Walking on sunshine

Nikki’s elegant, light-filled extension took hard work, time and plenty of saving – and the attention to detail in the design makes it award-winning in our eyes

WHY Nikki’s HOME CAUGHT OUR EYE

As soon as the Real Homes team walked into Nikki’s house on a sunny day in September last year, we were head over heels in love. Her extended Victorian terrace is a lot of people’s dream home: a light, bright kitchen-diner, social garden, cosy living room and spa-like bathroom. It’s taken a lot of work, of course – Nikki and her husband, Tom, tackled a floor at a time, stopping to save up for the next stage of the build in between. And while the house looks magazine-ready now, Nikki’s learned valuable lessons to get to this point. The first is to trust your gut. The spacious family bathroom was borne from a compromise: Nikki opted to sacrifice a bedroom for her dream spa-like sanctuary, showing that it pays to go against the grain to achieve a space that perfectly suits your lifestyle. The second lesson is to know where to spend and where to save. The big-ticket items in Nikki’s kitchen – the glazing, units and floor – were splurges, but also carefully considered purchases that will last for years to come, and they can change things up in the meantime with accessories. The final lesson? It’s all in the detail. Planning her kitchen extension down to the finest points allowed Nikki to create her dream space with tiny touches that make a huge difference – from the seamless corner window looking out to the garden to the built-in wine cupboard. It’s this attention to detail that won Nikki the Best Extension title in last year’s Real Homes awards. We hope you enjoy taking the tour as much as we did.