A LASTING legacy

BECKY AND BEN INSHAW'S RENOVATION FOCUS WAS TO RETAIN PRECIOUS MEMORIES - AND MAKE A DREAM HOME FOR NEW ONES

- CHARLOTTE LUXFORD

When Ben and Becky Inshaw bought the doer-upper next door to Becky’s nan’s, it gave them their first taste of renovating. However, when her nan sadly passed away in 2018, the house had to go on the market.

Ben and Becky weren’t looking to buy, but decided to make it their family home while honouring her nan’s memory.

WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE TO BUY THIS HOUSE?

‘I couldn’t bear seeing all our childhood memories being ripped out of Nan’s home, so we took the opportunity to create our own family home from scratch. Nan’s house had so much potential but she wasn’t fussed about interiors at all; there were so many clashing patterns – it was definitely maximalist! Given we had the rare advantage of knowing the house inside out beforehand, we started to rip stuff out straight away in early 2019, while Ben and I moved in with my parents to save on rent. It was always a freezing house, so one of the first things we did was insulate the entire property. We lost a couple of inches off each of the rooms, which also meant losing some original features, unfortunately, but we managed to have the plaster mouldings remade.’

HOW DID YOU UPDATE THE LAYOUT?