“Almost nothing in this house has been bought at retail price,” says Sarah, “we’ve basically bought on sale or gone to the manufacturer”


the family bathroom which sits behind this room, off the corridor, and faces the neighbours. The guest ensuite was to have a glass roof too, sitting at right angles to the striking curtain walling, however as Sarah says, they decided to shelve this design as it was impossible to achieve. “We just couldn’t make it work, so we had to rethink it. Any redesign costs a fortune – it’s galling that it cost so much extra money for removing a design feature, especially as we have ended up with a standard ceiling.” However there were no compromises when it came to the master bedroom, which has a great view over the park thanks to the sliding


44 www.sbhonline.co.uk


glass doors. The wall behind the bed separates the room from a walk-in wardrobe (a room in itself), and off this is the ‘big reveal’, a very impressive mosaic-tiled bathroom, featuring a free-standing bath in pride of place, centrally located on a protruding wall flanked by two windows.


“We compromised on all the other bathrooms to get this one perfect,” says Sarah, explaining how this refuge was at the top of their wish-list. The wall that the bath sits against wasn’t quite central, “so the bath had to be exactly central; the minutest detail was important to us,” says Sarah. The shower has a £500 ‘soft-feel’ shower tray, there’s a Bluetooth-enabled speaker in the ceiling, and various lighting moods can be provided. The tile “wasn’t expensive,” insists Sarah, “however, buying through our tiler meant we got his 35 per cent trade discount.” The bedroom is double-aspect, with a window to the side giving a view of the tree, and the squirrels’ dray, which helps give the room a feeling of tranquility with views of nature wherever you look. Sarah and Andy carried through this idea having enjoyed seeing the squirrels in the previous house’s bedroom which also had a window on this side. (Somewhat bizarrely, the house was designed with no window looking towards the park, however they have remedied this in a big way.) Situated above the living area is a snug


SARAH’S TOP TIP


Know how you want to live and don’t compromise on that. We knew that we wanted to end up with something that was a flexible space


september/october 2019


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84