Comfortableand
contentintheperiod
maisonettetheyhad
spentthreeyears
lovinglyrenovating,Hannahand
JamieTuttonwerenotlooking
torelocate.However,withschool
onthehorizonfortheirdaughter,
Eula,thenthree,andanother
babyontheway,theysoonfound
themselveshousehunting.‘We
beganbycasuallybrowsing
propertiesonlineandattending
viewingstoseewhatwecould
affordinourarea,’saysHannah.
Afterseeingseveralhouses,
thisparticularpropertyturned
outtobetoogoodanopportunity
tomiss.‘Thegroundfloorwas
somuchlargerthananyotherwe
hadviewedand,asit hadbeen
emptyfora year,therewasroom
tonegotiateontheprice,’says
Hannah.‘Sowejustwentforit,
andputourmaisonetteonthe
marketthesameweekI went
intohospitaltohaveMaggie.’
Theirmaisonettesoldwithina
week,allowingthecoupletogo
aheadwiththemoveandbegin
renovatingtheirnewproperty.
Althoughit hadamplespace
andplentyofpotential,the
interiorofthenewhouselefta lot
tobedesired.‘Itwashardmoving
froma shiny,renovatedhometo
a dirtyandunlovedproperty–
especiallywitha newbaby,’says
Hannah.‘JamieandI gavethe
groundfloora quickmakeoverto
makeit feelmorehomely.’The
pairpaintedeverythingfromthe
sittingroomwallstothekitchen
unitdoors,thenreplacedlighting,
socketsandswitches.‘Welived
withthehousehalffinishedfor
sixmonthsuntilourfinanceshad
recoveredfromthemove.Itwas
grottyupstairsfortheduration,
butit’sfunnywhatyoulearnto
livewithandeventuallyignore.’
Whenbudgetallowed,the
realrenovationworkbeganfrom
thetopdown.Firstwastheloft
conversionwhichwasinneed
ofa lotoflove– nottomentiona
reconfiguration.‘Wewantedtwo
reasonably sized children’s roomsupthere,plusa showerroomthey
couldbothaccess,’saysHannah.
So,thecouplerepositionedthe
entrancetotheloft,createda
landingandmovedtheshower
roomtositbetweenthetwonew
bedrooms,whichnowbelongto
six-year-oldEulaandHannah’s
stepson,Cameron,17.
Sixmonthslater,it wasthe
turnofthefirstfloortogeta new
aesthetic– or,moreaccurately,
anentirerebuild– removing
fireplacesandrepositioninga
doorwayandwallstoallowfor
a larger,morefamily-friendly
bathroom.However,it wasn’t
completelystraightforward.
‘I remembermeetingthebuilder
andstructuralengineerandbeing
veryblaséaboutmovingchimney
breastsandwalls,completely
naivetothemessandtotalchaos
itwouldcause,’Hannahsays.
‘Intheearlydaysoftheproject,
I cameupthestairstocheckon
progressandwasshockedthat
thebackhalfofthehousehad
beencompletelygutted,heldup
bymetalandsupports,andthe
realityoftherenovationreally
hitme.’Despitetheunexpected
messanda month-longmoveto
a friend’shousefortheduration
ofthebuild,it mainlywentto
plan;theonlyhiccupbeingthat
thesteelsneededtoholdupthe
chimneystackscouldn’tbe
mountedintotheceiling,and
wouldinsteadprotrudeintothe
rooms.However,Hannahhad
a simplesolution:‘I decidedto
makea featureofthem,creating
adisplayshelfinthemaster
bedroomanda colourfulwall
muralinMaggie’sroomtomake
themlookintentional,’shesays.
Whiletherenovationsare
complete,Hannahis considering
whetherthereis stillroomfor
improvementonthegroundfloor.
‘Iliketousea spacetoitsfull
potential,’shesays.‘Wehavea
sliceofsidereturnthatwasnever
includedinthepreviousworks
andI’dliketouseit tocreate
a cloakroomandutilityroom.
We’ll have to wait and see.’SITTINGROOM
Contrastingpaint
detailslendHannah
andJamie’shomea
uniquecharacter.
wallsinPaviliongray,
mantelpieceinrailings,
both£46.50for2.5L
estateemulsion,
Farrow & ball