made improvements in stages. The
couple’s solution was to begin by gutting
the place – back to the brick in some areas.
‘We planned a lot of structural work and
while that was being done we rented a
cottage nearby,’ says Lucy. ‘Ben started the
demolition work to save time while waiting
for the builder. He removed a wall between
two rooms on the ground floor to create a
really big main bedroom. He also gutted
the adjacent shower room and moved a wall
back, again for more space.’
In the kitchen, Ben demolished yet
another wall on the left, so that it could be
rebuilt further back – this meant moving
the soil and waste pipes too – and upstairs
he lowered the level of the guest bathroom
floor. ‘It was only by a fraction but we
didn’t want ramps, steps or different levels
anywhere,’ Lucy explains.
After some replastering and rewiring,
the couple had an IKEA kitchen installed.
‘The great beauty of IKEA is that you never
have any trouble getting
replacement doors and so
on,’ says Lucy.
All the bath and shower
rooms were refurbished
too. ‘We chose handmade
Moroccan tiles for all our
bathrooms. They were
rather expensive but they
give me real pleasure every
time I see them,’ says Lucy.
To go with their new
oil-fired central heating system they
installed new radiators from Bathstore.
‘Unfortunately, it means we have a huge
tank in the garden – soon to be disguised
by a wood pile and potted trees,’ Lucy
explains. ‘We did buy a radiator from
another company and within 18 months it
was rusty and leaking,’ she continues. ‘The
company wouldn’t replace it or refund us
as they said our water was the problem- too acidic.’ They then laid laminate
http://www.yourhomemagazine.co.uk June 2019 77
REAL HOME
‘The colourful carpet was a total
bargain,’ says Lucy. ‘It’s made up of
sections of vintage wool rugs. You
can choose any size you like and
for our enormous design we paid
about £1,000 from Rug Vista.’ The
couple recovered the IKEA sofa in
a Bemz fabric. The chrome lamp
is from John Lewis and the gold
lamp is by Original BTCThe stripe rug is from
IKEA and the stuffed
tiger was only £30 from
Amazon. ‘Tilo has a
stuffed leopard version
too, and the children
love them,’ says LucyThe bath is from
UK Bathroom
Warehouse. The
handmade Moroccan
Dandelion tiles – by
Marrakech Design,
a Swedish company- were their one big
expense. These are in the
deep pink colourway
flooring throughout and installed their
pride and joy, a very striking Danish
Rais wood-burning stove. It sits in the
space between the sitting and dining
rooms and rotates so that it can be
seen from either side – best of all it has
zero emissions.
Ben repainted the house inside and out
and chose white for the interior. ‘It made
such a difference,’ says Lucy. ‘Especially
when you think that the sitting room