NEW HEIGHTS
Exposing the rafters and knocking two rooms into one has taken Chloe and Scott Stickland’s bungalow to a whole new level
After moving from London to Winchester in 2010 for a slower pace of life, serial renovators Chloe and scott stickland were keen to find a new project. they had a broad search area, as business analyst scott commutes to the capital just two days a week and photographer Chloe works from home designing covers for travel guides, styling food photoshoots and managing instagram accounts. ‘We rented in Winchester at first, but after our daughter, Florence, now 5, was born, we decided to look at surrounding villages where we could find a bigger house with a garden,’ explains Chloe.
the couple eventually found a repossessed bungalow set within a third of an acre near Andover. ‘Although the garden was overgrown, the plot was a generous size with lots of fruit trees, while the 1980s extension had plenty of scope for improvement,’ says Chloe.
Fortunately, scott had gained experience when he was a student helping his builder dad, and later honed his skills renovating properties. this meant he was able to tackle most jobs himself, except plastering and electrics. ‘ We lived in one half of the house during winter with no heating except for a log burner,’ says Chloe, whose second child, Cece, now 2, was born midway through the renovation. ‘We used Florence’s bedroom as our sitting room, put a temporary kitchen in the room that’s now our bathroom, and all slept in our bedroom.’
the biggest transformation was to the main living area, where the low ceiling was removed to reveal the roof trusses. ‘it was a quite a big task to take on as we needed extra insulation above, and scott fitted tongue-and-groove panelling, too,’
DESIGN TIP ‘Don’t feel you have to limit yourself. We’ve mixed modern art with antiques from France and India’
says Chloe. ‘It took forever to paint, but it’s made such a difference.’
Scott also extended the kitchen by knocking through to an adjoining snug, and erected a wall in the extra-wide hallway to create another bedroom for Cece. He even borrowed his dad’s cement mixer, and with help from a friend and a neighbour, he made the on-trend, sleek concrete worktops after having reinforced the kitchen units.
As with most projects of this nature, it wasn’t without its challenges, particularly as the house is accessed via a steep, narrow driveway. ‘Deliveries of building materials were often dropped at the bottom of the drive,’ says Chloe, ‘so it took us about eight hours to carry all the massive paving stones for the flooring into the house.’
As Chloe’s dad, Geoffrey Stead, is an antiques dealer, she’s picked up his love of unusual finds and modern paintings, describing her style as ‘modern-rustic’ with industrial and vintage touches. ‘I’m a huge hoarder,’ she admits, whereas Scott would prefer fewer objects in the house.’
The couple are also big fans of recycling and up-cycling. Nothing was wasted during the renovation, including the oak mantle salvaged from an ugly brick fireplace they knocked out. ‘ We took it to a wood mill and they told us it was from an old ship,’ says Chloe. ‘So Scott used it to make shelving in the bathroom and two coat racks for the hall and master bedroom.’
After two years of hard graft, the couple’s last job of cladding the exterior in cedar wood was finished last year. But this busy pair are not resting on their laurels. ‘We’re now planning a cube-shaped cantilevered summer house made from scaffold boards,’ reveals Chloe. ‘ We love living here, and improving our home with creative ideas is the icing on the cake.’
FAVOURITE SHOP ‘We love Anthropologie, particularly its colourful Nathalie Lété collection’