building lent itself to a simple linear room layout, with bedrooms at either end and the main open plan living space in the middle. To achieve the three bedrooms and two


bathrooms they wanted, Sally and John agreed to create an upper floor at one end of the building to house a master ensuite bedroom. They brought in builder Graham Smith to build the extra internal stud walls, and then lower the floor at one end of the building to create space for a two-storey section. At the same time the roof height was raised in this part of the building to create enough head room for a utility and staircase on the ground floor, leading to a third bedroom and ensuite above.


The building was also re-roofed to replace


rotting timbers and cracked tiles, and then fully insulated. “We took guidance from a number of Building Regs officers during the renovation,” says Sally. “We particularly needed their advice on the roof joists and insulation, because they wanted us to have four inches of Kingspan. If we were to keep the necessary gap we could only fit three inches of insulation, supplemented by a very thin additional thermal layer, to meet Regulations.” They also discovered, after skimming all the


internal walls, that they would have to knock out some of the newly skimmed plaster to accommodate lights over every door – a requirement if they were to eventually let the property as a holiday destination. They also had to compensate for a window that was positioned too high off the ground for a fire escape by fitting an escape ladder – which they turned into a feature using disused fencing. When it came to this kind of detail, Sally was


28 www.sbhonline.co.uk february/march 2020


KITCHEN A circular dining table found in a Barker and Stonehouse sale, plus chairs found in a French market and reupholstered by Sally, sit in the open plan living- kitchen area. Tongue and groove walls define the area, with units built out of reclaimed bricks and wood painted in Annie Sloan chalk paint, and open shelves made from scaffolding boards


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