Onwards & Upwards

A chance meeting prompted Jemma Broadgate to rethink her approach to the home that she had lived in for more than two decades

- Emma J Page

While she is the first to admit that the prospect of renovation never appealed to her, when Jemma Broadgate eventually remodelled her four-storey terrace in east London, it completely changed her home. ‘Before this, even having the house repainted felt like a chore,’ she says, ‘and I’d never so much as knocked down a wall.’

It is no surprise then, that it took more than 20 years for her to take the plunge, all thanks to a chance encounter at her local post office. ‘While standing in the queue, I got chatting to Johnathan Joseph, who happens to run a build and design company,’ recalls Jemma. ‘He knew the area and houses well and suggested coming to have a look at how we could enhance the space.