I’m sure you’ve all seen the Edwardian house in Harrogate i’ve been working on for about two years already. We have been slowly working our way around all the different floors, creating some knockout spaces for this family of three.

The Drawing Room

Upper Brook St Bedroom

Family Bathroom and Hallway

The Trumpet Bedroom

The Copper Bedroom

Well for the past year or so, we’ve been planning the biggest job of all. Knocking through the back of the house on the ground and first floor. Today it’s all about the ground floor and here are some before photos from the sales listing so you can acquaint yourself with the spaces we’re currently working on.

The Dining Room

A long (blue) narrow space with lots of odd boxing in. A bit of a let down compared to the rest of the house’s loft proportions, don’t cha think?

Just, no to these blinds

And here was the equally depressing kitchen:

Another long, skinny room that felt dark and cramped, sitting  two at the very end right next to the bins. Lovely.

I’m going to bypass about a year’s worth of planning and work here, because, nobody needs to read about that. But what I will show you is the floorplan for what would become this house’s open plan, kitchen, diner and family space.

Kitchen, Diner, Family Room – The Layout

And as if by magic, the wall that separated these two skinny spaces was knocked down in January to make one large, open plan space across the back of the house. A space that will become the new heart of the home.

 **sings** “2 become 1…”

Here is where the new walk-in pantry will be built…

… just where that scaffold is sitting. Instead of using plasterboard and skim for this back wall however, I suggested they stud out and clad the entire wall with chipboard (OSB) to add a bit of texture and industrial detail.

Even inside the pantry is OSB. It’s going to be the coolest pantry EVA!

I flipping love this stuff. It’s cheap as chips to buy, but with a bit of sanding and a coat of sealer, it can look a million $$. Obviously, the builders don’t really get it. But they will when it all comes together. She says. And to give you an idea of how the kitchen is going to look once everything is in….

That’s nice init!?

But before we get to any of the fun stuff, there was a ton of remedial work to do in the cellar, finding out that nothing was holding up what was the old chimney breast (kind of a big deal on a three storey house) the joists were all out of whack and the flooring between the  two rooms was on two levels. Never simple is it?

Staring at holes in the floor was a large part of this project for sure. Holes and missing bits featured greatly. These guys had no back to their house (on two storeys) for weeks. And weeks. Over winter.

This is the corner that was waiting for its double storey glazing; on the ground floor and directly above on the first floor. The floor above it going to be their master bedroom suite btw, but i’m not even going there today. Defo saving that for another time.

Their original plan was to glaze straight across the back of the house on both floors. But after a bit of spacial planning, I advised them against this as it left very little room to put furniture. You don’t really want your sofa right up against a glass wall 24/7.  So I suggested they wrap it around the back left hand corner instead where the dining area in would be. And on the floor above, this is where the dressing table and seating area will reside.

How bloody lovely is that? – pic courtesy of my clients

It’s a killer view from this corner too as it overlooks the church next door, a shed load of trees and what will be their newly landscaped garden. Am super pleased they took my advice on the glazing. And on the floorboards too. One side of the room (what was the dining room) the boards have been laid vertically toward the back wall but along the join where one room now meets the other, there’s a sharp change in direction with the floorboards running diagonally, drawing your eye towards the glazed corner. I LOVE IT.

A pic from the outside showing just how much glass there now is. What a difference eh!?

And here is the last picture you’re getting today of this epic project. The kitchen has now started to go in and it’s looking absolutely splendid.

Black. OSB. Diagonal floorboards. Killer windows… What’s not to love!!? I’m off for another site visit this Friday (can’t wait!) so will no doubt be back with more photos of this room very soon. It’s gona be a good ‘un, that’s for sure! Tbc…

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Pics – some mine and some courtesy of my lovely clients via WhatsApp updates 🙂 thanks guys!