DREAM TEAM

‘We fitted Ikea flat-pack units and did the tiling ourselves’

to begin with, we didn’t have a generous budget to play with. When it came to renovating the interior, we took on many of the jobs ourselves, only hiring professionals for tasks we didn’t have the skill set for (and couldn’t easily learn), such as plumbing, plastering and electrics. This meant that Stuart and I spent hours stripping multiple layers of paper and paint off walls and ceilings (the toughest and most boring job, in my book), chipping off old tiles and plaster to expose brick, and sanding ancient floorboards into shape. We did, however, uncover an old open fireplace in the living room with a beautiful, original surround. We also learnt new skills, some of which (the gilding in particular) have become little side hustle businesses.

Ditching the dark

Our top priorities when renovating were to brighten the house and rid it of its gloomy nature; restore, where possible, and replace original features to give the place its character back, and of course make it liveable for us. Tearing down the wall between the kitchen and diner to create one spacious room, which is now double the size the kitchen was when we moved in, helped us on our way to ticking those boxes. We also removed the dark, drab furnishings which were casting a shadow over the entire property, making do with barely functional living conditions (including a two-ring, plug-in hob to cook on, and the aforementioned main bedroom shower) for the six or so months it took to turn the core rooms around, but it was well worth the discomfort. We lightened rooms by incorporating pastel hues into our schemes and using reflective surfaces, without compromising on or sacrificing the dark decor I love. We fitted coving, skirting and ceiling roses to restore its