KITCHEN EXTENSION – PART ONE

Ok, so if you’ve been following me for a while you will know all about the current building works we have going on for our new kitchen/diner extension. If you haven’t, let me fill you in and get you up to speed on what’s been happening! 

Ben and I bought our beautiful family home last year after quickly discovering our house at the time was not big enough for a new baby and everything that comes with him! 

We sold our old house to the first person who came to view it which was early Feb 2016 and we moved into our new house in the July and from the moment we first viewed the property we could see that it was crying out for an extension! (Before pictures to follow shortly)

Ben and I bought our first property in 2012 and it was a complete doer upper which we loved, we literally stripped everything back to the bare bones in that house and did everything ourselves to suit our tastes and what we wanted and loved every minute, so we knew that we wanted our next house to be somewhat of a project too. We love to be able to put a real stamp on the place and despite knowing it would be more complicated this time around with having Noah added to the mix, we were still set on wanting to buy somewhere that we could really do something to. There’s nothing more satisfying than making big changes and seeing your hard work pay off, it makes you appreciate it all so much more. 

As soon as we moved in we arranged for a couple of local builders to come and have a look at our kitchen and discuss the ideas that we had. Luckily, one of the builders gave us the number of a great architect who he does a lot of work with, so we then contacted him and once he had come to visit us and produced the drawings and plans that we needed, the builders both gave us their quotes for the proposed work and to our delight, we chose the builder who we had known from the very start we wanted to go with. We had seen their vans here there and everywhere which to us felt like a sign, and hearing from other people that they were known for their high standard and excellent work it was a no brainier for us (not to mention that he and all of his team are so so nice!). 

However, it’s still important to get two or more quotes to compare because you never know how much money you could potentially save. For example, the quote we got from our current builder and the quote we got from a different builder were almost bang on identical, except the other builder didn’t include any plumbing/electrical work or kitchen fitting, whereas our current builder had included all of these things in his quote and as you can imagine, work like this is not cheap (it would have meant thousands on top!) to say the least so the added money we would have had to fork out if we had gone for the other builder would have been ridiculous! I still to this day can’t make heads or tails of how the other builder could be so expensive for just the build alone, but it meant we got to choose the builder we had our heart set on anyway, so it was a win win for us. 

We then were pencilled in for a date for the work to commence (which was actually brought forward by a few weeks in the end which was great!) and it was all systems go!
Here are some before pictures of the back of our house/garden… 

As you can see, there was already a small existing extension on the back of the house which was built in god knows when, but this needed demolishing and also the built up floor level and wall needed to be dug away. Unfortunately the path that runs from the front of our house around to the back is too narrow to fit a small digger through, so the poor labourers had to do the whole dig by hand! On the first day they started it was torrential rain and by the time 4pm came around they were completely soaked through to their pants the poor guys! 

Once the dig was all finished it meant that the foundations could be laid and the carpenters were soon around to demolish the small existing extension and fit the flooring joists. It’s so surprising how much work they managed to get done in such a short space of time, although we have been incredibly lucky with the weather in Devon over the past few weeks. 

I know a lot of people who say that moving out is the best option when it comes to having building work done, and if it were just ben, Hugo and I we probably would have, but we didn’t want to disrupt things for Noah and his routine so we decided to stay put at home and it’s actually been fine! Apart from one day where there was a complete blizzard of dust EVERYWHERE in the kitchen, but the carpenters were so kind and came in and cleaned all the kitchen surfaces and even swept and mopped my kitchen floor bless their hearts! 

*Just a quick tip that I thought I would add in here for anyone who is going to be having similar work done in the near future, make sure you look after your workers! My mum and I have been baking them treats every week (lemon drizzle cake, chocolate brownies, banana muffins etc) and making sure they are topped up on tea and coffee throughout the day. I don’t know if it’s the motherly instinct in me that makes me want to look after people but at the end of the day, the way I see it, they are working very hard to make our dream vision a reality and I know there are lots of people who don’t even acknowledge tradesmen who are doing work for them let alone make them a cup of tea which I just think is awful, so I like to try and look after them as best I can and make their working environment as nice as possible* 

So, once the joists for the floor were all in place, the build began! This for me was such a satisfying week of labour to witness, I loved going to work in the morning and then coming home at the end of the day to see how the walls were progressing and getting higher and higher each day! All of a sudden a great big open space soon began to take shape as a real room! Especially once they had built around the gaps for the window and the sliding doors to be fitted, it made it a lot easier to be able to start properly imagining what it was going to look like at the end! 

With regards to doors, it took us a little while to decide for sure what we wanted. It was a case of bifolds vs sliding doors vs french doors (see pictures of examples of all three kinds below).

Bifold doors

Sliding doors 
French doors 

In the end, we decided on sliding doors for a few reasons, including being significantly less expensive than bifolds and also providing more glass and natural light than french doors. The back of our house where the kitchen sits doesn’t get a huge amount of natural light due to the position that the sun rises and sets, so it’s naturally a darker room and so we wanted to make sure we could maximise natural light in any way possible. We have also opted to have 2 large velux windows fitted in the flat roof to bring even more light in.

 We did originally love the idea of having bifold doors all the way across the back wall, but this would have then restricted the amount of kitchen space we would have had for units and things and also, our builder told us that he has fitted many bifold doors for people who live locally and many of them have admitted that although they love them and they do give that wow factor, they seldom have them fully open because sadly we aren’t particularly fortunate when it comes to British weather. So, sliding doors were the winners for us. 

We are now currently at the stage of having the main kitchen wall knocked through, having the supporting steels put into place and having the entrance door into the kitchen from the hallway moved back so that we gain even more space in the room. Once the roof has been put on and the window/sliding doors are in place and the walls are plastered I will do another post. It’s such a big job with so much involved that if I don’t break it down into a few posts, I’d be rambling on for ages and I know that to most people this is probably a bit of a boring read, but to us it’s incredibly exciting and with it being the most extensive work we’ve ever had done before, we love seeing the changes and progress made every day. 

I look forward to being able to post about the rest of the progress and then the final result!

Thank you for reading,

Love Paige xxx

OUR BATHROOM RENOVATION

So this post has been a looooong time coming! I have received so many messages asking me if/when I would be posting this and I can’t quite believe the length of time it’s taken (that’s what house renovating alongside running around after a lively toddler and going to work does for you!) but finally, the day is here! I can officially say our bathroom renovation is (almost) COMPLETE! The happiness I’m currently feeling is like no other, it’s like something I imagine Mo Farrah would feel after winning Gold at the olympics and can be closely compared to the delight of when you put your baby/toddler down for an afternoon nap and they go off without a sound! And like when you consume an entire jar of Nutella to yourself in one sitting or when you fill your brows in and they both end up looking exactly the same! Sheer bliss! 

So, without further ado, here is what our bathroom looked like when we first moved in and during the rip out (warning, disturbing content to follow!) 

I think we can all be in agreement that this bathroom was in desperate need of some TLC! The plastic cladding on the walls was hideous, the dated walk in shower came complete with a grimey old seat and not to mention the fact that there was no actual bath to begin with, which to me is just unacceptable. I have no idea how people live without a bath and only a walk in shower, my life quite literally revolves around scalding hot bubble baths! Plus, with having a little one, a bath is a must! Noah certainly takes after me with his love for baths, he would stay in there all day given the chance!

Here are some pictures of the work in progress…

It would have been a dream to have been able to make this room larger as we would have loved to have had a freestanding bath and separate walk in shower, but unfortunately we can only currently afford a one storey extension (the next project for us is our kitchen/diner which is currently in progress) and a two storey extension would have been the only possible way to be able to increase the size of our bathroom. However, we’ve utilised the space (or lack of) in this room very well in my opinion and we now have a small yet very tasteful and functional family bathroom that I am very proud of. 

I had always had my heart set on grey metro walk tiles for the shower area and pale grey patterned floor tiles and we were luckily able to find the perfect ones from one of our local tile superstores called Original Style (The Exeter store). I absolutely adore their vast range of tiles to suit any taste and the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, I will certainly be returning when it’s time to pick out floor tiles for our new kitchen. 

It was also my dream to have a beautiful roll top bath, but again due to lack of space we had to improvise and so we chose the Burlington Norfolk showering bath and we absolutely love it! It’s 1500mm in length so roughly around 190mm shorter than a standard length bath, but it’s so luxuriously deep and I could sit in it for hours on end if it didn’t mean having to resemble a 129 year old woman after getting out! The pruney look is not a good look, I’m sure you will all agree! 

When it came to choosing the fittings we knew we didn’t want to opt for chrome. I don’t know what it is about chrome but I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it and in certain areas I love it, whereas in others I detest it! I so plan on going for chrome fittings in our new kitchen but in this instance, it wasn’t what we wanted for our bathroom and we opted for a beautiful antique brass overhead shower and bath tap and also a matching basin tap. Our overflow unit and our toilet flush both feature some minimal chrome and I think some may argue that the two metal finishes together doesn’t work, however I really love the very subtle mix of warm and cool metals together! 

For the wall colour we chose Almond White from the Dulux endurance range specifically designed for bathrooms as we wanted something hard wearing, easy to clean and waterproof, plus it’s the perfect colour match for the primary chalky colour of our chosen floor tiles. I really love the tones that we’ve chosen for this room, we have incorporated our love for grey with the shower tiles and the pattern on the floor tiles (it is the best neutral, after all!) and the chalky colour of the floor tiles and our chosen wall paint colour give the room the little bit of warmth that I think every bathroom needs. I am a huge lover of white (literally, all white everything is never a bad thing!) but when it comes to a room in which you spend the majority of your time completely starkers, I think it’s nice to feel a bit cosy if at all possible. 

In terms of accessorising, I wanted to try and keep things as minimal as possible as I don’t really like spaces to be too cluttered, so I decided to purchase a couple of bits from the Newcombe Ceramic range from The White Company as I love their simplicity, so the little tumbler and storage tray were a must for tooth brushes/tooth paste and bath/body lotions etc. Of course, I have my pretty faux flowers dotted around because no bathroom is complete without them if you ask me! Im still yet to buy a mirror as I haven’t found “the one” so to speak, but I intend to get one eventually. I also still need to get a roman blind for the window, but these are things that probably won’t happen in the near future because I currently have bigger fish to fry with tackling our kitchen extension. Plus, I had a lady give me a totally ridiculous quote for a blind that I absolutely will not be paying and there’s more chance of me making one myself! (Watch this space, you never know!) 

Now, you just cannot have a relaxing bath without lighting a candle. To bathe without a candle burning would be a crime in my eyes, it’s just not ok! So, of course, I had to treat my shiny new bathroom (and myself) to a lovely new candle (or 2) to burn while having a long hot soak. As far as I’m concerned you just cannot beat the Seychelles range from The White Company, it is the most beautiful smell there is! Naturally I had to indulge and get the big daddy of the gift sets with all the other bits and bobs every bathroom needs like bath foams, hand creams, a reed diffuser etc! Plus I thought it would also be a good excuse to pick up a new Diptyqe to throw into the mix (Baies, obviously!) which you don’t even need to light for the scent to fill the room, when it comes to amazing quality candles Diptyqe have got it covered! There’s nothing better than a beautiful smelling bathroom! Oh and not forgetting the famous candles from Aldi that have been all the rage recently! I picked up the No.1 fragrance to have in the bathroom as it’s such a lovely fresh scent. 

I also bought a custom made bath caddy from the little Instagram shop @FinchCraftUK, I didn’t want to risk buying a standard size from another shop so I decided to play it safe and go for made to measure. I love that you have the option to choose between different woods and finishes too! I can’t recommend them enough and if you’re thinking of getting one, go for it, you won’t regret it! Mine fits absolutely perfectly across my bath and I love it! 

I’ve still yet to get the final finishing touches like a toilet roll holder, a different light pull switch and new door handle but these are all just little things and I guarantee if I had decided to wait to get these things first before posting this, it would have ended up being next year! 

I hope you all like the finished result, I’m sure you will agree it’s quite an improvement to what it was like prior! Now it’s time for us to really focus on the kitchen diner which is a much, much bigger project but we are already almost halfway through and it won’t be too long before I’m posting all about that so keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you for reading, 

Love, Paige xxx