A Large Extension Creates The Perfect Open Plan Space
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When we first came across the kitchen of Insta account @houseofhaz, we immediately fell in love. It's a classic kitchen with a subtle industrial look, with the dark green painted units and fabulous feature crittall style windows.
The kitchen has an amazing apex ceiling which gives the sense of space, and the wonderful windows and doors let the light bounce around the room.
The family were so patient with the renovation having bought their home 6 years previously, they felt they were ready to take on the extension for their growing family.
We chat to Kirsty who shares with us her advice, including why budgeting is so important and why she is glad she persevered to create the home she dreamt of.
The amazing apex ceiling with the statement crittall floor to ceiling window
Can you tell us about your home and renovation project?
We bought our 1930s home about 6 years ago and have done it up twice. It was a mess but it had so much potential, we were having our first child so decided to do the house up and make it liveable.
We always had grand plans and I have found pictures on my phone from when we viewed it with ideas of how we could extend it.
Last year we finally did what we always wanted and added a 3 story extension to the side, knocked down the old conservatory and redesigned all the room layouts.
The beautiful kitchen island which separates the kitchen and dining area
What was the most challenging part of the renovation?
Doing a renovation during lockdown while pregnant seems like such a cliche, my hormones were all over the place and I cried a lot!
Towards the end when the extension was built but the inside walls and ceilings started getting destroyed for steels and open plan living, that’s when I started to think what have we done. It’s only when the plaster went on that I started to breathe again.
We think the monochrome hallway tiles work perfectly in this 1930s home
Did you stick to a budget and do you have any budgeting tips?
We did stick to a budget and have gone over it a little but not too badly.
I would say watch the pennies at the beginning of the build when there is lots of cash in the bank as you will need it at the end.
The last leg is the most expensive - the rewiring, the plaster and heating. Bricks cost nothing and we couldn’t believe how ahead of our budget we were until the last couple of months when it all flew out. We also didn’t consider re landscaping which added to the bill.
The family bathroom which is traditional in style
Where is your favourite place in your home now?
The kitchen was always our driving force to do the renovation - we wanted to have a large family space as we hated leaving the kids in the lounge while I cooked dinner.
We spent a lot of time sourcing the perfect kitchen and colour. We even flipped the plans half way through the build and moved the kitchen entirely to the new gable and I absolutely love it.
The living area in the open plan space - we love the frameless window
What would be your advice for anyone about to start a renovation?
Keep going over your plans and don’t stop tweaking them until you are happy.
The kitchen was moved to a bigger space, that amazing gable window had a flat roof and the master bathroom had no windows when we started out with our plans. We kept on changing the plans until those niggles became areas that we were 100% happy with - there is no point doing a build and compromising on the result.
I always tried to have an eye for resale also, although we are not intending on moving I want to know that we have created a space that someone else will want to buy.
If you are thinking about a renovation project in the near future and need some help finding an architect or architectural designer, we can match you with the most suitable ones for your project.
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Published: June 22, 2021
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