THE INDOOROUTDOOR FAMILY SPACE

kelly nutt-edson and her husband, tom, freed up space for a playroom for their twins, Scarlett and Florence, by extending into the side return of their home

‘Widening the room completely changed the use of all the ground-floor rooms,’ says Kelly. ‘Before, the kitchen was separate from the dining room, which we can now enter directly, and which has become a kids’ play area. The girls didn’t have any space apart from the lounge previously, but now we have an actual sitting room, with all their stuff in the middle room. And it’s very flexible; as they get older and need study areas, they can use that room, and ultimately we can use it as a formal dining room.

‘When we bought the house, extending into the side return was something we knew we wanted to do. We visited a couple of neighbours’ homes and could see it worked really well. We primarily wanted an open space to spend time together.

We entertain a lot, so now we have the garden as part of the inside, and there’s full access to the kitchen without having to go away to prepare

food. The bi-fold doors were critical. They’re a foot higher than standard, and open to the ceiling rather than having a drop down. So far, when we’ve been entertaining we’ve been able to push the doors aside. I think we fitted 30 people in easily at one gathering.

There are also rooflights in the side return. With the big doors there was always going to be a lot of light, but it’s nice being able to look up and see the sky, too.

‘I’ve never been a country kitchen type and I like the simplicity of the new one, which works well with the micro- cement floor. The island extends bench space and the girls can sit up and help me cook. It’s a better place to stand and prepare meals.

‘We’re pleased we could extend as soon as we did, and we started the summer in a really nice way with the doors open as much as possible.’

cost AND contacts Project cost £72,000 Designer/builder Build Team, 020 7495 6561, buildteam.com