitchen. This utilised the tradesmen on-site, was relatively easy and was within permitted development guidelines.
Full planning permission was obtained where necessary. It is important to consider how your property fits in with the rest of the ‘street scene’ if you want it to be approved. We tried our best for our home to look right with the neighbouring properties and to ensure that whilst we maximised height space in our loft conversion, it wasn’t higher than the neighbours houses or out of context proportionally.
Our house project has been a labour of love and looking back on the changes our house has undergone over the last 15 years via Instagram is incredibly rewarding.
We have lived in the house throughout all renovations, even with the extreme dust and no-
roof scenarios. It is impossible to quantify all the work undertaken as projects have been so
gradual and have most certainly evolved. A ‘ballpark’ figure for the loft conversion would
be £100k.
Although structurally there is probably no more that can be done to the house, we will
forever be decorating and keeping it in tip-top condition because we love what we do. Our
family are in the Building Industry and between us we have a Builder, a Chartered Structural
Engineer and lots of Interior Design flair, so we are very lucky to utilise these skills and
plough them into the house. Keeping an address book full of local, dependable tradesmen
is also key. Never be afraid to shop around for quotes and competitive prices, would be our top tip! Don’t rush projects and take your time getting it right and the results are endless.
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