'We went over to the DARK SIDE'

Ditching its dated interior for a bold and dramatic palette, Alana's new-look home is now brimming with personality

We got the keys for this place the day before lockdown, so it was just me, Stephen, and a load of boxes on moving-in day as no one was allowed to help,' says Alana. 'Initially, I had a few days of panic because the house was in such a state. In fact, it was so bad that we didn't even bother with a survey as we knew we'd have to strip everything out and start again.

But even though the 1970s hadn't been kind to the house, and everything was extremely dated and badly maintained. I was excited by the idea of bringing character back into it and replacing the Edwardian features that had unfortunately been ripped out.

After the panic subsided Stephen and I made a plan of action, deciding to start with the ground-floor layout which was then a warren of tiny rooms. We knew it was going to be a messy job and one of the biggest investments so it made sense to start there.

Kitchen build

Luckily, construction was still able to continue during lockdown so we hired builders who knocked down the internal walls and installed four steels to help create a large kitchen-diner. We also enlarged the doorway into the garden, which was originally only 80cm wide, replacing it with wide metal-framed doors to let the light flood in, as the new space we created was quite dark.