FESTIVE fancy

With her passion for interiors stemming from all things Christmassy, Vikki Savage is enjoying creating a family home with future celebrations in mind

- KAREN WILSON

TRANSFORMED 1930S HOME

Having narrowed down their search area to just six houses on two specific roads in their hunt for a new home, Vikki and will couldn't believe their luck when one of their favourites came on the market the very next day.

'We were working at the dining table when Will lifted his phone over our screens to show me the listing and we both started squealing,' remembers Vikki. 'Amazingly it was in our price bracket, so we viewed it within half an hour and offered the full asking price.'

Having fully renovated their previous three-bedroom 1930s semi-nearby, the couple were happy to take on a house that hadn't been updated in over 20 years. 'I came to the second viewing armed with a notepad and wrote down where the boiler was, which radiators needed moving, and what walls had wood chip wallpaper,' says Vikki. 'It soon sunk in that every room needed doing. In the old house we'd lived with things we wouldn't have chosen as there was nothing wrong with them; here it really was a blessing to be able to change everything.'

With boxes still unpacked, the couple began ripping out fireplaces and had an electrician already lined up to rewire the house. I'm an obsessive budgeter and we'd held back some equity from our house sale to give us a decent pot to get started,' says Vikki. 'Our first priorities were the bathroom and living room.

Faced with a long, narrow, carpeted bathroom and a separate toilet with bright yellow walls and no sink, it made sense to knock the two rooms together. There was a shower over the bath and your elbows touched the walls when you sat on the toilet,' says Vikki. 'We were desperate for a separate bath and large walk-in shower, so we moved the door further into the landing and removed a boiler cupboard, fitting a new combi boiler under the stairs.'