As we are all hit by exorbitant house prices, many people have had to put the idea of moving house on hold.  Perhaps now’s the time to look at the potential of your existing home and renovate rather than move, or to quote a recent post on facebook – “improve not move”.

In this small village house, the clients wanted a complete change from classical to contemporary.  They looked into the idea of moving home, but since they loved the location and since most of their lives revolved around the village, they decided to invest into doing up their current home.    The change is astounding.  Looking back at the “before” photographs, the space seems smaller and more cluttered.  The clients’ wish list included more storage space, regaining the use of the third bedroom, which over the years had evolved into a laundry and boxroom, a large kitchen with an island and built-in appliances and a more spacious living room.

By removing the arch between the kitchen and the hall, we managed to extend the kitchen, creating space for a large island and breakfast bar.  The tall units house built-in appliances and a large larder.

The living room was also opened up to provide more space and the sofa was replaced by a large corner sofa with a chaise longue.   The lack of storage was addressed by adding a custom designed seven-metre long cupboard along the hallway.  The secret to removing clutter is to have space to store all the paraphernalia that accumulates and the interior of this cupboard is divided into sections dedicated to laundry, clothes, books, toys and cleaning. This large cupboard was also designed to use up previously unutilised space in the hallway without visually making the hallway any narrower.

The layout of the bathroom was also redesigned to include a small area for the washing machine and tumble dryer, effectively freeing up the third bedroom.   By moving the sanitary ware and designing a more streamlined interior, the bathroom looks more spacious even though it now contains two appliances.

The room does not have many external apertures and the green colour scheme exploits the natural light, while reflective white opens up the space.  These colours, together with grey, were used throughout the house, with the only exception being the nursery.   Aged wood was used as a focal point in the kitchen and in the hallway.  The lighting plan was carefully designed to simulate natural light, with wall sculptures and pendants used for interest.  In the beginning of every project, we ask our clients for a wish list.  This project seems to have ticked all their boxes.