light and maximise the countryside views, it made sense to extend the kitchen within the constraints of permitted development rights and open up the previously blocked view of the paddock and fields using large spans of glass. Philippa also had the idea of taking some space from the long and narrow sitting room to incorporate an additional seating area into the new kitchen diner. This would leave them with a smaller but squarer sitting room with a cosier feel, which allowed for a more sociable seating arrangement.
Another bugbear was a somewhat pointless
room in the middle of the ground floor that the previous owners had used as a dining room and then a bedroom. “We’d tried to use it as a study, but it was a weird, north-facing, ‘nothingy’ room that just felt lost,” explains Philippa. “I decided to split the room into a walk-in pantry and toilet instead.” The pair also loved Brendon’s idea of sacrificing the fourth single bedroom to create an impressive glazed and vaulted entrance hall. By moving the staircase away from the wall, they were also able to incorporate a full-height recessed bookcase too. “The only storage we lost was a small cupboard under the stairs but we’ve more than made up for it elsewhere,” says Philippa. “For instance, I still have some empty kitchen cupboards which is such a luxury,
62
www.sbhonline.co.uk
and moving the toilet means we have a larger utility room with ample storage too.” Their main indulgence though was a new six by nine metre garden room featuring a living room/entertaining space and spiral staircase leading down to a two metre deep wine cellar. Dubbed ‘the wine box,’ it’s split into four quadrants incorporating a shower room, bar, seating area and ‘man cave’ with TV where Tony can watch football. Finally, the detached garage was converted into an office where Philippa and Tony work three to four days a week. Luckily the plans were approved and
permission was given to swap the old wood effect PVCu windows for aluminium ones and add white render. Brendon tendered the job out to five building firms, but as there was no shortage of work in the construction sector at that time, they only got three quotes back. “Mark Hamm at MKH was the only one who came to see the project, which made all the difference,” says Philippa. “He told us later he didn’t really need to see the job to price it, but he understood that it helps with trust. When you’re going to give hundreds of thousands of pounds to someone, it’s nice to have actually met them!”
Despite a wobble when the couple realised their initial £200,000 budget would need to be doubled at the very least, work finally began in
april/may 2020
VIEWS
Paulmann track lighting was fitted for the pendants and spotlights to give a degree of flexibility when positioning the dining table
PHILIPPA’S TOP TIPS
Tap into your builder’s ideas and contacts. For instance, ours suggested things like magnetic doorstops, bathroom design tweaks and a great little tile supplier I would never have found otherwise.
One wall in the hall has been finished with magnetic plaster so I could create a photo display without the need to drill holes.
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
