All posts tagged: renovation

The Coach House – Phase 2 – Open Plan Kitchen Diner

Hello summer 2023! (it’s raining today). You may remember a couple of years ago, I shared the completed living room at The Coach House project in Harrogate. Here it is… Before, this room, along with the rest of the house was rather dull and uninspiring. Having been recently “flipped” by  a property developer, it was presentable enough to sell, but in order to make it feel like home for its new owner, it needed a little love and inspiration. Before – 2020 And now in July 2023 Before During phase two of the project, the glazing throughout the house was upgraded to black Crittall style frames. Much more in keeping with the period of this property and newly updated interiors. After If you’d like to see more photos and read about the process behind this particular room, head over to the designated final reveal post. But to continue reading about Phase two, scroll on down… In March 2021, Niche Design Architects began working on plans for a modest extension and remodel of the rest of …

Tewit Well Road – Harrogate

Hello everyone! I’m back with some updates and final reveal pics from one of my slow burner projects. It’s been hard, but something I’ve had to accept is that when things really picked up for Making Spaces a few years ago, it meant I didn’t have time to sit down and write about my job, because I’ve been so busy doing it. The projects I love and am trying to focus on are full house renovations, extensions and builds and how to create real impact with those at planning stages. These projects require layers and layers of work for numerous rooms at once. I’ve got several similar sized projects to share over the coming months, all that have been underway since 2021. So with that in mind, let me introduce you to the Tewit Well Road project over in Harrogate. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Renovating Harrogate (@renovating_harrogate) You may remember The Edwardian Project in Harrogate a few years ago? I’ve been working with these guys since 2016 and over this …

The Harrogate Master Suite

The Harrogate Master Bedroom – (very nearly) Final Reveal

Hello everyone, how’s your August going? Today I’m sharing a (very nearly) final reveal of the master bedroom at the Harrogate project. It’s the last room to be completed after a four year long renovation of a large, five bedroom Edwardian property. I’ve learned and gained so much from working with Vanessa and Andy and it feels quite emotional knowing this will be one of the last rooms I share from their house on these pages. Anyway, moving along… First Floor Floor Plan – Before The first floor is the one that had the biggest layout change, with only a few walls remaining where they once were. The first floor layout as it is now. As you can see, the first floor is where the Upper Brook Street Guest bedroom is, probably one of my most shared and liked projects to date, winning the best bedroom tour on Houzz in 2017 – that was really exciting! Today’s master suite is across the landing at the back of the house in what was this space: It …

The Old Forge York

The Old Forge York – Two Years in the Making – Final Reveal Part 1

And so, today’s blog is partly an opportunity to emotionally offload (when isn’t it?) and more importantly celebrate over two years work. I’m very pleased to be able to share the news that after approximately 698 days since my first consultation at The Old Forge, it’s finally time for the official opening of Next Door @ The Old Forge; a two bedroom, family and dog friendly holiday cottage in the pretty village of Sand Hutton, just 8 miles outside of York. Kettle on – it’s final reveal time! Before – My first visit, March 2018 I introduced you to The Old Forge back in May 2018 where I was completely inspired by the ramshackle buildings, excited by their potential and eager to get stuck into creating the design concepts. Since then there has been a relentless amount of work going on behind the scenes to transform an old Victorian blacksmith’s cottage and its outbuildings into a beautifully unique yet sympathetic two bedroom holiday cottage. Architects plans with suggested layout I could write a book about the problems, nightmares, …

3 bed semi extension

The 3 Bed Semi Extension – The Site Visit

Hello everyone, how are you all doing? It’s been a while since I last posted, for lots of reasons I won’t go into today, let’s just say there’s been a lot of (a bit too much) “life stuff” going on. Alongside that, i’ve been rolling along with three of my five live projects and wanted to share the progress we’ve made on the 3 bed semi extension over in North Yorkshire. It’s the one i’ve been working on remotely since the end of last year. The Ground Floor Plan Since January the whole house has been getting ripped out, extended and remodelled and as the property is empty, most of the works have luckily continued (albeit a little slower) throughout lockdown. My suggestion to totally change the ground floor layout was given the thumbs up and has now been realised. And it’s looking pretty good. I made my very first visit to the property yesterday and took lots of in-progress pics to share with you. Let me walk you around… Before The previous homeowners had …

REMOTE DESIGN

Remote working, it can be done – Remote Design in Action

So with all that’s going on in the world right now, I am sure I am not the only small business that is feeling the strain. I posted something on Facebook last weekend about how working remotely is going to be the saviour of a lot of small businesses. In particular the service industry like mine. If we’re all sat at home, staring at our four walls, wishing we had time to finally tackle that wallpaper stripping, bathroom remodel, gallery wall, playroom, kitchen reconfiguration (delete as appropriate), then THIS is a really good time to consider remote design. Our homes are a place to nurture, a place of safety and comfort, so there’s no better time to throw your energies into something creative and productive. And if you need some input, then there are lots of businesses like mine that can help. As an example of how it can work, I wanted to share a project I have been working on remotely for the last few months. A couple, let’s call them Mr&Mrs S, recently bought a …

The Victorian Terrace - The Living Room

The Victorian Terrace – The Living Room

Hello 2020! How are you all? Settling nicely into the new decade? For my first post of 2020 i’m introducing you to a project i’ve been working on since April last year; A four bedroom Victorian terrace in North Leeds. House floor plan The house was previously a rental property, and so was more than a little unloved. It looked “ok” from the estate agent pics, but in reality it needed a lot of work to bring it back to life: New windows throughout Re-wiring Re-plumbing Floorboards refurbed Walls stripped and re-skimmed New joinery New kitchen New bathroom Complete redecoration Fixtures, furniture and furnishings for the whole house In fact, it was this project that prompted me to write this blog post last spring: A Guide for New Homeowners – Where to start, the dos and don’ts. This new homeowner, let’s call him Mr H, is a complete noob to home ownership. Knowing where to start and what order to work through the renovation across several rooms at once had him in a bit of a pickle. …

Abigail Ahern Poppy Seed LImewash Paint

The Harrogate Kitchen Design – Pre- reveal Post

Hello hello everyone! I know, it’s a rare occurrence for me to post twice in one week, but am so excited to share the updates from my recent trip to the Harrogate kitchen design, I just couldn’t wait. If you’re not familiar with this one (it’s been a long term project)  you can catch up on everything in this previous post.  Dining Room – Before (Estate Agent Photo) There are a few tiny things left to sort, some shelving, a TV and coffee table (and a bit of faffing of course) but that’s about it. So you’re getting the very nearly final reveal post today. Nothing has been styled properly yet but I wanted to show you the completely amaaazing transformation of this open plan kitchen/dining family space. It’s not your average kitchen knock through. During Now It’s breathtaking. It really is. That full height, corner glazing the diagonal floorboards, the artwork, it’s finally all come together to create my client’s dream kitchen. Let me show you are few more before and afters, because they’re oh …

Georgian Apartment Guest Bedroom

The Georgian Apartment – Guest Bedroom and Hallway

Hello all, another look at how the Georgian Apartment is coming on this week, with the focus being on the hallway and guest bedroom today. But before we start looking at the other spaces, a quick update on the open plan kitchen/dining/ living space: Here’s a pic from a visit a couple of weeks ago of the Quick Step Old Oak Grey flooring going down. This has now been fitted throughout the whole room leading in from the hallway. Having no thresholds or breaks in floor coverings is a great way of achieving a sense of continuity and flows between spaces. On my last visit the kitchen was very nearly fitted and the new radiators were in! I had just over a day to design the entire open plan living space so didn’t really have the luxury of  time for kitchen research. The timescales of the project are very tight due to the homeowners’ urgency to get moved in (which I think he is doing this BH weekend). For the kitchen I was given the …

The 70's flat

New Project – The 70’s Flat

Another project, another two bedroom flat and another excitable homeowner who’s desperate to finish all the works by this time last week. Let me show you around this 70’s apartment. The Floorplan The flat is a great size for this young professional. There’s a lovely long hallway with two good sized double bedrooms off to the side, at the end there’s a small but functional bathroom with large storage cupboard, and to the right the hallway leads into a large open-plan living space with small kitchen just off the dining area. In terms of any structural changes, there’s no scope due to the agreements and clauses in the leasehold (which sucks as I had some ripper ideas) but there’s certainly plenty of opportunities to turn this tired flat into a very cool new home. I’m going to share the plans for each room so you can get a feel for the place. Let’s start with the open plan living space: Estate agent pics A lovely large, light and bright, dual aspect, L-shaped room. Ample space …