My Plans for Part Two of My Kitchen/Diner Revamp

Last month on the blog I revealed the first part of my mini kitchen/diner renovation.  You may recall that we have longer term larger scale renovation plans but, whilst we work out how much loose change we need to find down the back of the sofa to afford them, for now I am making some smaller changes to try to make the space feel a little bit more Malmo. 

Our kitchen after a mini Malmo makeover

I made over the space for less than £130

Not unlike me, the new house has a generous downstairs.   However, as you can see from the first floor plan below, the kitchen/utility/dining and living space are currently carved up into separate spaces in a way that means that some of the rooms are little awkward to work with. In the longer term we hope (subject to to planning) to be able to reconfigure the space to give us a bigger open plan kitchen/diner by removing the walls that currently divide the three rooms and shifting the utility room backwards into part of the garage.  I have included a second floor plan below that shows what that reconfiguration would look like.

However, as we currently find ourselves in uncertain and unprecedented times I am not really daring to dream too much about those plans at the moment.  Instead, to help preserve some semblance of my sanity whilst socially distancing, I am turning my mind and painting brush to completing the second part of the shorter term kitchen/diner revamp.  

Round one of the mini revamp focused on the kitchen at the end of the dining space.  This Scandi came over all Handy Andy and removed the upper wall cupboard doors, painted the lower cupboard doors and switched up the handles.  Those simple changes made such a huge difference so now I want to wave my Scandi-Rustic-Industrial wand over the remaining, untouched dining space.  

This time I  am unbelievable excited to have a little help from my ultimate fairy godmother: Neptune.   My love affair with this British brand started 10 years ago when I came across one of their beautiful kitchens on holiday in Norfolk but their story actually started 10 years earlier with a hammock hand sewn at a the kitchen table.  It turned out to be a case of from small hammocks big beautiful lifestyle brands grow. Today there are 26 stores across the UK (with a handful more in Europe) all of which are gorgeous destination experiences in themselves.

Gorgeous home inspiration galore on the Neptune Instagram Page

Whilst it is not currently possible to visit their beautiful shops in person, the online Neptune experience is just as swoonworthy.  I regularly lose myself down an inspiration rabbit hole on their website, Pinterest and Instagram pages and the great news is that lots of the helpful services they offer in store (such as design consultations) are now available virtually instead. So if you need help with a room revamp you can talk to a dedicated Neptune designer by phone, zoom or whats app and started planning how to improve your space with expert advice and ideas.. You can also still order items from their website with their online delivery service still running (working closely within all relevant government guidelines).

To be honest being asked to collaborate with them was a bit like Brad Pitt turning up and asking to take me to my school prom so I am absolutely delighted to be able to champion one of my favourite brands in these challenging times for British retailers.

The Plans for Part Two of the Mini Kitchen/Diner Revamp

So are you ready to see the space I will be working to transform? It is slightly awkward in that it is sandwiched between the kitchen, utility and living room and is relatively narrow. When we first moved in it was wallpapered in a textured flock wallpaper that I believe Lawrence Lwellyn Bowen may have designed during a fever. We said farewell to the flock on Friday evening before Christmas when, after a gin & tonic, I tore it off with my bare hands (sorry Lawrence).

When we first came to view the house this area had a table in but our existing dining table was too big and wide to fit in the space so we chose to put it at the end of the living room on the other side of the wall instead.  However, we quickly realised that without a table in the space the area just felt like a big corridor and it rapidly filled up with anything and everything that didn’t have a home somewhere else in the house.

The dining end of the kitchen when we came to view the house.

So before Christmas Mr Malmo got his drill out (not a euphemism) and knocked up an L shaped seating bench with built in storage so that we could create a second more casual dining area that would make the room feel less like a suburban branch of Big Yellow Storage.  

The storage bench construction in progress

It has built in storage

At the same time I threw myself on the mercy of Vintage Curator Interiors who I had sold my old, smaller dining table to before we moved.   That table held many happy and sentimental memories for me as it was the first piece of vintage furniture we bought for our old house and hosted many happy (and messy) family dinners.  I was therefore overjoyed when my puppy dog eyes and pleading tone combined to persuade Sam to let me have the table back.

The old table styled up for Autumn

However, as you can see from the pictures below, there is still lots of work left to do!  These are the 5 further changes I am going to be working on to fully convert it into a secondary relaxed dining space with Scandi Rustic style with a little bit of help from Neptune.

Transforming the wall

Whilst my wallpaper stripping frenzy before Christmas saw us saying sayonara to the flock it left us with an unpainted wall that looks like we are pioneering a new trend in seventies hippie squat chic.  My plan, to add some texture into the space, is to clad the wall in a pale rustic wood which, when we go ahead with our larger renovation, we can then reuse in the new utility room.

The wallpaper is gone but the blank wall left behind is ripe for a revamp.

These two images from the Neptune Pinterest page have been serious cladding inspiration for me and I am hoping the end result will have this lime washed, coastal inspired feel.

Painting the walls and floor

Because the space is relatively narrow and set back in the house one of my number one goals with the mini makeover is to brighten it up in order to make it feel more spacious.  We were fortunate in moving into a house where the previous owner liked neutral colours as much as me so the kitchen is currently painted in a gentle shade of taupe that is by no means offensive.  However to try and bounce some more light around I am going to take the walls whiter.

The floor is currently engineered wooden floor boards but they have quite an orangey appearance and a shiny varnish which currently makes the space feel darker.  In an ideal world I would probably sand them down and oil them but given the Corona crisis that is not really an option so my Plan B is to paint them an off white colour.  Mr Malmo has some serious reservations about this plan so I am hoping it doesn’t turn out to be an even worse idea than the Dirty Dancing sequel. 

The floors currently have quite an orange varnish that makes the space feel darker

I am hoping that by painted the walls and floors white it will significantly refresh the space. Picture from Pinterest source unknown

Updating the lighting 

Whilst I am hoping that freshening up the walls and painting the floor will make the space feel naturally much brighter I also want to change the current lighting to add a softer mood to the room in the evenings.  The only lighting we have at the moment is a small overhead light above the table that creates about as much hygge atmosphere as the floodlights at Wembley. I have plans to add in both some new overhead lighting and a couple of wall lights that will create a more balanced lighting scheme.  

Upgrading the seating 

Whilst the newly built storage bench has already provided an element of seating in the space we are still a few seats short of comfortably accommodating a family of 5.  As a makeshift seating solution we have been using a vintage Hungarian milking bench that usually lives in the hallway. However, whilst it may be the perfect size for a lone Hungarian milking maid, if any more than two people sit on it at one time it has an alarming tendency to topple over.  I am therefore hoping to add some more stable non-agricultural bench seating to the other side of the table and perhaps a statement chair in a darker colour at the end.

The rustic Hungarian milking bench that has been doubling up a seating in the dining at present

Removing the radiator cover and disguising the radiator 

On the wall opposite the table there is currently a large radiator cover that takes up almost half of the wall and protrudes out into the useable space which is already quite narrow.  I know some people prefer radiator covers to seeing the raw radiator but I am personally not a massive fan. I think, therefore, that I am going to take the cover off, pray for a not entirely Soviet looking radiator underneath and put a Scaffold shelf over the top to distract the eye away from it 

The radiator cover that currently cuts into what is quite a narrow space

Creating Crittall 

The final big change I want to make is to transform the glass doors that currently divide the kitchen from the living/dining space on the other side of the wall.  They are nice and wide and I think they are a perfect candidate for a crittal on the cheap style makeover. My DIY to date has not extended to woodwork, perhaps because my last brush with a jigsaw in 1992 nearly took my CDT teacher to the point of nervous collapse, but there is no time like the present to extend my home improvement skill set.   

The dividing doors I want to give a crittall makeover on a budget to. As you can see the dining table is currently doubling up as a table tennis table in lockdown

Ultimate crittal door inspiration from Plain English

Mine may not end up looking quite this chic but I am hoping that they add an industrial edge to the kitchen/diner

I hope you will enjoy following along with the revamp over the coming weeks, I know I am going to need your support and guidance when I am hacksaw in hand trying to craft myself that crittal!.

This Blog Post is Part of My Paid Partnership with Neptune

My moodboard for the makeover

Malmo & Moss Renovation Diary: Our Loft Conversion Plans

Somehow we have been in our new house for 4 months already and with Christmas just around the corner I have been working hard with our lovely architect Reah of Detail Architects to finalise our renovation plans for 2020 (and beyond!). Apologies to Reah for misspelling the name of her architecture practice in my last blog and accidentally directing people to a Siberian architect specialising in extremely well insulated wooden huts. A key part of those renovation plans is adding a loft conversion to increase the amount of upstairs space we have.  If you look at the floorplan of the new house against the old house you will see that whilst we have gained additional reception (and most importantly utility) space, the bedrooms are actually smaller than those we left behind meaning we have lost quite a bit of storage space! If there is a world record for the number of vacuum bags one household can fit under a bed I am fairly confident we would be going home with the trophy (or the £1000 Robert Dyas voucher).  Also whilst at the moment two of the boys happily (well most of the time) share a room but we can imagine a (teenage) day when this might not always be the case!

The ground floor of our new house. It has lots more width which was a key selling point

However when compared to the bedrooms in our old house (see floor plan to the right) we have marginally less space upstairs

The upstairs layout of our old house

So whilst there are changes we would like to make to the downstairs layout our priority for next year is going to be the loft.  It is, therefore, fortitious that I had actually previously written, in paid collaboration with VELUX, a blogpost all about the secrets of designing a successful loft conversion not realising at the time that I would actually get the opportunity to put them into practice.  Whilst there may be seven deadly sins (and flavours of Magnum Icecream) there are, for me, five secrets to successful loft design and here is how I will be using them in our new house.

Perfecting My Floorplan

We inherited the loft in our old house (in the sense of the conversion having been done before we moved in rather than it having been passed down in my great Auntie Pat’s will).  That meant whilst we could change the décor we couldn’t change the layout.  There were aspects that worked really well like having generous eaves storage, 6 huge VELUX roof windows that flooded the space with natural daylight and a spacious bathroom separated out from the sleeping space. 

The loft in our old house with natural daylight flooding in through the VELUX windows

 However it was a long room and the design meant that the bed had to be positioned under the eaves rather than closer to the dormer window meaning we didn’t get to take advantage of the views out of the garden. We also had limited options for built in storage.  This time around I am eager to achieve a layout with more separation of spaces, better connection to the view from the dormer and much more built in storage (so that I don’t have to find the hoover every time I want to locate my winter jumpers!)

The loft room in our old house was spacious but quite long which broke the connection between the bed and the view

 The floor plan that I think will best achieve this is set out below.  What do you think?  The sleeping space is smaller but better connected to the view and there is a much more generous “dressing room” space.  Our plan is to build some seating into the space to the right of the VELUX windows to make the most of the daylight coming into the room and make this feel like a multi purpose relaxing space. But would you sacrifice the seating and have a dressing table instead? I am more of a do my make up on the train and dry my hair wherever there is a plug kind of gal but maybe I could be won round to being a bit more sophisticated!

Option 1: my preferred layout for the loft is broken, created by Detail Architects, is broken plan rather than open plan with three distinct areas to dress, sleep and bathe

This is Option 2 which I had discarded on the basis it would mean we had to have a skinny bed and allows for very little bedside table space. But I am now wondering whether having the bed facing the view would be better and there might be a way to make this work?? Any bright ideas?!

In trying to decide on my perfect floorplan I have found it really useful to visit  Building Inspiration, a sister site from VELUX.  There are lots of case studies of real-life loft conversion projects featured which gave me some fresh ideas about how to design the space. There are also handy how to guides to walk you through the loft design and conversion process

Letting the light in

 One of the most successful aspects of our previous loft was definitely the bank of roof windows on one side.  I didn’t know this at the time but VELUX roof windows actually let in twice as much daylight as vertical windows of the same size. And doubling the amount of daylight means boosting your metabolic processes (without wishing to sound too #StraightOuttaTomorrowsWorld) improving your mood, reducing your risk of obesity and helping you get a better night’s sleep. The windows we had were top hung meaning we could open them to get a full, open view and maximise the amount of natural daylight that can be allowed in.

Positioning your bed under VELUX windows can actually help you sleep better

So we will definitely be incorporating VELUX roof windows again in our new space.  We have some planned  in for the dressing room space but I would also love to see if we can incorporate one into the bathroom space so that we can see the stars whilst brushing our teeth or at least as much of the stars as you can see when everyone has their lights on in North London! Has anyone done this in their loft conversion?  Does the reality live up to my Pinterest dream??

I am looking forward to actually being able to choose the design and size this time around and there are some exciting new products being introduced by VELUX in 2020 hopefully just in time for our conversions. For example, I love the sound of the top hung INTEGRA windows being introduced which have tech built in that allow you to operate the roof windows at the touch of a button. I would also like to add some inbuilt blackout blinds which again can be remotely controlled.

Sadly I don’t think we will be able to go for a VELUX CABRIO pop out balcony window so I will have to keep this image on my Pinterest a while longer.

Creating Character and Zoning Like Beckham

In my last blog I spoke about the fact that lofts can easily feel a bit “Keanu” (likeable but bland) and need character injecting into them.  In our old loft I “De-Keanued” with the help of a small builders’ yard worth of reclaimed scaffold boards on the wall behind the bed.  I loved how it added texture and warmth to the space and it is very tempting to repeat the trick again. 

 However, this time I love the idea of using a crittall screen to create a focal point, acting as a divider between the bedroom and the dressing room and injecting a little bit of sophisticated industrial edge into the room.  Although I may be back down the builders’ yard if it turns out I have crittall dreams on a cardboard box budget.

Room designed by Anna Potanka

I also love the idea of having the ability to open up part of the bathroom to the bedroom with a pocket door and, with some clever layout (and waste pipe location) planning am hoping I can fit a freestanding bath into the bathroom for a bit of added wow. This is my inspo for the idea although obviously on a slightly less dramatic scale than this!

I adore these sliding doors and the bath concealed by them. Image via @viral.archi

 By having three distinct spaces divided in this way I am hoping to banish the bland and create a multifunctional space that we can sleep, bathe and relax in! If you need more ideas about how to design your space for maximum wow (and non-Keanu) factor then VELUX has a brilliant EBook available that has lots of great tips about things to bear in mind when you are designing your space.  Definitely worth looking at when you consider that 70% of people have regrets about their loft conversion and that 19% of people wish they had spent more time planning their space before starting to build.

Glaze to Amaze

 One of the key attractions of our new house is that is has a lovely mature garden with some seriously attractive trees   Because it is so mature you cannot really see the houses behind so it feels very secluded and connected to nature.

Could be New England in the fall but is actually Enfield

Concentrate on the view not the chunky UpVc windows that are definitely on my hit list to replace

One of my key design aims with the loft is to ensure that there are clear uninterrupted views to take advantage of the setting.  In my last loft blog I detailed how we removed a set of white UpVC doors to de-dentist surgery the old space and open up the view.  At the time we had a limited budget so had to install, in their place, a large fixed picture window and a small opening side window.  Whilst that definitely gave us uninterrupted views it would have been nice to have had the ability to open the window to enjoy more fresh air in the summer months.

The picture window in our old loft which created stunning uninterrupted views

This time around I am therefore hoping that we can stretch the budget enough to go for either folding or sliding doors in the dormer like this amazing loft conversion I have saved on my Pinterest boards (source unknown).  Has anyone done this in their loft?  I also love the idea of having the bath positioned in front of a big pane of glass like in this inspo picture .

I am hoping god (and the Halifax) willing that we be able to finalise the design, put it in for planning and get started in the first half of 2020. If you are planning a loft conversion and need more practical information on the timings and process then click here to read bags of useful information on just those topics complied by VELUX or contact VELUX for support. Using the VELUX Project support tools has really helped me so far and it is a great way to get to know more about the whole range of different types of windows that they offer. Did you know for example that you can open and close their INTEGRA windows with just one touch of a wall switch?

I look forward to sharing our final choices and our loft conversion journey with you over the coming months. I would love to hear from anyone else also embarking on a similar journey in 2020!

This blog post was sponsored by VELUX as part of my paid brand ambassador partnership with them

Malmo & Moss Renovation Diary: August

This week marked the end of our first month living in our new house.  I would like to say we celebrated this milestone wrapped in each others arms sipping chilled glasses of Dom Perignon but the reality involved mugs of builders tea and an aborted attempt to change a light fitting that nearly ended in divorce and Mr Malmo losing a testicle to an electric screwdriver.

The light fitting seen in our old house

To briefly recap in case you didn’t see my previous blog post about the move, we have swapped our old Edwardian semi for a bigger 1930s style house which offers us the potential to extend up, out and sideways but which currently looks like it got caught up in a pebble dash hurricane.

Here she is, our pebble dash princess…

I am not going to lie, I was worried that leaving behind our old house (which we had completely renovated) would leave me feeling like a fish out of modern rustic water with nothing to instagram but laminate floors and Laura Ashley wallpaper.  But, despite all its current imperfections and a distinct lack of metro tiles, this place surprisingly already feels like home.  It helps that we have actually only moved five minutes around the corner so we haven’t had to leave behind friends or change schools.  The move was driven by wanting more space and whilst the current configuration of rooms is a bit of a jumble (more on that to come….) gaining a garage, utility and a bigger, leafier garden has already made family life much easier. 

There is not a metro tile in sight at the new house so having to get my fix looking at pictures of our old bathroom instead

Although my dad has expressed some deep concerns about the width of the toilets.  Apparently in order to stay on the right side of his bowels I need to factor toilet cubicles the size of a small Belgian city into my renovation plans.

Me and my Dad who is smiling despite his narrow toilet concerns

To keep me sane as we attempt to create a contemporary Scandinavian inspired family home (with spacious toilets) out of this pebble dash Princess,  I thought I would keep a monthly renovation diary here on the blog.  That way I can show you the ‘Before’ , share our plans for the ‘After’, and hopefully acquire and impart some wisdom along the way about designing and building your dream home. Although there is not much renovation to document so far as most of the first month has been spent unpacking endless boxes.  It turns out a girl can have too many shoes, coats, rustic benches and artfully distressed candleholders (33 and counting….).  It felt at one point that Rogers Removals boxes were waiting until we went to bed and then frantically procreating.

The procreating removal boxes and some wallpaper that looks like it could have inspired one of Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen’s frock coats

Obviously I unpacked the really important things first like a giant rustic flower wreath

To escape the #RampantRogersRemovalBoxes we have been spending as much time as possible outside in the garden.  The previous owner was a keen gardener so we will hopefully just need to try and keep things alive rather than starting from ground zero.  It is south facing which means the outdoor seating area pictured below, gets lots of sunshine.  Actually I know it feels wrong to say this (given that August seems to have got itself confused with February) but if anything it actually gets a little too much sun for this pale skinned Northern girl. 

To escape the chaos inside we have been spending a lot of time outside in the lovely leafy garden

Because it is south facing it is a bit of a sun trap

I was, therefore, excited to discover that we have actually inherited an awning. Although that excitement slightly fizzled out when I discovered that it was in Sheffield Wednesday colours and looks about as Scandinavian as the Go Jetters.

The current sun shade situation is more Sheffield Wednesday than Stockholm

Apologies for the eyeful of my pebble dash

The hunt as begun for some alternative shade solutions with more of a relaxed Ibizan beach club vibe. So it was great timing when Solero Parasols got in touch to tell me about their extensive range of garden parasols. This cantilevered gem would completely meet the beach club brief.  It is what is known as a free arm parasol and can rotate 360 degrees.  It comes with lots of smart features as well.  The fabric is fade resistant and hydrophobic and  also has a UPF Value of 50+.   On days when temperatures soars the fabric will release rather than retain hot air adding to the stability of the parasol.  It also comes with wireless rechargeable lighting meaning you can stay outside and enjoy long Summer evenings.  To be honest I think it might be cleverer than I am!

A Cantilevered parasol from the Solero range.

Another option I really like (and hadn’t seen before) was having a wall parasol.  The patio area we have to play with is not huge so I like the idea of saving space by having one mounted to the wall.  And lets face it I am 100% there for any solution which obscures more of the pebble dash! 

This wall parasol might be the perfect replacement for the awning!

When it comes to inside there are even bigger plans afoot.  We have appointed Detail Architect to start drawing up plans for re-configuring and extending the current space and hopefully by my next diary entry I will be able to share some preliminary floorplans with you!

In the meantime I am going to leave you with a couple of shots of areas of the house that are starting to look vaguely Instagrammable (if you squint…..) Do you recognise the light fitting from our old house? 10 points if you can remember which room it used to hang in!

This is one of my favourite areas of the house so far. It has got quite high ceilings so it is possible to show my Abigail Ahern light off to full effect!

I have big plans for making over the fireplace in here but for now enjoying this corner

This Blog Plost was kindly sponsored by Solero Parasols

Malmo & Moss is Moving House

We moved into the Malmo & Moss house on a scorching hot day in July almost exactly nine years ago. It was just me, my husband and two cats at that point. Although the cats were lucky to survive the move after they spent the entire journey around the South Circular emitting the kind of noise that I imagine would come out of Michael Gove’s mouth if he were to get his penis trapped in a lift door. Maybe they just had feline reservations about their owners moving from South to North London having only visited the area where our new house was located twice before. However, whilst they might have liked to remain #ClaphamCats we didn’t have a budget big enough to stretch to a family home in that part of the City.

Winchmore Hill, the area of North London we alighted upon, is probably most famous for once having played host (if that is the right word) to Augustus Pinochet who was briefly exiled here in 1998. However, before you get the impression that it is some sort of haven for war criminals I should balance that fact act out by telling you that it’s other famous ex resident is Lionel Ritchie (whose crimes are mainly perm and power ballad related).

Winchmore Hill Green the pretty heart of this lesser known part of North London

We moved when I was 37 weeks pregnant with our first son who arrived just two short weeks later. Whilst the move to a little known area where we had no friends just as we were about to become first time parents was definitely risky, it is a gamble that has more than paid off. Unlike Pinochet we have stuck around, seduced by lots of green open space, great schools and a street so friendly we go on holiday with our neighbours (although not John at the end of the street who I once overheard in Tesco trying to return some chicken he had purchased in 1999) .

July 2010: just two weeks after moving in we welcomed our first son

Two tired first time parents and a very proud (and very young looking!) uncle in the days before the front room went over to the dark side!

The house has slowly but sure been transformed from a #SanitaryPadPurplePalace with a conservatory #StraightOuttaBrookside to a light, bright modern rustic home. We have knocked through, extended and renovated the kitchen, enlarged and overhauled the family bathroom, reconfigured the loft space and breathed fresh life into the ensuite, tiled the hallway and installed crittal style dividing doors and added hygge to the living room by going over to the dark side and installing a woodburner.

You can get a glimpse in the background of the very off message Kermit the Frog green conservatory we inherited when we moved in

A couple of years (and another son later) we said goodbye to #KermitsConservatory and replaced it with a modern extension. This is it just days after it was finished

6 years later we still love how it has transformed the house

My favourite view looking back into the kitchen from the garden

Knocking through from the kitchen to the dining room has also been a gamechanger

However nine years and two further sons later we are on the move once more. This time there will fortunately be no need to subject ourselves to #CatCarTorture on the South Circular as we are actually only moving five minutes up the road!

Reasons for the Move

So why are we moving? The answer can be summed up in one word really: space. Or rather a growing realisation that we could do with a bit more of it. Our existing house, unlike me, is tall but comparatively narrow. Click here to see our floorplan. We have already extended the kitchen and the loft was converted before we moved in so we have no real options left to create extra square metres we are after.

We have maximised our existing space to create a kitchen/diner

Made over and reconfigured the loft

But alas we cannot magic up enough space for another bedroom

Our two youngest currently happily share a room but we know there will come a time when that arrangement may become less harmonious. Possibly between the ages 11-16 judging by my relationship with my own sister. Apparently having your little sister pick up the phone whenever you are on the line to your first boyfriend and sing “Let’s Talk About Sex” is not as funny as I thought it was at the time.

One day we anticipate all of the boys will want a (Scandi Forest Chic) room of their own

So when I saw a girthier house on a street we have always loved come up for sale 4 months ago with a floorplan that made heart flutter we decided to go for it.

The New House

OK brace yourself, this is the back of the new house which looks like it started a fight with pebbledash and lost. Inside it is less Scandi Rustic and more Sharps Showroom circa 1996 when fitted wardrobes were all the rage. But when I saw the floorplan I was sold. It actually currently has less space upstairs than our existing house but there is scope to add a generous loft and the downstairs space, after a reconfiguration and possible further extension, will offer us the big open plan kitchen/diner we have always wanted. And, of course, most importantly of all, I will finally be able to realise my greatest dream: a separate utility room.

My new rear end is decidedly bigger. It is the width of this house that really sold us on it

As well as the lovely big garden complete with apple tree

For the boys there is a bigger garden with plenty of Wembley and Hide and Seek possibilities . Whereas the clincher for Mr Malmo was the prospect of a garage of his own. Not because he is a car nut (our family car is more likely to be quarantined by DEFRA than appear at Goodwood) but rather because he has an ever growing collection of impulse purchased power tools which will now have a home of their own. I am slightly worried I am going to come downstairs and find him jigsawing wood in his pants at 2am down there!

First on my hit list: transforming the fitted wardrobes . Decor wise everything is actually pretty neutral though and has been well cared for so it is definitely liveable if not immediately instagrammable!

We move a week tomorrow so the next seven days are going to be spent in a haze of cardboard boxes, trips to the tip and snotty hankies as I reminisce about about all the memories we have made together in this house. We arrived as a couple and will leave as a family of five. This is the house is where our son’s first steps were taken, first words spoken and first poos on the potty (and floor) were completed. We have ticked off so many milestones, celebrating birthdays, christenings, christmases, and surviving a brush with Brian the misogynist bathroom tiler. It’s going to be emotional, not least as I have to say goodbye to my greatest ever E-Bay bargain: our £25 roll top bath.

Moving will be sweet sweet sorrow in that I will have to bid farewell to my roll top bath

And my copper taps

So are you ready for Malmo & Moss: The Renovation Years?! My head is already spinning with ideas so over the coming weeks/months/possibly decades I am looking forward to sharing more pictures of the new place with you and my ideas for transforming it one fitted wardrobe at a time! I hope you enjoy coming along with me for the renovation ride.

Secrets of a Successful Loft Conversion

When we first bought our house nine years ago one of the main attractions was the fact that it already had the loft converted saving us the expense and hassle of doing so. Thanks to six big VELUX windows it was flooded with light and had beautiful views out over the blossom trees on our street. However, after living in the space for a couple of years, we came to realise that whilst it was light, bright and spacious, it had about as much character as Keanu Reeves. Sorry Keanu but I have seen beige carpets with more dramatic impact that your performance in The Lake House.

The bright, bright loft conversion was one of the factors that sold our house to us

Over the last few years we have made a series of changes to the space to de-Keanu it and it is now one of my favourite rooms in the house. So I was delighted when VELUX asked me if I would like to team up with them to share my top five tips for designing a successful and stylish loft conversion. VELUX started out by installing their first roof window in a Danish school house 75 years ago and now sell their products in over 40 countries so working with them is a Scandi dream come true for me!

We have made a series of changes to add character, warmth and texture to it

My favourite of which has to be the addition of a scaffold plank wall

I hope my tips will help anyone planning a loft conversion or struggling to inject some character into their existing space to #BeLessKeanu. I have included in my tips advice shared with me by my Instagram followers who have some pretty stunning loft conversions of their own and have some cautionary tales of misplaced internal walls, incorrectly spaced skylights and awful attics!

Tip One: Perfect Your Floorplan

There are essentially three main types of loft conversion: a simple VELUX loft conversion where the roof slope is not altered; a dormer loft conversion which allows for vertical windows and doors; or a mansard loft conversion which is less boxy in appearance than a dormer (although there are multiple possible variations on each design and VELUX windows can easily be combined with mansard and dormer style conversions as well).

Our conversion is a dormer which is a popular choice as it is often the design which best maximises available space and does not, typically, need planning permission. Although click here for more detailed Government Guidance about when planning permission might be required (my inner lawyer is still strong!). If I was to tackle another renovation and convert a loft from scratch I would be tempted to go for a Mansard conversion (budget allowing) as they are less boxy in appearance than a dormer.

Seen here from the outside our loft extension is a dormer conversion

Once you have decided on the best option for your space start work early on your floor plan and how you will actually use the space. Loft conversions are often full of awkward spaces and getting the most out of them often relies upon embracing and finding clever uses for them. Think, in particular, about how you will use any space under the eaves. Ours was predominantly dedicated to storage but there was a large space tucked around a corner that was left empty in which I originally had my dressing table .

Once I realised that post children I had about as much chance of sitting on Brad Pitt’s lap as I did sitting at a dressing table we converted that corner into a walk in wardrobe which has made much better use of the space. It also allowed us to get rid of a large bulky wardrobe that sat in front of one of the windows blocking the view through to the outside.

Don’t be afraid to change your mind as you go along either. @Sodia _ Haddassi _ Amma shared with me that she would regularly go up and check on her loft as it was being built even if it meant balancing on scaffold boards and as she saw how the space actually looked made several decisions to change internal walls that infuriated her builders at the time but left her much happier with the end result!

Tip Two: Let the Light In

Did you know that according to the World Health Organisation we spend a whopping 70% of our lives indoors? When you have small children and 70% of that 70% is also spent in the company of Mr Tumble that can feel like a long long time! Sunlight is actually a natural anti-depressant so in the absence of it (and in the near constant company of Mr Tumble) it is easy to become glum! It turns out that people need daylight to help control the most basic metabolic processes, just as they need food and water. So getting the design of your loft right in terms of the number, size and position of windows can actually improve your mood, reduce your risk of obesity (although not if you , like me, keep an emergency packet of wotsits by the bed) help you get more restful sleep and boost your immunity to diseases and infections! 

Our bed is position underneath our Velux windows to take advantage of the natural daylight and fresh air

We have six large VELUX roof windows in the front sloping side of our loft and as a general rule you should aim for glazing to take up to 15-20% of your room’s floorspace to maximise the amount of natural light. We have top-hung VELUX roof windows because they open at the bottom making them a within arms reach and gives us a great view out of the windows to the blossom trees beyond.

@KBro1979 asked what VELUX options are available if your windows are out of reach? Because of your roof height rather than you being the size of a Borrower. Fear not the answer does not involve a trapeze. VELUX has an INTEGRA® range of electric and solar powered windows that open remotely with the touch of a button. They have blinds that can be controlled this way too!

Our windows are within easy reach but it is possible to automated opening systems if yours are a little further up

The position of your roof windows will likely be dictated by the shape of the roof; for example, a long, shallow room will benefit from windows spaced evenly along its length, whereas a narrow, deeper room might benefit better from fewer larger windows.  However in terms of reaping those sleep enhancing benefits consider positioning your bed close to your windows to soak up as much daylight as possible and speed up your metabolism when you have raided that emergency packet of Wotsits.

Tip Three: Create Character

Some of the loft conversions I love most on Instagram are actually the VELUX rooflight type where the shape of the roof has not been altered and cosy spaces have been created with original features such as exposed brick walls left in place.

The challenge with our dormer was that it felt very much like a new build in the worse sense of those two words. It was spacious and bright but had no distinguishing features and it often felt like we were echoing around in it. I had a couple of attempts at injecting a bit character in using “feature wallpaper” both in the dressing table nook and then also behind our bed to break up the space and create some drama. Whilst Lawrence Lwellyn Bowen may have been proud of my paste and paper efforts it wasn’t until we added the scaffold plank wall behind our bed that the space really started to come together for me. The rough sawn wood creates warmth, texture and character and I would really recommend thinking about how you can bring rougher less “perfect” finishes into your loft conversion. It might be be asking your builder to leave a wall unplastered, or by using brick slips to create the same effect or using lime wash or concrete effect paint but try and get some texture in if you can.

It cost about £250 in materials and labour but the reclaimed scaffold plank is worth every penny

I love how cosy it makes the loft space feel at night

Tip Four: Glaze to Amaze

When our dormer loft conversion was carried out over 10-15 years ago white uPVC doors in dormers were as ubiquitous as Noel Edmonds. Their popularity has since gone the same way as Noel’s TV career and thankfully a host of much more visually pleasing glazing options are now emerging. When we were renovating our loft ensuite we had a little bit of budget left over a decided to say sionara to our uPVC doors, the chunky frames of which obscured our view to the garden beyond. If money had been no object I would have loved to go with either crittall style doors like those in the loft of @FallowGrey or for a sleek sliding door system like in this conversion by Mulroy Architects. 

Replacing the white UpVC doors with a picture window has transformed our loft space

I love sitting in this corner looking out over the garden

However we came up with a compromise that overall I am pretty pleased with which was to replace the doors with one large fixed picture window.  The frame is still uPVC but because it is dark grey instead of white it is not as noticeable and to be honest the difference in price didn’t justify going for aluminium on basis probably only I would notice the thinner frames. We retained the smaller opening window to the left hand side so that we still had ventilation and through draft.  The cost of doing this was approximately £1000 including labour which I consider to have been money well spent.

Yes we did run out of floor paint ……

So when you are planning your loft conversion think really carefully about your glazing options and don’t just go with what builders and loft conversion companies fit as standard.  There lots of still cost effective options out there which offer much better wow factor.

VELUX, for example, have a really cool pop out balcony window product called CABRIO ® which I discovered through this collaboration that I would love to incorporate into any future renovation I take on! When shut it sits flush to the roof like a normal window and when open it pops out to create a mini balcony , have a watch of this little video to see what I mean, is so clever!

A window that can become a balcony!

Tip Five: Zone it Like Beckham

Sadly I do not have any pictures for this section of David Beckham reclining in my loft.  The tip I want to pass on here is about how to break up your loft space into mini sections.  Our loft has a fairly large footprint overall at 21sqm but because we are semi detached it is a long but relatively narrow space at 7m by 3m. The challenge is, therefore, how to stop it feeling like a big spacious corridor. We have always had our bed positioned underneath the Velux windows because I love going to bed able to see the stars, lying back listening to the rain falling on them in colder months (and the Summer months based on this June) and opening them up for a breeze on stuffier nights. However the second section of the room originally didn’t really work for us at all. We had a massive double wardrobe on one side and then a double set of chest of drawers on the other side both of which blocked the view out of the back windows and made it feel a bit being inside a storage locker at BIg Yellow Storage.

I added a monochrome gallery wall and armchair to this corner to create a separate sitting area within the room

Hopefully this picture gives you a feel for how the space fits together

I am one picture short of a full gallery wall!

Making the alcove into a walk in wardrobe meant we were able to get rid of the bulky wardrobe, move the radiator that had been under the window to that wall instead and then put the chest of drawers where the radiator had been (still with me?!) On the side of the room where the chest of drawers used to be I have now created a seating area with a vintage armchair and side table and made this area distinct from the sleeping area by painting it a different colour and adding a gallery wall. It makes it feel as if there are two rooms within a room so if you have a large loft space or large and awkward footprint think about the different ways in which you can use the space and how you can decorate to subtly create different zones.

So there you have it my five top tips for creating a truly instagrammable loft conversion in collaboration with VELUX as part of my paid partnership with them. Thanks to everyone who shared their loft conversion stories and questions with me to help me write this post.

Creating the Perfect Floorplan for Family Living

We bought our current house nine years ago. We came to view it when I had just found out I was pregnant with our eldest son and we were living in a one bedroom flat at the time. Having put the (trouser) horse before the house cart there was a certain degree of urgency to our search. We had seen a number of other properties and all were either out of our budget or in budget but with rooms that only a hamster would describe as spacious. After 5 minutes looking around we decided to put an offer in because, to quote Clint Eastwood in ‘Bridges Over Madison County’ ', this kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime. Or put another way, within 5 minutes of a viewing when you encounter a house that has four genuinely double bedrooms.

One of the four double bedrooms (by human not hamster standards)

The previous owners did have a penchant for painting rooms sanitary pad purple but shades of Always Ultra aside it was in the kind of condition where you could move straight in. The loft had already been converted so we had all the bedroom space we needed. The two most obvious “big jobs” that needed doing were an update of the bathrooms and a reconfiguration of the downstairs space to create a more open plan kitchen diner.

One of the selling points of the house was the fact that the loft had already been converted saving us a big job

The Victorians may have given us the railways and the Royal Albert Hall but they did not bestow generously sized kitchens upon us. When we moved in we had the fairly classic Victorian lay out of a long narrow kitchen which some dude in the 1980s had then latched a conservatory on the back of. Getting out into the garden was like a challenge on the Cystal Maze involving having to shoulder barge a cheap UPVC door that often swelled shut. With son number 2 on the way we drew up plans to get rid of the conservatory and replace it with a proper extension. In an ideal world we would have liked to extend the kitchen to the side but Enfield council have an enormously annoying policy that prevents this unless your neighbours are doing it at the same time. GIven we had trouble persuading our then neighbours not to call each other mother f’ckers within earshot of our kids it was safe to say they weren’t the kind of people who would obligingly whack up an extension to their kitchen for us.

We replaced the previously unsightly 1980s conservatory with a contemporary extension at the back of the house

The extended kitchen diner

That meant we had to extend outwards at the back rather than to the side. We replaced the conservatory with a proper extension so that this space became part of the house instead of a room that you only went in during the summer if you were trying to recuperate from hyperthermia and therefore needed to sit somewhere the same temperature as Mars. We also knocked the wall down between the kitchen and the “dining room” to get more light into the kitchen and create more of an open plan layout. Those changes brought us to our current floor plan which is below.

The current floor plan of our house. It is what I think estate agents would describe as deceptively spacious

As you can see we have a separate front room and then one big L shaped open plan room which is used as kitchen diner and second, less formal familiy living space. This is where the kids watch TV, cover every surface in butter or banana and have their toys. Whilst the changes we have made (including adding a downstairs loo under the stairs) have radically improved how this house works for us as a family, there is one missing room which I can’t stop hankering for: a utility.

The utility room of my dreams in the home of @thislittlehouse

That’s right, my greatest desire these days is not to lick Nutella off Brad Pitt but to possess a room in which to process my laundry and store the hoover. Although obviously the dream would be to lick Nutella off Brad in said utility room and be able to pop his Hazelnut covered smalls straight in the washer dryer afterwards. I want to reclaim the spare room from the drying rack which is almost permanently erected in it trying to keep pace with the volumes of pants, school shirts and football kits that having three sons generates.

@hornsby_style is another one of my #UtilityIdols

Mr Malmo is unsurprisingly not as obsessed with creating a #placetoputapulley but luckily I know an interior designer with an architecture background or two (ok just one but a really bad ass one) who was willing to play around with some floorplans for me to work out how we might be able to squeeze one in. The interior deisgner in question is the wonderful Rebecca Wakefield of Studio Fortnum who has built up an instagram following of over 20,000 people who love her signature stylish, calm and unpretentious interiors as much as I do. She came up with four layouts for me which explore different potential locations for a utility.

One of Rebecca’s interior design projects

Now I want this sitting room as well as a utility room

As a person who struggles to visualize anything unless it is right in front of me, having floorplans to look at was an amazing way to get to grips with the changes we would need to make to fit a utility in and the impact it would have on how we currently use the space. It rapidly became apparent (looking at Option 3 for example) that if we squeezed one in without also extending the kitchen space to the side, we would be left with a significantly reduced second living space. However whilst we now have neighbours who are much less likely to call each other MoFos and are also open to a mutual side return situation, it would still be a fairly major investment to gain the utility of my dreams.

The four floorplans the amazing Rebecca Wakefield drew up for me

Of the three remaining options (all of which assume a side extension) I think my favourite is Option 4 as it gives the biggest /best layout of utility. But I do worry that we would still be sacrificing quite a bit of the space where the sofa currently sits in the living room and that it might potentially make that room feel cramped. A completely different plan which would preserve all of our current living space and potentially work out cheaper than adding a side return, would be to build a garden room at the end of the garden and relocate the washer dryer out there. But perhaps that is a discussion for a different blog

In the proposed layouts, the utility would be to the right of the partition doors so we would lose some of the space where the sofa sits.

The view from the kitchen would be rather different

Whilst we continue to mull it over I would love to know what you guys think? Do you have a utility room, do you understand my laundry room lust? If it were your house which one of the options would you go for? Or do you think pursuinh my utility dreams would compromise the space we have? Would love to know your thoughts! In the meantime thank you so much to the layout legend that is Rebecca Wakefield . If you have your own interior dilemma or project I cannot recommend Studio Fortnum enough.