Style at Home

When I first saw thishouse online, myhusband Edd and Iwere actually in theprocess of buyinga different place,’ says Lottie. ‘I knowI should have just stopped looking butsomething wasn’t quite right with theone we intended to buy. This house wasempty, so you could really appreciatethe space and it had lots of gorgeousoriginal Victorian features, so I knewwe could turn it into a beautiful home.It was exactly what I’d wanted, so weput an offer in straightaway.Though the property had been renovatedwe were under no illusion as to the qualityof the work done. We knew it would needsome changes to improve it, such as freshcarpeting and a new bathroom, but weplanned to get round to those eventually.``````Disaster strikesWe soon realised that the house was in aworse condition than we originally thought.It was like a catalogue of disasters, andalmost every week a new problem croppedup – burst water pipes on Christmas Day,flooding in the downstairs loo and cellar,leaks in the roof and bad wiring, to name afew. The rewiring was still being done whileI was in hospital having our eldestdaughter, Molly, 4, and I brought her hometo bare plaster and ripped-up carpets.Our budget got eaten up by essentialand costly remedial works, so all ourdecorative plans were shelved. At times,we considered just selling the house andmoving on. I’m so glad we didn’t, though- five years later, we’ve managed to do allthe exciting things we planned and finallyhave a home that’s perfect for our smallfamily that now includes little Alice, 3.Getting stuck inThe kitchen was one of my biggest andmost favourite projects, and since we’vehad it done, it’s made more of a differencethan I could ever have imagined. I spendmost of my time in here, cooking orAfter an arduousrenovation, Lottie,34, loves playing withcolour, pattern andwoodland motifs inher Victorian semiNEW FLOW‘Changing one of thedoors to the gardeninto a window meantwe could create amuch better layout’GREAT IDEA‘Dress a window witha plain blind to stopa busy schemelooking too cluttered’ENJOY OUR HOME’housetohome.co.uk/styleathome SEPTEMBER 2016| 41VICTORIAN SEMI Love it