‘New look for a NEW BEGINNING'

Simple design ideas, bold touches and vintage pieces gave Katy and Duncan’s period property a new lease of life

- MARISHA TAYLOR

Duncan and I had been trying to find a bigger Victorian property with elegant period features we could renovate,' says Katy. ‘We were looking in West Bridgford, a lovely part of Nottingham with great schools, a pretty high street, and brilliant connections into the city and the surrounding countryside.

Annabel, our first child, had just turned one, and I was expecting again, so it was the right time for us to make the move. This house ticked all the boxes and seemed like the perfect project. A Victorian semi-detached, it had been converted into seven student flats years before and needed a heap of work to turn it back into a family home, but it was within our budget, so we put in a cheeky offer that was accepted.’

Sizing things up

The house was in a terrible state. There was no garden, as flats had been built onto the back of the house, the original Minton tiled floor in the hallway was covered in a thick dark carpet and all the original fireplaces and architraves had been removed or covered up over the years. The whole place needed gutting, and I felt quite overwhelmed. It was impossible to live there during the work, so we stayed with family for six months while the kitchen, dining and living rooms were reinstated, the bathrooms replaced and the upstairs reconfigured.