January - May 2007

Our Plan:

Downstairs: we like open plan, space and light. First of all, we decided to extend (single storey, as next door) right across the back, losing the lean-to before it collapses of its own accord and incorporating a personal door to the garage. Of course, we didn't intend to put a car in there at any point but acknowledged that someone may wish to do so at some time in the future; there was a brick shed at the end of the garage so we thought it might as well be included as part of the project.

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The L-shaped lounge-diner would be open plan to the kitchen and also feature a wall of folding-sliding glazed doors to the south-facing garden.

Rather than have a large family bathroom, we decided to put the loo in the bathroom. As there would then be no room for a bath, it would become a shower room. The loo and part of the kitchen would then become a laundry/utility room. We decided to keep the downstairs bedroom as a guest room.

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Upstairs, we wanted to enlarge the second bedroom and create more light by putting in a dormer window to face the rear; we then stole the equivalent space at the front to create a small "cloakroom" (loo & sink); the main bedroom already had a dormer but also had a large eaves cupboard which we wanted to turn into an en-suite.

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We gave our plans to the architect then sat back and impatiently waited ... for months ... from January till March, then April and, finally, in May, we got the go-ahead - not in time to keep our slot with the builder, though; originally booked for May but with no confirmed permissions, we then had to wait till the end of August for our chosen builders to start.