DOWNSIZE TO UPSIZE
Extending a small two-bed in Essex
Renovating several homes over the past eight years, Ashley and Christopher Bradshaw have expertly climbed the property ladder since investing in their first home, a one-bedroom flat, when they were both only 21 years old. After an interim move, the couple were keen to find a family house and decided to return to Christopher’s hometown, Billericay: ‘We were ready for a new project. Although our previous house had great living space, there were only two bedrooms. We wanted more rooms and the perfect place to start a family,’ Ashley explains.
Christopher found the house on a property website, but initially faced serious opposition from Ashley, who was deterred by its dilapidated state and poor living accommodation. Ashley admits that his persistence paid off: ‘We did five viewings in one day and as soon as I stepped into this garden, I forgot about the house and fell in love with all the outdoor space. I was convinced we could create the home we wanted.’
By March 2015 the house was theirs, but it was a long way from being their dream home. For a start, it was small. In fact much smaller than where they were living. There was no designated kitchen area – just a sink and portable cooker below the staircase. And worse… ‘It smelt of cats, so it was a matter of ripping up the carpet and rotten floorboards and bleaching the whole house before we could even begin to start work,’ Ashley confesses. ‘We had to start from scratch with a new heating system, electrics, plumbing and even asbestos removal from the walls and ceilings.’
Two previous renovations had armed the pair with enough experience to undertake the massive project – thanks to Christopher’s
electrical skills, the help of Ashley’s dad, a tiler, and a local building team to do the major part of the build. Yet, Ashley’s mum, a landscape gardener, was the first port of call. ‘There was an air-raid shelter to demolish and the garden was a jungle that I couldn’t wait to clear and replant,’ Ashley says.
As well as working on the garden, the couple kept busy while waiting for building permission to incorporate a brick porch (to increase the entrance hall), as well as adding a decent sized kitchen-dining space with two sets of French doors leading out to the garden. Time was spent stripping out the house, contracting a specialist company to remove the asbestos, and enjoying a trip to Mykonos to get married!
‘Building work started just after our wedding, so we took another two weeks off to honeymoon along the West Coast of America. It was a much-needed break from the house, and the extension walls were half finished by the time we got back,’ Ashley says.
On their return, the pair’s involvement in the renovation was full on, and they undertook as much of the work as possible, fitting it around their day jobs. Ashley was responsible for all the sanding, filling and painting, while Christopher busied himself with a multitude of tasks, from tiling to plumbing, joinery and much of the build. ‘He even fitted all the guttering and finished the roof of the porch. The builders had a habit of not turning up, so he would just step in and complete the jobs,’ says Ashley.
The hard work took its toll, and Ashley admits that it wasn’t easy living in the house throughout the process: ‘We had problems with heavy rain, which slowed everything down, and when we were working on the bathroom, there was an issue with the drains
‘The existing layout was perfect – I loved the
big open-plan living and dining area’
and plumbing. We ended up bathing in a large plastic builders’ bucket, filling it up with the outside tap and heating it with a kettle. Luckily, this was only for four days during the summer!’
The decor is strictly Ashley’s domain. Keen to further develop similar schemes from their previous home, she took inspiration from several American Instagram accounts and, unsurprisingly, the overall look is an ‘Englishcountryside-meets-New England’ combination, with muted greys, blues and neutrals seamlessly blended throughout the house. Fluid styling with a mix of rustic and industrial pieces has also helped merge the indoor and outdoor dining areas, and even the little office nook.
‘Although I like a house to look perfect, with everything in its place, I love the imperfections created by adding some texture. Rather than having four plain walls, the tongue-and-groove in the kitchen and reclaimed barn wood wall in our bedroom add character. They also saved the expense of plastering!’ she jokes.
Her favourite room though, is the one they most recently designed and decorated – baby daughter Emily’s room. It is distinctly but subtly pink in familiar chalky hues, with an ‘adventurer’ theme: ‘I needed my mum’s help to use masking tape to plot out the different paint sections and also to apply the giraffe wall sticker,’ says Ashley. ‘The entire room took about two days from start to finish, which at six-months pregnant was pretty impressive. It was tiring, but so much fun and worthwhile, too.’
Going forward, the house remains an ongoing project and the couple plan to continue changing and updating rooms as their requirements evolve: ‘We’re looking to extend again soon. Our home has the scope to grow with our family and it’s in a lovely road that backs on to a great school. We’ve really found our family haven.’