We first met with our architect, Anthony, less than a week after moving house. We had a good idea of what we wanted to do when we bought the house and as a lot of these ideas are to make a house that works well for life as a family with children it seemed sensible to get started as soon as possible.
Our priorities weren’t entirely the same as each other (I have less requirement for a pool table than Neil!) but there were plenty of things that we do agree on:
- Connecting the house to the garden (currently the garage is between the 2 and there’s no real link or view of the main bit of garden)
- A new kitchen with open plan dining room/family area
- Creating a spare room
- Adding a second bathroom
The house was originally built in 1959 with 3 bedrooms upstairs and a lounge, kitchen and dining room downstairs as well as a garage which was attached to the house by a patio area with a roof. This covered area made an excellent Covid-secure entertaining space when lockdown restrictions were relaxed to allow seeing up to 6 people outside shortly after we moved in (although it has since come to light that following the rules isn’t something we should have been worrying about!)
In the 1980s a room had been added to the side of the kitchen/dining room, and the previous owners added another room at the back of the kitchen and a giant bathroom above it in 2012. As a result of these changes the house had an unusual layout with some slightly strange features such as an external window above the kitchen sink which looks into what is now my study. This layout combined with some dodgy electrics and poor lighting, wooden kitchen worktops (which we have ruined), the hidden front door that delivery men could never find, a half-sized dishwasher that slides across the kitchen floor(!), a leaky shower, the unusable fireplace and a room painted entirely in dark brown paint, means there is plenty that we’d like to change.
Our first planning application was unsuccessful but thankfully the revised plans were given permission and so we were all set to go. The approved plans include the open plan kitchen/family space opening onto the garden, an office space for both of us (mine on a mezzanine level overlooking the main family room; Neil’s worryingly close to the planned games room…), games room, utility room, 4th bedroom and 2 additional shower rooms.
So that left the tiny detail of finding a builder… We were lucky enough to be given the details of a number of different builders through recommendations from friends, neighbours and our architect but were in competition with the rest of the world who also seem to be building extensions, office gardens or loft conversions. Two builders who had been highly recommended were unavailable for at least 12 months and, quite probably as a result, their costs were eye-wateringly high. We were very relieved when the builder who we wanted to work with quoted more in line with our initial estimate and could start pretty soon. As they were already working on 2 properties in the local area it was clear to see that this would be a good set up with the various different trades able to move easily between projects.
So we had planning permission, a builder, the building regulations drawings were ready to go… surely it’s just a couple of weeks til we start? Hmmm…
