Welcome to my home
Lucy and David Houlton knew this house was exactly what they wanted as soon as they stepped inside. ‘Every room felt spacious and – most important of all – each one had the potential to be incredibly light,’ explains Lucy. ‘However, the kitchen was tucked away in the dark basement, there was a kitchenette in a bedroom, the décor throughout was quite dingy and every room needed updating. There was also a vast loft crying out for conversion. Our vision was to reorganise the space and create a cohesive decorative scheme that would make the house feel brighter, modern and welcoming.’
A builder started work the day they moved in. Within a few months, the loft extension was completed; the kitchen was moved from the basement room to the front of the original through-living room to create an open-plan, family-friendly space; and the former kitchen’s roof was raised and double doors installed in place of a narrow window to transform it into a bright TV room that’s now connected to the garden.
‘We had to dig down to accommodate the new doors in the TV room,’ says Lucy. ‘It was back-breaking work, but worth it, as this room now has the same indooroutdoor feel as our main living room and is really light.’
Once the structural work was all over and done with, Lucy and David approached the décor with a view to enhancing the feeling of space. ‘To help us get used to the different light levels in each room, and as a starting point for creating a cohesive scheme, we began by painting every room white and by ripping up the carpets, stripping back the floorboards and having them lime-washed,’ says Lucy. ‘The overall effect is a family home that just invites you to unwind.’