In a series of case studies we take a look into the homes of our readers.
In this case study we follow the journey of Hannah and the House, an ongoing full home renovation. I fell in love with Hannah’s Instagram story and couldn’t wait to get this featured in the magazine! As an ongoing full house renovation, we will be following Hannah and her family in the next few editions of Improve Magazine, so bear with us for the ‘after’ pics’! Hannah and her husband (with the help of their four children) have completed the majority of the renovations themselves, calling in the professionals as and when required. This feature covers the story so far and includes works on the windows, sliding doors, glass walls and roof lantern. So, let’s start with some family and project background! Is this your first renovation Hannah? Hannah: Goodness no! In fact we’ve moved house 16 times! My husband is a now a consultant cancer surgeon but while training as a junior doctor he had to work in many different hospitals, hence a lot of house moving! Some were rentals but the ones we bought we always renovated. Each time putting money aside in order to buy and renovate the dream house. We have had to forgo nice holidays and new clothes but always make a home that really works for us and our noisy family. So it’s fair to say you are an experienced renovator? Hannah: I learnt pretty quickly that many jobs (as long as you are prepared to get your hands dirty) are quite easy! So armed with a Reader’s Digest DIY manual, I’ve become the project manager, the buyer, the designer, the insulator, the plasterboarder, and I also do basic electrics and plumbing, just bringing in the professionals if there’s something I physically can’t do myself. We even put in the roof lantern ourselves (which automatically closes when it rains, a feature we absolutely love)! When I met my husband I was an options broker. Wearing suits, heels and going to the gym every day. Now I put on yesterday’s filthy clothes as I know I’m going to get dirty again! I installed all of the underfloor heating myself and have done the majority of tiling in the whole house! That’s some achievement! Will this particular renovation be for your forever home? Hannah: I never say never! We have put our heart and soul into this renovation and we’re turning it into the perfect family home for our four children. While it was uninhabitable (and during the pandemic) we lived in ‘the shed’ a two bedroomed 88
Summer 2021
bungalow in the garden. Now we are currently enjoying the space of being back in the main house. We still need to save for carpets and we can’t do a new roof over the oldest bit of the house until this coming winter. This is due to bats in the tiniest space above the attic bedrooms, at the west end of the house. Once the new roof is in we can put on our external wall insulation. I still don’t have a kitchen and I don’t expect it to be completely finished until 2022, but yes, I believe this will be our forever home! What tips and advice could you offer to someone else who is thinking of renovating? Hannah: Well this is the first time I’ve ever used an architect and I’m glad I did. Sam Organ of C02 Architects was our choice and we asked Sam to take us out of our comfort zone as I’ve only ever lived in period properties. He said the planners would want to see a big contrast between the old part of the house and the new extension, so we went very modern with lots of glass. The layout is all my design, however, Sam was definitely the glass wall / glass void instigator, which I totally love! It means I can see the kids playing in the garden almost wherever I am in the house and the light is fantastic. Some of the rooms were very dark and damp and now everywhere is light and warm.
