‘I wanted A FUN, MEXICAN VIBE'

By bagging the biggest bargains, Ailsa Wilson’s new kitchen-diner came in bang on budget and in colourful style

- STEPHANIE SMITH

AILSA SAYS: Moving to the seaside 14 years ago for my husband Martin’s job was the start of an enormous change for us. He works for the RNLI, so has to be near the sea. We came from a 60s flat in London with concrete surfaces, but when we looked in Poole, Dorset, we realised we could afford a period house that needed some attention.

I was about to have our daughter Martha – we moved in the day she was born! Then Bill came along soon after, so it made sense to have a bigger property with a garden. Because we were on a budget, we had to think carefully about how and when we would renovate the house. The downstairs at the back was a mess, with a tiny galley kitchen and a conservatory, which hardly got used, plus a toilet next to the garden. So we had very little access to the outside.

Making plans