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M a k e yo u r d r e a m h o m e a r e a l i t y REALHOMES.COM

Real HOMES BEFORE AFTERS

MARCH 2019

budget bathroom updates loft living design your ultimate room in the roof

50+ pages of amazing home makeovers

MONEY MATTERS Bring your project in on target

smart shopping kitchen taps roll-top baths console tables

SPRING REFRESH

mix it up with the latest colour trends

DREAM EXTENSIONS beautiful spaces to inspire your own project

seph Joseph o J a e iv e c e r mixing bowls set

pink bathroom suite and peeling Artex wallpaper we inherited to stop me giving myself a hard time over projects we haven’t quite ﬁnished. Whatever stage you’re at in your own home improvement project, don’t forget to share your progress with us using our hashtag #sorealhomes – we’d love to see the ﬁnished results! Beth Murton Acting Editor @BethMurton

one for the wishlist If a bathroom revamp’s on the cards in your home, these industrial-inspired taps would take centre stage in any scheme. See page 131 for all the info

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ou subscribe – worth £30 when y see page 110

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from the editor PHOTOGRAPH KATIE LEE

ands up if you’re still on track with your New Year’s interiors resolutions? Or does the enthusiasm you had for a fresh new decorating scheme, the mass decluttering or that must-have extension project already seem like a distant memory? That initial ‘new year, new home’ excitement we all seem to have at the beginning of January can often evaporate as we lose motivation for the task ahead, but the great news is there’s still plenty of time to achieve your plans this year. With the imminent arrival of longer days, more sunshine (here’s hoping) and the brand-new homeware collections, there’s never been a better time to revisit (or keep up) those resolutions, get a spring in your step and start making a few changes to your home. If you’re in need of some extra motivation or ideas for your space, taking a look inside the stunning houses in this month’s issue will give you plenty of inspiration. I’m always amazed by the vision and determination of the homeowners we feature every month, seeing how they’ve turned dated, unloved or impractical homes into modern, welcoming spaces that work perfectly for their way of life. Comparing the before and after photos of each project highlights in an instant just how much they have all achieved. Filling up your phone with project pics can be a useful motivational tool in any project, helping you to chart the changes you’re making and giving you a much-needed snapshot of your progress on the days when you’d rather be watching TV than watching paint dry. The before photos of my own home are something I often take a quick peek at if I ever want a reminder of just how far we’ve come with our house renovation. While we might not have completed everything we’d like to do so far (the hall and stairs are desperately in need of an update), there’s nothing like looking at pictures of the brown carpet ﬂoor tiles,

s t n e t n o c Style agenda 45

Inside track 13

How to embrace your creativity and revamp furniture with paint

news The products and trends that grabbed our attention this month

#nowtrending

home truths 57

real home 58

console yourself 64

new ways with wood

155

the big debate Should you follow trends in the home?

REALHOMES.COM

going up

10 clever ways to use this tactile texture in your home

urban escape Go industrial with linear items in warming browns for a softer look

Release your attic’s potential with our guide to loft living

Versatile and stylish, a slimline table is the perfect addition to your hallway

Easy update Create privacy with a statement window ﬁlm

See how Sara and Ben Moody reimagined their Victorian terrace

new buys on the block The key utility room trends and how to get the look on a budget

Our monthly columnist, Lisa Dawson, on refreshing your home

new neutrals The latest palette on our radar – soft creams and sandy browns

Let’s be friends on social media

Sunday project

READER OFFER Receive a Joseph Joseph nesting bowl set worth £30 when you subscribe – see page 110

s t n e t n co project advice

home life

My favourite corner 85

rear extensions Add more space by building on to the back of your house

Real Home Ellie and Adam Tildesley enlarged their 1940s home on a budget

153

project news

The latest ideas and buys for your renovation

A reader shares the part of her home she loves the most

127 extension of the month A unique rubber-clad addition that instantly caught our eye

Real Home Andy Bradford’s extension is the perfect canvas for his eclectic art

128 planning your perfect extension

104 money money money

Where should you extend and how much value can you add?

Struggling to control your project budget? You’re not alone

107 ‘how i plan my décor’

131 the report

Three renovating readers share their hard-earned advice

The latest ideas, trends and buys for your kitchen and bathroom

112 real home

142 how to cut the cost of your bathroom

Jade and Darren transformed a dated Victorian property

Clever ways to achieve your dream space for less

124 make your house a HOME with plants

149 Focus on hobs

Gain style points and well-being beneﬁts with added greenery

Prepare meals on a model that’s chic and eﬃcient

134 real home

153 The edit

See how Lucinda and Sam Holt created a characterful kitchen

The latest kitchen taps and roll-top baths

134 real home

112

Victoria Hamilton turned a small bathroom into a spa-style space

162 over to you

134

Readers reveal what they’d most love to have in their homes

#Sorealhomes Share your home with us on Instagram using our hashtag

Birmingham 28–31 Mar 2019 NEC

EARLYBIRD OFFER In association with Real Homes

2 FREE TICKETS

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Want to make more of your space? Find out how at the National Homebuilding & Renovating Show Get your 2 FREE TICKETS worth £36* at homebuildingshow.co.uk/rhmarch

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ART Head of Art Billy Peel Senior Art Editor Emily Smith Art Editor Karen Lawson REALHOMES.COM Editor in Chief Lucy Searle Associate Editor Lindsey Davis Staff Writers Annie Collyer, Anna Cottrell, Hebe Hatton and Emily Shaw Video Producer Matt Gibbs ADVERTISING AND EXHIBITIONS SALES Media packs are available on request Commercial Director Clare Dove clare.dove@futurenet.com Group Advertising Director Mark Wright mark.wright@futurenet.com Print & Digital Sales Director Jackie Sanders jackie.sanders@futurenet.com 01527 834426 Print Sales Manager Rebecca Vincze rebecca.vincze@futurenet.com 01527 834415 Digital Sales Manager Kelly James kelly.james@futurenet.com 01527 834471 Exhibitions Sales Director Hellen Roche hellen.roche@futurenet.com 01527 834418 INTERNATIONAL Real Homes is available for licensing. Contact the International Department to discuss partnership opportunities International Licensing Director Matt Ellis matt.ellis@futurenet.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Email enquiries contact@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk UK order line and enquiries 0344 848 2852 Overseas order line and enquiries +44 (0)344 848 2852 Online orders and enquiries myfavouritemagazines.co.uk CRM Director Louise Dudﬁeld Director of Acquisitions Sharon Todd CIRCULATION Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers PRODUCTION Head of Production Mark Constance Production Project Manager Clare Scott Advertising Production Manager Joanne Crosby Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson Production Manager Vivienne Calvert MANAGEMENT Brand Director Paul Newman Editorial Director Jason Orme Chief Content Ofﬁcer Aaron Asadi Commercial Finance Director Dan Jotcham PRINTED BY William Gibbons & Sons

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ISSN 1464 - 4061 áƺ Əȸƺ ƬȒȅȅǣɎɎƺƳ ɎȒ ȒȇǼɵ ɖɀǣȇǕ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ȵƏȵƺȸ ɯǝǣƬǝ ǣɀ ƳƺȸǣɮƺƳ ǔȸȒȅ ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼɵ ȅƏȇƏǕƺƳً ƬƺȸɎǣˡƺƳ ǔȒȸƺɀɎȸɵ ƏȇƳ ƬǝǼȒȸǣȇƺ‫ٮ‬ǔȸƺƺ ȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺِ Áǝƺ ȵƏȵƺȸ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ɯƏɀ ɀȒɖȸƬƺƳ ƏȇƳ ȵȸȒƳɖƬƺƳ ǔȸȒȅ ɀɖɀɎƏǣȇƏƫǼƺ ȅƏȇƏǕƺƳ ǔȒȸƺɀɎɀً ƬȒȇǔȒȸȅǣȇǕ ɎȒ ɀɎȸǣƬɎ ƺȇɮǣȸȒȇȅƺȇɎƏǼ ƏȇƳ ɀȒƬǣȒƺƬȒȇȒȅǣƬ ɀɎƏȇƳƏȸƳɀِ Áǝƺ ȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸǣȇǕ ȵƏȵƺȸ ȅǣǼǼ ǝȒǼƳɀ ǔɖǼǼ I³! ٢IȒȸƺɀɎ ³ɎƺɯƏȸƳɀǝǣȵ !ȒɖȇƬǣǼ٣ ƬƺȸɎǣˡƬƏɎǣȒȇ ƏȇƳ ƏƬƬȸƺƳǣɎƏɎǣȒȇ ǼǼ ƬȒȇɎƺȇɎɀ ۰ ‫ ח׏׎א‬IɖɎɖȸƺ ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕ nǣȅǣɎƺƳ Ȓȸ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺƳ ɖȇƳƺȸ ǼǣƬƺȇƬƺِ ǼǼ ȸǣǕǝɎɀ ȸƺɀƺȸɮƺƳِ zȒ ȵƏȸɎ Ȓǔ Ɏǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ȅƏɵ ƫƺ ɖɀƺƳً ɀɎȒȸƺƳً ɎȸƏȇɀȅǣɎɎƺƳ Ȓȸ ȸƺȵȸȒƳɖƬƺƳ ǣȇ Əȇɵ ɯƏɵ ɯǣɎǝȒɖɎ Ɏǝƺ ȵȸǣȒȸ ɯȸǣɎɎƺȇ ȵƺȸȅǣɀɀǣȒȇ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺȸِ IɖɎɖȸƺ ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕ nǣȅǣɎƺƳ ٢ƬȒȅȵƏȇɵ ȇɖȅƫƺȸ ‫דזזז׎׎א‬٣ ǣɀ ȸƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳ ǣȇ 0ȇǕǼƏȇƳ ƏȇƳ áƏǼƺɀِ «ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳ ȒǔˡƬƺ‫ ي‬ªɖƏɵ RȒɖɀƺً Áǝƺ ȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏ ׏‬È ِ ǼǼ ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇ ƬȒȇɎƏǣȇƺƳ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇ ǣɀ ǔȒȸ ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇ ȒȇǼɵ ƏȇƳ ǣɀً Əɀ ǔƏȸ Əɀ ɯƺ Əȸƺ ƏɯƏȸƺً ƬȒȸȸƺƬɎ ƏɎ Ɏǝƺ Ɏǣȅƺ Ȓǔ ǕȒǣȇǕ ɎȒ ȵȸƺɀɀِ IɖɎɖȸƺ ƬƏȇȇȒɎ ƏƬƬƺȵɎ Əȇɵ ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǣǼǣɎɵ ǔȒȸ ƺȸȸȒȸɀ Ȓȸ ǣȇƏƬƬɖȸƏƬǣƺɀ ǣȇ ɀɖƬǝ ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇِ çȒɖ Əȸƺ ƏƳɮǣɀƺƳ ɎȒ ƬȒȇɎƏƬɎ ȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺȸɀ ƏȇƳ ȸƺɎƏǣǼƺȸɀ ƳǣȸƺƬɎǼɵ ɯǣɎǝ ȸƺǕƏȸƳ ɎȒ Ɏǝƺ ȵȸǣƬƺ Ȓǔ ȵȸȒƳɖƬɎɀٖɀƺȸɮǣƬƺɀ ȸƺǔƺȸȸƺƳ ɎȒ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇِ ȵȵɀ ƏȇƳ ɯƺƫɀǣɎƺɀ ȅƺȇɎǣȒȇƺƳ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇ Əȸƺ ȇȒɎ ɖȇƳƺȸ Ȓɖȸ ƬȒȇɎȸȒǼِ áƺ Əȸƺ ȇȒɎ ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼƺ ǔȒȸ Ɏǝƺǣȸ ƬȒȇɎƺȇɎɀ Ȓȸ Əȇɵ ȒɎǝƺȸ ƬǝƏȇǕƺɀ Ȓȸ ɖȵƳƏɎƺɀ ɎȒ Ɏǝƺȅِ Áǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ǣɀ ǔɖǼǼɵ ǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎ ƏȇƳ ȇȒɎ ƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳ ǣȇ Əȇɵ ɯƏɵ ɯǣɎǝ Ɏǝƺ ƬȒȅȵƏȇǣƺɀ ȅƺȇɎǣȒȇƺƳ ǝƺȸƺǣȇِ Xǔ ɵȒɖ ɀɖƫȅǣɎ ȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼ ɎȒ ɖɀً ɵȒɖ ɯƏȸȸƏȇɎ ɎǝƏɎ ɵȒɖ Ȓɯȇ Ɏǝƺ ȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼ ƏȇƳٖȒȸ ǝƏɮƺ Ɏǝƺ ȇƺƬƺɀɀƏȸɵ ȸǣǕǝɎɀٖȵƺȸȅǣɀɀǣȒȇɀ ɎȒ ɀɖȵȵǼɵ Ɏǝƺ ȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼ ƏȇƳ ɵȒɖ ƏɖɎȒȅƏɎǣƬƏǼǼɵ ǕȸƏȇɎ IɖɎɖȸƺ ƏȇƳ ǣɎɀ ǼǣƬƺȇɀƺƺɀ Ə ǼǣƬƺȇƬƺ ɎȒ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝ ɵȒɖȸ ɀɖƫȅǣɀɀǣȒȇ ǣȇ ɯǝȒǼƺ Ȓȸ ǣȇ ȵƏȸɎ ǣȇ ƏȇɵٖƏǼǼ ǣɀɀɖƺɀ ƏȇƳٖȒȸ ƺƳǣɎǣȒȇɀ Ȓǔ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇɀً ǣȇ Əȇɵ ǔȒȸȅƏɎ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺƳ ɯȒȸǼƳɯǣƳƺ ƏȇƳ Ȓȇ ƏɀɀȒƬǣƏɎƺƳ ɯƺƫɀǣɎƺɀً ɀȒƬǣƏǼ ȅƺƳǣƏ ƬǝƏȇȇƺǼɀ ƏȇƳ ƏɀɀȒƬǣƏɎƺƳ ȵȸȒƳɖƬɎɀِ ȇɵ ȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼ ɵȒɖ ɀɖƫȅǣɎ ǣɀ ɀƺȇɎ ƏɎ ɵȒɖȸ Ȓɯȇ ȸǣɀǸ ƏȇƳً ƏǼɎǝȒɖǕǝ ƺɮƺȸɵ ƬƏȸƺ ǣɀ ɎƏǸƺȇً ȇƺǣɎǝƺȸ IɖɎɖȸƺ ȇȒȸ ǣɎɀ ƺȅȵǼȒɵƺƺɀً ƏǕƺȇɎɀً ɀɖƫƬȒȇɎȸƏƬɎȒȸɀ Ȓȸ ǼǣƬƺȇɀƺƺɀ ɀǝƏǼǼ ƫƺ ǼǣƏƫǼƺ ǔȒȸ ǼȒɀɀ Ȓȸ ƳƏȅƏǕƺِ áƺ Əɀɀɖȅƺ ƏǼǼ ɖȇɀȒǼǣƬǣɎƺƳ ȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼ ǣɀ ǔȒȸ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇ ɖȇǼƺɀɀ ȒɎǝƺȸɯǣɀƺ ɀɎƏɎƺƳً ƏȇƳ ȸƺɀƺȸɮƺ Ɏǝƺ ȸǣǕǝɎ ɎȒ ƺƳǣɎً ƏȅƺȇƳً ƏƳƏȵɎ ƏǼǼ ɀɖƫȅǣɀɀǣȒȇɀِ

Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR) www.futureplc.com

Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne Non-executive chairman Richard Huntingford !ǝǣƺǔ ˡȇƏȇƬǣƏǼ ȒǔˡƬƺȸ Penny Ladkin-Brand Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244

REALHOMES.COM

EDITORIAL Editor Laura Crombie Acting Editor Beth Murton Assistant Editor Alison Jones Features Editor Ellen Finch Style Editor Anna Morley Deputy Style Editor Amelia Smith realhomes@futurenet.com 01527 834456

l a Re s e m o H t s ju a k c i cl y a aw #SOREALHOMES

Future PLC, Units 1 & 2, Sugarbrook Court, Aston Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 3EX

INSIDE INSIDE

track

Get the scoop on new design ideas, must-have products and looks you’ll love… Symphetta dining chair, £189; Valli extending ceramic dining table, £889; Hex gold and glass lantern, £38; medium and large cylindrical brass wire pendant lights, from £225; Valli sideboard, £725; Maxiemus white and gold clock, £220, all Barker & Stonehouse

URBAN MASH UP Take sleek New York apartment style, mix with British townhouse elegance and what do you get? An edgy, era-crossing scheme that oozes luxe retro. Barker & Stonehouse has launched its Downtown range, and it’s slick, smart and fun, with 1960s-style chairs, oversized pendants and opulent tables paired with metallic accents. Just slip on some primary colour flares and you’re away.

Form green rug, £329

Glass marble clock, £30

FEATURE ANNA MORLEY

Flip clock, £125 Daxon swivel chair, £785

easy living Calling all furnishing mixologists: these Barker & Stonehouse buys can sit alongside one another or standalone as statement pieces

Halmstad small TV stand in concrete and walnut, £399 Hood desk lamp in burgundy, £55

HISTORY REPEATING

SHOPPING SECRETS FROM A HOME ST YLIST

Lansdowne Walk Nordic wallpaper, £88 per roll, Little Greene. Herman Miller Bubble saucer pendant, from £291.55, John Lewis & Partners. Chevron rug in gold and ivory, £1,490, Jennifer Manners. For a similar chair, try the Hardy rocker, £1,295, by Another Country

The latest collaboration between Little Greene and English Heritage sees 11 new updated and refreshed patterns taken from an archive collection dating back some 250 years. London Wallpapers V brings these prints into the 21st century with contemporary palettes and modern detailing.

Jeska Hearne, stylist, photographer and owner of sustainable online lifestyle store thefuturekept.com Top tip for a spring interior refresh? I love to repaint rooms or areas that are looking tired. We’re currently working with an earthy and moody palette to cosy up our home for 2019. My best styling secret is... Using outdoor plants inside to add seasonal happiness. Potted shrubs and flowers, cut branches and dried seed heads last so much longer than a bunch of flowers and provide instant impact. They can be planted outside for a new lease of life when you want a change. One to watch for 2019... Atelier Ellis paint – I am totally in love with the colours, finish and durability of the paint. We have already used Tea Rose, Tabula Rasa, Warm Mud Brown and Sabi Grey in our home. My favourite go-to local shop is... Butlers Emporium in Hastings Old Town. It’s full of unusual vintage pieces and beautiful homewares with magical window displays by the owner, Rose.

Marie Velvet two-sided fringe cushion, £55, Abode Nappa fringed green table lamp, £115, Oliver Bonas

Still a strong look this year, soft, tasselled edges are sashaying onto all kinds of homewares. Here are some of the new season’s borderenhanced accessories.

I find my best inspiration... Out in nature; seasonal walks clear my mind and inspire new colour palettes, helping me to bring an emotional connection between house and nature. My favourite online shop for unusual items I always use Etsy if I am hunting for something handmade or different. There are so many makers from all over the world to choose from and support directly.

fringe benefits Floral pendant light, £99.99, HomeSense

Abigail Ahern throw, £80, Debenhams Pink fringe duvet cover set, from £55, Very

Hattermorn in black, white and natural oak, £110 each, Pooky Anouk Dusk Roman blind, prices from £180, including measuring and ﬁtting; Anouk Dusk cushion, Tetbury Blush cushion and Tetbury Moss cushion, £31 each; Echo Shell cushion, £26, all Hillarys

PEAKY BLINDERS Hang light ﬁttings that evoke the natural world with these shades inspired by the famous Matterhorn mountains. With a distinctly Scandi-feel, the simple peak-style shape creates a paredback statement, and looks equally good on its own or hung as a group. Yodelling and lederhosen optional.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME With the trend for encouraging feelings of wellness permeating the interiors world, homes that feel lived in and soothing are an aspiration for most of us. Hillarys’ latest inﬂuences for 2019 – luxe, nostalgia, culture and nature – are characterised by colour, comfort and individuality, for spaces you’ll love and can feel grounded in.

SOFTLY SOFTLY There’s been an upsurge in popularity for touchable velvet, and we can’t get enough of it. Whether it’s a jewel-toned sofa, a muted light ﬁtting or swathes of opulent curtains, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to velvet furniture and accessories. John Lewis & Partners is fully on board with all this softness, adding 17 new velvet fabrics to its homeware ranges.

Bookworm

How to Raise a Plant: and Make it Love You Back by Morgan Doane and Erin Harding, aka @houseplantclub (£12.99, Laurence King) This sweet little book is ideal for the novice ‘plant parent’, providing tips on how to choose and care for them. Indoor-plant experts and Instagrammers Erin and Morgan bring the subject to life alongside beautiful photographs of happy plants in the home.

Made-to-measure curtains in faux silk putty, £15 per metre; Meghan armchair in Harriet Rose velvet, £749; Misano glitter velvet cushion, £50; Huxley ceiling light, £210; Showwood bedstead in Topaz Pink, £699; Boutique Hotel silk bedding, from £16; Wellington round rug, £180, all John Lewis & Partners

Bobble Hat claypaint, £40 for 2.5ltrs

Delilah claypaint, £40 for 2.5ltrs

RIGHT LINE Let your ﬂoors take centre stage by giving them a burst of ‘look at me’ pattern. Creating a hero ﬂoor will draw the eye and make a powerful statement. The new Camden Collection from Lifestyle Floors can be mixed and matched, so you can put together a unique design. Available in a variety of tones including monochrome, blush pink or petrol blue colourways, and abstract, geometric and herringbone designs.

HUES NEW Designed to inspire more courageous, contemporary colour choices along with a focus on ‘self’ and well-being, eco-conscious paint company Earthborn has launched seven new shades. Ranging from a majestic blue and revived red to a modern mid-grey, they tap into the trend for overstated colour. See them at stockists including Designer Paint and Paint & Paper.

Lady Bug claypaint, £40 for 2.5ltrs

Tick Tock claypaint, £40 for 2.5ltrs

Style influenced Wriggle Petrol laminate ﬂooring from the Camden Collection, £24.45 per m2, Lifestyle Floors

Whether you want to make large scale changes in the home or simply refresh your accessories, Ikea has unveiled three décor schemes for spring/summer. Rustic Coasts sees new neutral tones inspired by coastal scenes, Maximalist Scandi is bright and bold with a retro 70s feel, while Methodical Monochrome goes bold with jet black and white block patterns.

3 of 3 of the the best best PLANTERS Elevate your greenery with a raised planter. On trend and practical, these can add life to room corners and bring an extra lofty level to your foliage

Standing textured planter, £75, Cox & Cox

Lisbon Living ceramic blue planter, £14, Sainsbury’s Home

Grönadal rocking chair in grey natural, £150; Eket wall-mounted shelving unit in four comp light grey, £45; Nymåne table lamp, £35, all Ikea

Brass planter with stand, £78, Audenza

Transform your home Turn your dream home into a reality with a visit to The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show

Q Extend your home Whether you’re planning a single- or two-storey extension, you can get design advice from an architect, have an expert look over your plans, and ﬁnd out if you need to apply for planning permission. Q Remodel your home Dream of knocking down some internal walls to create your perfect open-plan layout? Find out how to achieve it in expert renovator Michael Holmes’ seminar in the Home Improvement Theatre.

improvements to your home without going through the planning process. Q Add value to your home Want to ﬁnd out which projects will increase the value of your Get two property? Whether free tickets If you’ve always wanted to it’s replacing renovate, extend, convert or windows or adding even build your own home, the bi-fold doors, Homebuilding & Renovating Show converting the loft, is a must-visit. Get your two free or extending to tickets (worth £36) today by create extra space, visiting homebuildingshow. the show will guide co.uk/rhomesmag you through the initial process and put you in touch with the right people.

Q Improve your home without planning permission Get advice from our dedicated planning experts and ﬁnd out how you can save time and avoid hold-ups by making

REALHOMES.COM

PHOTOGRAPHS JODY STEWART, CHRIS SNOOK, RACHAEL SMITH, DARREN CHUNG

re you looking to add more space to your home but unsure where to start? Make a date in your diary for the The National Homebuilding & Renovating Show (28-31 March) and get all the advice and inspiration you need to get your project off the ground.

EXTENSION HUB The spring and summer months are the best time to extend your home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start preparing now. Discover cutting-edge designs and ﬁnd out how to choose an architect with our must-read guides. realhomes.com/extensions

get involved We always love to hear from you! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news, behind-the-scenes shoots and gorgeous imagery. Plus, share your homes with us using #sorealhomes and you might just ﬁnd yourself featured on our feed…

g n i d n e r t w o #n REALHOM JOIN THE COMMUNITY ON

FOR ALL YOUR HOMES

INSPIRATION AND ADVIC

ES.COM

Your questions answered Find yourself turning to Google for all your DIY questions? No need – we’ve got it covered. Find how-to guides for everything from hanging a gallery wall to choosing a sofa bed. Atworth sofa bed in Saffron, from £1,147, Willow & Hall. Cult Living cactus art print, £30, Cult Furniture. realhomes.com /advice

YOUR NEW YEAR PROJECT, SORTED Fold away your Christmas jumper and get ready to embrace 2019: it’s time to get yourself organised and dive into your new year project. Whether you’re renovating a bathroom or creating an open-plan kitchen-diner, you’ll ﬁnd inspiration and top tips on everything from tiling to insurance on our website. Ruzzini tile, £69.36 per m2, Topps Tiles. realhomes.com/renovations

home truths

LISA DAWSON

GET MOVING This is my favourite way of updating my home without spending a penny. The blame lies with my mum, an obsessive furniture mover arounder (yes, this is a thing) who found at least 300 different positions for the sofa conversely, am notorious for being within the living room alone. Shop your unsuitably dressed for the correct home for pieces that would work better weather conditions in any season. I am elsewhere. If your room is large enough, the parent wearing Stan Smith trainers move your seating slightly away from in the deep mud of the football field. the wall – it makes the space feel bigger. The person who goes walking in the Create focal points using side tables; Lake District in Ugg boots not fit switch the table lamps to bring a new for purpose. I industrial-sanded my atmosphere to previously unlit corners. front room with only a pair of white There’s hours of fun to be had from this Havaianas for foot protection. My task, although your family might not laissez-faire attitude to clothing choice agree when they find the sofa on the has passed down to Leo, my nine year other side of the room and their TV old, a child who insists on wearing viewing point diminished. A minor school shorts all year round, as if he downside in the quest for the refresh. were undertaking an endurance test. BRING IN THE NEW Lift your spirits Inappropriate clothing aside, by updating your spring is my favourite textiles. In winter, season. Longer days, ‘my mum, we crave heavy, warmer weather sumptuous throws (hopefully) and the an obsessive and darker tones, joy of watching my garden transform furniture mover but spring is an ideal opportunity to add from a soggy football pitch into a, well, less arounder, found lighter textures and colours to the mix. soggy and slightly at least 300 As our gardens greener football pitch. return to life, bring I’m pushed into action positions for that greenery indoors by the advent of and invest in easybrighter days and my the sofa’ care plants to add home’s the first thing another layer to that feels the benefit rooms. Stay within your horticultural of my enthusiasm. Here are my top tips limits if you’re not a natural Charlie on how to bring the freshness of spring Dimmock; go for a Monstera (posh into our winter-weary interiors. name for a cheese plant) or a fern, GET EDITING Refreshing your space both of which are fairly fail-proof is a simple but therapeutic task. After and the only two varieties not to have the excesses of festive décor, it’s time embarked on a suicide mission upon to pare down our rooms and give them entering my home. a new lease of life. Reassess your Replace spiced candles with shelves and accessories – sometimes freesia, gardenia and vanilla scents – things have been there for so long it’s amazing how fragrance can change that we don’t see them anymore. If the ambience. Throw bunches of daffs you don’t love the Toby Jug Uncle Bob into your weekly shop. Fling open the gave you for Christmas in 2001, remove windows and bring the sunshine back it. If you do love it, try it in a different into your home. As Tolstoy wrote: place or room. Be ruthless – there’s ‘Spring is the time of plans and projects’. never enough space to have everything. Give your space a celebratory refresh But one man’s trash is another man’s – spring has finally sprung. treasure, so fill up that charity shop FOLLOW LISA @_lisa_dawson_ box and everyone’s a winner.

PHOTOGRAPH KATIE LEE

Spring honestly cannot come quickly enough for me as I’m rubbish at being cold and yet,

extended VICTORIAN TERRACE

Breaking ground NEW

Sara and Ben restored and reimagined their Victorian home, creating a space that’s perfect for their growing family

THE OWNERs Sara Moody, an architect, lives here with husband Ben, a lobbyist in health tech, and their children, Stanley, three, and Nancy, six months THE PROPERTY A four-bedroom midterraced Victorian house in Walthamstow, east London project COST £170,000

WHY we love SARA’S HOME... Every so often here at Real Homes HQ, we come across a project that makes us stop in our tracks, whether it’s through bold use of colour, a new twist on a classic style or a stunning architectural feature. Sara and Ben’s Victorian terrace does just that with its fresh take on a typical family home. As an architect, Sara’s spent some time developing dream homes for other young families. The result is a toolbox of tips and tricks that she’s used to mastermind her own space. It’s all the more impressive given the couple’s timescale and budget. The family bought the house shortly before Sara gave birth to their son, Stanley, and planned to rent it out to raise money until they felt ready to move. Six months in, however, they were fast outgrowing their one-bedroom ﬂat. As a result, the plans got fast-tracked. Despite this, Sara and Ben have created a family home that doesn’t compromise on beauty or practicality. On a budget of £170,000, they’ve successfully extended upwards and outwards and modernised the layout of the house to create a space that works for their growing household. Opting for DIY cupboards and second-hand furniture has allowed them to go big on architectural features like glazed doors and rooﬂights. How did they do it? Sara reveals all over the page…

WORDS ELLEN FINCH PHOTOGRAPHS CHRIS SNOOK

Profile

TOP TIP Love concrete ﬂoors but can’t afford the real thing? Opt for budgetfriendly micro-cement ﬂooring like Sara and Ben’s

TOP TIP Keep your kitchen background neutral and opt for painted units for a colour pop you can easily switch up

clever idea

Over to Sara...

‘

Rooﬂight, Velux. Kitchen units, Howdens, painted in Cupboard Green, Little Greene. Oven and extractor, Kenwood. Sink, TapsUK. Tap, Taps Empire. Splashback, Walls & Floors. Stools, Homebase. Dining table and wall rail, Ikea. Pendant lights, Cult Furniture

#SOREALHOMES

Contacts

FOR MORE REAR EXTENSION IDEAS, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/EXTENSIONS

‘

I work with a lot of young families on their houses, and the beauty is that you get used to working with this type of property. We wanted to strip everything and bring back the original character. The house needed more work than we initially thought – it looked ﬁne, but when you peeled back the layers, it wasn’t okay. We didn’t need planning permission because the house already had a loft conversion, so we could demolish and replace it under permitted development. Because we made use of the Neighbourhood Consultation Scheme, we were able to build a larger rear extension than is normally allowed under permitted development, too. We wanted the original part of the house to feel traditional, but I thought we should make it clear that the kitchen extension and the loft were new and different. I use our house to test ideas, like the exposed joists. We could have played it safer but we wanted to show the structure.

Architect Shacklewell Architects, 07793 547033, shacklewellarchitects.com Builders P T & I Ltd, 07782 115700 Door Maxlight, 020 8896 0700, maxlight.co.uk Windows Perfect Crystal Windows, 020 8963 9700, perfectcrystal.co.uk Structural engineer Constant Structural Design, 020 7700 2336, constantsd.com

‘

We wanted to get the biggest rooflights we could, and Velux was the most affordable option. To fit them in and bring as much light as possible into the existing part of the house, the roof structure had to be bigger on one side. It divides the space well – the steeper angle is where the kitchen-diner area is. It also meant we could maximise height as much as possible. If we’d had a flat roof, we would have been restricted to three metres.

‘

Fence and ﬂowerbed painted in Urban Slate and Fresh Rosemary, Cuprinol. Table, Homebase

BEFORE

‘

We often have the doors between this room and the living room open to create one space. At night, we can shut them to be cosy in the front room. In a way, this room is a kind of transition into the family space. We fancied ourselves being sophisticated with the piano and the books, but in reality, it’s turned into more of a playroom – a sort of overspill from the kitchen. The sideboard was a client’s mum’s – they sent an email round asking if anyone was interested, and I was like, “Me!”. It’s a beautiful 1950s piece from Heal’s. I hadn’t seen one like it before. nd I both like old things as w Ikea practical touches. It’s ni have pieces with a stor Vintage Clive Latimer sideboard, Heal’s. Armchair, G-Plan. Fox cushion, Donna Wilson. Ceiling light, John Lewis & Partners. Floorboards, Havwoods. Walls painted in Blue Reﬂection, Dulux

‘

It might have been sensible to go for white for our darker front room, but we wanted to have a more traditional sitting room. Darker colours were used more in Victorian design, so we opted for rich hues. I don’t think it makes the room feel any smaller. We added the ceiling roses and cornices, and the space certainly feels grander than before. We spend some time in here as a family because it’s the only room with a TV in it, but generally it’s a grown-up living room to retire to in the evening.

‘

Walls painted in Teal Tension, Dulux. Flooring, Havwoods. Rug and Jentique sideboard, Ebay. Cushions, Ikea and Society6. Sofas, Habitat. Pendant, John Lewis & Partners. Curtains, Ikea

‘

Ben and I love mid-century furniture and our bedroom reﬂects that. We moved the position of the doors in both bedrooms to accommodate built-in wardrobes. We bought the headboard from Ebay and used that as our starting point for the scheme. I always wanted a dressing table, and I was thrilled to ﬁnd this one on the site, too. It’s quite a grown-up room – it’s traditional with darker colours, but with a mid-century touch thrown into the mix.

‘

Walls painted in Steel Symphony 1, Dulux. Carpet, Hackney Flooring. Curtains, Ikea. G-Plan dressing table, mirror, headboard and side tables, Ebay. Wall lights, Anglepoise. Bed base, Warren Evans. Bedcovers, Orla Kiely

THE PLANS GROUND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR

BEFORE

SECOND FLOOR

BEFORE

WC BEDROOM

BATHROOM BATH ROOM

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

BEDROOM

KITCHEN

BEDROOM BEDROOM

AFTER

STUDY/ BEDROOM

SHOWER ROOM

AFTER

BATH ROOM

EN SUITE

BEDROOM

KITCHENDINER LIVING ROOM

LIBRARY/ PLAYROOM

BEDROOM

TOP TIP Make built-in shelves into features in their own right by tiling using the same pattern as your bathroom ﬂooring

‘

We had to move a wall to allow us to reposition the bedroom doors, so we took some space off the bathroom. We changed the window for a bigger one, and opted for 1930s touches in the rest of the space – we love g patterns and geometric sha which is why we chose hex l ﬂoor tiles and bold colours.

Wall tiles and ﬂooring, Walls & Floors. Mirror surround and bath panel painted in Steel Symphony 1, Dulux. Bath, Bette. Showerhead, Bathrooms.com. Sink, Roca. Tap, Grohe. For similar planters, try Not on the High Street

‘

Ben picked the tiles for the loft en suite. He’s a good Yorkshireman and a “wheeler dealer”, so he went off to ﬁnd something we could afford based on what I said I liked. We loved the peppermint colour, and to make it feel less like a separate bathroom, we added peppermint touches in the bedroom, too. There’s glass at the end of the shower and you can see all th y out. It’s a bit more grown up other areas of the house – it a little like a boutique hotel. Wall tiles and ﬂooring, Walls & Floors. Showerhead, Bathrooms. com. Thermostat and tap, Grohe

‘

This bedroom was intended to be the master bedroom, but while the kids are little, we want to be on the same ﬂoor as them. We designed the space before we knew what it was like to have two kids! Instead, the family stays here when they come to visit, or one of us will come up here if we’re desperate for a good nig kip – it’s like being on a s but much-needed holida Bed and wall lights, Wayfair. Pink bed covers, Jigsaw. Cushions, Ikea and Tiger. Side table, Ikea. Sculptures, Ebay. Floorboards, Wickes

‘

Walls painted in Blue Reﬂection and Teal Tension, Dulux. Teepee, KidKraft. Carpet, Hackney Flooring. Cupboards, Ikea

REALHOMES.COM

Stanley’s room has geometric waves painted all the way around it. The sea theme came after we bought him a bed shaped like a boat. It was the ﬁrst thing we bought for the room – we were trying to make bedtime more fun. He never talks about it as his bed, instead he says, “I’m going to my boat”. The scheme deve d from there. The only exc n is the teepee, which we to read bedtime stories.

Report THE PROJECT

D ESSENTIA N A S D EN TR S, EA ID ST TE THE LA

From top: Ochre, Polar Blue, Juniper Green, Drab, all from £5 for 125ml, M&L Paints

L BUYS

FOR YOUR HOME IMPRO VEMENT PROJECT All you want coming through your front door are welcome guests, not cold draughts. To stop the latter, you need a wellﬁtting door that’ll keep in the heat. A quality composite made from high grade carbon ﬁbre is more thermally efficient than wood or GRP (glass reinforced plastic). Rockdoor’s S-Glaze technology locks glass panels into the door, so light pours in but it’s super strong and energy efficient. All Rockdoor doors are bespoke and price is on request. For details, go to rockdoor.com

All change

#SOREALHOMES

Dip your bristles into a familiar paint with a new name. Decorators’ favourite Marston & Langinger Paint has shortened to M&L Paints, and expanded its range to 120 shades. Colour cues from classic architecture and the natural world inspire new additions including Lulu, a vibrant orange, and Polar Blue, the colour of ice sculptures.

Update your exterior FEATURE ALISON JONES

FOR MORE RENOVATION IDEAS, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/DECORATING

DIVINE DOORS

If your brick is boring and your render looking raddled, give your façade a New England-style facelift with Cedral cladding. Fibre cement planks echo the elegance of American clapboardclad houses. It comes in 21 colours and two woodstain ﬁnishes, and Cedral Lap or Cedral Click styles, and the easy-ﬁt cladding is so durable it has a life expectancy of 50 years. Resistant to rot, harsh weather and insect attacks, you can insulate behind it to keep your home warm. To maintain, wash it down with warm soapy water. For an estimated price, contact your local Cedral cladding stockist. Find them at cedralcladding.co.uk

Lulu and Britannia Bronze, from £5 for 125ml, mandlpaints.com

Safety First Are you doing enough to protect your home inside and out? Sainsbury’s Bank has a guide showing how and where to make it more secure. See it at sainsburysbank.co.uk/money-matters/home-security

In the fold

The walls have been coming down in homes as we embrace the light and space of open-plan living. But sometimes you just need a little separation, some privacy to curl up in the quiet, away from the noise of kettles boiling and pans clattering. If you are loathe to lose the lovely light you have ﬂooding through the joined rooms, glazed internal bi-folds are the answer, Made by Scotts of Thrapston from American walnut with feature grooves and full-height glass panels, the doors can be folded open or closed as needed – perfect for parties or getting cosy in front of the TV.

Scotts of Thrapston timber doors and windows are made bespoke, but prices start from £3,500 plus VAT. For details, go to scottsofthrapston.co.uk

GoOutside Junko wall light in black anodised ﬁnish, £249, Urban Cottage Industries

SEE THE LIGHT

ROLL UP, ROLL UP Three out of four car thefts occur at home* – a scary statistic. So if you’re lucky enough to have a garage, it makes sense to park yours in it. Garolla’s aluminium roller doors are operated by wireless remote and roll up and out of the way, unlike more unwieldy side-hung doors. They can be customised in more than 18 different colour, too. Prices start from £895, Garolla.

Wooden double chest wheelie bin store, £229.99, Waltons

Bin and gone We are all for preserving the environment, but the litter of bins separating rubbish from recyclables doesn’t do much for a home’s kerb appeal. A wooden wheelie bin store from Waltons will hide those refuse collectors. They protect them from wind and wildlife, and can even be painted to match your house.

* OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS: CRIME IN ENGLAND AND WALES

A stylish outside light is instantly welcoming, can highlight an attractive front door or ﬂower bed, and stop you stumbling up a path and fumbling around with door keys on a dark night.

Ottone marble and acacia wood console table, £425, Oliver Bonas

Coree ﬁr wood console table in black, £310, Out There Interiors

Grayson natural console table, £299, John Lewis & Partners

Parquet mango wood console table with drawer, £385, French Connection

CONSOLE YOURSELF Useful, versatile and oh-so-stylish, a slimline table is the perfect addition for everything from hallways to living rooms

FEATURE SOPHIE WARREN-SMITH

Cadell aged oak console table, £249, Dunelm

style it now Make your latest buy the centre of attention by topping it with one of these gorgeous ﬁnishing touches

Aula brushed brass and glass console table, £299, Made.com

LIGHT IT UP The stand’s the star with the shadeless Oscar black marble and brass table lamp, £79, Danetti

Zinc topped black console table, £199, Abode Living

REFLECT ON THIS Check your look before you leave in a perfectly positioned Kempton wood mirror, £245, Loaf

BURST OF COLOUR A pretty piece with or without blooms in it. Zesty Laranja orange ﬂower terracotta vase, £35, Habitat

FOR MORE INSPIRATION, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/HALLWAY

Liatorp grey/glass console table, £140, Ikea

#SOREALHOMES

Etienne contemporary console table, £399, Atkin & Thyme

Tiered droplet chandelier, £395, French Connection

Dotted lines rug in black and white, £199, A by Amara

Zuiver pair of Doulton armchairs in Vintage Brown, £638, Cuckooland

Morei black aluminium mirror, £130, Habitat

Zuiver Fad marble shelf with buffalo leather straps, £79, Naken Interiors

Nomad display cabinet, £229.99, Argos

URBAN ESCAPE

Menu wire plant pot in olive, £94, Nest

Get a fresh look with modern industrial styling – go for linear items in warming browns to give these robust designs a softer touch

Tivoli two-seater leather sofa in Manhattan Grey, £1,299, Swoon

Content by Terence Conran Balance bowl coffee table, £299, John Lewis & Partners

FEATURE ANNA MORLEY

style it now Continue this utility vibe with some handpicked leatherﬁnished additions for the home

MIX IT UP Embrace your inner bar tender with the LSA Mixologist cocktail kit, £50, Printer + Tailor

THAT’S A WRAP Keep your screwdrivers tidy in the Stanley tool roll, £22, Amazon

GET A GRIP Give any drawer or cupboard a makeover with a Thor leather kitchen door handle, from £16.99, Dowsing & Reynolds

REALHOMES.COM

Quick-Step Intenso industrial oak wood ﬂooring, £55.08 per m2, Carpetright

E T A B E D G I B E NO TH YES ‘You can put a spin

on a trend that makes

WORDS ALISON JONES

it unique to you’ Kat Mannell (@life_at_number_63) lives in a Victorian house in Epsom, Surrey, with her husband and two daughters ‘Following trends keep my home feeling fresh and new. I choose ones I love so that I don’t get bored of them too soon. I think it’s great to be brave enough to experiment, try new things and inspire others. I’ve always been adventurous, and it’s not the end of the world if a mistake is made. ‘I keep an eye out for new trends in paint colours, patterns, fabrics and furniture styles. Last year I loved how houseplants became hugely popular. I have around 25 faux and real plants adorning every shelf and corner, even up my stairs! I believe you can put a spin on a trend that makes it unique to you and your style of décor. ‘A plethora of shops sell inexpensive pieces that are bang on trend. You can mix high street buys with unusual items from independent shops for a home full of interest and personality. And you don’t have to go all out with a trend; Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2019 is Living Coral, but instead of painting your home top-to-toe in pink, just buy some cushions or a vase in it. ‘My family are used to coming home to a new paint colour on the wall or the furniture moved around. If they had a choice they may have me do it less, but they know how passionate I am about home décor, and they usually like what I create, which helps.’

dated. I want more for our money’ Rhianne Burniston lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and baby daughter ‘There’s an expense to being a slave to trends, they change so quickly, and I don’t think I’m one for following the latest paint colour. We bought a new house last January and I am working out colour schemes. Dark blue’s really in at the moment, but I’m thinking about getting more for our money. In our other house we had a lot of duck egg because that was in five or six years ago, yet it dated quite quickly. We’re trying to think about things that will last, that aren’t too out there. ‘You’re less able to put your own stamp on things if you’re constantly changing colours to whatever the latest trend is. Personally, we like neutral colours and quirky items, like a Marvel poster in my daughter’s nursery, and we both like Mario Kart so we have a few of those ornaments. ‘Trends are commercially driven. You’re in a great position if you are able to update your home regularly, but that’s not the reality for the vast majority. Most people can’t afford to repaint the lounge every year, let alone be changing big things like the kitchen or bathroom. ‘It can also be quite damaging; you want the homes that everyone else has got on Instagram but you can’t always afford to have them, so it feels like you haven’t got the life everyone else has. ‘I think people know what they like. If you like yellow – which is a nice warm colour, great for the home – why shouldn’t you paint yours yellow just because it is not “in” that year? A lot of people want to put their own stamp on their homes and just blindly following trends, for me, isn’t the way I want to do it. don’t want to always be decorating orating as it can be time consuming. about choosing things that aren’t ate quickly, but will

People know what they like. Why shouldn’t you paint your home yellow just because it is not ‘in’?

NEXT MONTH: IS FAKE GRASS BETTER IN THE GARDEN THAN THE REAL THING?

There are always new colours and patterns in decorating. Two home renovators discuss whether or not they’re worth the investment

‘Trends can look

#SOREALHOMES

SHOULD YOU FOLLOW TRENDS IN THE HOME?

AQ U

y to upda wa te K IC

Y A D N SUOJECT ke

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Sustainability is high on our agenda, and what better way to help the planet than by ditching the shops and upcycling that old chest of drawers you’ve already got. Chalk Paint is big news, so spruce up your wooden furniture and add some ‘70s flair with a creative design.

retro chic

ome thi s

YOU’LL NEED 4 Annie Sloan Chalk Paints in colours of your choice Q Annie Sloan flat brush Q Primer Red and Honfleur Chalk Paint for staining Q Clear Chalk Paint wax Q Small Chalk Paint wax brush Q

FEATURE AMELIA SMITH

REALHOMES.COM

WHAT TO DO… 1 If you want a smooth, matt finish to your furniture, strip off the varnish. 2 Draw on your design in pencil, then use an Annie Sloan flat brush to fill in with Chalk Paint in your chosen colours. For an extra smooth and flat finish, you could water down the paint. 3 If you wish, stain the exposed wood. Here, a watered-down mix of Primer Red and a little Honfleur paint was used, creating a rich, golden background colour while leaving the grain of the wood visible. 4 Apply a coat of Clear Chalk Paint wax using the small wax brush to protect the piece.

Chalk paint in (from top) Honfleur, Barcelona Orange, a mix of English Yellow and Arles, and Old White, from £5.95 for 120ml, Annie Sloan

NEW NEUTRALS The latest palette on our stye radar is all about nude, muted shades in understated creams, soft ecru and sandy browns. A subtle backdrop gives furniture and accessories a chance to pop

REALHOMES.COM

Lauderdale wallpaper in Stone, £81.50 per roll; skirting board painted in Lamp Black (228) Absolute matt emulsion, £43.50 for 2.5ltrs, Little Greene. For a similar rug, try Fatouh, £99, La Redoute. Vice Versa linen throws, £275, The Conran Shop. Ticking linen bedlinen, from £79, Toast

FEATURE ANNA MORLEY

COMFORT ZONE Choose calming shades in the bedroom for a restful night. Fawn and pale olive mixed with creams evoke a natural sanctuary. Pile on the textures with materials like rattan and jute, and contrast with dark accents and reﬂective ﬁnishes to keep the look contemporary.

THE ART OF LIVING A palette of light, muted hues gives this space a clean, airy feel. Subtly mixing the earthy shades together with stronger ochre tones adds depth to this interior, especially when combined with tactile textures and graphic patterns. Ceiling painted in Muga, wall painted in Paper III, lower wall in Paper V, door architrave in Paper III, and far room in Morning Room and Paper I, all Pure Flat emulsion, £48.50 for 2.5ltrs, Paint & Paper Library. Axel sofa, £3,373, Viaduct. Soren pendant, £910, Pinch Design. Gubi TS lounge table, £735, and Beetle lounge chair, £1,595, The Conran Shop. Artwork print, from £80 unframed, Surfaceview. For a similar rug try the Nyborg, £295, La Redoute. Pinch Maiden stool, £575, Benchmark Furniture

LIGHT SHOW Curate a warm yet minimalistic space for entertaining using sandy colours and natural elements. Woods have their own subtle shades and texture. Hanging an oversized pendant makes a statement while focusing attention on the table underneath.

REALHOMES.COM

Round oak table, £650; rattan open weave chair, £195 each; Sumptuous sheepskin seat pad, £45 each; Espen oversized wicker pendant, £495; Agna round rug, £175, all Cox & Cox

SERENE SCENE Create a sophisticated setting with walls and furniture in gentle tones. The cashmere soft shades whisper elegance. Brushed gold ﬁnishes and black lines give the scheme deﬁnition and edge. Wall paint Metropolitan (AF-690), trim painted in Decorator’s White (OC-149), cabinet in Pashmina (AF-100), all from £21.50 for 940ml, the Regal Select Flat range at Benjamin Moore. For a similar ceiling light, try the Tangle chandelier pendant, from £99; for a similar chair, try the Cecil, from £449; for a similar sofa, try the Jules, from £999; for a similar desk lamp, try the Faye table lamp in brass and marble, £69, all Made.com

HOME STUDY Clever painting techniques and modern styling give neutral tones a new lease of life. Consider half painting a wall or door then pairing with a lighter shade. Finishes in woods, pale hues and pops of ochre complement the scheme.

REALHOMES.COM

Ballatta desk in oak, £649; butterﬂy chair in white, £615, both Ercol. For a similar door and wall paint, try Setting Plaster Estate Eggshell, £25 for 750ml, and Lamp Room Gray Modern Emulsion, £45 for 2.5ltrs, Farrow & Ball

Tauma cushion, £75, Ella James

le y t s l Rea , like

eauty b l a r u t rs Be a na s reade e m o H eal these R e embraced a v who ha palette k c a b d pare @kateyoungdesign

Nigerian Sands 6 Mixing Flat matt, £27.56 for 2.5ltrs, Dulux

Galatea black table light, £54.99, My-Furniture

Nisse medium embossed black vase, £18, Made.com

Rope Swing Mixing Flat matt, £27.56 for 2.5ltrs, Dulux

Berber rug in grey, £100, House by John Lewis & Partners

L A R T U E N E H T COLLEC TION

Ochre brushed acrylic throw, £45, Ian Snow

Cream shutter, £299 per m2, Shutterly Fabulous

@debbies_house

Roan lounge chair natural woven seat black, £349, Cult Living

Grey marl knitted wool throw, £99, Secret Linen Store

@deecampling

Aditi matt gold side table, £150, Habitat

Amarillo oak vinyl ﬂoor tile, £17.99 m2, Tile Mountain

Vincent two-seater sofa in Oyster soft wool, £1,399, Swoon

New buys on the

BLOCK Take your pick from this season’s bright ideas for practical utility rooms and shop the look at your favourite high-street stores

COUNTRY CHIC

MINIMAL MODERN

VINTAGE INDUSTRIAL

IH Design Cosmo industria al slim open bookcase, £470 0, House of Fraser

Dynan shelving unit, £83, Ikea Jones Darwin clock, £14, Wilko

Habitat Misto wooden indoor clothes airer, £30, Argos

Math check towels, from £4 for a hand towel, George

Zoress monobloc p in mixer tap antique brass, ckes £179, Wic

Glass house lantern ceiling pendant, £89, M&S

Athena gold geometric rug, £45, B&Q

Rural Retreat storage tins, £10 for a pack of three, Sainsbury’s

Fabric storage box, £12, Matalan

Glass preserving jar, £3.50, Waitrose

Glass soap dispenser, £9.99, H&M

FEATURE AMELIA SMITH

REALHOMES.COM

i Cream numeral clock, £18; grey storage tin, £10; grey pegs storage tin, £7; Housekeeper’s wooden airer, £29.99, all Dunelm

Metal String shelving, from £38, available at skandium.com and John Lewis & Partners. For a similar tap, try the Forge, £255, Bathstore

Balterio Xpressions laminate in Milkshake, £21.99 per m2, Carpetright. For similar pendant lights, try Där Lighting

AQ UI C

m y to akeov a w e

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o me thi s

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WORDS AMELIA SMITH

We are all for letting natural light into our homes, but sometimes privacy is paramount. If your home is overlooked, striking this balance can be tricky. A statement patterned window film like this offers the best of all worlds – letting in light, discreetly concealing, and decorating your windows with a fabulous design. And if space is tight, cutting out the clutter of curtains and blinds can make the room feel bigger. Whether you want a bold geometric pattern or more complete coverage, there’s a style to suit your scheme. Just enter your dimensions online and the films will be delivered to you. Peel off the backing sheet, spray soapy water onto the film and your clean glass, and apply. Spray the film again and smooth out any bubbles. The next day, peel off the tape to reveal your design. An inexpensive and simple idea that transforms how you feel in your home; what’s not to love?

Frostbrite FB102 window ﬁlm, from £30, The Window Film Company

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Pattern power

GOING UP ( FIND YOUR HAPPY PLACE IN THE LOFT)

o your home is groaning at the seams; every nook and cranny has been harnessed for potential storage and savvy usage. Even the dog’s in danger of losing his bed. But you like the area, it’s close to the kid’s schools and you’ve finally achieved a kitchen that you enjoy spending time in. Frankly, you don’t have the energy to move. Digging out a new basement is extreme, but have you considered what lies above? Your loft could offer a new level of living space, literally. And with prices starting from around £20,000 for a basic conversion, going up could prove cheaper than the solicitor’s bill and stamp duty combo that slays any house move. Before you get carried away ordering up the paint sample pots and carpet swatches, you’ll need to decipher whether your loft is suitable for conversion. One easy tell is to look for rooflights on the houses of neighbouring properties – assuming they’re of the same age/size as yours. Otherwise you’ll need to clamber through that loft hatch with your tape measure – the minimum height for a loft conversion is 2.2m (at the highest point). The type of trusses you have up there will affect the cost involved, and it’s at this point you should get a builder around. Many specialise in loft conversions and will

handle any planning permission (not always needed), building regulation approval and structural survey work required. The next big question is: what do you want to do in the space (and is it going to be worth the expense and effort)? Perhaps a cinema room or den, somewhere to banish teenagers when they have their mates around. Maybe you’re in desperate need of a space for working from home without being sidetracked by the laundry mountain or childminder. How about a master bedroom suite (squeal) with private dressing room and en-suite bathroom? This decision will affect the type of access required – a space-saving staircase isn’t going to work for a loft bedroom in constant use – and also the amount of infrastructure involved – a bathroom will need drainage and hot water, obvs, but that comes at a price. Finally, prepare for major upheaval. You may assume the rest of your house will stay relatively unscathed while work is in progress but chances are it won’t. There will be builders and other trades on site, with all their materials and associated noise, then comes the time when they cut through for the new staircase. Plus where do you store the stuff you currently keep in the loft? Time for an extension, perhaps…

MAKE IT HOMELY Cut the kitchen trek with a coffee machine and add low-level storage, comfyy seating and decorative ﬂourishes – you may never come down again!

Café Cino compact tea and coffee pod machine, £199.98, Dualit

Antique brass tripod ﬂoor lamp, £245, Barker & Stonehouse

Karoo chest of drawers, £549, Swoon Editions

Lisbon living succulents bowl, £16, Sainsbury’s Home

Calvin armchair in Mustard Yellow velvet and linen, £399, Atkin & Thyme

WORDS LINDA CLAYTON PHOTOGRAPHS ALEX MAGUIRE PHOTOGRAPHY (LLI DESIGN)

Desperately in need of more room to breathe? Kick out the Christmas tree and empty suitcases, and release your attic’s real potential with our guide to loft living

When planning the layout of a loft room, always start by thinking vertically. The inevitable sloped ceilings can restrict the location of a shower and standard-height wardrobes, for example, but you can make this work by popping items that you use horizontally – like the bath and bed – under the eaves. Ensuring an unobstructed walkway through the room at its highest point will reduce the need for stooping.

Panel behind shelves painted in Heart Wood; main roof painted in Willow Tree; sloped roof painted in Overtly Olive, all £27.56 for 2.5ltrs matt emulsion, Dulux

When the walls slope up to the ceiling – or is it the ceiling that slopes down to the walls? – it can be hard to fathom where to start and ﬁnish the paint colour. The simplest solution is to go for one shade throughout, Abigail Ahern style, but that can make the ceiling feel lower than it already is. Unless it’s a den, and you want to go with a cosy, hideaway feel, picking two tonally similar pale shades, which will support a subtle colour switch, is the answer. A pale blue ceiling will also complement the sky seen through your skylights, helping to bring the outside in.

Try to consider how you will dress any new skylights before you buy. Some window companies offer a wide range of blinds that fit snugly within the frame of your skylight without restricting opening. The latest development is glass with integrated blinds, operated at the flick of a switch, which is a really neat solution that eradicates the cleaning (dead fly trapping) issues typically found with roller blinds. Opt for blackout blinds if the room is designed for sleeping. You can also buy solar powered remote controlled blinds that are easy to retrofit, as they don’t need an electrical connection.

Since you’re mostly sat down at a desk, turning your loft space into a home office makes perfect sense on the head-height front. The under-eaves space is ideal for filing cabinets and box files. Plus you’ll be able to work in relative peace, away from the hustle and bustle of family life below. Consider extra soundproofing on the floors – chipboard-based acoustic boards are easy to lay – to minimise rising noise.

Above Elements Vanilla blackout blind for Velux windows, from £17.95, Blinds 2go

5 things...

If you live in a Conservation Area or listed property, the number and position of new windows permitted may be restricted. Sun pipes, which funnel the light through mirrored pipes, can bring much-needed daylight to a dark corner, and are generally more acceptable to planning and conservation officers.

Right Tailor Stripe wallpaper in Corn, £70.50 per roll; woodwork painted in Slaked Lime (105) intelligent eggshell, £30 for 1tr, Little Greene

you’ll only know if you have a loft room

ONE

TWO

THREE

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How far away the kitchen is. And the front door, for that matter. A video-cam doorbell with two-way comms will suddenly become an essential investment.

The real joy of a cordless vacuum cleaner. You were already considering building it a throne, but now the genius of lightweight, ﬂex-free cleaning is truly revealed. Maybe buy a spare to keep on standby.

Your carpenter’s first name, the name of his or her partner, offspring and/or pets. They’ll spend so long installing fitted furniture into every orifice you may as well direct debit them from your wages.

The strength of your knees. You’ll almost certainly feel that extra ﬂight of stairs, for a few weeks at least. But think how happy your pedometer will be – before long you’ll have Tour de France-ready calves.

What the weather is actually doing. Not what the Met Office app or Alexa tells you, but the current state of play. Perfect for keeping a close eye on those looming grey clouds when you have washing on the line.

Left Formoso Petite bath, £2,399, Clearwater. Ketho double vanity unit, £1,005.48, Duravit. Project by LLI Design

Stripes are famed for their space-boosting powers. On walls, go vertical to enhance the feeling of height, and horizontal for increased width. On ﬂoors, a runner-style rug will draw the eye right through the space, again making it feel bigger than reality. Opting for multicoloured stripes is also brilliant for picking out accent colours on cushions and bedding. Stop it from slipping into migraine territory by combining your stripes with a solid dose of block colour in a neutral shade.

ARTIST & INTERIORS BLOGGER

SARA CARLTON ‘Our home is a small 1800s terraced stone cottage in rural County Durham. When we moved in this loft space was unloved, damp and dark, with horrible red carpet and dark varnished beams. Initially we just stored a couple of mattresses up here but we loved the den-like feel so much it soon became our master bedroom! As the ceilings are low, a standard bed wouldn’t ﬁt, so I upcycled some pallets I found on Gumtree and it ﬁts the two mattresses perfectly. I love plants and was inspired by walls of wood and greenery when I created the headboard. It is all faux for ease. Initially, I wanted to keep the brick wall at the back exposed but it was in a poor state of repair. I painted it instead, using Annie Sloan’s Graphite Chalk Paint, which worked really well because it also sealed the brickwork. I like how the dark shade has highlighted the unusual shape of the loft room and adds depth. Painting the dark beams white, along with the rest of the room, really opened up the space. We use nearby rooms for storage, so we only sleep and relax here. Keeping the décor and furniture simple and minimal means it doesn’t feel too cluttered. We might extend the room eventually, but at the moment that’s still a pipe dream.’ Blog: sara-louisa.com Instagram: @_saralouisa

} } Don’t forget TO STAY SAFE UP THERE.

Nest Protect 2nd Generation Smoke and CO Detector, £109, Argos

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If you’re committing the entire top ﬂoor to a master bedroom suite, consider going open plan with the bathing and sleeping areas to make the most of all available daylight. To ensure a degree of privacy, plan the layout carefully so that the bath/ shower, and especially the toilet, are not in direct view when entering the room. Decent extraction is paramount – go beyond building regulation requirements to protect bedding and clothing from moisture.

Bell bottom yellow table lamp with vintage black/ blue shade, £138; cushion in Carnation, £55; limited edition vintage tray, £30, all Winter’s Moon. Project by Pascoe Interiors and Fiftypointeight Architecture

In many homes the chimney breast will carry up through the loft in its passage to the roof, stealing valuable space as it goes. Built-in storage, ﬁtted neatly into the alcoves on either side, can help claw back storage potential and create a smart design feature. Don’t be tempted to add full-height doors though – aim to keep at least 50 per cent of the storage open so that the eye is drawn through to the very back of the room. Add LED lighting below shelves to boost the impact.

Custom-made bunk beds, wardrobes and shelving, around £12,000, The Wood Works

A predominantly white scheme with purposeful blocks of solid colour is a great way to use bold shades while keeping everything feeling light and uplifting. A really bright white ﬂoor – think Arctic White – can be gamechanging, until it’s time to clean. Go for a low-maintenance vinyl or even rubber over carpet, and invoke a strict shoes-off policy before entering the room.

INTERIORS INSTAGRAMMER

JANE EVANS

If you’ve ever slept in a room with skylights, you’ll already appreciate just how noisy rain can be – especially in winter when it’s blowing a hooley outside. Velux’s acoustic range promises to halve the noise levels of rainfall, compared to a standard roof window, which could save the day (or night) in a hail storm.

Bunk beds make the most of all the vertical space. You can go for a platform bed with desk or wardrobes underneath if the room is for solo use. A decent staircase is preferable to a ladder once children are older, and the steps can be made into drawers if space is tight. For really high beds, include a guard at the top, even for teens, to eliminate the potential for bumps in the night.

‘We’ve been renovating our late-Victorian home for nearly four years now. I’m mostly enjoying it, although having baby number three during the most dramatic demolition phase wasn’t easy! We built a connecting garage on the side of the house, with a guest bedroom and bathroom above it. The planners were particular about the extension’s height, so we’ve had to fit the guest suite into a tricky loft space with sloping ceilings. But our clever builder did good, and I am so happy with it. The pale grey, pale pink and white colour scheme is my favourite. I’ve added some black so it doesn’t feel too insipid. I wanted painted white floorboards to fit with the attic room feel, and then everything else followed. My main advice would be that as sloping ceilings mean there isn’t much space for furniture, fewer, smaller pieces work best. Instagram: @talesofsilverdale

10 WAYS WITH

wood Embrace nature and warm up your scheme with the latest design ideas for this tactile texture

FEATURE AMELIA SMITH

ood is often overlooked as a practical and hardwearing material, but displaying its beauty in your home can be beneﬁcial in more ways than one. With a nod to bringing the outside in, wood is a hint of nature, boasting a calming quality that can make you feel relaxed, energised and comforted. Whether you are channelling a botanical, coastal or industrial feel, wood (be it real or faux), is the perfect backdrop to any home. So here are the best new ways to incorporate it in your space.

1 Wonder wall Embrace coastal style in your bedroom by creating the effect of an extended headboard with simple wooden panels. Show off nature’s beauty with the natural wood grain pattern and tie it into your scheme with a wooden bed and ﬂooring. You could even use a wooden wall like this as a room divider, separating a bedroom from a dressing area behind. Aubrey double-bed frame, £199; Herringbone rug, £30; Coastal Reed shade, £12; Coastline check throw, £16, all Argos.

For more advice on wooden ﬂoors head to realhomes.com/buyersguides/wooden-ﬂoorbuyers-guide

2 Inside and out

3 Colour pop Wooden panelling gives a Shaker-style update for any room, and can be combined with a small ledge to act as a shelf. Paint it for a splash of colour, and update when you want a style refresh. Admiral 1685 back-to-wall roll-top bath and chrome leg set, £399.95, Victorian Plumbing. For similar tongue and groove wall panels, try beaded MDF panel, £14 for L122xW60.7cm, Wickes. For similar paint, try Soft Duck Egg bathroom paint, £20.50 for 2.5ltrs, Crown.

PHOTOGRAPH TOM FALLON

New lease of life Real wood is long lasting, hard wearing and timeless, making it the perfect material for upcycling. Look to companies that use salvaged materials, like Retrouvius. This bespoke kitchen island is made out of laboratory worktops from secondary schools, and the glass panels are recycled from old copper window frames. The splashback is salvaged teak, and even the ﬂooring is recycled parquet, creating a space full of history and charm. Expect to pay around £1,200 for the materials for a worktop like this, Retrouvius.

Achieve that sought-after garden link by using the same wood-effect ﬂooring inside and out. Lay planks lengthways to elongate your space and give the illusion of a larger living area. Opt for a hard-wearing material, such as porcelain, that can also be used outside, and a design with a high slip-resistant rating for added safety (known as R values, they range from R9 to R13). Chalet Tahoe 1cm porcelain indoor tile, £34.95 per m2; Chalet Tahoe 2cm porcelain outdoor tile, £54.95 per m2, Valverdi.

SHOULD YOU GO

Real or fake?

What to consider when deciding what’s best for your space THE LOOK If you want to maintain a perfect, seamless ﬁnish with a colour and style that won’t change over time, go for a wood-effect design. Love the way wood naturally ages and gradually changes colour? Go for the real deal...

Geometric flooring Have the warmth of wooden floors and the playfulness of patterns with luxury vinyl flooring. It can usually be used with underfloor heating (although check the manufacturer’s guidelines), and if you’re a confident DIYer, you can fit it yourself. Colesseum LVT in Offcut Art, £25.99 per m2, Lifestyle Floors.

THE SPACE Bear in mind the environment where you’re using the wood before you make your final material choice. In a wet space, such as a bathroom, or if it will be exposed to changes in temperature, such as flooring used with underfloor heating, real wood could warp and expand. In these cases, wood-effect tiles or engineered wood flooring would be better bets. THE LONGEVITY When choosing flooring, consider how long you want it to last for. ‘A quality engineered wood floor should last for up to 75 years, whereas laminate may only last for around 20 years. While both flooring types are easy enough to clean, with engineered wood flooring you can re-sand and re-finish the floor a number of times during its lifetime, which isn’t possible with laminate flooring,’ says Peter Keane, director at The Natural Wood Floor Company. Want more advice on choosing the right wood for your home? Visit realhomes.com and search ‘wood flooring’ for buying guides and tips.

TOP TIP Ensure real wood is sustainably sourced by looking for FSC certiﬁcation or the PEFC logo

6 Perfect match Wooden planks aren’t just for floors, they look just as good on walls and doors, too. Extend your flooring upwards and indulge in the natural beauty of real wood with Havwoods’ new cladding. Use horizontally on walls for a cosy log cabin-look, or vertically on sliding doors (pictured right) for a room divider that blends in seamlessly with the rest of your space. Relik Barn genuine reclaimed engineered American Oak wood flooring, also shown as door cladding, £147.54 per m2, Havwoods.

7 Shelving highlight Up your shelﬁe game by lining the back of your open shelves with a simple sheet of plywood for a Scandi update. This can transform even a simple set of shelves into a unique feature to display your crockery in style. Modular shelving unit with wooden back, from £580, 1909 Kitchens.

TOP TIP

Protect real wood in the bathroom with treatments such as Osmo Wood Protector, which can help to repel water

Wood-effect wallpaper If you don’t want to commit to installing wooden panels, new high-deﬁnition printing techniques mean wood-effect wallpaper looks remarkably real, and it’s easy to strip it off if you change your mind. From plank effects and logs to overlapping slats of distressed wood, there are so many designs available to just paste on the look you want. Hygge Natural wallpaper, £60 per roll, Graham & Brown.

Tactile splashback If you’ve got a neutral, contemporary kitchen, warm up your room and add character with a woodeffect worktop and splashback. For an inexpensive alternative to real wood, choose laminate, or for a more hard-wearing option, go for ceramic. Kitchen, from £187 for a 60cm hi-line base unit, Caple. For a similar worktop, try the Arizona ceramic worktop, £650 per m2, Ceralsio.

10 Sauna style Transport yourself to a relaxing spa retreat every day with wood-effect tiles for your bathroom. This chevron design creates a style statement. Modern technology means porcelain can look identical to the real deal, plus it’s practical for a wet environment. Hydra drop in bath, £1,795, Botanics Collection, Water Baths of Ashbourne. Cherished mix wood-effect chevron tiles, £49.95 per m2, Walls & Floors.

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Sofa, Sofa.com. Gold side table, Rockett St George. Cushions and sheepskin, TK Maxx. Wall painted in Regent Green by Benjamin Moore

‘This corner’s in my home office, it’s where I design from. My desk’s on the other side of the room, but this is where I’ll sit to go through textures and pull a scheme together. I throw stuff all over the floor. I know how I design – I need space where I can turn off the screen, sit somewhere comfortable and have this beautiful natural light coming in through the window. It’s nice to look at the garden and just let your mind wander. I’ve had a large table in there and tried to force myself to work at that, but I just ended up working in the living room. Sitting here makes me feel more relaxed and creative. The elephant lamp was a random find at TK Maxx that I had to give a home to; I’m drawn to animals and insects. The print of the lady is by Rebecca Leigh (seedofmemoryart). I loved it as soon as I saw it, and I have a few pieces by her. She tries to recapture a forgotten time. Phoebe perceives the office as “mummy’s space” and she respects it as being mine. What’s lovely is sometimes I can go and sit in that corner for 20 minutes and just read a book. Phoebe’s a big restyler, though. She likes to move ornaments and put rugs in different places. I frequently come in and she’s moved the cushions or put a different throw in. I say, “Have you been doing mummy’s office?” and she’s like, “Yes. It looks beautiful now”. I have created a beast!’

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WORDS ALISON JONES PHOTOGRAPH KATIE LEE

Cathy Dean is an interior designer (cathydean interiordesign.com). She lives in a 17th-century converted barn in Northumberland with her husband, Sam, and daughter Phoebe, four and a half

lo ve

MY FAVOURITE CORNER

winner

MONOCHROME MAGIC With a tight budget and a pot of black paint, Ellie and Adam Tildesley have enlarged and transformed their 1940s house

WORDS KAREN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHS KASIA FISZER STYLING AMELIA SMITH

best home makeover

This is the only room that features an entirely black wall. ‘It’s one of the sunniest rooms, so I felt it could take it,’ says Ellie, who created the artwork herself. ‘I’ve seen beautiful rooms with every wall dark, but I wouldn’t want that in my living room as it wouldn’t ﬂow with the rest of the house.’ Coffee table, Dunelm. Art print, @ellietildesleyprints on Instagram. Sanela green velvet cushion, Ikea. For a similar sofa and rug, try the Spencer black leather sofa, Habitat, and a cowhide rug from City Cows. The vintage sideboard was a £15 Gumtree bargain that Ellie restored; for similar, try the Quilda vintage oak sideboard, La Redoute. Art print bottom left above the sideboard, @ellietildesleyprints

Although Ellie’s idea for a planed square edge timber floor was met with bemusement by her builder, she knew it would look great stained to match the original floorboards, and it only cost around £400. Choosing wood worktops over concrete or stone also saved them money. ‘It gives the room a warmer edge and ties in with the flooring,’ she says. Kungsbacka matt black kitchen units, Ikea. Stools, B&Q. Worktops, The Chippy Shop on Ebay. ElectriQ dual-fuel double oven, Appliances Direct

fter stepping off a flight from Spain, Ellie and Adam received a voicemail message from an estate agent that instantly banished their post-holiday blues. The house they’d missed out on after a bidding war was unexpectedly back on the market. ‘We’d sold our house and were planning to move in with my mother-in-law as we hadn’t found another place yet,’ says Ellie. ‘So I phoned the agent straight away.’ The detached 1940s house in the Devonshire village of Brandninch had originally been £75,000 over their £350,000 budget, but it came on their radar when the price was slashed. ‘It was a rough diamond – a solid house constructed by local builders with bay windows at the back and potential to extend,’ says Ellie. ‘For most people, the dated carpets, pink Artex and woodchip would have made their toes curl, but it got me massively excited.’ After completing the sale in August 2016, the family stayed with Adam’s mum for several weeks while the house was rewired and the Artex checked for asbestos. Starting on the first floor, they began ripping out carpets and fireplaces, sanding floors, replacing radiators and having walls re-skimmed room by room. Although the spacious landing was a big selling point, Ellie felt an en suite was more important, so they transformed a small toilet into a shower room by stealing space from the landing and master bedroom. Since the main bathroom was stripped back to an empty shell during the first fix, the en suite proved invaluable in the meantime. ‘The bath was removed to install a waste pipe for our future toilet, and the water tank was taken out in readiness for a new boiler,’ says Ellie. ‘So it made sense to just rip everything out until we have more money to redo it.’ Downstairs the game changer has been adding French doors to both reception rooms, as there was previously no direct access to the garden, and extending the kitchen by a couple of metres at the side. ‘My mum suggested it,’ laughs Ellie. ‘The extension has almost doubled the size of the kitchen and given us a utility room, all within permitted development limits.’ With a tight budget, it was Ikea all the way in the redesigned kitchen. ‘Luckily they had a simple, matt black finish that I really liked. We only spent £2,000 on the kitchen, island and utility, and I fitted it all myself,’ says Ellie. Her favourite aspect is the cleverly customised breakfast cupboard next THE OWNERs to the fridge-freezer which keeps small appliances off the worktops. ‘The Ellie Tildesley, a visual merchandiser, 80cm wide cabinet wasn’t deep enough. Instead we used two 40cm by and her husband, Adam, a water 60cm cabinets side by side and cut through the dividing panel to fit the quality scientist, live here with their width of the microwave,’ she explains. children, Arlo, six, and Murray, four, Cost cutting also inspired the nifty island, which is made from two and cat Mindy 80cm drawer units, MDF panels, and a wood worktop. ‘It has plenty of THE PROPERTY storage, which means we don’t need wall cupboards,’ says Ellie. ‘I prefer A four-bedroom, early 1940s the space to look open and streamlined.’ detached house in Bradninch, Throughout the project, the couple relentlessly tried to keep down near Exeter, Devon costs. They reused the old kitchen door in the new utility room, put down a planed square edge (PSE) timber floor in the kitchen instead of engineered project COST £45,000 for building work and oak, and bought ex-display white goods. ‘With integrated kit such as interior fit out fridge-freezers and dishwashers, as long as they are in good working order, it doesn’t matter if they’re aesthetically damaged,’ says Adam. Ellie’s even utilised her degree in Fine Art to create her own abstract artwork and has made a dining table from a plywood sheet and two Ikea tressel legs. Surprisingly, the stylish monochrome look wasn’t entirely planned, and is a major departure from the couple’s previous home, which had a softer, feminine feel with a sage green painted kitchen and putty walls. ‘It started after I tried grey woodwork in our bedroom and it didn’t look punchy enough with the black fireplace,’ says Ellie. ‘Now I’ve always got a black paint brush or spray can in my hand.’ While there’s still work to complete, including turning a cupboard into a proper larder, decorating the ground floor bedroom and adding a P-shaped shower bath to the bathroom, the pair are enjoying a breather before the final push. ‘I love how Ellie’s vision has paid off,’ says Adam. ‘It looks contemporary, unique and homely. It feels like it’s been a long journey, and there’s still more to go, but at least we aren’t living on a building site now.’

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Right and below Ellie brought the large pendant lights from her previous home. ‘I couldn’t decide what shape I preferred – I bought two of each from Aldi, intending to hang two and take the others back, but all four looked nice,’ she says. ’They were white but I spray painted them.’ The Ercol loveseat was a gift from a friend who inherited it from her dad. ‘I’d wanted one for ages so it was a lovely gesture,’ she says For similar black pendant lights, try Biard Pegau, Beam LED, and Nordlux Kingston, Lighting Direct. Print in alcove, @ellietildesleyprints on Instagram. Try Sklum for similar Tolix-style chairs. Mirror, Ikea. Calendar, Stendig. Cushions, B&Q. For a similar rug, try City Cows

BEFORE

Above The high scaffold board shelf was designed for displaying plants. ‘I wanted to make sure the kitchen had that punch of green,’ says Ellie. ‘And the chopping boards and wooden bowls keep it looking warm and not too sterile.’ Brackets, Ikea. Black sink, Homebase. Chopping boards, H&M, Ikea and TK Maxx. Try Etsy for similar wooden bowls

#SOREALHOMES

FOR MORE DECORATING IDEAS, GO TO REALHOMES.COM/DECORATING

As there were few period features to dictate the interior style, apart from the original doors and parquet ﬂoor in the hallway, Ellie felt she could take the look in any direction. ‘It took me about a week to strip the stairs with an edge sander,’ she adds. For a similar cabinet, try the Masha cabinet, Tikamoon. For similar seagrass belly baskets, try Ikea. Try the woven round rug by Bloomingville at Amara for similar

Iconic Lapal painted loop pendant, Iconic Lights. Try the Kanelstang plant stand, Ikea

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It was the lovely bright landing that clinched the sale when Ellie ﬁrst viewed the house. ‘I could instantly imagine the wall with a grid of family photos on it,’ she says.

Right and far right The old bed with head and footboards made the master bedroom feel cramped, so the couple made a plywood headboard and got a divan base instead. Ellie created the artwork above the bed herself. Geometric blanket, HomeSense. Ceiling cage light, Ikea. For a similar geometric cushion, try the Damiansville cover by Charlton Home, Wayfair. Vases, B&Q. Bedside lights made from Ikea bulbs with ﬁtment and ﬂex from Clas Ohlson

Hang out Choose the exposed bulbs and dramatic shapes of a cage pendant to modernise your space Angus three-light cluster pendant, £59.57, Wayfair

Above Everyone has been using the en suite until they can afford to revamp the family bathroom. The room was created from a small toilet using space from the landing. ‘A large landing was a luxury but an en suite is a necessity,’ says Ellie.

Achille walnut ceiling light shade, £75, Habitat

House Doctor asymmetric ceiling lamp in Shiny Gold, £66, Amara

Vanity unit and basin, Ikea. Radiator, Screwﬁx. Zazzle has similar chevron towels

Metal cage pendant in Cosy Blue with three swallows, £59.99, Maisons du Monde

‘THE MONOCHROME STARTED AFTER GREY DIDN’T LOOK PUNCHY ENOUGH. NOW I’VE ALWAYS GOT A BLACK

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PAINT BRUSH IN MY HAND’

Right and below The monochrome scheme makes it easy to swap things around. ‘I do it so much Arlo doesn’t bat an eyelid’ says Ellie.

FOR A STEPBY-STEP UPCYCLING PROJECT YOU CAN TRY, TURN TO PAGE 45

For a similar bed, try the Minnen bed from Ikea. Garland, Talking Tables. Bean bag, Aldi. Stay Wild print, @ellietildesleyprints on Instagram. Dunelm has a similar star cushion. The animals print is framed wallpaper from PaperBoy Wallpaper. Writing desk, charity shop buy. Shelf made from chipboard, available from DIY shops

clever idea

Above It took just ﬁve minutes for Ellie to transform this £15 charity shop wardrobe in Arlo’s bedroom, using masking tape and black paint. Belly basket, Ikea. Garden Trading has a similar small stool

THE PLANS BEFORE

GROUND FLOOR

AFTER

BEFORE

FIRST FLOOR

AFTER

BEDROOM

BEDROOM WC KITCHEN WC

KITCHENDINER

DINING ROOM

LIVING ROOM

BEDROOM

UTILITY

LIVING ROOM

BATHROOM

BEDROOM

EN SUITE

BEDROOM

BATHROOM

BEDROOM

Construction Dave Greening Building Contractors, 07881 478502 Plumbing John Broom, JS Broom Plumbing and Heating, 07967 377185 Kitchen Ikea, 0845 358 3363, ikea.com

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Contacts

A DV E RTOR I A L

THE PERFECT LIGHT Keep your home bright and maintain privacy with these clever new designs from Blinds 2go iving on a busy road, having a bedroom on the ground floor, or having a home that is overlooked all mean the right window dressing can make a big difference to how you feel in your space. While it’s tempting to keep your blinds closed, a dark space with no natural light is not ideal. Blinds 2go has developed a clever new blind design, which allows natural light to flood your space while preventing you from being overlooked. The Day and Night Enjoy roller blinds have alternating stripes of opaque and translucent woven fabric. By sliding these sections past one another with the simple control chain, you can select the perfect balance of light and privacy at any moment in the day. The fabric creates a soft effect, allowing light to gently filter through your home, obscuring the view from the outside at the same time. So you can let in maximum light throughout the day, simply pull the chain for more or less privacy as required, and then completely block out the night in the evening. What’s more, the simple design will suit any scheme and create a stylish feature. To find out more about these clever blinds and to explore the entire range, call 0800 862 0464 or visit blinds-2go.co.uk.

Clockwise from top Enjoy roller blinds are available in a range of 30 colours and styles, from £26.10, Blinds 2go

A GUIDE TO

Rear extensions

WORDS SARAH WARWICK

TURN OVER TO READ HOW THESE HOMEOWNERS CREATED A KITCHEN-DINER EXTENSION FOR UNDER £60,000 85

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BEFORE

hether it’s a modest addition in a side return, a sizeable construction, or something in between, a rear extension will bring plenty of beneﬁts. Adding extra space at the back of your home can revolutionise the way you use it, updating old-fashioned living arrangements to more modern versions to suit singles, couples and families alike. Make sure you bear value in mind when you’re thinking about a rear extension. In a city where space for expansion is limited and the next step on the housing ladder is diﬃcult to take, you can add more value than in other parts of the country. Get in touch with an experienced local estate agent who can help you assess what extending might add to a potential selling price, so you don’t overspend on the addition. There’s no denying that dust and noise are inevitable when you’re building on to your home, but constructing a rear extension can be relatively quick, generally taking two to three months. Arm yourself with knowledge and get inspired by the homeowners who’ve gone through it before, though, and the disruption will be worthwhile.

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Building on to the back of your house can add the living space you’re lacking and create room for a modern kitchen-diner. Find out how to do it

BUDGET PLANNING The cost of building work starts at around £30,000 for a 4x5m extension without professional fees. If you go for a top-spec extension, it could be around £60,000. Where you live will also inﬂuence what you pay, and you’ll need to add a further 10-15 per cent for professional fees with VAT on top. What the room’s used for is going to affect the ﬁnal bill – for example, a kitchen extension is more expensive than a simple living space.

DESIGN INPUT It’s possible to work with a builder alone when you’re adding a rear extension. Remember that you will need planning and construction drawings. You could bring in a design and build specialist who will look after the entire project. This means you’ll just be dealing with one ﬁrm, which may appeal. Alternatively, appoint an architect or architectural technologist and then hire building contractors. A good architect with experience of similar projects will offer creative solutions within your budget constraints.

THE PLANS BEFORE

GROUND FLOOR

HALL

LIVING ROOM

AFTER

KITCHEN

DINING ROOM

HALL

LIVING ROOM

KITCHEN-DINER

LIGHT BOOSTER WHICH EXTENSION? To increase living space at the back of a Victorian or Edwardian semi or terraced house, you could opt for a side-return extension using the passageway at the back. Although the area you’re adding isn’t big, the extra square metres can transform an existing room. An option for many styles of property is to simply extend backwards from the house into the garden. Alternatively, you might be able to think about a rear and side-return wraparound extension design that increases the width of the existing rear of the house as well as its depth.

A flat-roof extension complemented Daniel and Rachel Morris’ existing house and solved the problem of a cramped kitchen ‘Before, the ground floor was a rectangle with the living room and dining room on one side, and the remaining space on the other side shared between the hall, stairs and kitchen,’ says Daniel. ‘There was barely enough room for two of us to be in the kitchen at the same time, and cooking was not an enjoyable experience. ‘The work was done under permitted development. It didn’t involve any compromises on the floor area: we knew we didn’t want to extend any further than three metres to the rear as this would have meant losing too much garden. The outside space was already fairly small, and we wanted to keep as much as possible to enjoy and for our four-year-old son to run around in. ‘We did have to compromise on ceiling height as the permitted development restrictions meant the ceiling of the extension would have to be around 25cm lower than the ceiling

ROOM USE A rear extension is often used to create a more contemporary layout at the back of the house and an improved connection to the outside space. It could be used for a kitchen-diner where there was only a pokey kitchen before, or be large enough to allow for cooking, dining and living zones within it. Consider as well, using the extension as a living room with great garden views, with the kitchen located further back in the original house or even in what was a rear reception room.

in the rest of the property. Instead, the designers installed a rooﬂight that runs nearly the full width of the extension and creates a feeling of height. ‘When we ﬁrst thought about extending, we assumed we’d put the kitchen in the new space. The designers suggested we switch things round and we quickly warmed to the idea when we realised it gave us more work and storage space. It enables us to use the part of the extension that has more natural light as our living area. ‘The addition has completely changed the way we use the house, and the new living space is the focal point for most of our activities. It means we are able to cook and enjoy family time all together in one place. Being able to see the garden is great for relaxation.’ COST AND CONTACTS Project cost £59,500 Design and build Plus Rooms, 0800 917 7127, plusrooms.co.uk

FUTURE PROOF You might be building on a single storey at the back of your house now, but maybe you’ll want to turn it into a two-storey extension one day. If so, make it clear to the architectural designer. Generally, less substantial foundations and steels are required for a single storey, but the design could be planned with the potential for having another storey over it in the future in mind.

BEFORE

GOOD NEIGHBOURS Building near or on the boundary with your neighbours’ home will require you to follow the stipulations of the Party Wall Act. It’s preferable to talk to next door ﬁrst, so they don’t receive a form out of the blue, but you will need to serve notice in writing between two months and a year before you start the work. There are templates handy at gov.uk/guidance/ party-wall-etc-act-1996guidance, but if you don’t want to do this yourself, or if neighbours refuse consent, a party wall surveyor can help. MATERIAL MATTERS A rear extension might use the same materials as the original house, but it can be preferable to distinguish new from old with different types. If you take the latter route, however, they still need to be complementary to the original house for design success. Cladding with render, timber or metal can make a new addition striking or subtle; you might want to opt for a glass box-style extension, or consider a timber-framed design for a period property.

DECORATING CHOICES An extension with large areas of glazing will be light ﬁlled, so bear this in mind when choosing interior ﬁnishes, including kitchen cabinetry. A material that might be suitable deeper into the house could dazzle if positioned near full-length glazing and under roof windows. For walls, the brightness of an extension brings the potential to use darker, more dramatic shades than you might get away with in the original part of the house.

THE PLANS BEFORE

GROUND FLOOR

AFTER

KITCHEN DINING ROOM

LIVING ROOM

KITCHEN

DINING ROOM

LIVING ROOM

GENEROUS GLAZING One of the many upsides of building on at the back is the opportunity to exchange small windows for large areas of glazing. Often this takes the form of bi-fold or sliding doors that allow the new room a fabulous connection to the exterior. Bi-folds right across the rear of an extension allow the whole aperture to be opened out, which could be your preference, while sliding doors won’t fully open out the space, but can provide the most uninterrupted views, especially if you choose very minimal framing.

Extending into the side return and creating a direct connection to her patio garden has had a transformative effect on Nathalie Jouy’s kitchen ‘My kitchen was at the back of the house with an alleyway alongside,’ says Nathalie. ‘It had a very large sash window looking over the alleyway but it faced a brick wall and, despite the planting I’d done, it was unusable and the kitchen was very dark. ‘I was recommended architect Patrick Owens, and I gave him a long list of requirements. Making the kitchen bigger was one, as well as a better link with the back reception room. Because the patio garden is small, we didn’t want to lose any space from it, so that’s why we only extended into the side return. ‘Raising the patio so it was a continuation of the kitchen was a tour de force. The garden is really very secluded and in summer it’s my little Riviera – warm and welcoming. I’m actually amazed at the impact the patio has made. Before, there were steps down to the garden, which made it quite inconvenient and like a separate entity. Now it’s one huge space – as if I have a garden in my kitchen. ‘The new kitchen has the feel-good factor. It’s a pleasure to look at and to move about in at any time of the day or night. It’s a warm, relaxing environment. You can see the marble of the island from the hall as you come in and through to the patio. I was worried that choosing marble and grey would be too clinical because grey can be quite cold, but these cabinets aren’t that at all. ‘My friends come here for coﬀee, for lunch and for dinner. Everybody feels relaxed and comfortable, and they even help me out with the food by participating in the cooking. It’s so much easier because you can chat while you’re preparing. I also spend a lot of time in the kitchen myself, looking at the patio garden.’ COST AND CONTACTS Project cost £85,000 Architect Patrick + Ryan, patrickandryan.co.uk

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LIGHTEN UP Adding a rear extension can leave the centre of the house lacking in light. The remedy? Roof glazing will introduce sunlight deep into the house as well as giving you sky views from the new space. Glazed roofs are a possibility, depending on the orientation of the extension. More cost effective to include in your design are rooﬂights, which can be opening or not. Fitted in a series, they help create the effect of a glazed roof. Roof lanterns are also worth considering as they add height to the new addition, making the space feel bigger.

SPACE EXPANDER

STAY WARM You may be able to extend your existing heating system for your new space. Check with a heating engineer that your boiler is up to the job as you might need to budget for a replacement. If the room’s going to be an open-plan kitchen-diner, underfloor heating could be a better option. Electric underfloor heating is cheaper, while the warm water version is more complicated to fit but costs less to run in the long term.

TRAFFIC FLOW Pay attention to how people move through the extension to the garden. If the addition contains a kitchen, circulation through the working part is a no-no for obvious safety reasons. Incorporating an island into the design can be a good way of keeping the cook and their hot pans and sharp knives away from family members and visitors heading for the outside.

HOME HUB A ground floor extension gave Ed and Tess Davidson and children Lily and Harry a kitchen to congregate in ‘Prior to the extension, we had an open-plan living room and dining room that remained unchanged,’ says Ed. ‘The kitchen was accessed off the dining room. It was a narrow galley with a short corridor off the back that led to a shower room and the garden. ‘The extension created a kitchen with a seating area/small dining space, which is perfect for the kids. It’s also a great place to set up the computer if you are working from home. The kitchen is now semi-open plan with

BEFORE

OFFICIAL GO-AHEAD The current permitted development regime that’s allowed many larger rear extensions to go ahead without planning permission applies to those completed by 30 May 2019. However, a Government consultation proposes that the right for a single-storey rear extension of up to 8m in length for detached houses, and up to 6m in length for semi-detached and terraced houses, subject to consultation with neighbours on amenity, be made permanent with a proposed fee of £96 for a prior approval application. Check with local planners to make sure you’re following the rules.

the dining room, so the whole space downstairs flows much better. ‘The extension size was informed by the size and shape of the plot and our desire to make the garden a little bigger. The architects came up with three alternative-sized extensions. We went for the smaller of the three as it gave us and the kids more room outside and more of the budget for work on the rest of the house. ‘We wanted an addition that looked a little different. During the feasibility study, we discussed a number of alternative finishes, but it was the stark contrast between the zinc and oak that really stood out for us. ‘The kitchen is much more of a social space than it was before, and it’s definitely become the hub of the house. It’s lovely in the summer, when you can open the doors and the kids are in and out of the garden. It’s also great when we have friends over for dinner as there is space for people to gather in the kitchen while you’re cooking, or they can spill over into the garden if the weather suits.’

ON THE ROOF A single-storey extension could have a flat or pitched roof. Flat roof designs – which aren’t actually completely flat as they need to allow rain to drain off – are generally the cheaper of the two options. If they bring unprepossessing 1970s designs to mind, don’t worry; contemporary versions can be extremely stylish as well as functional. A flat roof can be planted to create an eco-friendly green expanse that will provide a pleasing view from upstairs windows, or serve as a roof terrace.

RULE MAKER An extension needs to comply with the building regulations, and you’ll have to demonstrate that yours does. They’re a form of quality control, concerning issues such as safety, energy efficiency and sustainability. You can make an application via your local authority or use a building control ﬁrm, who each set their own fees. Drawings and details will be needed. An architectural designer can produce them for you. Taking the design and build route? They should be an itemised part of the package.

THE PLANS BEFORE

GROUND FLOOR

DINING ROOM

KITC

COST AND CONTACTS Project cost £201,675 with loft conversion Architect Bradley Van Der Straeten Architects, 07789 478519, b-vds.co.uk

AFTER

LIVING ROOM

KITCHENDINER

DINING ROOM

LIVING ROOM

Profile THE OWNER Andy Bradford, a TV producer THE PROPERTY A restored and extended two-bedroom mid-terraced house in Portobello, Dublin project COST Â£220,600

extended terraced house

FOR ART’S SAKE

Andy Bradford has given his home a new lease of life with a light-ﬁlled addition that’s the perfect canvas for his extensive art collection

Above and left The open-plan living area in the new full-width extension at the rear of the house has large sliding doors and rooﬂights, allowing the multifunctional space to be ﬂooded with natural light. Dark walls are the perfect backdrop for Andy’s striking artwork. ‘One of my favourite artists is Mark Redden,’ he says.

Doors and windows, The Folding Door Company of Ireland. The concrete ﬂoors were supplied by King Concrete and polished by Reno Floors. Walls painted in Yorktowne Green, Benjamin Moore. Lighting, Evan Henry Electrical. For a similar sofa, try Swoon. For similar velvet cushions, try Harvey Norman

dy Bradford purchased this small raced house, it was the location and the ment potential that won him over. ‘I love this wn – it’s really quaint with pretty houses and f restaurants and bars, and the city centre cessible,’ he says. ‘Although the house was and in a state of disrepair, I could see how ade more conducive for modern living.’ ginal house was split-level single storey extending to two storeys to the rear. tensive refurbishment, including rewiring , and the roof, doors and windows needed ll Henry to come up with an innovative design that would marry old with new and maximise the use of space and light. ‘Niall was fantastic and worked very closely with me from the onset,’ Andy says. ‘We compiled a detailed brief and held regular meetings to discuss the evolution of the design, from the initial sketch proposals through to the more detailed construction drawings and specifications. It was a very collaborative process.’ Together with the architect, Andy planned an ambitious project, including renovating the existing house and adding a modern, light-filled extension. While the formal reception rooms would remain at the front of the house, the rear would consist of an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area that opens onto a courtyard. Upstairs, Andy wanted to retain two bedrooms to accommodate overnight guests. Niall proposed the practical solution of fitting sliding doors between so that the space could be used as one large room or converted into two rooms for visitors. Andy was keen to have a luxurious upstairs bathroom. ‘We couldn’t extend outwards on the first floor due to planning restraints and I didn’t want to lose any area off the ground floor extension or the bedrooms,’ he says. The solution was to drop the high ceiling in the front reception room and utilise the loft space, creating a spacious bathroom with a pitched roof. Skylights allow as much natural light as possible to flood the room. Modern glazing and decorative choices give Andy’s home a distinctively fresh and contemporary feel, but the house contains nods to the old, too. Polished concrete flooring and a streamlined white kitchen contrast with industrial-style bar stools, a rustic dining table and vintagestyle chairs and sideboard. Rich, dark colours like the deep grey reception room are lifted with pops of colour, such as the cushions scattered over the velvet sofa. Décor was particularly important to Andy as a canvas for his impressive art collection. ‘I didn’t want everything to be white, but it was hard to choose colours that would make my artwork pop,’ he says. He visited colourist Olah Kelly from MRCB Paints for advice. ‘She was wonderful,’ he adds. ‘She worked with me to make sure I had the dramatic colours I wanted without detracting from the art.’ During the build, Andy opted to fit the windows with gallery glass to prevent damage to his art, and installed a light rail to illuminate the space at night. Andy’s collection is the result of more than a decade of exploration. ‘Most of my art is by Irish artists,’ he says. ‘I love contemporary art and I’m normally drawn to striking darker pieces. Over a period of 10 years, I’ve collected some wonderful works. I’ve got to know some of the artists personally, which has given me a real insight into their work – and a greater connection to the pieces themselves. Thanks to Niall’s expertise, I’ve ensured that every inch of this house has been utilised, and now it’s not only a fantastic home but also a great showcase for my favourite art.’

TOP TIP Achieve a smooth, seamless ﬁnish with maximum impact by painting your ceiling the same colour as your walls

The simple clean lines of the kitchen cabinets keep the look uncluttered. ‘I wanted the kitchen to feel spacious and bright, so I opted for white handleless cabinets with integrated appliances,’ Andy says. ‘Apart from the ﬂoor-to-ceiling unit on the back wall, the kitchen is free of overhead units, so I have extra space for art.’ Kitchen units and worktops, Kube Kitchens. Kitchen area painted in Citrine and Olive, both Little Greene. Oven, Siemens. Bar stools, Decor

TOP TIP Pops of colour through inexpensive accessories – cushions, throws and plants, for example – will balance dark walls

THE PLANS GROUND FLOOR BEFORE

AFTER WC RECEPTION ROOM KITCHEN-DINER

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

WC KITCHEN

TERRACE

feeling regal Add a hint of royal blue to your scheme. If it’s good enough for the Queen, it’s good enough for us…

Bellini two-seater sofa in Ink Blue velvet, £389.99, My Furniture

This image and left The ﬁreplace is original to the house. Andy exposed the brickwork to add visual interest and texture. Mixed-style furnishings, including a deep blue velvet contemporary sofa, a second-hand vintage chair and a rustic coffee table, give the room an eclectic look.

WORDS PENNY CRAWFORD COLLINS PHOTOGRAPHS PHILIP LAUTERBACH

Walls painted in Bronze, Paint & Paper Library. Cushions from the Pepino collection, Scion. Reclaimed oak ﬂooring, Victorian Kitchen Company. For a similar sofa, try Harvey Norman. For a similar coffee table, try Swoon. For a similar throw, try Tolly McRae

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Rotunda blue stool, £99, The French Bedroom Company

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Jonah Cobalt Blue velvet sofa, £599, Made.com

BEFORE

Natural light ﬁlters through the hall from the new extension. The expanse of wall is the perfect spot for Andy to display his large collection of pictures Artwork, The Origin Gallery. Walls painted in Plimsoll, Paint & Paper Library. Stair carpet, TC Matthews

Above and right The converted loft area houses Andy’s spacious new bathroom, bathed in light from the three rooflights. Andy ensured there was plenty of storage which, combined with the large-format tiles, keeps the space streamlined and clutter free. Bathroom fixtures and tiles, Tubs & Tiles. Rooflights, The Folding Door Company of Ireland. Storage, Ikea

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Mouldgard mid sheen bathroom paint in Pamper Night, £14.49 per ltr, Crown

Dulux Easycare bathroom paint in Heart Wood, £22 for 2.5ltrs, Homebase

Modern emulsion paint in Brinjal No.222, £46.50 for 2.5ltrs, Farrow & Ball

Colour at Home bathroom soft sheen emulsion paint in Slate, £15 for 2.5ltrs, Wickes

moody hues Leave white walls behind and embrace strong colours with these bathroom paints

TOP TIP Bathroom in a loft? Plan around where you’ll need the most headroom to avoid constant head bumps. Ouch!

Simple contemporary furnishing and exposed bulbs keep Andy’s bedroom stylish and unfussy. Lighting, Evan Henry Electrical. Bedcovers, Lidl. The painting above the bed is by Patrick Pye. For a similar side light, try John Lewis & Partners. For a similar headboard, try Neptune

Above The front of Andy’s house had a makeover of its own. Chic blue-grey doors and windows replaced the old white versions for an instant upgrade. For a similar paint colour, try Breton Blue, Dulux

Contacts

THE PLANS FIRST FLOOR BEFORE

AFTER

BEDROOM

BATHROOM BEDROOM

BEDROOM

102

Architect Niall Henry, Dublin Design Studio, 00353 1 902 3944, dublindesignstudio.com Builder Moston, 00353 1 822 1677, moston.ie Glazing The Folding Door Company of Ireland, 00353 1 401 8282, foldingdoors.ie Kitchen Kube Kitchens, kubeinteriors.com

money

money Struggle to keep control of your project budget? Find it hard to resist impulsive buys? You’re not alone, says Andrea Childs y friend Tanya Taylor overspent on her loft conversion budget by £15,000. Even so, she splashed out on £14 bars of Aesop soap for the new en-suite bathroom and had linen sheets shipped over from Paris for the made-to-measure bed. ‘The rest of the house had £2 bars of soap from Sainsbury’s and bedding from H&M, but the project had been so stressful, messy and chaotic that I needed to ﬁnd some way to bring order and beauty to the process,’ she says. ‘I needed a sanctuary.’ Don’t we all. Creating the perfect home is an emotional desire, according to psychotherapist Audrey Stephenson (atthepractice.com). ‘People want to create safety; a home that’s beautiful and makes them feel at ease. That’s our internal motivation,’ she says. But we also have external triggers that prompt the urge to spend – and spend some more – to get it just right. ‘We live in a time when it’s easy to see how other people live. It drives us to feel like that’s what our life should be like, or that our homes should look a certain way.’ Most of us are savvy enough to decode the stunning interiors images we see in magazines and social media and work out how to recreate the look

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you can live with not finishing for the time being,’ advises Angela Stephenson. ‘Going over budget makes me feel anxious and keeps me awake at night,’ says Holly McAllister from Dundee. ‘As a couple, my husband and I are quite impatient and impulsive, but after years of DIY builds and house renovations, we’re getting better at reining it in. I now make an effort to plan out the spend, so we can spread it over a number of months, rather than starting at a million miles an hour and buying everything in one huge shopping splurge.’ Her latest project is the restoration of a classic campervan. ‘My rule from the get-go has been that nothing should go into the van that we don’t love. I don’t want to rush it; I want to take our time and only buy fixtures and fittings when we can afford what we really want, rather than making do with a cheaper alternative,’ she says. ‘I think because we see this as a long-term investment – we plan to enjoy the campervan as a family for many years – we’ve been able to take our time.’ Maybe that’s the secret: planning well, but also learning the joys of delayed gratification so that the end result is as perfect as it can possibly be – and still comes in on budget. As Sonia Pash says: ‘You don’t have to rush into buying handles for the kitchen or a towel rail in the bathroom. Get the plumbing and fixtures sorted first. Everything else is the icing on the cake.’

Five ways to keep control of your project budget Interior designer Sonia Pash shares her tips (temza.com) Write a detailed plan and costings before you start a project. Add in everything, from building costs to the price of door knobs, and make sure you can comfortably afford to spend the total amount. Consider the Cinderella factor. When you do up one part of your house, the surrounding rooms can look shabby. Be realistic about what else you’ll want to repaint and put it in your costs. Some things can wait – bathroom refurbishments are often fine on their own, and you could replace windows one floor at a time. Do a weekly cashflow so you know how much you’ve spent. It’s the best way to keep a track of outgoings and if you choose to spend more on an item – a bath, say – then you can decide where else to save in your budget. Shop smart. You’ll often get good discounts if you buy in bulk, such as plug sockets for every room; look for end-of-range or sale bargains, as you could save up to 50 per cent on flooring. Order early. You’ll pay a premium for rush deliveries or returns for pieces that are the wrong size or colour.

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without declaring bankruptcy. But who hasn’t succumbed to a heart-over-head moment when we’ve decided we absolutely must have a certain item or our home project is destined for failure? ‘I had a client who once impulse-bought four sofas for her living room and library – before we’d even worked out a floorplan,’ says interior designer Sonia Pash (temza.co.uk). ‘They were completely wrong for the space, so it turned out to be an expensive mistake.’ Sonia, as you might expect from someone who manages complete home refurbishments for a living, is all about the planning. ‘People underestimate the pre-construction stage because they’re worried about completing on a house purchase or picking the best builder. But for a big project such as an extension, you need to set aside three to four months to think through every aspect of the job, from where the sockets will go to the surfaces you will install,’ she explains. ‘It’s not enough to pick out some wallpaper and think you’ve designed a room.’ Ahem, guilty as charged. I’m retrospectively having extra sockets put into my home office because I moved the desk and decorated without thinking about how I’d plug in my computer. It would have been much easier if I’d applied a bit of due diligence to the electrics before picking out the perfect inky blue for the walls. Expenses start to creep up when we have to rush decisions that should have been made before the first builder arrived at the door. ‘Last-minute purchases mean you don’t have time to shop around, or you pay an extra 20 per cent for rush delivery,’ says Sonia. ‘If you don’t order ahead, the windows or wallpaper you want may be out of stock, so you’re paying for decorators to stand around while you wait for them to arrive.’ Back to Tanya, who borrowed £50k on the mortgage to convert the loft in her four-bedroom Victorian house, giving her and her husband a new bedroom and bathroom. ‘The builders quoted us £35,000, so we thought we’d use the leftover to pay off a credit card and have some extra flash money, but it all ended up going on the loft,’ she says. ‘We didn’t take into account how much it would cost to paint, and then because the new stairway leading up to it looked so white, we ended up painting the hall because it looked dingy in comparison. I found myself having to make decisions quickly, so ended up spending £400 on lighting. I became fixated on weird small items, like the £80 Bakelite door handles I bought on Ebay that now sit unused in a drawer. If I did it again, I’d do my research before the work actually started.’ ‘It’s easy to feel guilty when we’ve overspent, but we shouldn’t ever underestimate the forces that drive our nesting instinct,’ says psychotherapist Angela Stephenson (atthepractice.com). ‘We’re physiologically hardwired to crave security, which is why we are sensitive to temperature and can feel unnerved sitting with our back to the door. It’s proven that our mood improves and productivity increases when we’re in a space that’s functional, comfortable and attractive.’ We need to differentiate between the short-lived euphoria of an impulse buy and purchases that help us feel truly at home. ‘Ask yourself who you are as a person, how you want to move through your space, what atmosphere you want to create and how you want to feel when you walk through the door,’ she adds. ‘Ask what it is you value and create a place that makes you happy now, not for the life you imagine you’ll be living in five years’ time.’ It can take courage to face up to our overspending, but none of us wants to sit in our new kitchen conversion or living room makeover hyperventilating about how to pay for it. ‘When costs spiral and you get that out-of-control feeling, take a breath and get practical. Ask yourself what you’ve achieved on the project, what else you need to do and what

WORDS ELLEN FINCH IMAGE GETTY

From careful moodboarding to a throw-caution-to-the-wind approach, three readers explain how they plan their decorating projects

of us, someone gave us some advice: start at the end’ Dani Ellis, an interior designer (rosehaven.studio) lives in Hitchin, Hertfordshire with her husband Matt, a senior IT engineer, their children Poppy, 14, and Jude, 11, and their Cockapoo, Frodo ‘We did up our old house slowly, so it evolved over time and ended up looking a little mismatched, which was fine but not the style we wanted. When we sold that house, we wanted our next one to be a project. The house we live in now was completely dilapidated. We had to bid to win it, but I was already drawing up floorplans and thinking about light and space before we’d even found out we’d won. ‘With such a huge project ahead of us, someone gave us some invaluable advice: start at the end. We knew we wanted to knock down the back and extend to the side, but I had ideas of how I wanted it to look when everything was finished, too. There was a long wait between selling our house and finishing the project, but three months in, I had every room planned down to the rugs we were going to buy. It’s quite a scary way of going about a renovation – you have to have courage in your convictions. ‘Because we were using a lot of pieces from our old house, we found it useful to take those as starting points and build schemes around them. For example, we had a battered 1940s banana sofa that I decided to upholster in velvet, so our kitchen scheme was born out of that little sample of velvet. It’s helpful to have one item in each room that you absolutely love – then, when you’re looking for ideas, you’ll see lots of things that you know will work. ‘We didn’t veer too much away from the plans we initially made, partly because we had to trust the fact that they would work – we were planning for spaces that didn’t exist. It’s never too early to start thinking about what the finished room will look like – I actually think it helps save money because you’re not repainting or changing accessories. It also means you can enjoy the room as soon as it’s finished.’

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HOW I PLAN MY DECOR SCHEME

‘With a huge project ahead

‘A moodboard is something to hold onto on bad days when things aren’t going to plan’ Sally Worts, a freelance social media manager (@flower_ heart_flower), lives in Skipton, North Yorkshire with her husband Chris, a HR manager, and their sons Claydon, 23, Ronan, 21, Callum, 17, and Rhys, 13 ‘Redecorating our house has been a long process. We bought an old barn conversion six and a half years ago that needed a lot of work. We originally thought we’d embrace country cottage-style colours but then realised it wasn’t for us, so we’ve gradually gone darker room by room. ‘For each room, I’ll moodboard with a big piece of card and all the scraps I’ve collected from magazines and catalogues over the years – I love the Rockett St George ones. It’s very much a stick-and-paste process, and I include fabric samples too. It’s something to hold onto on bad days when things aren’t going to plan – you can look at it and remind yourself what it’s going to look like in the end. ‘Chris is a very visual person, so it helps him to be able to see the room and feel the samples. I put each moodboard together, but I like to show the rest of the family so they can visualise it too. We recently finished our lounge, and when I got the moodboard out I realised we’d pretty much kept to it. My favourite part of decorating is bringing everything together at the end, and you have to have a vision for that. ‘It’s easy to screenshot and save images onto your phone, but you just end up with a huge gallery of images that you never look at. I might see something on Instagram that I love, but six months later, when I can finally afford it, I’ve forgotten about it. Moodboarding is a great way to remind myself of all the things that have caught my eye. It’s also made me recognise that I have a core style. I like dark colours and quirkiness, with lots of gold accents in ornaments and lighting. ‘When I was creating the moodboard for our lounge, our 17-year-old had his friends around. They sat around the table with me and joined in, suggesting things I could add to the paper. Decorating is a family activity, and when you’ve reached the point with your kids where they don’t want to be involved, moodboarding is a great way to pull them back in – after all, it’s their home as well.’

Not sure where to start? Choose one colour or treasured item that you can build on

‘I take time over decisions as I can’t afford to change things. If it’s wrong, I have to live with it’ Sandra Buxton, a retiree who owns a holiday let (@tiggys_hideaway) lives in Stratfordupon-Avon with her husband, Richard ‘Richard built a little bungalow in our garden years ago for our daughter and granddaughter. When they moved out I wanted to turn it into a holiday let. When I told Richard, he just said, “Okay, over to you”. I went in, sat down, and looked at the walls. Interior design doesn’t come naturally to me, but I think about colours before I even look online for ideas. Once I’ve decided, I’ll dive in and look at Pinterest, Instagram and magazines for inspiration. ‘I write mammoth lists of everything I need, then work around the main items – like a sofa – and choose accessories like rugs. I take time over my decisions because I can’t afford to change them – if it’s wrong, I just have to live with it. Somehow, it always ends up coming together quite nicely – I’ve been lucky so far. ‘A lot of my planning is around how I want a room to feel. For the bungalow, I knew it had to be unfussy, and I wanted to create something any guest would like. I wanted someone to walk in, take their shoes off, hang up their coat and feel at home. I really thought about how to get that feeling in each room. ‘I write endless lists, but I’ve never been able to moodboard – it just doesn’t work for me. Instead, I choose colours, take screenshots of other people’s ideas, realise I can’t afford them, and then hunt around for a more affordable alternative. My way of working might be slower than most, and I don’t actually know it’s going to work until it’s all in place, but I love the feeling of looking at a finished room and thinking, “This has actually worked!” I don’t think you need an amazing sense of style to pull a room together – you just need to be positive and go for it.’

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winner Best renovation

PERIOD DRAMA Jade and Darren transformed a dated Victorian property into a charming ďŹ rst home. Features Editor Ellen Finch explains why it won our renovation prize

Profile THE OWNERs Jade Rodrigues, who works in asset management, lives here with her husband, Darren Wimhurst, an investment banker THE PROPERTY A three-bedroom, ex-council Victorian terraced house in south-east London project COST ÂŁ13,600 for the kitchen and bathroom renovation

through the front door into Jade and Darren’s hallway, it’s hard to believe their Victorian house is a first-time buy. Since snapping it up five years ago, the couple have restored the property to its 19th-century glory, using the weekend breaks from their busy jobs to embark on DIY projects and creative paint updates. For someone like me – a non-homeowner with a view to start shopping very soon – the advice that Jade has to offer is invaluable, but her budget-friendly tips and tricks are helpful to anyone looking to update their home for as little money as possible. Seated comfortably in her kitchen with a mug of tea, I spoke to Jade about taking on a period home, her unlikely source of inspiration, and why she won’t go open plan…

of us eating, so we wanted somewhere to sit and look out at the garden. We added a window to the side of the room and turned the end wall into big French doors

STEPPING

Q A

This place is a first-time-buyer’s dream. How did you manage to nab it? We’d always wanted a period home, but it was a real push to buy this house in the first place. We were both in our 20s when we started looking to buy a house, and we wanted somewhere close to work to reduce the commute. My parents live in north London so we looked there, but south London was cheaper; for the price of this house, we could only afford a basement flat with no windows in north London!

Q A

What drew you to the property? I adore Victorian houses but a lot of people ﬁnd them somewhat dark and cramped. Did you make plans to open out the spaces? We bought this house because of the high ceilings and chimney stacks. It has long, narrow proportions, but we like that. Everyone seems to want open-plan living now so families can be in one open space. My parents have that and I hated it growing up. Wherever you’re in the house, your parents can hear you – and if you had friends over, you were basically sitting in the room with your mum and dad! I much prefer individual spaces. We did think about doing a side-return extension, but we didn’t have enough money and we weren’t sure how long we’d be here for.

It’s easy to get carried away with big, costly ideas on a project, especially if it’s your first renovation. You’ve kept to a tight budget – any tips? We stretched ourselves to the max to get the house in the first place. Once we’d moved in, all our monthly income was going on our home and we’d do jobs as and when. Some things were really tough. The kitchen was practically unusable, and we would have loved to pay a kitchen fitter but didn’t have the money. We ripped it out six months sooner than intended because our boiler gave up and we had to move it. We bought the kitchen from DIY Kitchens for a quarter of the price it would have cost elsewhere, and it’s good quality, solid wood. You could even choose the Farrow & Ball finish you wanted. We had to measure everything ourselves, though.

Q A

That sounds like it had the potential for disaster if your calculations were slightly out… It took a lot of time and a lot of planning! We’re not DIY people and couldn’t do things like tiling, but we employed a carpenter on a day rate, which saved a lot of money. We did a lot of research before committing, and budgeting on the kitchen itself meant that we could splash out on a couple of luxuries, like the marble worktop – I really wanted natural stone rather than a man-made material.

Q A

While you haven’t extended, you have made the layout better. It’s amazing how much difference a small change such as moving a door can make, isn’t it? What was the renovation process like for you? It was very gradual. We worked on the house as and when we could afford it. We both work full time, so it was a case of doing DIY at the weekend. We started with the master bedroom and slept in the second bedroom for four months until we finished that, then we moved on to the lounge and dining room. We wanted to have a space to be comfortable while we tackled the main kitchen and bathroom. Originally there wasn’t a door into the lounge, so we added one, and we replaced the dividing doors between the lounge and dining room with bi-folds. We also moved the third bedroom doorway back to make the room square and extend the landing. It was a small change but I think it makes the house feel bigger. I absolutely loved the process and I’d love to buy and renovate another house, but my husband never wants to do it again…

Q A

You mentioned that the kitchen was your big project. Did you have an idea in mind for what you wanted? I love cooking and wanted a space to have people over. The original kitchen was at the end of the room and the dining room was in here, too. I wanted to create a breakfast bar, but everyone told us the room was too small and that we’d have to have a galley kitchen. I was adamant we’d get the breakfast bar – we wouldn’t sit in the dining room if it was just the two

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I love how you’ve modernised the house without losing its Victorian character. Was that important to you? It was. They don’t make houses like they used to. I’m interested in the decorative aspects of Victorian houses in particular, and wanted to emphasise original features where I could. In the hallway, for example, we painted the stairs. We couldn’t aﬀord a runner and I wanted to draw attention to the beautiful bannister spindles, so we painted the sides black for a cool eﬀect that cost practically nothing. The carpentry and mouldings in the house are painted dark colours to accentuate them, and we had the panels and beading of the original Victorian doors replicated in the French doors the carpenter made for our kitchen. I took a lot of inspiration from old pubs – plenty of dark blues and blacks. I wanted the house to be traditional and in-keeping but also cosy.

Q A

All the rooms have such strong character, but if you had to pick a favourite, which would it be? Our bedroom. It’s exactly what we wanted, bold and neutral colours in balance. We didn’t want to go too safe – the two-tone walls and painted ceiling make a statement. We chose the colours to make the room feel snug, and it almost encapsulates you – it’s sleep-inducing, which is ideal!

Right Opting for a more DIY kitchen was the biggest saving Jade made to the house. ‘If we’d bought one from a showroom, it would have cost three times as much and we wouldn’t have got things we wanted – like the breakfast bar.’ Second Nature kitchen, DIY Kitchens, painted in Railings, Farrow & Ball. Worktops, Stone Applications. Bar stools, Rockett St George. Yellow pendant, Heal’s. Floor tiles, Walls & Floors. Walls painted in Slaked Lime, Little Greene. Cooker, Smeg. Splashback tiles, Tons of Tiles. Sink and tap, Taps UK

TOP TIP

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WORDS ELLEN FINCH PHOTOGRAPHS MALCOLM MENZIES STYLING FRANCINE KAY

Turn metro tiles into a design feature by laying them in a herringbone pattern and using a contrasting coloured grout

Linear living Lean back on a stylish dining chair with a clean lined backrest

PS 2012 chair with armrests, £50, Ikea

Top and above Bar stools, Rockett St George. For a similar rocking chair, try the Kartell Comeback, Barker & Stonehouse. Blue sofa, Sofa.com. End table, TK Maxx. Metal shelves, Ikea

Natterbox chairs in Inky Blue, £230 for two, Loaf

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J110 chair in natural, £219, Nest

‘Darren and I eat in the kitchen if we’re on our own, but we use the dining room if we have guests,’ Jade says. ‘The carpenter custommade the dining table using reclaimed legs, and added a pocket in the middle that we can ﬁll with ice for wine. The print over the ﬁreplace is a South American poster about wine being the healthiest drink!’

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FOR RENOVATION INSPIRATION, GO TO REALHOMES.COM/COMPLETED-PROJECTS

Cabinet, drinks trolley and Ercol chairs, Ebay

‘We recently repainted the dark blue living and dining rooms grey,’ Jade says. ‘I wanted a change and paint is an easy and cost-effective way to update a room.’ Prints she made by rolling paint over poster paper hang above the sofa. Sofa, Sofa.com. Blue high back sofa and end table, HomeSense. Conran coffee table, Ebay. Walls painted in French Grey Mid, Little Greene. For a similar ﬂoor lamp, try the Arc at Heal’s

Left and below Jade used dark colours to emphasise the Victorian aspects of the house. The contrast of white on the stairs and black on the bannister makes the period features pop. Sideboard, Gumtree. Walls painted in Slaked Lime and Lamp Black, both Little Greene. For a weave basket, try The Basket Company

TOP TIP If your wooden ďŹ&#x201A;oors are in good condition, experiment with painting them as an alternative to carpet

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Right, far right and below ‘The wardrobes are Pax wardrobes from Ikea,’ Jade explains. ‘We had the carpenter cut them down to ﬁt in the alcoves, box them up with MDF, then put on doors and beading. We also added a picture rail to make it all look like part of the walls.’ Wardrobe carcasses, Ikea. Walls painted in Dolphin and Mid Lead, both Little Greene. Bed, Sofa.com. Tables, Ebay. Lamps, TK Maxx. Ceiling light, Habitat. Chest of drawers, Etsy. Mirror and drawers, Ikea. Prints, Fei Alexi. Blinds fabric, Anna Haiman

Stella ﬂoor mirror in brass, £445, Loaf

spend

Knapper white standing mirror, £45, Ikea

V save Catch a glimpse of everything important in one of these full-length ﬂoor-standing mirrors

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‘I TOOK INSPIRATION FROM OLD PUBS – PLENTY OF DARK BLUES AND BLACKS. I WANTED THE HOUSE TO BE TRADITIONAL AND IN-KEEPING BUT COSY’

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Left and below ‘Our old bathroom was depressing and covered in brown tiles,’ says Jade. ‘We found a big sash window while we were renovating that had been boarded up, so that instantly brightened up the space.’ Framed pictures, houseplants and a rug all add warmth. Basin, Lussostone. Brassware, Marﬂow. Floor and wall tiles, Walls & Floors. Walls painted in Slaked Lime, Little Greene. Bath, Ebay; for similar, try The Cast Iron Bath Company. Wall lights, Garden Trading. Radiator, Soakology

Contacts Tiles Walls & Floors, 01536 314730, wallsandﬂoors.co.uk Paint Little Greene, 0845 880 5855, littlegreene.com

THE PLANS AFTER

AFTER

GROUND FLOOR

LIVING ROOM

FIRST FLOOR

DINING ROOM

Simple changes to the layout, such as adding a living room door and extending the landing, have made the house feel more spacious

BEDROOM BEDROOM BEDROOM

KITCHEN-DINER

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A DV E RTOR I A L

This impressive new-build home beneﬁts from low running costs through the use of Icynene spray applied insulation

INSULATE YOUR HOME Keep warm with modern spray-foam insulation from Icynene well-insulated space means a healthier, quieter and more energy-eﬃcient home with better comfort levels and lower heating bills. Icynene is a spray-applied wall insulation foam that expands 100-fold, sealing all gaps, service holes and hard-to-reach spaces, helping to reduce fuel bills and keep your home warmer. Developed for severe Canadian winters, Icynene is suitable for all building types, from new-builds to

period homes, timber or steel frame and all-masonry constructions. If you are concerned about the environmental impact, Icynene has a Global Warming Potential of one and an Ozone Depletion Potential of zero. The product gives oﬀ no harmful gasses and it allows your building to breathe naturally. What’s more, Icynene will be professionally installed for you by trained and approved contractors, so

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you won’t need to do anything. Plus it comes with a comprehensive 25-year guarantee. To ﬁnd out more about Icynene and how insulating your home can beneﬁt you, visit icynene.co.uk.

Make your house a home (with plants) Turn over a new leaf this year and ﬁll your home with greenery – there are plenty of style points and wellbeing beneﬁts to gain

Our homes are becoming greener and it’s not just from an eco-perspective. Have a scroll through your favourite Instagram accounts and you’ll see spider plants hanging above baths, trailing string of beads on String pocket shelving, cheese plants given quirky names and almost treated as ‘family’, along with carefully curated collections of succulents. But these plants aren’t just there for those ‘Insta’ moments. ‘Our lives are becoming faster; we want (and get) instant gratiﬁcation for

the things we do online,’ says Judith de Graaﬀ of urbanjunglebloggers.com and co-author of Urban Jungle: Living & Styling with Plants (Callwey Verlag, £19.99). ‘But taking care of our houseplants keeps us grounded and slows us down, too. We learn patience because plants don’t grow a new ﬂower in seconds, taking weeks or even months to bloom or grow a new leaf.’ Instagrammer Mimi Jenkins of @plantlovinghome believes there’s something about having living greenery

‘I always feed my plants from March to September,’ Claire advises, ‘which is the traditional growing season. This helps with strength of new growth and flower production. ‘I also lift the plant pot out of its planter to water, so the roots aren’t left sitting in wet conditions as this can cause them to rot. The most common problem is too much love – overwatering. Many of the on-trend plants at the moment thrive on neglect!’ Music to your ears, we’re sure, if your track record of keeping plants alive is similar to ours at Real Homes HQ. Claire is an orchid fan. ‘I have so many around the house,’ she says. ‘Because I’ve bought them throughout the year, they all flower at different times. The craze for succulents and terrariums is still huge, with hanging designs and planted mason jars, but there’s also a revival in retro plants such as the Monstera (cheese plant), Senecio (string of beads or string of pearls), Chlorophytum (spider plant) and Sansevieria (snake plant).’ ‘There are new plant shops popping up everywhere, but your local garden centre is usually a good place to shop for plants,’ says Judith. ‘When you adopt a new plant, make sure you like the look of it and check the label or quickly search its needs online. You’re looking for a fresh, healthy and bug-free plant. If in doubt, ask for help to find the perfect plant for your home and lifestyle. If you acquire a large number of plants at the same time, you may feel overwhelmed and it can get complicated taking care of them all, especially if you’ve never done it before. I always say, “let your #plantgang grow naturally”.’

But what if you want to go bigger, bolder and create a living wall, perhaps in an extended kitchen? ‘It’s on my list of things to do one day,’ says Mimi. You could always take a tip from Claire, who has shelving units at home that she layers plants – both upright and trailing species – on, giving the eﬀect of a living wall while making it easy to change and maintain. ‘Living walls are true pieces of art and require some in-depth plant knowledge,’ recommends Judith. ‘However, you can buy a prefab living wall with an integrated and automated hydroponic system. If you want to keep things simple, buy yourself a Neon Pothos and guide its branches onto your wall with small adhesive hooks. It’s beautiful and easy. Or go for several wall planters that you can ﬁll with crawling plants, like Philodendron scandens, Tradescantia, ivy and Boston ferns. If you’re looking for further ideas for displaying your new houseplant collection, then Selina Lake, stylist and author of Botanical Style (Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99), says, ‘Plant them up in a mix of containers, such as galvanised metal, concrete planters or baskets, then arrange in groups on a windowsill or display trolley. Why not use old wooden crates that can be stacked together to form the perfect place to arrange your houseplants on?’ ‘To turn your own urban jungle into a success, start small and let it grow with you,’ Judith says. ‘Make it personal, meaningful and love each and every plant you choose. Plants are like friends – it’s important to get to know each other.’

3 plant subscription clubs Have plants sent to your door with these ideas

Sproutlondon.co.uk One for coffee and plant lovers, the Coffee and Plant Subscription box contains a houseplant and 250g bag of freshly roasted Dark Arts Coffee. From £24

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Bloomboxclub.com Get one surprise plant monthly or quarterly from just £17 a box, including delivery. You can also choose to add a ceramic pot.

Geo-ﬂeur.com Sign up for three to 12 months membership of the Plant Post Club and you’ll get a surprise package with a beautiful plant in a hand-made pot or a plant-related accessory. From £75

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WORDS JENNIFER MORGAN IMAGE GETTY

within the house: ‘It just gives you a feel-good factor, especially at this time of year, when not much plant life is surviving outside.’ Houseplants are a great way of bringing the outdoors in when it’s dreary weather – the very opposite of how we strive to take the indoors out during the summer months. ‘I always think a home looks much more alive and lived-in with plants,’ agrees Claire Bishop, houseplants buyer at Dobbies. ‘The craze for houseplants has a lot to do with social media, with stylists and homeowners using them in lifestyle images. But we are also more conscious of the eﬀects plants can have on your environment and mental wellbeing.’ ‘Many indoor plants have air purifying abilities, helping cleanse the air we breathe from various toxins, releasing fresh oxygen and making our living environment healthier,’ explains Judith. ‘With more oxygen we can concentrate, relax and sleep better. Taking care of our houseplants is also relaxing: watering, pruning, feeding and checking up on them from time to time slows us down.’ When Judith started her global community for plant lovers, Urban Jungle Bloggers, in 2013, houseplants were ‘hip and happening,’ she recalls. ‘Slowly but surely, they have become mainstream. There are very few homes, cafés or restaurants without plants. They’re more widely available to buy, too, with lots of new plant shops opening and many interiors brands designing their own ranges of plant pots and botanical products, adding a much-needed touch of nature to any home.’ But what about the not-so-greenﬁngered among us? ‘It’s all about providing the correct conditions for your plant,’ says Judith. ‘Light, water, humidity, temperature, soil type and drainage are most important. The majority of common houseplants thrive in bright, indirect light, which means they should be close to a window.’ Perfect for those extended kitchen-diners we all have, right? ‘Most succulents and cacti need direct sunlight and appreciate a sunny windowsill, while the Sansevieria, Dracaena or Pothos can do with shadier areas,’ adds Judith. ‘My favourite plants are cacti and palm trees – the bigger the better. Cacti come in so many shapes and colours that they just fascinate me, while I love palm trees for their tropical vibe and because it’s fun (and simple) to grow them from seed. Plants like Aloe or the peace lily are also very easy and don’t require much skill.’

r at

ormed spac f s e

t c e j h o t n r pof the mo th

at’ s c au g h t

r u o

WORDS ELLEN FINCH PHOTOGRAPH FRENCH + TYE

Anyone who’s planned an extension will know the difficulty of choosing the right material. Should you stay traditional with brick? Go modern with timber? Stone? Render? How about… rubber? We know – we’d hesitate too, except we’ve just spotted this design from architects Office S&M and we’re seriously impressed. Despite the fact it’s ﬁnished in the same spray-on rubber that’s used for oil rigs, it manages to complement an otherwise very ordinary Victorian house rather than draw away from it. We particularly love the fun porthole-style window from Cotswold Windows. Looks like thinking outside the box pays off. Project cost: £110,000. Office S&M, officesandm.com

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SPRAY-ON STYLE

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made the decision to extend, but where should you create the extra space, and how much value will it add to your home? We look at your best options

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NEXT MONTH: DESIGNING YOUR EXTENSION AND GETTING PLANNING APPROVAL

hopefully guide you on some solutions they have seen on similar houses. If you need to borrow additional funds to finance the project, they’ll give you a sense of the home’s current value. Given that it’s Britain’s most popular extension project, the single-storey kitchen extension actually doesn’t tick many boxes from an estate agent’s point of view and measuring the value it adds can be difficult to identify. It doesn’t fit into the main criteria for adding value, which is adding bedrooms – turning a two-bedroom home into a three-bedroom home offers the best returns, with a fourth bedroom on a three-bedroom home almost as good. Adding bedrooms beyond the fourth offers lower marginal returns, but still has a quantifiable benefit – think of that all-important Rightmove search. Adding space to existing rooms doesn’t help from a pure room list perspective, but it will add value – in most cases at least as much as it costs to have carried out. There is also the sense, particularly in urban and suburban areas with similar house types, that some buyers will only look for the houses that have been ‘done’. In tight urban areas with high house prices (most of the UK, but particularly in the south of England), house values tend to be measured on a £/m2 basis – judged on space rather than number of rooms. Either way, the key is to ensure that the value will increase by at least as much as your builder thinks you might spend on the project. That’s all very well, but how much should your builder be quoting for an extension project? First, be very wary about anyone giving too detailed an estimate at this early stage. An estimate is no more than a guess based on limited information and it’s effectively worthless until you go to quote stage, which is a fully fledged cost offer based on the facts of the construction project in detail. All of the decisions you will end up making, from the kitchen to the provision (or not) of underfloor heating, from the sliding doors to the lighting, will affect costs – and if your builder doesn’t know this, the estimate is no more than a finger in the air. With that in mind, it’s only really worth knowing what other similar-scale projects cost in your area. Regional variations won’t impact on the 50 per cent of the build cost typically accounted for by materials, but they will impact on the remaining costs – labour. Someone building in an area with a limited supply of builders and tradesmen in high demand would expect prices to be higher than in an area where several builders fight for limited work. Someone carrying out a fairly standard single-storey extension project, managed for them by a builder, should allow £1,800-£2,300 per square metre for the finished scheme, with a two-storey extension costing slightly less (on account of more cheaper space) at around £1,500-£2,000 per square metre. In high-value areas across the UK – affected by labour shortages – you could be paying £3,000 per square metre, particularly on smaller schemes. That makes an 8x4m kitchen extension a £50,000-£70,000 project, and a twostorey extension on the same footprint around £100,000. But, as we’ve established, these figures are there to be broken depending on the chosen specification and the build route. What all of this early-stage research does is really sanity-check the viability of extending. Can it physically be done? Does it make financial sense based on the best guess at costs? All you need now is to finalise the design and gain planning approval – more on which next month.

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WORDS JASON ORME IMAGE GETTY

aving decided to extend, it’s now time for the planning to get serious. Scoping out your project means ensuring it makes sense for the house and you. It’s about researching the potential ways to extend, how much the house can take, and whether it all makes sense financially. Having established that transforming the old homes we live in to suit the modern lifestyles we all want is a good option, it’s now a question of deciding which extension solution is the best way forward. For those looking for more space and, perhaps, an improved lifestyle, the single-storey rear extension is the most common project. Depending on the size of the existing rear of the house, this will mean potentially adding three to four metres projecting from the back, either fully across the width or just out from the kitchen, and quite possibly along one side of the house – the so-called ‘side-return’ extension, which often only moves the width of the house out about one metre into a side alley, but can make a significant difference to the perception of space. Clearly, the bigger the requirement for space, the bigger the potential scale of the project – such as a double-storey extension if you need extra bedrooms. Depending on the existing house, this could be a side extension (for detached or semi-detached homes, perhaps over an existing garage) or a rear two-storey extension. At this stage, you might be beginning to worry about the scale of the project and if it’s feasible – perhaps, mistakenly, beginning to take some basic advice on potential constraints and limitations (everything from the potential spans of steel joists to the positions of drains). Let’s be clear – it’s possible to achieve absolutely anything on your home as long as it has planning consent and complies with Building Regulations. Building technology allows you to deal with almost any problem that extending an old house might throw at you. The question for you as a would-be home extender is how far you’re willing to go (usually down to money) to solve the problem. Walls can be knocked down, drains can be bridged or even diverted, steels can do all sorts of things – the house can even be knocked down and rebuilt in its new form. The limit is what makes sense financially. On that basis, there are two really important things to do when considering an extension project. First, talk to a builder (rather than a designer). The builders will be able to give you a sense of the typical solutions for houses of your type and almost certainly have carried out similar projects in the local neighbourhood. They will be able to guide you on some of the practical issues you might be worried about (e.g. drains) and help you get an initial sense of what the project might cost. Designers will be essential at some part of the project – but not yet. These are not individual self-build projects and bar the very few totally unique extension schemes, most are simple, practical and largely templated solutions to common house types and common spatial needs. At this point, you’re trying to get a sense of the feasibility of extending from an engineering and construction perspective – no one is better placed than a builder for that. Having established the possibilities of extending and obtaining an approximate idea of costs, the other important first step to ensuring the project is feasible is to talk to an estate agent. They will give you a sense of the potential uplift in value you’ll enjoy from the proposed extension, and can

D ESSENTIA N A S D EN TR S, EA ID ST TE THE LA FOR YOUR KITCHEN AN

D BATHROOM

FOR MORE INSPIRATION, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/KITCHEN

Nomad Tarifa rug, from £169, Weaver Green

COFFEE SHOP STYLE From espressos to cappuccinos, this new retro coffee machine does it all. Its quirky vintage looks makes a fun feature in any kitchen, too. Retro pump espresso coffee machine, £99.99, Swan

FEATURE AMELIA SMITH

Eco refresh Statement rugs are creeping out of living rooms and into kitchens with the help of clever sustainable materials. Made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles, these designs look and feel like wool, but are water, stain and mould resistant, keeping you warm underfoot while coping with any splashes the kitchen throws its way. On-trend, cosy and practical to boot.

Range restyle Always cooking for the ﬁve thousand? This seven-burner hob, wok burner, ﬁsh burner and electric griddle is the perfect stand-out investment for any passionate cook. A5-81 Opera range cooker, £3,845 inc. delivery, Smeg

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FACTORY FEEL Industrial style goes from strength to strength with this new bathroom tap with Victorian factorystyle circular controls instead of traditional handles. Astonian Index deck-mounted basin mixer in scuffed brass, £286.39, Aston Matthews

L BUYS

A seamless blend

Positioning your bath in a corner maximises space without compromising on style. Water Baths of Ashbourne’s Botanics Collection allows you to blend your bath into your scheme by matching the outer shell to your ﬂooring. Oasis drop-in bath, £1,795, Botanics Collection, Water Baths of Ashbourne

Shhh! If open-plan living’s got you tearing your hair out with the sound of the cookerhood, kettle and dishwasher resonating through your living space, Caple’s new cookerhood can help. The design is so quiet that even when it’s on full speed, you’ll still be able to hear the TV. CGC cookerhood, from £220, Caple

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL Kitchen storage needn’t be boring with this retro locker that’s perfect for slotting into a small space. Embrace high-school chic and add a colour pop to an industrial or modern scheme. Mustard tall locker, £199, Nordic House

TEXTURAL HEALING Add some interest to your bathroom with the Buxy collection from Gemini Tiles. The natural stone effect is highlighted by on-trend 3D hexagons, and there are complementary plain tiles to ﬁnish off your scheme. Buxy large-format hexagon tile in anthracite, £32.99 per m2, Gemini Tiles

OLDER AND WISER KitchenAid is celebrating its 100th birthday. To mark its centenary, it’s launched this limited-edition Misty Blue mixer with commemorative trim, and a fun bowl that resembles a super-sized tea cup. KitchenAid 100 Artisan stand mixer, £699, KitchenAid

Lucinda and Sam Holt were determined to put their own stamp on their new kitchen, and got the look they loved with some inspired buys Right This brass tap, sourced by Simply Insignia, is a particular favourite. ‘It was expensive,’ says Lucinda. ‘But we’ve saved money elsewhere with vintage furniture and by not having wall cupboards,’ Belfast sink, Shaws of Darwen. Taps, Perrin & Rowe. Shutters, Aspiration Blinds. Duck egg stripe tea towel, M&S. Star tealight holder, Nkuku. Pink vases, Flying Tiger

WORDS KAREN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHS KATIE LEE

Far right Oak parquet flooring ties in with the pattern of the pink herringbone tiles. ‘In our previous home, we had dark wood flooring but with the kids it showed up every speck, so we chose a lighter oak,’ says Lucinda. ‘It was well worth visiting the company in Wandsworth as we could feel the quality.’ Aged oak flooring, The Natural Wood Floor Co. Tiles, Bert & May. For a similar table, try Eidelweiss in walnut and black, Made.com. Eames chairs, Vitra

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Profile The owners Lucinda Holt, a freelance social media and marketing consultant, lives here with her husband, Sam, who works in artist management, and their children, Lola, seven, and twins Violet and Ruby, ﬁve The property A ﬁve-bedroom detached new-build house near Preston, Lancashire project cost A similar kitchen would cost around £17,000

TOP TIP Cover wallpaper with a coat of decorators varnish (try Polyvine) if you’re worried about it getting splashed

The only thing Lucinda would change is the white patio doors: ‘I’d rather they matched the dark grey bi-folds. @mustardvintage on Instagram suggested spray painting them black, but that’s a job for a weekend when the kids aren’t here.’ Walls painted in Salix, Little Greene. For a similar sofa, try the Loaf Crumble Snuggler in Dusty Rose. John Lewis. Glamour of Manchester print by Reloved Mcr, Rose & Lee Interiors

BEFORE

Step one

having twins and becoming a family of five, Lucinda and Jamie sold their 1930s house in Crouch End and left London for a bit more greenery and a slower pace of life in Lancashire. A period property appealed, but all the primary schools were full in the villages they’d set their hearts on. However, when a small local developer started building eight detached homes near Preston, they decided to buy a five-bedroom house off plan. Close to the M61 and the airport, it was ideal for Sam’s job managing musicians and DJs, which involves lots of travel. Here Lucinda shares the five-step plan that led to the country-inspired kitchendiner at the heart of their new home.

Step two

AFTER

THE BUILD

MY KITCHEN INSPIRATION

‘Although we were still in London when the house was built, we were able to have input in the later stages when the interior was being finished off, as we’d moved in with my mum by then. ‘We were supposed to be there for five weeks but it turned into five months. If we’d gone with the builder’s spec on everything, it might not have overrun as much, but we wanted to upgrade lots of things. For instance, the Bert & May floor tiles for the hall took 12 weeks to arrive, holding up the installation of the stairs. ‘In the end, the builders banned us from site for three months as we were slowing things down! At the time it was painful – probably more for my mum – but it was a lovely hot summer so we managed to get outside a lot.’

‘When I used to work in Clerkenwell, I popped into the Devol showroom and fell in love with their Shaker-style kitchens – that was my inspiration. ‘Having lived in cities all our lives, we could never really go rustic, but here we’re surrounded by woodland with four peacocks next door. This led me to pick natural oak parquet ﬂooring, dark green Shaker units with antique bronze handles and a Belfast sink. An L-shaped kitchen layout with a large island and hidden appliances made sense and I didn’t want cupboards everywhere, so we just have some shelves at the side for a bit of additional storage. As it’s the ﬁrst thing you see when you walk in the room, I wanted a kitchen with impact and wow factor.’

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Creating an Instagram poll solved the dilemma of whether to have tiles laid in a brickwork or herringbone formation. ‘Lifestyle blogger @erica_davies assured me that it wouldn’t be too busy,’ says Lucinda.

Step four

Step five

GOING BESPOKE

WALLPAPER HEAVEN

OUR NEW LIFE

‘The developer put us in touch with a local fitter, Simply Insignia in Preston. They showed us four kitchens in about five different colours, many of them grey. When I said I wanted dark green and brass, they told us it wasn’t in fashion! I think they were a little taken aback when we asked for so many changes. However, in the end they really worked with us and let us go more bespoke. We paid a bit more to get the units painted in Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke, and chose our own tiles and flooring. They also suggested having the doors on the tall cupboards fitted in a larder style, which works much better. ‘We tied everything together by painting the walls a peppermint green shade by Little Greene as it’s great quality and wipes clean.’

‘I had my heart set on wallpapering the back wall from day one as I wanted to inject some character. Our family thought we were crazy as it wouldn’t be practical. My dad still says, “When are you going to get tiles all the way round?” ‘Luckily I bumped into an old friend who has a small interiors shop called JF Interiors, and she had loads of wallpaper to choose from. I fell in love with the Miami design by Cole & Son as it works perfectly with the colour of the tiles and units. At one point we considered putting shelves on either side of the oven, but it would’ve been a shame to cover the lovely wallpaper. ‘My dad needn’t have worried about the lack of tiles – I squirted chocolate cake mixture on the paper the other day and it just wiped oﬀ.’

‘Friends and family love the new kitchen – it’s so sociable. In summer we open the doors to the courtyard garden, and the whole family comes round at Christmas. I spend time on the sofa gazing at the sky. It sounds trippy, but it’s something I couldn’t do in London. ‘We’re still a bit overwhelmed by it. Our utility room is bigger than our previous kitchen so we have more space than we’ve ever had. ‘The only thing we might add is a built-in bench and window seat to create a snug dining area, but we couldn’t be happier with the way it’s turned out. It’s like the Devol kitchen I wanted but for a fraction of the price. Having moved three times in the past ﬁve years, I don’t think we’ll be moving again any time soon.’

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Step three

Cooker, Smeg. Tiles, Bert & May. Tea towel, M&S. Pink fruit bowl, Aldi

Contacts

Above A mixture of new and vintage furniture works well in the dining area. ‘Sometimes I go overboard with vintage and my husband says it’s turning into a granny’s house, so it’s a constant interior battle,’ Lucinda says. ‘He’s very particular and has strong opinions on interiors, especially about artwork.’

Kitchen Simply Insignia, 01772 909090, simply-insignia.co.uk Flooring The Natural Wood Floor Co, 020 8871 9771, naturalwoodﬂoor.co.uk Tiles Bert & May, 020 3744 0776, bertandmay.com Wallpaper Cole & Son, 020 8442 8844, cole-and-son.com

For a similar light shade, try the Umage Silvia, Indish. Sideboard, vintage G Plan

my kitchen favourites Imperia pasta machine, £69.95, John Lewis OUR MEAL OF CHOICE ‘Anything Italian, as my mum’s Italian and I grew up eating copious amount of pasta, gnocchi and pizza’

THE KITCHEN Pink garlic grater PLAYLIST bowl, £28, ‘Katie Perry’s Peacock is The Shop often blaring out. My Floor Project daughters have made up a little peacock dance’

THE COOKBOOK MY HUSBAND ALWAYS REACHES FOR ‘He does most of the cooking and loves Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks’

Five Ingredients by Jamie Oliver (Penguin Random House, £26), Waterstones

Gold cheese grater, £11.95, Audenza

OUR MOST USED INGREDIENT ‘Garlic. It gives a bit of zing to any dish, though it’s not always kind the next day!’

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Miami Sound bluetooth speaker in light gold/ white marble, £75, Amara

MY MUST-HAVE GADGET ‘A tiny mini cheese grater– perfect for parmesan or packed lunches during the morning rush’

bathroom renovation

H O M E LY H AV E N Beautiful tiling and some borrowed space turned a cramped bathroom into a spa-style sanctuary Hamilton is brimming with plans and ideas to renovate the Victorian cottage she moved into with husband Andy and their daughter, Erica, a couple of years ago. ‘We want to put an extension at the back of the house, reconfigure the living accommodation, landscape the garden – all sorts!’ she says. The property is a long term project that the couple intend to tackle in stages, but the cramped bathroom was the first thing on their to-do list. Victoria reveals the five steps she and Andy took to create their dream spa-style retreat…

VICTORIA

BEFORE

WORDS ALISON NICHOLLS PHOTOGRAPHS RACHAEL SMITH

MODEST BEGINNINGS ‘The bathroom was one of those rooms that looks ﬁne on the surface but when you’re living with it, you soon discover that everything is wrong,’ Victoria says. ‘There was a lot of oversized furniture crammed into it, which you had to squeeze around to such an extent that you had to sit on the loo at an angle – it was a nightmare!’

Profile THE OWNERs Victoria Hamilton, a marketing communications associate director, lives here with husband Andy, an oceanographic engineer, daughter Erica, two, and French Bulldog Bruce THE PROPERTY A three-bed extended Victorian cottage in Wallingford, Oxfordshire project COST £7,428

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SOURCING PRODUCTS ‘We shopped around for the sanitaryware and opted for a slightly squared style to soften and modernise the scheme. The grey vanity unit incorporates the basin and WC neatly along one wall. We’d spent a long time browsing bathroom showrooms without ﬁnding anything we liked, but when we saw that, it was just what we were looking for.’

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES ‘We obtained quotes from a local plumber and tiler before appointing them. The project took three months to complete, which was longer than we’d anticipated – there were a few issues we encountered that needed to be remedied, like missing ﬂoorboards and uneven walls. The wastepipe was balancing on a paint can, so we replaced that with a macerator. It freed up space by eliminating the need for a boxed-in pipe.’

ACTION PLAN ‘The main issue was that there wasn’t room for a full-sized bath. It had a short version in it that was ﬁne for me – I’m 4ft 10in – but Andy objected strenuously, We toyed with the idea of putting a bath in the downstairs toilet, but it required work beyond our budget. Instead, we decided to use a cupboard next to the upstairs bathroom and knock through the wall, creating a recess large enough to accommodate a full-sized bath with a shower overhead.’

FINAL TOUCHES ‘We planned to use the end wall as a feature wall to add interest. Originally, I wanted to use splitface slate tiles, but when I spotted these in the showroom I loved the texture and the copper and pink hues – they were so interesting. The large-format slate and slate-effect tiles in the rest of the room create a lovely cocooning feel. It’s deﬁnitely the spa-style bathroom I wanted to have – it’s the perfect place to retreat to and relax in at the end of a busy day.’

Contacts Plumber Ian Christie, 07896 256221 Tiler PDH Tiling, 01235 423 494, pdh-tiling.co.uk Bath and heated towel rail Victoria Plum, 0344 804 4848, victoriaplum.com WC/basin unit taps and shower UK Bathroom Warehouse, 020 8090 3449, ukbathroomwarehouse.com Tiles and ﬂooring Topps Tiles, 0800 783 6262, toppstiles.co.uk

REALHOMES.COM

SHOPPING LIST Sheera multicolour natural slate tiles, Topps Tiles. Sanitaryware, UK Bathroom Warehouse. Bath, waterfall tap and towel rail, Victoria Plum. Bath panel, Roper Rhodes. Patterned towels, Next. Circular mirrors and shower curtain, Ikea. Shower, Hansgrohe. Roper Rhodes Hampton furniture range, UK Bathroom Warehouse

T HE COST OF YO U R BAT H R O O M Be creative when planning your bathroom makeover and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll save money while still achieving your dream space

keep your sanitaryware choice simple While wall-hung pieces create a sleek, contemporary look, which can make a small bathroom look bigger, they also come with extra costs. Wall-hung toilets have cisterns and supporting brackets that need to be concealed, often resulting in additional boxing in or carpentry spend. Back-to-wall toilets still need the cistern concealed but sit on the floor and are therefore easier to install. Close-coupled toilets have a cistern that’s visible as a part of the toilet and don’t require any boxing in of pipework.

Left Cooke & Lewis Helena Modern back-to-wall toilet, £250; Helena Supercast twin-ended curved bath, £390, both B&Q

WORDS JENNIFER MORGAN

While you might dream of a walk-in shower, have you factored in the costs of tanking the space with a sunken shower tray to make it watertight before tiling? You can get the same look with a low-level shower tray – try Drench for ultra-thin 25mm trays, which start from around £100. If you can stick to a standard-sized tray and screen, it might be more cost-effective to choose a standard enclosure and add built-in shelving to fill a gap. Walk-in shower enclosures tend to be W80xL120cm, with prices around £250.

Moving pipework can be costly. Unless the layout of your bathroom really isn’t working, it’s worth keeping the toilet, basin and bath/shower in their current positions. If you’re a confident DIYer, you could plumb in a new suite yourself; flexible piping such as Polypipe makes the job easier than copper pipes (less joints are needed as pipes are longer and joints are push-fit, making it quicker to install). If you’re looking for a plumber to do it for you (try TrustMark or the Federation of Master Builders), then you’ll need to allow £700-£1,000 for the work, which can take two to three days (allow extra for ripping out your old bathroom, although this could be a job you could do to save). Find out if your plumber will remove waste and factor in a skip if not. Check that your existing boiler can cope with the demands of your new bathroom, too. If you’re looking to replace lighting or install underfloor heating, then you will need to call in a qualified electrician. Make sure you upgrade your extractor fan if needed and fit demisting pads behind your bathroom mirror, so you can see yourself clearly after a shower.

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go low level

keep the plumbing where it is

upcycle furniture Need more storage in your bathroom? Then why not upcycle a chest of drawers or console into a washstand? Chat to your plumber about your plans as there will need to be some allowances made for pipework (you may find the top-drawer fronts need gluing in place as ‘dummy drawers’ with the pipework concealed behind). Try Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint for a wide range of colours to paint your furniture with. Similarly, you could use an old ladder for towel storage, revamp a tired stool as a place to pop favourite toiletries and scented candles, or even use scaffolding planks to make a bath bridge.

Amberley Orchid porcelain floor tiles, £69.99 per m2; Lampas Cloud ceramic tiles, £72 per m2, both Topps Tiles

buy as a package Look for a package suite, which will usually comprise of bath, WC and basin, often at a discounted price. Brassware is usually extra, although there may be a range designed to complement the suite you’ve chosen. Try B&Q, Bathstore and Victoria Plum – many now offer the option of a bath or walk-in shower enclosure. Alternatively, negotiate a ‘combo’ deal if you buy everything through a single bathroom showroom or supplier (and see if they have any ex-display pieces that would work, as you might secure an upgrade for the same price). Confirm delivery dates and let your fitter know as soon as possible – new bathroom suites are large and tricky to live with if there are any delays.

Above Aria wall-hung bathroom suite (bath, WC and pedestal basin), £429.97, Bathroom Takeaway

change the flooring

be creative with tiles You can cut tiling costs without compromising on style or functionality. A bath panel to match your bath will be cheaper than tiling; you can fit it yourself and it will be much easier to take off for access if any plumbing problems arise. If you’ve fallen for gorgeous limestone mosaics, then why not use as a feature wall along the length of your bath rather than tile the whole room? Tile only the areas that are within the splash zone and use bathroom paint on the remaining walls to help cope with excess moisture. Large-format tiles are quicker to lay if there aren’t too many cuts to be made. Chat to your tiler as there could be a difference in price quoted for the job depending on the size and material used. It’s also worth looking for reduced or end-ofline tiles ( just allow 10-15 per cent extra for breakages as you might not find any spares) or scouring Ebay and Gumtree for any bargain leftover tiles within driving distance.

REALHOMES.COM

Below Amtico Form Silt in herringbone pattern, from £50 per m2, Amtico

Replacing your bathroom flooring can revamp a room without the upheaval of ripping out a suite. If you can’t afford slate or limestone tiles, then go for lookalikes, such as vinyl, which you can lay yourself. The average bathroom measures just W2xL2m, so flooring is a cheap revamp. You can pick up patterned tile-effect vinyl from around £15 per m2. Take a look at Carpetright’s Almeria Blue vinyl, which not only looks the part, but will be warmer underfoot than ceramic tiles (unless your budget stretches to underfloor heating).

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Decide where to spend and where to save

Have a plan for pipework Be on trend and work an industrial look with exposed pipework – you won’t need to channel pipes into the wall or do any boxing-in to conceal pipes behind a false wall. Discuss options with your plumber as they may prefer to conceal pipes rather than spending hours on soldering joints that will be on show. Do check everything is compatible before you buy and that your pressure is good enough for that dreamy rainwater shower, otherwise you’ll end up with a trickle. If your boiler or pipework needs upgrading to increase the pressure, there may be cheaper alternatives – chat to the experts first.

Below Flow hybrid 1660mm shower bath, from £1,395, Waters Baths of Ashbourne

When planning a bathroom makeover, start by thinking about what you use and need on a day-to-day basis. If you never use the bath, then swap for a flashier shower rather than splashing out on both. Or if you haven’t space for the two, look at a shower/bath. Do you desperately need storage? If so, choose a vanity unit over a pedestal basin. Would twin sinks help with the morning rush? Buying what may seem like luxuries will help you maximise your bathroom’s potential. Try to think long-term, too; the kids might love a bath now, but very soon it will be a quick shower. But do beware of false economies; cheap sanitaryware can have flaws in it, while cheap brassware can flake and tarnish, so buy the best that your budget can stretch to.

NEXT MONTH YOUR MUST-READ GUIDE TO BI-FOLD DOORS

update where you can Only replacing what is necessary could save hundreds of pounds. If your toilet is in perfectly good condition, you could just buy a new seat and give it a really good scrub and de-limescale, maybe swapping the flush plate. If your bath or basin are fine, then why not just replace the taps, choosing a stylish new mixer (you’ll need to keep to the same number of tap holes that your bath or basin has)? What if you were to regrout your existing tiles with a different colour, such as white tiles with chic grey grout? Redoing the silicone can also make a tired bathroom look clean again (although this might be a job better left for the professionals). Hang a new blind, indulge in some new towels, introduce a theme with some bathroom accessories, clear away old lotions and potions and treat yourself to a new scented candle (or two).

FOCUS ON

Hobs

Prepare meals on a model that’s chic, efficient and easy to clean. Whichever fuel you prefer, ﬁnd the right hob in our round-up BEST FOR LIGHT REFLECTION

BEST FOR CONSTANT TEMPERATURE

The black glass of this architect-designed ﬁve-burner gas model bounces light back into the kitchen and looks sleek and contemporary. The pan stands are made from titanium, and the blade burner design promises a continuous vertical ﬂame for maximum heat transfer. PVL675LCN 75CM Dolce Stil Novo gas on glass ceramic hob, from £1,449, Smeg

The sensors of this induction model are designed to prevent dishes being burnt if the power is not turned down. It offers three heat levels, and once the necessary temperature’s reached, a signal sounds so the food can be placed in the pan at the right time. KM 6879 TempControl induction hob, around £3,149, Miele

BEST FOR STREAMLINED STYLE Try swapping a hob and hood combination for an all-in-one design. This induction cooktop has integrated downdraft extraction that removes vapours and odours. It has four cooking zones, controlled by a touchoperated round slider. Basic cooktop, from £2,000, BORA

WORDS SARAH WARWICK

Three TOP TIPS FUEL CHOICES Gas is a popular option where available as it’s easily controlled. Gas on glass, with burners on top of ceramic glass, are easier to clean. Electric ceramic hobs heat up speedily but heat distribution around the base of pans isn’t as good as with gas. Also fuelled by electricity, induction designs are simple to use and responsive, but generally cost the most.

Which fuel? What size? Get the perfect design with this hob know-how

INDUCTION SAVVY Not all saucepans are compatible with induction hobs, so you may need to invest in new ones. Glass or copper-based pans are out, while some stainless steel, some aluminium, plus iron and enamelled steel pans can be used. Bear in mind that if you have a pacemaker, you need to check with your doctor before using an induction hob.

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GET COOKING A width of 60cm and four zones/burners is common, but wider hobs of 70cm and upwards offer five or six. Induction hobs heat the pans placed on them rather than the cooking surface, so may be preferred for safety. Gas has the benefit of being visible, and flame shut-off devices help keep you safe. Look for child-safety locks on electric hobs.

BEST FOR FLAME PRECISION You can choose from nine flame settings to regulate gas output when you’re using this hob. It has a black glass design that’s easy to keep clean and cast-iron pan supports. The flame-failure safety device reignites a flame if it goes out, or cuts the supply of gas if it can’t. Serie 6 PPS9A6B90 90cm tempered-glass gas hob, £689, Bosch

BEST FOR SPEEDY PREPARATION Highly efficient gas burners ensure preparing meals on this five-burner hob is quick, while sturdy cast-iron pan supports keep what you’re cooking stable. The hob has automatic ignition and a flame failure safety device that cuts the gas supply if a flame goes out by accident. Grundig GIGL7235251 gas hob, £499.99, Currys

BEST FOR FRYING FOOD Select what you’re frying from the touch-control menu and this induction hob will keep the temperature consistent across the surface of the pan using the sensor located beneath the glass. The zones of the design detect the size and shape of the pans used, heating to ﬁt their bases exactly. IAE64850FB SenseFry built-in induction hob, from £1,299, AEG

BEST FOR STYLE ON A BUDGET Set in black glass with touch controls, this ceramic hob has contemporary good looks at an affordable price point. The design makes keeping it looking clean and smart simple, too. The four cooking zones have residual heat indicators so you’ll know when the glass is still hot, and there’s a safety lock. HVD 640 C1 ceramic hob, £219.99, Hoover

finishing touches

Partner a new hob with an effective hood to take away humidity, odours and grease

CLASSIC LINES If Cranberry’s not up your alley, this neat design comes in white, slate, stainless steel or black. Hi-Lite hood, from £539, Rangemaster

GO ROUND Pick a shapely extractor that doubles as an ambient light. Sophie in Worn Copper, from £1,836, Falmec

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MAKE ROOM Go for an angled design to create extra space above the hob. IHVP 6.6 LM K Aria angled cooker hood, around £199.99, Indesit

COMING NEXT MONTH in your new

On sale

PHOTOGRAPHSJAMES FRENCH

28 February

Let in the light with our mustread guide to bi-fold doors Be inspired by amazing before and after transformations Clever solutions for adding space and value to a ďŹ&#x201A;at Top tips for stylish living rooms Beautiful botanical decorating ideas for a nature-inspired scheme

THE EDIT

Kitchen taps 2

1 Juliet sink mixer with pull-down tap, £500.64, Perrin & Rowe 2 Avel copper tap, £220, Caple 3 Bosjön kitchen mixer tap in brushed black metal, £100, Ikea 4 TV7CH tap, £199, CDA

on trend

5 Tre Mercati Little Venice bridge kitchen mixer in antique gold, £159.99, Tap Warehouse 6 Essence professional coloured tap and hose, £562, Grohe 7 Fusion square boiling water tap, from £1,150, Quooker

FEATURE AMELIA SMITH

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FOR MORE ESSENTIAL BUYS, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/KITCHEN

Choose an elegant mixer to stand loud and proud and complement your new scheme

THE EDIT

Roll-top baths The epitome of style and relaxation, there’s a design to suit both modern and timeless bathroom schemes, so take your pick... 2

FOR MORE INSPIRATION, VISIT REALHOMES.COM/BATHROOM

1 Cambridge freestanding bath with custom paint colour, from £1,645.32, C.P. Hart 2 Harewood slipper bath with chrome luxury classic feet, £958, Burlington Bathrooms 3 Solus single-ended bath in teal, from £1,428, The Albion Bath Company 4 Cambridge traditional roll-top bath with ball feet, £349.99, Soak

FEATURE SOPHIE WARREN-SMITH

5 Madeira cast-iron double-ended bath, from £3,995, Heritage Bathrooms 6 The Salcombe cast-iron bath with gargoyle feet (and an option to paint in Farrow & Ball colours), from £1,225, The Cast Iron Bath Company 7 Hebden double-ended freestanding acrylic bath in white, £635, Frontline Bathrooms

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#SOREALHOMES

Big old farmhouse table with mismatched chairs and a beautiful velvet sofa and chair

A drinks cabinet for my dining room. With every room in our new house to decorate it’s not a priority, but I have the ideal spot for it one day @SPEC_JHA

@LISAMATTH76

Eames chairs; any of them or all of them!

READERS’ VIEW

Japanese handprinted mural with a Hepplewhite sideboard in front. Finished off with an oriental vase of blossom @MARIAMA.JANNEH.INTERIOR.DESIGN

A record player to play old Bollywood records that remind me of my mum

FEATURE ALISON JONES

@THECORNERHOUSEAT2

A gallery wall full of real Audubon prints

What’s the perfect item you’d love for your home?

@BLACKCATSCO

Arctic Pear chandelier by Ochre for the living room in our Victorian house; nothing else comes close @BEVERLEY_ONLINE

Egon Schiele’s ‘Seated woman with bent knees’ hanging in my living room

Huge windows and a sea view to watch the North Sea and northern skies change every day @ARTATPONTHIGH

@LAURA_TURNS

162 6

@PATADELAMAZA

I’d love a Bramwell Brown Weather Clock to ﬁnish off our front room, they are beautiful @RENOVATING_ HOUSE_NUMBER_122