Coming from a small flat where our Queen bed basically touched the walls on both sides, just the idea of having more space to utilise in the bedroom felt like a dream. And the dream was going to be reality: the primary bedroom in the new house not only fit a Super King bed, but also had room to spare.

When we viewed the house, this was what the primary bedroom looked like:

You can get a sense of the space I’m talking about, but obviously the room itself was in need of a lot of love and care.

The vibe I wanted to go for was cosy, inviting, and feminine, heavy emphasis on the cosy. It also needed to be a place where I could relax beyond sleeping, so I was really keen to get a TV unit in there.

One thing it didn’t need to do was be a place for storage. The existing bedroom had tons of cupboards lining one wall, but because we had renovated one of the other bedrooms into a walk-in wardrobe, we just didn’t need a lot of storage in there.

This is how the bedroom turned out:

I went for a simple white colour scheme, with pops of pink and gold accents to give a feminine feel. The cosiness came from the textures we used – the Gubi Pacha lounge chair is the softest sheepskin, as well as the brand new carpet that feels so luxurious through your toes!

The media unit was a big element of the new room, as I love nothing more than curling up in bed and watching something. It also gave an opportunity to add some visual interest through the open shelving, and a overspill for my bag collection:

One last detail to highlight is some of the artwork that we added, with those lovely gold details, bringing more of the feminine feel into the room.

I’m so so so happy with how this turned out. It’s perfectly functional for my needs but emphasises cosiness and femininity above all. A huge improvement on what was there already, if I do say myself!

The existing utility room when we moved in was a little sad, and definitely did not utilise the space as well as it could.

The space could have fitted a lot more storage than it did, the storage that was there was pretty challenging to use everyday (think very deep, very high cupboards), and there was a wall that sliced the small space down the middle, really restricting options and taking up precious room.

When I was thinking about how to renovate this space, there were a few considerations that absolutely had to be taken into account:

• We needed to maximise storage space as much as possible. There was a LOT that needed to fit in here, from all of Zola’s food, treats, medicines to storage for our everyday household essentials.
• We needed a fairly large sink. As the utility room is right next to the front door, I was imagining that it would be a great place to be able to wash Zola’s paws after a muddy walk. So I wanted a sink that she could comfortable stand and turn around in, as well as a sink with one of those taps that come out and extend quite far for easy washing!
• We should re-use leftovers from our Bathroom reno, where possible. Because we had recently renovated our bathroom, we had a few items unexpectedly left over, like the beautiful Porcelanosa tiles. We wanted to make sure that we weren’t wasting any of this and so this informed some of our decision making.
• More plug points please! The existing utility room had very few plug points, whereas the new one would need quite a few to be fit for purpose.

After I had designed the optimal layout in conjunction with our supplier, work could begin! The first things to do were get rid of the wall and completely rip out everything in the room!

It was so good to see the true size of the room without that damn wall in the middle (and every little helps!!)

Now, all the new wiring and plumbing could go in, and then of course, the room started to take shape as the units began arriving!

Getting the main unit carcasses in was another really exciting moment, because at this point you really do get a true sense of how the room will be coming together.

The work overall didn’t take too long because the room is pretty small, so it felt like a hop, skip and a jump before the room was *nearly* complete, with the floors in, the tiling on the walls, and all the units in place!

The very last thing to get done was the electricals, including our amazing electric laundry rack on the ceiling. This was the final result:

I couldn’t be happier with how we have utilised the space, and its working so well to extend our storage capabilities on the ground floor. I’m also extra pleased with the extra wide sink for Zola to splash around in, and the fact that I now have a candle cupboard!!

Every time I use this room, I get a little buzz of excitement thinking about how we have transformed the utility of this space (no pun intended!). Here’s to many more years of organisation, storage, and clean paws!

These are a couple of pics of the space that I took on our very first viewing of the home:

Because there was already another living room area on the ground floor, my head started spinning when we initially visited the house about what we could use this very large room for.

It was really a no-brainer for us to think about this space as a entertainment zone of sorts. It was big enough to think about having separate seating, dining areas as well as a bar. The great think about converting this into an entertainment space is that the room has sliding doors out into the garden so that if it was summer we can extend the entertainment zone into the outdoors as well.

The first step of renovating this space was attacking the walls. We painted them a deep purple to bring both a cosy vibe to the room but also something that wouldn’t be out of place in a bar or club.

The next big step was replacing the floor. It originally had this orangey carpet that did not fit the vision I had for the space.

Instead, I wanted to go for something that would both be practical but also not out of a place in a bar. I landed on micro-cement as an easily cleanable but fantastic looking statement.

To install micro-cement, there are multiple steps that need to happen. First, of course, the existing carpet had to come up, both on the main floor and also on the stairway up to the ground floor which would also be done in micro-cement.

Once the carpet was up, we saw how many cracks were in the floor, which had to get smoothed out.

We also had the carpenter make some adjustments to the stairs while the wood was exposed. We wanted them to have a sleeker look, so the carpenter removed the lip of each stair so that they would look much more modern.

Once all the prep work was done, the real work could begin! Micro-cement has to be applied in layers, which is painstaking work! Each layer was applied to the whole floor and stairs, then we waited for it to dry, and then another layer was applied again. I think we applied 4 or 5 layers!

Although the process took a while, the end result was definitely worth it, and it looked exactly how I pictured it in my head. Here is how the floors turned out:

Once the floors were applied, we could get started installing the bar, which actually only took two days from start to finish (though the design stage took multiple months including multiple iterations).

So, there’s still a fair bit to do before I would consider the bar finished finished! Some stuff we still need to do to get the bar fully complete:

• Figure out what lighting we want to have above the bar (right now its a very attractive single, swinging lightbulb ha!)
• Figure out what artwork we might want on the wall next to the bar
• Get some bar stools!

But, honestly, its perfect for now, and those details can come as and when! Here’s a little look at what it looks like right now as a full room:

Whilst everything technically worked, we struggled with it aesthetically as well as functionally.

Here’s what we were working with:

The all-white look and those tiles were giving hospital vibes. We wanted to strip it back to a more cool, minimal vibe, and change some key things like remove the bath and replace with a walk-in shower, and to include a double sink.

This time, we didn’t rely on any designer except ourselves. We worked on configurations that we thought could work, and aside from some advice from our bathroom fitter and from the salesperson in Porcelanosa where we bought our fixtures and fittings, the vision for this bathroom came from us. I’m particularly proud of the transformation because of this!

The first step for the fitters was to gut the old bathroom – everything must go!

Once everything has been removed, the work started to construct the new carcass of our bathroom.

We had wanted to include inset shelving and an inset radiator which required our fitters to build out the walls a bit. They also had to plaster where the walls would be uncovered, as well as sort out all the key plumbing bits, aka make the right pipes end up in the right places!

This was all super cool to watch change from day to day as everything took shape:

Once the shape was in, the next step was for the tiler to do his thing. We had chosen two different tiles for the bathroom – one to cover the bulk of the walls and the floor, and a ‘feature tile’ to add a bit of interest to all of the inset areas as well as behind the sink + mirror.

Once all the tiles were in, it really looked like our bathroom was nearly there and it became so much easier to picture what we were creating.

After the tiles went on, it was time to finally get the fixtures and fittings on!

We had gone for a monochrome look with these – everything was white or black, with grey being reserved for the tiles.

Seeing pieces like the toilet, shower, sink actually finally go in was so great. By this time, it had been months and months since we picked everything out in the showroom, so it was great to be finally reminded about what we had chosen and to sensecheck that everything was actually going to go together as we wanted.

After everything had been hooked up and properly installed, it was time to get the details looking right! I had spent a bunch of time sourcing and choosing the little details that really make the space sing:

And with that, the bathroom was finished! I’m so proud of how this bathroom turned out, and the mega transformation that we were able to achieve.

Here are some pics of the space altogether:

Here’s to many years of enjoyment!

The best thing that this bedroom had going for it was its size – it would spaciously accommodate a double or queen sized bed as well as other furniture. Like the other rooms, it also had a beautiful floor to ceiling large window as well as some inbuilt cupboard space.

But, like the other rooms, it was severely in need of TLC. We also didn’t need to use it as a bedroom, so our options were wide open.

One of our biggest pain points in the flat had been storage for our clothes, shoes and accessories. We had been sharing two double cupboards between us for everything we owned, and it was a mess. The lack of space meant that we were cramming clothes, shoes, bags in a tightly as possible and it was really difficult to see what things you even owned. We also ended up packing a bunch of things away in storage, because there was literally no space.

Moving to this home, we both agreed that we wanted to make space for our belongings to shine, and to be stored correctly. The more we discussed this room, the more it felt like a no-brainer that we should convert it into a walk-in wardrobe/dressing room.

I especially wanted this room to also accommodate my cosmetics collection and be a space where I could do my spa sessions and get ready in peace.

So, we did some research and found Neatsmith, a bespoke wardrobe designer and installer, who would be able to advise on the best layout and configuration, supply and install our new room.

Our consultant, Hannah, came round to take measurements and properly see the space. We excitedly waited for her to come back with some thoughts of what the space could be transformed into.

We met Hannah in the Neatsmith showroom to go over the initial plans she had created. This was both to give feedback on her ideas, but would also give us an opportunity to inspect the actual different materials, finishings, and options that Neatsmith offered for their wardrobes.

On that visit, we aligned on the ideal configuration that would work for us in the space (including debating things like how many shelves, how much full-length storage, what should the inside of drawers look like), as well as picked what we thought would be the best finishing and colour options.

Hannah then went away to produce 3D renders so we could completely visualise what the space would look like. Here are the renders:

We absolutely loved where we had got to with these renders. I especially loved the dressing table by the window, where natural light could flood in as I was getting ready. I also loved the open shelving by the door that would be great for things like handbag storage.

We were also really excited about our finishings. Behind the open shelving in the middle of the room, we had chosen a textured mirrored backing, which would make the space feel bigger. We also really liked the silver textured frontage for the shelves, and the LED lights we chose for extra mood lighting.

The next step was to give Neatsmith the okay and to book in when our installation would happen. The lead time for Neatsmith to produce the materials was not actually as long as I thought it would have been, only around 8 weeks.

Finally, the week of installation arrived. The two nicest, most polite fitters arrived to do the work. These guys were top tier fitters – super quiet, polite, and very very clean – at the end of every day everything was cleaned and as pristine as an in-progress install could be.

Here are some shots of the in-progress install:

At the end of the week, as promised, the build was complete and our new wardrobes and dressing area was installed.

Here are some shots of the room at the end of the week, before we put any of the finishing touches to the room and before our stuff actually went in!

We are so excited about this room’s transformation into a room of real utility. There are still a bunch of finishing touches needed though to make its transformation complete, namely:

• The yellow walls need to be painted over. This will be happening in the next month or two when our decorator comes back.
• We need a blind so that the neighbours can’t see in when we are getting changed
• We need to find a beautiful new light fitting
• We need to change the carpet

I’ll be making a new post showing the finished walk-in wardrobe with stuff inside, when at least a couple of the above changes are also completed!

Here is what the kitchen used to look like:

My biggest aesthetic pet peeves were the flooring, which actually continued on all the way through to the living space, the dated wooden cupboards, and the dark colour of the tiles and countertops.

My biggest layout issues were that there was no space for a wide American-style fridge, a lack of accessible storage, and no pantry.

We used Wren Kitchens because of their very generous 7 year interest free payment option, freeing up funds for other renovation work we wanted to do. Dominika, our Wren consultant, worked with us remotely to design the layout and configuration to our specification, and provided 3D visualisations of the space so we could “see” it for ourselves before committing. She also sent us samples of all the materials in the post. Through these consultations and renders, we finally aligned on the colours, materials and layout that we wanted.

Another benefit of going through Wren was that they were able to recommend kitchen fitters who are used to working with Wren kitchens. They provided us with the name of a kitchen fitter in our are who they highly recommended, and we arranged for him to come and do a site visit.

Although the kitchen installation cost in included in what we pay to Wren, we were able to negotiate for the kitchen fitter to also do some extra work that Wren were not involved with, for an additional fee. For example, we wanted to replace the flooring from the kitchen all the way through to the dining room and into the lounge. We also wanted the same space to be repainted. With all of that agreed, the only thing to do was to wait for our kitchen to be delivered and for the work to begin!

Mid May (and only 2 weeks after we had completed), our installation began! First up was completely gutting the existing kitchen and taking up all of the old flooring. We also had some heavy wooden doors that separated the dining area from the living room, and the fitters also removed these to make it one big open plan space.

It was crazy to watch the entire kitchen and flooring disappear in just one day! I was so excited because this also marked the first big renovation that our new home would undergo.

After everything had been removed, the next step was to start installing the new kitchen that Wren were delivering. Again, I was so impressed with the speed at which cabinetry started to go up and appliances started to slot in place. It wasn’t long before the new kitchen really began to take shape.

There was also a bunch of plastering work that needed to happen to smooth out the walls where cabinets had previously been fixed but that now wouldn’t be completed covered. This work was due in part to my desire not to just simply have top to toe cabinetry as there was before, but to break this up with open shelving, and a standalone extractor fan.

At the same time as cabinetry started to go in, there was also work happening to lay the new flooring. I was really keen to have a lighter floor, as I felt that the darker wood on the floor made the space feel smaller and heavy. We went for a light grey herringbone engineered wood.

The flooring beginning to be installed was a great milestone as it became really clear how everything was going to work together – particularly the grey floor against the darker grey of the cabinetry.

Once the plastering had all dried, and all the cabinets were up, the next big milestone was getting the Quartz countertops measured and delivered, as well as actually getting all of the smaller things done, like appliances being hooked up, plug point covers being installed.

Waiting for quartz countertops added another 2 weeks onto the kitchen being fully complete, but finally, 6 weeks after we began, the kitchen was complete, and our house was blissfully quiet (for a short period anyway!)

Here is the finished product – both the kitchen and the finished flooring in the dining area and lounge. I couldn’t be happier with the finished product and am so excited to use this kitchen for many years to come!