Family matters
Dani Ellis has transformed an unloved 1930s semi into her family home with the addition of a rear extension and extensive renovation works
A radical remodelling and extension project turns a dark and dated semi-detached property into a modern family home
Dani Ellis was searching for the perfect house to renovate when a 1930s semi-detached house came up for sale right on her road. “Houses on our street don’t come up very often, so I went to visit the property and I completely fell in love,” begins Dani.the property had been empty for six months and was, in Dani’s words, “a complete wreck,” but she could see its potential.
“I came back four times, including once with a builder — I wanted a project and I could see that despite the mould, the plants growing inside the house and the general lack of care, it could be a lovely family home,” she remembers.
After placing the winning bid through informal tender, the process halted and it took months before the deal was completed. However, Dani, not one for hanging around, got to work drawing up her ideas and asked an architectural technician to take a look at them. By the time she received the keys, planning permission was already in place for the renovation work, along with a single-storey rear extension and small two-storey side extension.
Extending and remodelling
“Because I applied for planning early, we were able to start work as soon as we’d got the keys,” says Dani, who hired the builder she had taken to the initial viewing as she was familiar with him from a previous renovation.
“We moved into rented accommodation around the corner but I was quite naïve — I thought it’d only take six months,” she admits. On site everyday, Dani oversaw the project as the house was stripped back and the kitchen extension built. However, as the project progressed, unforeseen issues pushed her fixed budget to the limits.the roof needed to be replaced and the ceilings pulled down.
“I financed it all with the money from our old house — this one was downsized so I had put some aside for the renovation,” she explains. “Looking back, it’s so satisfying to see what a mess it was compared to how it is now. It has come a long way.”
The ground floor saw the small galley kitchen, WC and dated conservatory at the back of the house transformed with a rear wrap-around extension to provide a large kitchen diner. An internal wall dividing a dated dining room and the new open-plan kitchen was partially removed to make space for a snug. To the front of the house, a small, sympathetic lean-to side extension was added, creating muchneeded extra room for storage, a new cloakroom and a utility. Upstairs, the side extension adds an extra bedroom and an en suite while the bathroom and two further bedrooms received some desperately needed attention and updating. “Lots of people told us we should extend into the loft, but I’m glad we didn’t,” says Dani. “It would have meant scrimping on the finishes in the rest of the house and we didn’t want a huge house with loads of extra rooms anyway.”
‘‘ I wanted a project and I could see that despite the mould, it could be a lovely family home
THE FLOORPLAN
A small extension to the front of the house gives Dani and her family some extra storage space and a cloakroom, but it is the rear extension containing a new kitchen, dining and living space which has transformed the house.the remodelling of the first floor – which involved included shifting the staircase so the bathroom can cater for the family and adding an extra bedroom with en suite in the new extension – means it now better suits the family’s needs.
Getting the layout right
The build took just over a year and in that time, Dani, who is trained in interior design, planned the fixtures and fittings so there was no time wasted.the kitchen, now a bright, open space, is complete with a rooflight and a large sliding glass door which leads out to the garden. Dark-painted timber kitchen units were installed and an engineered quartz worktop creates a practical food preparation space over the units and kitchen island. “If a friend comes over for a glass of wine, or when Poppy comes home from school, we’ll sit at the island. I worried it would be too big an expanse of space for just a worktop but I didn’t want piles of washing up and cooking splatters on it. Instead we’ve put messier things out of the way and positioned the sink out of sight from the dining table.”
Tucked away around the corner from the bright and open main space is the old dining room, which is now a cosy snug. “I could have knocked the wall down completely but I wanted that separate living space.the front room is used more in the summer, but we can use the snug all the time and it comes into its own in the winter,” Dani explains. “The log burner makes the front room amazing all year round, but when the sun comes around to the front of the house in the early evening every day, it lights the room up. I love to just sit in here in the late afternoon, and Poppy uses it a lot, too. I know some people tend to gravitate towards the back of the house when they have an extension, but we wanted to make sure we used every ounce of space.”
Dani’s home strikes a balance between the openplan space we dream of come summer, and the warm, cosy spaces that make all the difference when the leaves start to fall. Everything has been meticulously planned, and it shows: her home is practical as well as beautiful. Still, she insists there’s plenty more yet to do.
THE BUILD
The wrap-around rear extension and lean-to at the front were built in brick (outer skin) and blockwork to complement the existing structure. The garden was unkempt and overgrown when Dani first bought the house (see bottom left). As she knew the sliding doors would open up the house to the outside, she invested time in overhauling the garden while renovating the house. “It’s a huge part of the extension space because of the great big windows. The patio becomes an extension of the house.”