Or perhaps I should say ‘an’ architect cometh. Today is THE day. After 4 and a bit years in our home and a whole heap of conversations about extensions, we have a first architect coming over to talk to us about a ground floor reconfiguration plus extension. I don’t know whether to feel nervous or excited. Is he going to tell us we have no hope of achieving what I want to? Or fill my head with ideas that we could never possibly afford?
When we first saw the house I really couldn’t see the potential of what we could turn it into. Yes it felt like a dream that we could actually afford a 4 bedroom semi-detached in London. But the flipside was I felt overwhelmed by the thought of having to undertake so much work. Even though I knew that one day we could turn it into a proper forever home with plenty of wow-factor.
Thankfully ever the level-headed one, Pete managed to convince me that this was the home for us and I’ve never looked back. It’s frustrating of course that we’re still only about 20% through the renovations despite having a few years under our belt. But it now finally feels like the real work can begin once we work out what’s possible.
The plans above are from the original particulars of the property when we bought it. They’re not exactly to scale – the garden is at least 3 times the length that it looks above. And this is what’s hopefully going to enable us to fully extend across the back of the house, creating an open plan kitchen/diner whilst still maintaining a really good sized garden. We looked at a few properties when we were house-hunting that already had the ground floor extensions but were left with absolutely no garden whatsoever and this just isn’t a good look to me.
The existing teeny kitchen will become a utility room and we’ll take some of the space for a downstairs toilet. Upstairs on the first floor we’d like to move the boiler from the bathroom downstairs into the new utility room, which should then hopefully give us enough space in the bathroom for a standalone shower. On the top floor, we’d love to reconfigure that space too, creating a kind of walk-in wardrobe/dressing area and turn the en-suite into a wet room. We’re very lucky to have two full bathrooms but we really don’t need them so a dreamy shower would be perfect to help me get out of bed in the mornings.
So there we go, lots of pipedreams and no idea yet whether any of it can become a reality. There will be many renovation posts coming over the next couple of years so fingers crossed by the end of it all we really will have our dream home.
Have you undertaken a big renovation project? If you have I’d love to hear your top tips!
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Very exciting to be embarking on this journey, Lins! And I love your plans. As you know we’re also planning an extension and renovation, currently waiting for planning permission. Good luck with the meeting, hope it goes well and you get a good feeling about the architect!
Author
Thanks so much Meera, gosh its a long old process isn’t it?! But we’ve done the first steps so it’s time to keep the momentum going!! Look forward to hearing how your planning permission comes along X
Can’t wait for your renovation posts, Lins, as I’ll be scouring for tips. We did our loft and got a bit of experience there but a kitchen extension and remodel is a really exciting adventure. Good luck! x
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Thanks so much, I can’t wait to get started but I know also it’s going to be a really long process! X
Really exciting time when you get the architect round and go from having your plans drawn to them being implemented. I can’t wait to see what you achieve. We had ours extension done 10 years ago and it completely transformed our home and how we use it. By the way we still havent finished all that we wanted to 😉 It all boils down to money and of course time! Looking forward to seeing your renovations and good luck! xx
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My mum and step-dad said it will change our lives and we’ll wonder why we left it so long!! But you’re so right, I don’t think we ever really finish what we set out to, do we? Thank you lovely Xx
Good luck! Can’t wait to see what the ideas look like when it comes to fruition!
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Ooh me too, it feels very far away at the moment but at least the ball is now rolling!
How exciting! My husband is an architect so I’m quite fortunate on that front – biggest tip is to stick to your original plans as much as possible otherwise costs can start spiralling. Good luck!
Author
That is literally the most handy person to be married too!! I can well envisage my heart falling for something that’s ridiculously expensive, that seems to be how I roll 😉
This all sounds VERY exciting! …the possibilities really are endless… I’ve always loved the idea of having a utility room… cannot wait to see the final outcome!
So exciting to see your plans coming together. It took 2 years for us to build our extension its great now but we still haven’t decorated the rest of the house. I can’t wait to see more!
Can’t wait to see how things turn out – best of luck !
Oh how exciting. Your plans sound fantastic. It must be so nice to go from the dreaming stage to the actual planning stage. I’m hoping to do a loft conversion one day but it’s years off at the moment. I still can’t wait though. Good luck and look forward to following along your journey.
Aaah, this is so exciting! Hopefully you can achieve everything you want. I’d love to do a little extension or a loft conversion at home point.
How exciting, you’re plans sound amazing. Hope your architect delivers on your dreams x
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Thank you Nicola, I’m keeping everything crossed X
oh good luck with it all Lins! I’ll try and catch up through your instagram stories too, I really like them. I’d be scared and excited all at the same time if I were you!
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Jenny you’ve summed it up perfectly, those are some of the emptions and more! X
Doing anything like this is such a mahoosive task but once you’ve started it, it’ll get easier! You’ll be making decisions left and right and it’ll become second nature, you’ll see:) Looking forward to seeing it all progress!
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Haha that’s how it felt when we got married and I was spending money like it was nothing “oh what’s another £300” I remember saying!! Exciting times! X
i am so exited to see all the renovation progress photos as well as blog posts hunni
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Thanks so much Pati, so much to come over the next 18 months! X
Lins so excited for you. Our journeys are so similar with our 1930s properties in the same borough of London. If you want to chat through anything I’d be more than happy or you can come round and see our place if you fancy. It’s a really exciting time…
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I was thinking Donna I must invite myself over!! Would be really good to try and get some vision on what’s possible X
So exciting Lins, we did our loft conversion a few years ago and my advice with architects is to challenge their ideas and make sure their vision is the same as yours. Good luck!
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Ooh thanks so much, very useful. I can see already I’m going to have to put my foot down about a few things X
So exciting, isn’t it? I’m sure it will be all worth it at the end. I can’t wait to see what your architect will come up with
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It definitely will be worth it, baby steps but we’ll get there! X