and I stayed there for about seven months.” A RUBBLE DILEMMA


While the ripping out of the cottage interior was the quick part, then came stage two, dealing with the rubble that was rapidly covering the oor.  wasnt massiely knowledgeable about the knocking down part and bits were falling off even where I wasn’t chipping away! Emma is an architect and she looked at it with her architect hat on and we decided to employ a structural engineer.”


The structural engineer ensured that eerything was sound and also confirmed that Hamish’s idea of constructing a mezzanine sleeping level in the sitting room was feasible. It meant the removal of a beam so that a staircase could be fitted but it would gie the cottage much-needed extra space. “I was in a mild panic when the engineer visited but he didn’t bat an eyelid about what we had done or planned to do.”


54 www.sbhonline.co.uk


With the sitting room ceiling removed and the beams exposed the project started to gather real momentum. “I started to get excited. The cottage had always felt really small  it was cosy but it was super small. When we removed the ceiling, the sitting room felt huge. Now, when you lie in the mezzanine bed, it feels massive, as you almost have the run of the house.”


INTERIOR INSPIRATION Inspired by the results in the sitting room, Hamish continued into the kitchen and utility room removing the ceilings and exposing the original beams. The former kitchen was a hotchpotch of different units and cupboards with a cooker in the corner. Hamish decided to move the new range cooker to the side wall and maximise the use of the utility room, adding a return under the window to incorporate another two cupboards and moving the dishwasher and washing machine into this room as well. Initially, Hamish had intended to design and


HIGH POINT


inding the fireplace  it was the first thing we uncovered, and it gave me a real spark of excite- ment about the whole project. At that moment it changed from being a 70s uninspiring house into something quite special.”


nov/dec 2022


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