This single family terraced house in Kilburn is actually just around the corner from two of our projects – 0401 and 0227. It was a pleasure to work in the neighbourhood again.
The property had not been refurbished for a while but, as opposed to the other projects in this area that we worked on, its plaster was not in a bad state. This time the front facade was left unchanged, we did, however, have to rebuild the whole roof and its structure. The rear garden was changed as well, and we added new fences to all three sides. The grass was replaced with artificial grass as the garden was small and north facing, thus this was the easiest solution to keep it looking tidy for longer.
Planning application with the London Borough of Brent
Following a successful planning application, we added a side extension. Contrary to any other projects beforehand, we decided to move the kitchen into the rear reception room – this allowed us to use the whole existing rear part plus the new side extension for a dining and living room area. This solution also helped us to omit a need for installation of a small light well that we usually suggest to have.
We closely followed the budget and for economical reasons we suggested to use standard width glazing wherever possible, rather than to make an opening for a rear sliding folding door for example and to need to have it made to measure. Thanks to this, we were able to select a supplier with an off-the-shelf product. This approach, if done well, saves time and money while hardly limits design choices.
Garden facing living room
On the ground floor, we only retained the front reception room, and at the end this was the room with the fewest changes. The living room moved all the way back, closest to the garden.
Our joiner build bespoke cabinets for the kitchen and for the before-mentioned living area, which allowed these spaces to be visually tied together and gave the owners a lot of storage space.
A flamingo in the bathroom
This was one of the first conscious design choices – our Clients sent us a picture of a flamingo, and we found a company which produces a tile-puzzle with famous art works, including this one. We might not have mentioned to our contractor that this is the kind of jigsaw-puzzle tiling he would have to do, but after the initial surprise, they took on the challenge and masterfully placed the flamingo centred on the wall behind the bath as planned. The rest of this family bathroom was designed in a traditional style. Three bedrooms on the first floor are served by this spacious bathroom.
Loft conversion
We created a new living level by converting the loft space. For this, we gained a planning permission for a full width rear dormer. A light filled bedroom with small ensuite was installed on this level.
It is to be noted that when you are planning to add a rear dormer to your London terraced house, it is in the majority of the cases possible to create a bedroom with an ensuite. The specific layout will be dictated by the width and depth of the floor area, as well as by the location of the (new) stairs up.
A well balanced renovation
At the end, when the family of three moved it, it was a joy to see them happy and enjoying the new space.
We keep in touch with our Clients and try to visit them from time to time to ask how they feel in the new home and of course, inevitably, find out whether we need to get the contractors back in for any snagging items.
