CONTACTS/ SUPPLIERS
PROJECT MANAGER Emma Jane
cargocollective.com/ emmalouisejane
HEATING/PLUMBING/ STRUCTURAL WORKS GM Property Maintenance 07880 361929
KITCHEN Wren
wrenkitchens.com
BATHROOMS Victoria Plum Bathrooms
victoriaplum.com
Victorian Plumbing
victorianplumbing.co.uk
HEATING Best Heating
bestheating.com
PAINT Farrow & Ball
farrow-ball.com
stripped of the hardboard that covered them, and have been dipped and stripped, and the floors have been repaired, sanded and painted. Emma was also determined to make the most of her unique outdoor space, but it required some seriously hard graft. Her initial idea was to create a grass section broken up with railway sleepers, but when she found 500 reclaimed bricks on Gumtree she changed her plans and decided to build a wall instead. The jury is still out on the logistics of getting railway sleepers to the courtyard as opposed to painstakingly carrying the bricks through the front door, down the spiral staircase, through the kitchen and out into the courtyard. The chippings were also a Gumtree find but they all had to be laboriously cleaned using a hose connected to the upstairs bathroom tap. However, once the roughcast wall was painted and Emma taught herself to build a pergola, the courtyard came into its own. “It’s so private, nobody really overlooks you because of the angles of the other buildings and the shrubbery. Sometimes there’s band practice on in the church and it’s lovely to sit out in the courtyard and listen.” She is very proud of the pergola which she built herself; the mirror inside it is from a sliding door which was part of the built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms. “It was so difficult getting things in and out of the house that anything I could reuse I did.” Unfortunately, when it came to installing the
new Wren kitchen, there was no opportunity to upcycle, and Emma had to request permission to take the flat pack kitchen through the church,
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
into the church hall and then transport it across her courtyard into the reconfigured basement. “I actually don’t think the kitchen was in the basement when the house was first built. There are hints that downstairs was more of a storage area and I think the kitchen was part of the sitting room on the ground floor although there really wouldn’t have been much space.” This 18 month project has certainly been a labour of love, but Emma is also very grateful for the help she did have help. “I had a wonderful tradesman – Ger from GM Property Maintenance. He carried out all the professional trades and the structural works and he taught my brother and I to do the screeding.” Emma’s family were also a huge help and kept onside with lots of cups of tea and cakes. “My family have been my back up team especially as I thought I would have a lot more time to do this myself. Fortunately, my brother really likes sanding floors!
“On the positive side, I think during Covid
this project has kept us all sane. Despite it being demanding work, most of the time we were smiling, having a laugh and my dog went back to my parents most days covered in paint!” This house has been a great project for
Emma’s portfolio but with her new job also comes new possibilities. “I’m loving living here but now I know I can work from home I can work anywhere. New possibilities are opening up and I would like to find another quirky property to save. I think my next move might be more rural, a croft perhaps?”
EMMA’S
TOP TIP “Learn trades to save on labour costs. I learnt how to lay bricks, screed a floor and build a pergola. Plastering however, leave that to the professionals!”
may/june 2022
FLAGSTONES Beswick Stone
beswickstone.co.uk
WALL TILES Porcelain Superstore
porcelainsuperstore.co.uk
LIGHTING Pooky & reclaimed
pooky.com
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