TOP-TO-BOTTOM RENOVATION
With a little help from loved ones, Becky and Ben turned her grandmother’s cherished old house into their dream family home
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Becky has fond memories of her grandmother’s house. ‘I remember my cousins and I running wild among the beanstalks in the garden and having sleepovers – it was always a happy home, full of food and laughter,’ she recalls, nostalgically. She and her husband Ben bought a doer-upper next door to it that they completely gutted. ‘There was a little gap in the fence between our houses and I’d often pop in on my lunch breaks,’ says Becky. ‘I sat on a rocking chair in the kitchen, which now lives in my bedroom, and we’d chat about the house and it’s potential, but she wasn’t fussed about interiors at all. There were so many clashing patterns – she was the queen of maximalism!’ laughs Becky.
When Becky’s nan passed in 2018, aged 93, the house on the outskirts of Birmingham had to go on the market. While Becky and Ben hadn’t long been in their newly refurbished home, Becky couldn’t face the idea of anyone else living in her nan’s house. ‘I knew it was going to be a big project for whoever bought it and I couldn’t bear to see all our childhood memories being ripped out,’ she admits.
After selling their property to close friends, Becky and Ben got the keys later that year. ‘We knew the house inside out before we moved in, so we started work straight away,’ says Becky. They began the rip-out themselves in early 2019, with friends and family on board to help keep costs down. The pair also moved in with Becky’s parents for the duration of the build to save on renting.
‘It was a freezing house and I always remember being in a coat or having a hot water bottle, so one of the first things we did was insulate the entire property,’ explains Becky. ‘We lost a couple of inches off each of the rooms, which also meant we had to lose some of the original features, but we managed to have the plaster mouldings remade.’ As Becky and Ben enjoy entertaining, they wanted a large, open-plan space to host family and friends. This was difficult in the original layout, which was a series of small rooms. Luckily, the couple were able to extend into the generous garden by eight metres to create a big kitchendiner and living space at the back, while also adding a utility and cloakroom to the side. A new multipurpose studio sits at t
