Changing It Up Keeps It Fresh

Concerned about the lack of space in her 1930s house,budget-savvy Lucy,35, used her eye for detail and a thrifty approach to create a stylish and spacious home for her rapidly growing family.

As my husband James and I were first time buyers, we were mindful of the need to not overspend on a property, and end up with a hefty mortgage to pay off,’ says Lucy. ‘We were looking for somewhere within a sensible budget, that we could still put our own design stamp on. It was James who fell in love with this two-bedroom semi-detached home dating from the 1930s and convinced me it was a great buy. But to begin with, I wasn’t so sure, due to the lack of bedrooms, and I was worried about storage space, too.

We were drawn to the peaceful location,near to our family and friends, and we loved the wild garden at the back of the house that looks out over beautiful rolling countryside. Looking back now, I realise we may have been a little naive about what work needed doing to the house, as when we moved in, I quickly realised that simply buying some new furniture and pretty cushions wouldn’t be quite enough to turn it into the home I’d envisaged!

Taking on a challenge

While the structure of the house was good and sturdy, we knew that we wanted to rework the layout of most of the rooms. The original kitchen was a very small galley space, with a door that led through to a small dining room, but we wanted something that was more of an open-plan design, to suit our growing family.

We knocked down the wall between the dining room and kitchen to create an airy kitchen diner that makes much better use of the space. The whole house needed new electrics, which was a big job, and we had all the rooms re-plastered when we moved in. We also had new carpets laid and new flooring put down in the kitchen, too. We still need to have the bathroom done so it better suits our needs as a family, especially as we have a new baby on the way, due this summer.