Vibrant Victorian Terrace
Deborah has filled her south London home with character without breaking the bank, thanks to her smart shopping know-how and eye for a bargain
Born and bred in this part of south east London, Deborah Brett was thrilled when a Victorian terraced property came onto the market on one of her preferred streets. ‘It wasn’t exactly love at first sight,’ she recalls. ‘The whole house was in a state of disrepair, and the rooms had an odd smell from not being used in some time – but it was available at a good price and I knew the potential was there to turn it back into a characterful family home for myself and the boys.’
With the sale taking some time to go through, as Deborah had to wait for power of attorney to be granted for the then 95-year-old owner, she had plenty of time to think about the structural changes she wanted to make to the house. ‘My first priority was to move the bathroom upstairs,’ she says, ‘as it was previously at the back of the house where the kitchen now sits. This layout felt old-fashioned and not practical for a family of four, so I decided to take some space from one of the bedrooms to make room for a family bathroom on the first floor instead.’
This meant that the kitchen could be relocated from the current dining room to the back of the house, where it leads directly out onto the garden through double doors. Deborah also decided to open up the wall between the living room and dining room, to make the space more open plan and increase the amount of natural light coming in. ‘I found the beautiful reclaimed doors on Ebay, and I’m glad to be able to have the option of closing off the rooms if I want to – particularly in winter when it’s nice to cosy up by the fire in the living area,’ she says.
The builders tackled the bulk of the work during the summer holidays, with Deborah and her boys staying in a local Travelodge for three weeks while they were on site. As well as the main structural changes, the builders replaced all the windows, laid reclaimed floorboards and installed new plumbing to make the property habitable. ‘I learnt I had to be very fussy and ask the builders to run every little detail past me, as often they would go ahead with design decisions that I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen,’ she says.
Once they were able to move into the house permanently, Deborah continued with the interior work herself to keep costs down. ‘I really enjoyed getting stuck into projects around the house, and was able to tackle new jobs like tiling and putting up shelving, which really helped save in terms of labour costs.’
When it cam
