We moved our kitchen upstairs
Changing the layout and clever decorating ideas have transformed Shrez Ghelani’s once-unloved property into a stylish home
Changing the layout transformed Shrez’s once-unloved property
Kitchen
‘Originally the kitchen was used as the main living space with magnolia walls and old beige carpet. It was a very long, empty room that lacked heart or soul,’ says Shrez. ‘When we plastered the wall, it was one of the turning points in our build. It felt like the end was near and I fell in love with the texture, colour and feeling that fresh plaster gave me. It didn’t feel right to cover it with paint, so we left it unpainted as part of our design and saved money on paint as a result! ’The couple installed a large window at the rear of the property to allow daylight to ood the room. They bought IKEA base units, but got their unusual door fronts from Plykea. ‘We kept our original oorboards, but replaced any that were damaged with ones from upstairs,’ explains Shrez.
My story…
After four years of living in a 1.5-bed at, we wanted a bigger home. We couldn’t a ord to stay in Woolwich, so looked nearby at Plumstead, which was much more a ordable. We fell in love with the area as it was an altogether greener part of south-east London with lots of great spots for dog walks.
The house was in need of a complete renovation and the layout of the rooms was crazy! You had to walk into the garden to access the kitchen and the main bathroom led o from a bedroom. We kept the original footprint of the house, but changed the layout.
In May 2018, our builders stripped the entire house back to bare brick. The kitchen was ripped out and walls were put in to divide up two bedrooms to make way for two new bathrooms. We also swapped the living room and kitchen to make better use of the space.
Our new home was a building site, so we continued to live in our at up the road. At 6am every morning, I’d visit the site to answer the builders’ questions and drop by again in the evenings to check on the work.
By October 2018, we were nally able to move in.
The downstairs was nished, but we still had to do the upstairs rooms. We taught ourselves DIY skills by watching YouTube videos and learnt how to put up coving and t skirting. Weekends and evenings were spent up ladders painting.
Although we’ve made some of the bedrooms smaller, our home works for us now. It’s such an incredible feeling to have built somewhere like this that we enjoy living in so much.
Dining room
‘We replaced the old uPVC windows with new sash-style ones. They block out sound from the street and keep the house warm in the winter months,’ says Shrez. On the wall, the couple hung a row of IKEA Ivar units, which they painted in Nancy’s Blushes by Farrow & Ball. A handy made-to-measure window seat decorated with cushions by Bluebellgray and John Lewis & Partners makes the perfect spot to watch the world go by. The dining table and chairs are by West Elm and above them hangs a chandelier by Pooky.