A bright kitchen extension to an Edwardian home

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We have loved the home of the @thepramshed on Instagram for so long...a modern and bright family home which looks so inviting. The owners have taken a beautiful London period property and extended it perfectly so that it works well for a young family. The whole house has been re-modernised and the large kitchen extension has transformed how the family live.

We chat to the owner Claire who shares with us her renovation advice, including why it's so important to get several builders to quote and why it's not so bad living in a renovation!

Can you tell us about your home and renovation project?

Our house is an Edwardian house built in 1910, and we’ve lived here for just over two years. Before that we lived in a 2 bed Victorian conversion flat and wanted a bigger property in the same area for our two children. During our search we saw some wrecks that would be amazing once renovated, but just too much work. Then we saw our house, which needed work, had the potential to extend and could be lived in at the same time. Luckily the loft conversion had already been done with expansive views across South East London, which was another reason for us wanting this property.

Since we moved in we have pretty much been working on the house non-stop. We’ve stripped off the pebbledash from the front and restored the bricks, replaced the windows, extended out the back creating a huge kitchen extension, renovated the downstairs of the property, updated the family bathroom and overhauled the garden. Now we are in the process of renovating our front garden and updating our front door.

Although the loft conversion is only about 6 years old, the decoration is a little dated and the bathroom is starting to look tired, so a huge job next on my list is to revamp the bathroom and bedroom. The work really doesn’t stop!

The beautiful modern kitchen - we love the waterfall island unit

What was the biggest challenge throughout the project and why?

The biggest challenge we had was living through the major house renovation works and our kitchen extension build. Even though I actually quite enjoyed it, what made it challenging was my two small children who love oven cooked food and we didn’t have an oven for 12 weeks. We also completed the bulk of the work during winter months which made it harder to be out of the house for more than a couple of hours a day. Oh, and the dust which I slowly gave in to after the first week, it literally gets everywhere. I’m slightly ashamed to say that a year later I am still finding it.

But our builders were great about us being in our home whilst the works were ongoing, plus it meant that any questions and issues that arose could be answered straight away.

We love the warm tones of the lounge which perfectly suit the Edwardian home

Did you have a budget and do you have any advice on how to stick to it?

Once we fully understood the build costs we had a pot of money that we put aside for that and all the fixtures and fittings. Before we started this project I underestimated just how much the build would actually cost, it is always more than you think, so it’s best to be realistic with yourself about this. I would advise anyone who is wanting to go ahead with any large scale house renovation to get about 5 build quotes, and then to choose the one that you are most happy with and the builder who you are most happy with too. Don’t just go for the cheapest option.

You will also need to consider the cost of the fixtures and fittings which can add a chunk of money on top of your build cost, and add these into a house renovation spreadsheet so you know roughly what you’re budgeting for and what your budget is. The kitchen, the flooring, the lighting, the tiles, any bespoke joinery, the doors, door furniture, light switches are all costs to take into account on top of your build cost.

We love the hallway tiles which look great and are so practical for a young family

Do you have any renovation heroes and why?

Ooh tricky question, first up I think it must be my husband for putting up with my desire to create an Instagram home with loads of black and gold touches in it. But I did it. Then it must be our builders for putting up with my random requests, black bathrooms and getting the detail and my vision right.

The beautiful bathroom - we love the tiles here too!

What is your favourite place in your home now and why?

It has to be our kitchen extension as it has completely changed the way we live as a family. Before we extended I would be in the kitchen making dinner whilst everyone would be in the living room, or vice versa, making it hard to keep an eye on two small children. Now we all live in the kitchen extension and it makes everything so much easier. I can see the kids whilst I cook, and it’s a space where we all relax together. As we fully opened up the back of the house we can now let the children wander in and out of the garden and I can easily see what they’re up to.

Another angle of the kitchen extension - the large bifolds allow Claire to watch her kids play in the garden

Would you do another renovation in the future?

Absolutely, I would love to. Renovating this home has definitely not put me off. I’ve learned a lot from this that I would love to take forward into a next project, whenever that may be. For now this is our home in the long term, so I’ll just have to keep finding smaller projects to do here.