RAISING THE ROOF
Style editor Anna Morley shares her loft conversion journey
When we viewed our current house back in 2013, me and my then boyfriend Michael (since upgraded to fiancé) were ideally looking for character for our first home together. However, as we walked around the shell of a new-build, with bare floors, rubble for a garden and plain walls, there wasn’t much personality to be found. But it was spacious, especially for just the two of us, with four bedrooms and a decent-sized kitchen-diner – and that ‘potential’ we all crave – so we became its proud new owners.
Fast forward eight years and we’ve clocked up one child and the accumulation of some unmarie Kondolike clutter; have both become home workers – as well as home exercisers and child entertainers (thank you, lockdown); and on top of that, there’s a new baby on the way. The house has begun to feel a bit of a squeeze.
The spaces we need to consider now vs then are: a toddler bedroom, two home offices, a playroom (don’t talk to me about bulky toys), a guest room for visitors (remember those?) and a new nursery. We found ourselves pondering the eternal Real Homes conundrum: do we move or improve?
Working on a home improvement magazine, I know this is a common question, with the route to improve a well-trodden path – and that’s precisely what we’re doing. Our reasons are a) we were able to add some character to the house and b) we like its location with a good school, nice neighbours and – crucially – a decent pub, all a walk away.
So how to achieve this extra space? Should we convert the garage? Add an extension? If so, double or single storey? And how wide? Or do we head up into the loft, thereby losing lovely storage space? I was firmly ‘team extension’ as I see beautiful examples of what can be achieved daily. Yet I was steered down the loft conversion route and, somehow, I was convinced. Perhaps it was the number crunching fiancé repeating the words ‘investment’ and ‘covetable extra bedroom’ that did it. But we still had two people round – one to price a single-storey extension off the back of the living room (£30-£50k) and the other to quote for the loft space at £30k.
What persuaded me was that our neighbours had gone upwards – with impressive results. Jenni and Doug’s conversion created light and space for their master bedroom, complete with spa-like en suite and dressing room. It felt like a sanctuary, which I think we could all do with right now. And even though we’re planning on using ours as a guest room/living room
(and part-playroom, if we’re honest), we are excited for life ‘oop top’.
With the deposit paid, work should start in a few weeks’ time.
For now, it’s full steam ahead on project declutter – those bulky toys don’t know what’s coming for them!