VICTORIAN TERRACE
Rosie and Innes cleverly extended their 1890s property outwards and upwards to create the bright and airy home of their dreams
IDEA TO STEAL
Arrange prints and planters on shelves; trailing greenery adds extra colour
Before we bought this place, we previously lived in a flat, just five minutes down the road from here, but we were desperate for more space,’ says Rosie. ‘We wanted to get a dog so a garden was essential, and this house ticked all the boxes.
The downside was that it hadn’t been updated since the 1970s and was very dated, with a really small kitchen, so we were going to need to do some work on it. Despite that, we bought it in July 2018 with a view to extending the place.
Making plans
Initially we applied for planning permission for a wrap-around extension, which would have been squared off at the back, to make the space significantly bigger. A month later, however, we were disappointed to have the planning rejected – mainly because the house is in a conservation area and the shape of the rear needed to remain the same as the original building.
Not to be deterred though, we decided to use this to our advantage and thought that the shape of the building would allow space for an outdoor kitchen. We also wanted to extend up into the loft space, and so once planning permission was accepted for both in March 2019 we could get started.
Work begins
We hired a project manager to oversee the works, and they took the lead on both areas at once, starting in June that year. We were lucky enough to still be living in our flat while the work was being done, so we didn’t have to live with all the mess, and it was fun to be able to pop by – probably more regularly than necessary – to see how it was all coming along. The original layout of the house included two reception rooms at the front of the house, which we didn’t really need, so we knocked through one of them, wh
